My laptop has failed which is highly sub-optimal, so my two loyal blog readers might face a delay in reading my riveting posts until the matter is resolved….
NB, the image is AI generated, not my actual laptop….
Author: admin
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Glasgow – Bus to City Centre More Expensive than the Flight
I experienced earlier today what might best be described as one of the more decadent bus journeys of my life, from Glasgow Airport to the city centre, courtesy of First Bus.
The excited passengers waiting to board.
This cost the not-so-bargain price of £11. Now, I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I did briefly wonder if I’d accidentally bought the seat. Not rented. Bought and perhaps provided with a free First fleece. As a comparison, my flight all the way from Budapest, roughly 1,200 miles and including a safety demonstration and a view of some clouds, was under £9. In short, it was cheaper to fly across a continent than to endure 20 minutes of pleasant Scottish tarmac.
That said, the opulent bus itself was clean, punctual and, dare I say, convenient with the driver neither shouting nor hitting any of the passengers so there were lots of positives. Within moments of leaving the airport, I was whisked through the drizzle with wifi and a USB port and it was all very smooth.
Still, I arrived safely, albeit financially rattled and maybe they should offer a laminated certificate to commemorate my participation in the UK’s most disproportionately priced transport experience (well, other than the Luton DART). It does though run 24 hours, so you can be overcharged day and night.
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Budapest – District XI (Statue of Gábor Bethlen)
This statue in District XI of Budapest commemorates the life of Gábor Bethlen, a rather important figure in Hungarian history. He was the Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and also King-elect of Hungary (he never quite took control of the entire country) from 1620 to 1621 and he was also the Duke of Opole (one of my favourite cities) from 1622 until 1625. He is particularly known for leading Transylvania into its “golden age” and for his wise rule, economic reforms and for defending Protestantism in Hungary during the Thirty Years’ War. There are rather more decadent statues of him around the city, but this one is suitably under-stated and also has a coat hook for reasons unknown to me.
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Wizz Air (Budapest to Glasgow)
I thought that the tropical heat of Budapest was getting a bit much, so I decided to go somewhere rather more suited to my preferred temperature range, so I opted for Glasgow. The flight was just under £9 with the Wizz Air Multipass that I bought last December and I remain very pleased with.
Slightly blurred, well very blurred, but I was zooming in to check that I was at the correct gate. The flight was delayed by an hour, but I was in no rush at the other end so I appreciated the extra time in the airport lounge. The boarding process was efficient and the gate staff were polite and helpful, although a couple of customers being charged for oversized bags might not have agreed with that.
Boarding the aircraft 9H-WDR, an A321 which has been in the Wizz Air fleet since June 2023. The seat Gods had unfortunately given me a middle seat and I had decided to accept my fate with my usual heap of downloaded YouTube videos lined up. However, the delight of hearing “boarding complete” with no-one in the aisle seat meant that the seating Gods had looked at me favourably after all. And then I noticed that the woman opposite and forward one row had eyed up the seat and was wildly flapping for her husband (or male companion, I shouldn’t judge) to come back about six rows and sit there to be near her. Anyway, that plan was foiled as I had already moved when she was mid-flap.
And then another little situation occurred when numerous people applauded the pilots for landing the plane. I don’t know a huge number of pilots (well, two) but both of them I know hate this practice and I’m not sure if it’s from the Hungarians who know more about their national airline than I do (I accept that it might not be the official national airline, but it has far more aircraft than any other Hungarian airline).
Anyway, that was the first little situation, with the second being the lady in the window seat being determined to barge past me after the aircraft arrived at the gate to get to the aisle. Now, I’m a firm believer in the “where exactly do you think you’re going?” philosophy of post-landing etiquette. I’ve got nowhere to go or stand. Are we suddenly going to a surprise party on the air bridge? No, we’re not, so I wasn’t moving in the period between the aircraft being at the gate and the aircraft door opening. The whole mad dash is truly a marvel and it happens nearly every flight. You’ve got people practically dislocating shoulders trying to yank their bloody carry-ons down, then forming a chaotic queue in the aisle, all while desperately trying to outmanoeuvre each other for a coveted spot only to then shuffle along at the pace of a heavily sedated snail once they hit the terminal.
And safely back in Glasgow post rushoffplanegate, around forty minutes later than expected. I have a few hours at the airport but I’ll report back on this riveting exercise a little later on.
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Budapest – District XI (Mészöly utca)
This is a typical street sign in Budapest, the XI. kerület being reference to it being in District XI, Szentimreváros is the neighbourhood and 7-1 are the house numbers on this section on the street. I have no idea why the street name is what it is, Google Gemini made a guess that it might be related to Miklós Mészöly (1921-2002) although it probably isn’t.
But, this isn’t the story that I found intriguing, it’s the one at this web-site about District XI, which tells a story about a pub that was once located near to this site. It talks about the character of the pub, which is now a Mexican restaurant, and the people who worked there. The intriguing elements to me is this:
“It is unimaginable today, but at that time, underage students from nearby high schools were also served in pubs, including Mészöly. The latter became such a regular spot for many of them that some classes later organised their graduation parties here. Although it has become a cult place over the decades, in its heyday, most people considered “Mészi” a classic disgrace, where beer is cheap and you don’t have to pay a lot for other drinks. Many people may also remember the skinheads, whose community was held together by xenophobia in addition to their immoderate enjoyment of beer. It happened in the late 80s that a colored man walked in front of them just as they were leaving Mészi. The gang, hungry for mischief, started chasing the young man, who ran much faster than them, and jumped on the tram that arrived at the stop. The bald men arrived late, but one of them tried to kick the door of the already moving vehicle. Fate punished him harshly: the tram cut off one of his legs.”
