Deserted gem

probably these are the two words best describing this place near Kőszeg. but if u want, i can also say: peaceful, romantic, picturesque, mysterious. it's an abandoned, or rather never-finished tavern. ideal place for a tender togetherness or a long chat with ur friend.
the view is fantastic, the nature beautiful, everything is given, the rest is up to you!
urban citizens will also enjoy the remains of an old wooden carriage:

Massive calculation

how's that? the other day i needed a calculator to do some basic calculations in the bank. i never thought that asking for a calculator can be so problematic: i was at the IT Department and of course they didn't have any. i can imagine two possible reasons for this:

1. they don't (can't?) calculate
2. they do it on the computer

but this is not my point now. the guy didn't want to let me down so he went in quest of a calculator. the big mission in the dawn of the 21st century in a bank.
After having looked around everywhere he asked for the help of an other IT guy. now, they were already two of them hunting. finally they returned with a massive - uhm, i don't even know what, let's call it - till acquired at the Accounting Department.
i can only say one thing: it's a funny thing to see it in print how u calculated returns. i hope the Income Revenue won't mind that i destroyed the recipe. the official certificate of my calculation

for those who never saw such a thing: whatever u put in it will be printed on that paper on the left hand side of the machine.

'Motion Pictures'

lately i've been driving 'Our' car a lot. this was already a great source of happiness to me, but the scenery during the journey also gave me a lot of pleasure. this former photo was taken on the way from Szombathely to Budapest. if u zoom in on it u'll see those gorgeous rape-fields splending in yellow. fields of gold. beautiful.and the latter one here, was taken on the way to Kecskemét (from Budapest). a (relative) long, straight road through the Plain. Route 66. only a bit more traffic, and settlements on it.

Powązki Cemetery

I should be preparing now for my presentation tomorrow, but i wanted to post these beautiful pics. hope u don't regard it as immodesty, but i love these ones. they were taken in Warsaw's oldest cemetery. A bunch of very famous and popular Polish people were buried here, but to be honest i was more into the old, and often really nice tombs, graves and crypts. I don't think a cemetery would be a bizarre or sad place. On the contrary, it was peaceful and i admired those monuments there. I had similar feelings in highgate cemetery in london.

Original photo taken by Gosia

Warszawa, Warszawa

regardless the gentle ties i am attached to Warsaw, i must say i like that town, even if many people don't see the charm of that city. i'm not talking about the massive socreal design of the bulk of buildings but the atmosphere. there's something that probably most Warsovians don't even know about. something i could best describe as an endless fight for turning the 'socialist achievements' into a cosy, more lively surrounding. there's this cafe for example. The groundfloor of a typical, ugly, block-building from the socialist era has been transformed into a cool, elegant and stylish cafe and whatsmore, the ladies behind the bar really strove to deliver excellent service. so that's what i call a qualitative change in attitude... (people from this region will certainly understand what i mean)

nevertheless, they are still learning how to live together with the legacy of the last era. best example is that many Warsovians hate the building of Palac Kultury i Nauki, just because it was a 'present' from the Soviet Union. well, i understand their feelings about soviets, but i still like that building. and as i noticed so does the new generation, for hosting temporary and permanent exhibitions, cultural programs, a cinema and last but not least providing great view on Warsaw.

however, in the same building (Palac Kultury) u can still meet the good old behaviour of what i wouldn't call the exclusive feature of the socialist systems, but certainly of those with suppression and the lack of liberty. so what am i talking about? we entered Palac Kultury, and the safety guard asked Gosia where we wanted to go. to the top floor - she said. well, it's normally 20 zlotych for entrance, 15 for students, but if u go downstairs, talk to XY, u can enter for 10 zlotych - sounded the answer.

just two comments on this:
1) 20 zlotych for this is a proper rip-off today in Warsaw, especially for Pols.
2) I hope Poland, Hungary and the other countries in the region will very soon escape from the trap of black-market and corruption - let me add that i don't think that those countries in the Western part of Europe would be much better in these matters, see the Siemens case for example...

so here's the building that i was saying all this rubbish about up here:

Palac Kultury i Nauki

one entrance of the Old Town. Barbakan (Barbican):The Old Town is very nice by the way. It's unbelievable that they rebuilt everything after the nazis had destroyed almost all buildings, and u wouldn't say that those buildings are not a hundred or two hundred years old.

don't ask me what ruins are these (i think those of a once palace) but it's very close to the monument of the Unknown Soldier, which i personally like or even more respect a lot.
yeah, Warsaw is all about remembering.
and when i said transforming the socialist legacy into something i also ment this: builing nice buildings, with concept. okay, we can make a discussion on whether this building actually fits into the surroundings, but at least it's something unique. and if nothing else, i appreciated this. but i actually think it does fit into.

Supreme Court of Poland

the best of Polska: KISPOLSKI!!! :)we call it Kis Polski, they call it Maluch - the same: small, lovely.

Easter in Warszawa

i thought i'd never seen how Easter was celebrated in a foreign country, so i decided to spend Easter in Warsaw. and once i was there, i visited someone. someone special :)
so if u wanna know what a proper Święta Wielkanocne is like, u need to be accommodated at a Polish family. i can assure u, u can't go wrong. they are kind :)
for a full experience there should be at least one naughty but very cute boy like him: :)

-hope u don't mind getting famous, Chłopak :) -

now, the tradition is that in Poland people bring święconka to the Church where the priest blesses it. btw, it's very similar to Hungarian traditions: here we bring ham to the church to be blessed. this was our święconka, consisting of eggs, bread, sausage, salt n pepper:we met quiet a few people on the streets heading for the church sometimes carrying very interesting baskets. for instance one of these was a cake itself, serving as a nest for other delicates.
this is where our święconka got blessed.God bless You for our great time!

Riding round Kőszeg

dying on my bike. i could also have given this title to this post if i wasn't as strong as i am. :)
some 400 metres difference in altitude and 70 kilometers in distance. yeah, not a world record but tough enough for a warming up trip in the beginning of the season.
and the bottom line: the location, Kőszeg and the surrounding mountains, villages. Great scenery, romantic places.
i just love this photo:Seven Springs. They were named by the seven leaders who led the Hungarian tribes in the 9th century when they occupied the Carpathian bed, where Hungary lies now. On the left you can see Álmos, he was the leader of the leaders. My street is also named after him. Besides the water coming from the springs tasted very well.

Not far from there - at least not horizontally - mounts the Oldhouse castle providing beautiful view on Kőszeg.
even if we hadn't seen anything else, these trees and the forrest looked so amazing and peaceful that we wouldn't have cared, the effort was worth to climb the mountains.In reality these beech trees shone with a fantastic silver glitter.

a bit further away, in the middle of the forrest:St Vid's church. popular place for weddings. a couple were checking the place while we were there. poor people... :) but it has to be said that it's a very romantic place to spoil people's lives :)

This old mill is located in Velem, a quiet, lovely village. here we had a last stop and tried the local wine. yummie. well, it's not a real sportsman's attitude, but we needed some energy :)
and last but not least my cycling mates. ZFC. Zoom-focus-compose :)

Budapest (high)lights

although i've got several things to say - or write - due to lack of time i only post two photos now as part of a series introducing Budapest. on the first one the national theatre and the Palace of Arts can be seen. on the second photo.. well, u can guess. sunset at the campus.