Budapest

On behalf of Zsombor Berecz, Áron Gádorfalvi and Diana Detre I think we can agree with Rod Stuart: in Hungary you find ‘neither sea nor stormy water.’ But Hungary has the biggest lake in central Europe, which is home to many international competitions, so we shouldn’t be surprised if we find some Hungarians in the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing.

Sailing on Lake Balaton, of course, is totally different since it’s not salty and there aren’t any long distances as on sea. But, like the sea, Lake Balaton is rife with challenges, and if you are aware of that the nature is highest and strongest power, you will ‘survive’ everything. I believe that Lake Balaton can be a good basic for preparation.

In addition, Zsombi. Áron and Dia have tried themselves on seas, and they have gotten the opportunity (quotas) to participating at Beijing, which will be a real challenge for them. To help them we have to keep cross our fingers from 12th August to 20th August!!!

The starting for the Hungarian team was really good, Zsombi (Laser) in on the 31st place after 2 heats, Áron on 17th, Dia on the 21st after 4 heats. Great! Congratulation!!

But what were their goals set before leaving for the Olympic Games?

Áron would like to be in the first 20, Dia and Zsombi in the first 40. We do hope that their dreams come true, although they have already had wonderful results. Dia in 2008 was the 53rd at the World Championship, Áron was the 21st in the 28th Olympic games in Athens, in 2000 he was the 2nd at the World Championship; Zsombi in 2008, he was the 86th at the world Championship.

Final result

Gádorfalvi closed tha Beijing Games on the 19th place thus fulfilled his own claims, while Diána Detre has finally catched the 22th place far above expectations (and thus neither could qualify themselves to the finals). Gádorfalvi managed to arrive as the 10th last Sunday, and thus reached his best result ever.Zsombor has stepped forward to the 29th place after a good performance of 16th of August, but finally closed the laser's competition as the 30th. As each of them managed to perform above expectiations, we could be worthly proud of them. Hajrá magyarok!

Farkas Nóra

It’s quite hot, so we start the four hour walk in the museum’s park, with everyone sitting on a bench in the shadow of the hundred-year-old trees. Manó Domján and György Baglyas, our guides today, do not have an easy job. Although there are a majority of Hungarians in my group who ask many questions, there are some foreigners too. With the help of a home-made timeline and witty anecdotes, the guides recall the most important stages of the country’s history in five minutes.

The deal behind Józsefváros

The young social worker graduates have managed to launch what they call the ‘most promising business of 2008’. ‘It began in 2006 and 2007,’ explains Gyuri. ‘A foreign friend of mine was spending a couple of days in Budapest, and asked us to show him our favourite places of the district where we lived at the time. He enjoyed the walk so much, that I got the idea of making a business out of showing the values and wealth of this part of the city; it had been unfairly hidden from other tourists over the past decades.’

The eighth district of Józsefváros can be divided into two parts: there is a so-called ‘palace-district’, and a poorer, slum part on the other side of the Grand Boulevard. According to the income per capita, it is still one of the poorest parts of the capital of Hungary. Mainly Hungarians, gypsies, Slovakians and Chinese people live here. ‘Many think it is a ghetto, but that’s completely wrong. I would call it a slum,’ Gyuri says.

Budapesters learn

One reason behind the bad reputation of this area is the lack of public security. Despite an improvement in cracking down on crime, the district is still associated in people’s minds as being dangerous. Another reason for having been pushed to the background - when it comes to flat-hunting for example - is the high ratio of the Roma population living there, despite ongoing rehabilitation. ‘It is our mission to change the reputation of this neighbourhood,’ continues Gyuri. ‘We want to make different cultures meet, showing beautiful but ‘non-touristic’ places and a friendly atmosphere.’

The tour can teach Budapesters a thing or two as well, as Piroska, a Hungarian girl who has joined her Swiss friend for the tour, explains. ‘I am a tour guide myself, but I have learnt a lot about Budapest during this half-day tour.’ Her friend Davide from Switzerland adds that he prefers this way of discovering a city, because ‘you can learn more here than in course of an ordinary tour.’

I begin to feel uncomfortable; it is hard to openly admit that I have a kind of superficial knowledge of my own city. I have spent my entire life in Budapest, and after a four hour walking guide tour, I feel like a foreigner, no different from the American girl standing next to me.

Hungarian South Park

Most cities have statues or fountains; we have plaques. They act as small commemorations for almost every important or slightly important celebrity. Most are interesting; if you intend to become acquainted with the hidden secrets of this city, keep your eyes peeled. That’s what Mano and Gyuri have done since they fell in love with a district nicknamed ‘Nyócker’, as inspired by Áron Gauder’s 2004 animated film of the same name.

As the tour continues, you never know what’s next. You go from hearing stories about the whimsy and eccentric life of two rival liquor-making families, to having a local lady gatecrash and begin to relate anecdotes about tanks stationed in front of her house during the 1956 revolution. She even invites us into a beautiful hidden and sweet-scented garden in the courtyard of the building in front of us, pointing out it is the home of Nobel prize-winning Hungarian physician Albert Szent-Györgyi. In another hidden garden in the atelier of painter Ilona Szűts, we are treated with fresh fig feast picked from her own tree.

A short presentation on the union of the formerly two separated parts of Buda and Pest, and we go on to discover phoning angels on the façade of the former telephone broadcasting factory, and a hundred-year-old blacksmith shop near the national museum. I’ve passed that shop several times, and always thought that it was an abandoned and forgotten place: it has now become a lively part of my city. I finally get an explanation (thank God) as to why all the public buildings are painted in canary yellow; I would be more than pleased to give you the answer - but you have to find out by yourself! Meanwhile, the interactive tour on the Beyond Budapest website allows tour group members to tell their own versions of stories about the buildings and streets surrounding them.

You can read this article in the magazine.