That’s certainly some story and the moral of the story is don’t attack people because they’re different. I wonder if losing his leg changed his attitude to life….
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Budapest – District XI (Statue of Géza Gárdonyi)
Located in District XI of Budapest, this is the statue of Géza Gárdonyi (1863-1922), a renowned Hungarian writer and playwright.
The sculpture was unveiled here on 13 May 1933 and was designed by János Horvay. In addition to the main man himself, there are bronze figures of a boy lying down and a mother reading to him, symbolising his historical novels and works for children. It was commissioned by the Országos Gárdonyi Géza Irodalmi Társaság (the National Géza Gárdonyi Literary Society) and funded through public subscription, the monument reflects just how deeply Gárdonyi’s work must have resonated with ordinary readers across the country. By 1933, his book written in 1899 Egri csillagok (“Eclipse of the Crescent Moon”) had already become a staple of Hungarian school curricula, so I guess that he was the Enid Blyton of his day….. Actually, I’m not sure that she wrote military fiction, but the Famous Five were often very brave.
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Budapest – District XI (Stumbling Blocks – Farago Family)
Located in District XI of Budapest, these are Stumbling Blocks (Stolpersteine) commemorating the lives of three members of the Farago family who lived at Bartók Béla út 52. The family members were Andor and his two sons, István and György.
– Faragó István (Born 1906), who was killed by firing squad into the Danube in 1944.
– Faragó Andor (Born 1877), who was killed by firing squad into the Danube in 1944. He was a significant figure as the former editor-in-chief of the Hungarian mathematical and physical journal KöMaL, which he relaunched in 1925.
– Faragó György (Born 1907), who died in Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944.
The exact dates of their murders aren’t known, but it was the Arrow Cross Party who executed the two who were shot at the edges of the River Danube so that their bodies fell in and got swept away. Their shoes were usually removed before the execution as they were easier to sell on. The Arrow Cross Party were in power from 15 October 1944 to 28 March 1945 and they killed around 15,000 people directly in that time, accepting no opposition to their campaign of terror and hatred, and tens of thousands more were sent to their deaths in concentration camps.
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Budapest – District XI (Tap Burger & Beer)
There’s a little bit of a theme that might be visible to my two loyal blog readers about which places in a city I prioritise visiting….. This is the highly rated Tap Burger & Beer located in District XI of Budapest.
It wasn’t that busy when I entered on Sunday afternoon, but it was an inviting and welcoming atmosphere. With a shark.
There are plenty of craft beers to choose from and the list is also on Untappd.
It’s not a huge place, but there’s some more seating upstairs and some tables outside as well where you can enjoy your beer whilst people smoke over you (one day that situation will come to an end) and be bitten by wasps.
I couldn’t see a menu in English but I was planning to have a chicken burger so that proved easy enough to order. The food arrived promptly and was excellent, the chicken had a depth of flavouring to the coating and it was also tender. The fries were some of the best I’ve had, crispy on the exterior and nice and fluffy on the interior with something like a paprika coating on the outside. The bun was lightly toasted and it was all served as a generous portion.
The beer was the Fruit Works – Mango, Passion Fruit and Strawberry from Brew Your Mind, as I very much like fruit and obviously can’t get enough of it. It was lightly soured and refreshing, something that was very useful given the extreme heat outside. Or, at least, what I considered to be the extreme heat. The server didn’t ask if I wanted a small or large beer, just serving me the large, but I think he made the right choice for me there.
The service was friendly and engaging, the venue was clean and the atmosphere was comfortable, so I liked it here. As I mentioned, the on-line reviews for this bar are very high and I can see why they’ve built up something of a following. I’ll likely be back, the beer list was well thought out and curated, with the prices being reasonable (it was around £12 for the burger, fries, sauce and drink).
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Budapest – District XI (Kelenföld Railway Station Building)
Located in District XI of Budapest, the Kelenföld Railway Station is in a sub-optimal state, but the future is positive as it’s being turned into one of the buildings of the Hungarian Technical and Transportation Museum. The station first opened in 1861 and it’s one of the busiest in Hungary.
The building is fenced off at the moment, although the railway station itself is still in operation.
Here’s what it looked like on Google Streetview in 2013, run down but open. The museum has some images of what the building will look like in a few years and it does look rather exciting from a museum perspective.
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Budapest – District XI (Gyula Grosics Sculpture)
Located in District XI of Budapest, I’m not sure that I’ve seen a sculpture quite like this before and it commemorates the life of Gyula Grosics (1926-2014) who was the goalkeeper of the Hungarian national team in the 1950s. This team is apparently arguably one of the best to have ever played and Grosics was an integral part of that squad. He had the nickname of the ‘Black Panther’ as he wore black clothing when playing and he received 86 caps for the national team. The sculpture was installed here in 2018 and was designed by Kligl Sándor (1947-) who is an award winning Hungarian sculptor.
Here’s the information panel by the sculpture, which translated reads:
“PLAYERS SHOULD NOT EVEN ACCIDENTALLY BELIEVE
THAT THEY ARE HONOURING THE AUDIENCE
BUT RATHER THE OTHER WAY AROUND
THE PLAYER SHOULD FEEL HONOURED
THAT THEY CAN REPRESENT THE COLOURS OF A NATION
IN THE WIDE WORLD…” GYULA GROSICSGYULA GROSICS
“BLACK PANTHER”
(1926 – 2014)LEGENDARY GOALKEEPER OF THE GOLDEN TEAM
SPORTSMAN OF THE NATION, OLYMPIC CHAMPION
HONORARY CITIZEN OF OUR DISTRICT
ERECTED IN HIS MEMORY BY
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF ÚJBUDA
2018ARTIST: SÁNDOR KLIGL”
