Blooming

The last two weeks of spring weather have really made an impact in Copenhagen, as the trees are blooming. This one is just down the road from me and the photo was taken using the Hipstamatic for iPhone with the Lucifer lens.

Battle of Seasons

Also the poppies are in full bloom as spring wins the battle of seasons.

Tower of City Hall

Behind the daffodils in Tivoli the tower of the City Hall of Copenhagen can be seen. The tower is a sure fixture in the Copenhagen skyline.

Tulips

The tulips in the Swedish coastal city of Helsingborg is in full bloom. And they are yellow of course.

Spring Has Come

At Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady) in Copenhagen spring has at last showed itself. In the last few weeks things has started to bloom again like these flowers.

Easter Monday

On this the last day of the Easter holiday I bring you a basket full of Easter eggs or rather a Hipstamatic for iPhone photo of one from Tivoli in Copenhagen. Make sure you don't put all of your eggs in one basket though.

Easter Sunday

Today is Easter Sunday and though Easter has its traditions some of these are just a bit peculiar. I don't know where the Easter Bunny fits in but here he is with the Danish cartoon character Rasmus Klump greeting guests in Tivoli in Copenhagen.

Easter Saturday

In Danish daffodils are called påskeliljer - literally Easter lilies - and they are one the most used symbols for Easter. Rather convenient as they are in full bloom this time of year. The Hipstamatic for iPhone photo is from Tivoli where you can see the scene called Plænen - the Lawn - which for the second year has actual grass on it and chairs to enjoy the good spring weather in.

Good Friday

A basket full of Easter eggs for all readers on this Good Friday in the Easter Holiday, a day which in Danish is called langfredag or Long Friday. The photo is from Tivoli in Copenhagen that opened for the summer last week. In the background is the Pantomime Scene where shows are on with Pjerrot, Harlequin and Columbine.

Happy Easter

Today is the first day of Easter celebrations in Denmark, and even though it's mostly about food and family, it is holiday time here. As promised yesterday I got a surprise for you and here it is, an Easter Egg with an Easter Bunny breaking out of the shell. The photo is from the entrance to Tivoli in Copenhagen. As you might have guessed by now, the series that starts today will mostly be about Easter photos and springtime.

The Last From Budapest

This will be the last post with photos from Budapest, and what to end the series with but a photo of the bird that watches over the city, the Turul bird. The Turul is the most important bird in the origin myth of the Magyars. It is a divine messenger, a symbol of power, strength and nobility. And as long as it watches over Hungary, the country will prosper. 

From tomorrow a new series will start, and it will be about...well, I guess you just have to wait and see:-)

Gellert Baths

The Gellert Baths is another fine example of the Budapest Secession style of Art Nouveau. Built in 1912-18 these baths utilize the thermal springs that Budapest is known for.

Secession

Budapest has got it's own Art Nouveau style called Secession which is evident in many of the buildings in the Pest area. This one on Lehel utca is a fine example of that style.

The Father of the Compromise

On Roosevelt Square in Budapest is a monument to Ferenc Deak, the politician who made the compromise with the Habsburgers that created the double monarchy. He was a speaker for moderate reforms which led to the union of the three cities of Buda, Pest and Óbuda into one city, Budapest.

The Just

The Matyas Fountain or Matthias Fountain at the Budapest Palace on Castle Hill was made in 1904 by Alajos Stróbl in honour of king Matthias Corvinus and his beloved Ilonka. It depicts a hunting scene with falconers, hunters, deer and dogs. Ilonka, the peasant girl he according to legend fell in love with during a hunt, can be seen under the columns to the right. Called the Just Matthias was King of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Rama, Serbia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria, Prince of Silesia and Luxembourg, Margrave of Moravia and Lusatia.

The Great Reformer

This statue of the great reformer Istvàn Szechenyi (1791-1869) looks over the Danube from his place in the wall, the river which he spanned with the first permanent bridge, now named after him. He was a politician, theorist, writer and one of the greatest statesmen of Hungary. An example of his reforms was the establishment of the Academy of Sciences by donating the annual income from his estates.

A Hussar

On the Parade Square on Castle Hill in Budapest is a statue of something the Hungarians are famous for; a hussar. The hussars were light cavalrymen used for reconnaissance duties and for surprise attacks against the enemy's flanks and rear.

