This is admittedly a lighter story, fitting perhaps for an August weekend. Hungarians celebrate St. Stephen’s Day on Sunday, and the founding of the first Hungarian state. Many Hungarians have turned this into a long weekend and are relaxing on the shores of Lake Balaton. Here’s a story that binds two countries and two communities–literally. And it all focuses on […]
Most Californians do not know that the picturesque city of San Juan Capistrano, south of Los Angeles close to the Pacific Coast, has an intriguing Hungarian connection. The town is a popular tourist destination with palm trees, lots of sunshine and gorgeous architecture. If you visit Budapest, and walk around in the Castle district you’ll bump into a small square, […]
On Friday, July 21 the British Academy announced sixty six of the “world’s leading minds” as new Fellows of the Academy. George Soros, Chairman, Soros Fund Management; Founder and Chairman, Open Society Foundations is a new Honorary Fellow. The announcement noted that Fellows of the British Academy represent the very best of humanities and they contribute to research of social […]
I visit Budapest every year and enjoy my stay there although the Hungarian way of doing business bothers me. Here’s a story about the US Swim Team that illustrates how business is done in Budapest. (Read details here in Hungarian.) Small corruption was always part of life in Hungary. In the old days when I bought produce at the market, I knew when […]
Hungary is spending $1.7 million (463 million forints) to help restore Christian churches in Lebanon, according to government records. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has instructed the Minister of the National Economy to transfer this amount, as the Hungarian government aims to help Lebanon’s Christian minority continue living in their own country and also wants to play a role in preserving […]
Viktor Orbán thinks that Muslim immigrants are a threat to Europe because they are unable “to integrate into Western societies.” He has said that Muslim immigration is “the Trojan horse of terrorism” and has issued a stark warning that Western civilization and “Christian identity” is in danger. Hungary won’t let in Muslim immigrants at all. *** I heard the shocking […]
As an American of Hungarian origin I hope that the USA Swim team will succeed in Budapest at the upcoming 2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships. The competition will start this weekend and lasts two weeks. I also wish good luck to the Hungarian team. To be honest I would have been happier if Hungarian-born Katinka Hosszú would compete in US […]
My wife and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Budapest. The city was sizzling hot, but the view of the river was gorgeous as always. Ferihegy airport is busy, the new building is already overcrowded and the season has just started. Taxi Our Frankfurt flight leaves early and we have to be at Ferihegy well before 5:00AM. How […]
Here’s the story behind one of the most endearing wine taverns in Budapest. Imre Balázs Molnár is a Hungarian Canadian, born in Montreal, lived in the same Laval suburb that I grew up in, and ended up in Ottawa much like me. As it happens, he was born at Montreal’s St. Mary’s Hospital, and probably around the same year as […]
Zsuzsa Koncz knows from personal experience what it’s like to be a performer, singer and artist in a dictatorial regime. In 1973, even though Hungary’s Kádár regime was more liberal than any other Eastern bloc country when it came to cultural and artistic expression, Zsuzsa Koncz’s album entitled Jelbeszéd (Sign Language) was suddenly pulled from the shelves of record stores and […]