For Freedom and Truth

István Bibo was acting Minister of State for the Hungarian National Government during the 1956 revolution. Rather than escape he stayed at the Hungarian Parliament building waiting to be arrested by the Soviets as they crushed the rebellion. During that wait he wrote his famous proclamation "For Freedom and Truth". Not far from the Parliament building this bust can be found on the bank of the Danube.

" The Hungarian people have already sacrificed enough of their blood to show the world their devotion to freedom and truth. Now its up to the world powers to demonstrate the fore of principles embodied in the United Nations Charter and the strength of the world's freedom-loving peoples. I appeal to the major powers and the United Nations to make a wise and courageous decision to protect the freedom of our subjugated Nation."

A Hooded Man

Inside the Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest is this hooded man, sitting for eternity. The statue represents Anonymous, a thirteenth century chronicler whose work "Gesta Hungarorum", written in Latin and based on earlier chronicles now lost, contains the Hunnish-Hungarian cycle of legends as well as the history of the Magyar Conquest and of the first kings of the House of Árpád. Very little is known about him, except the fact that he worked for the court.

Eternal Flame

 

Outside the parliament building in Budapest is the eternal flame, a memorial to the 1956 revolution. It was unveiled in 1996 on the fortieth anniversary of the revolution which cost more than 2500 Hungarians and  700 Soviet troops their lives.

The eagerly pointing man on the imposing monument just outside the Parliament in Budapest is Hungarian Regent-President Lajos Kossuth. He was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and, from 1849, Regent President of Hungary. Widely honoured as a fighter for freedom and democracy he ended his life in exile in Italy.

Reclining

On Castle Hill in Budapest this reclining gentleman sits quite still on his bench. This is the composer, philosopher, ethnomusicologist, linguist and educator Zoltán Kodály who has his fixed seating here.

A Man with a Hat

Right by the Parliament in Budapest sits a man with a hat, looking lost and sad. This is Attila Jozsef, a Hungarian poet of the 20th Century. A sad figure he was, as he showed signs of schizophrenia and withdrew into his poetry. At the age of 32 he was crushed by a starting train while crawling through the railway tracks. Whether this was an accident or a suicide nobody knows.

And so I've found my native country, that soil the gravedigger will frame, where they who write the words above me do not for once misspell my name.
— Attila József, And so I've found my native country… (first stanza)

A Wicked Witch

When walking around in Budapest you sometime get the feeling that a wicked witch has been throwing her wand around turning passers-by into bronze statues. This one of a girl and a dog on the bank of the Danube is an obvious example of that feeling, as she and the dog is caught in mid-action by artist Dávid Raffay.

New and Old

In Budapest there's a lot of nice old buildings and quite a lot of new ones as well. As everywhere else the trick is to get the new not to clash too much with the old. Most of the times this has worked well enough in the city centre as here where the Kempinsky Hotel seemed at ease with the old lampposts.Follow my blog with bloglovin

Under Reconstruction

As regular readers may notice things are changing on the blog; pages with favorites and information are being made, blog-awards are removed from the side and moved to its own page and the number of posts on the page has been cut down. Hopefully these changes will get the blog to load a bit faster to make it more reader-friendly. I'm still working on a few more pages with my best shots so there'll still be changes in the next few weeks. The daily post will continue as always though:)

Above Ground

Another way of getting around Budapest apart from the metro is the trams that criss-cross the city. And they offer a better view than the metro. Make sure you at least hang onto a strap or you might be in trouble during the drive.

Shiny

The new metro stations in Budapest are nice and clean, as are the trains. With wages low there's no shortage of staff to clean, check tickets and just hang around. All in all a pleasant experience to travel with this metro, even during rush hour.

Going Down

The Budapest Metro has not only the old stations like the one on yesterday's post, but also modern ones on the new lines. And more lines are being planned and built, so that the city will have a widespread net of metro stations in the near future.

An Old Metro

The Budapest Metro is the second oldest metro in the world after the London Underground and it shows in the oldest of the stations. This is the end of the line, the City Park, for the first line, the one under Andrássy Avenue, that where completed in 1896. A really cosy little station with matching small cars.

This Can't Be a McD...

Yesterdays post showed you the outside of the McD near the Western Train station in Budapest. The inside of it was just as surprisingly nice, even though they still retain some of the Formica and counters as in all other stores.