Tag Archives: Pumi NY

Yeah… World Cupcake…, the new online baking course…

June 24, 2018

Finally I could reach Laszlo Thursday night. He is off the grid, so to speak.  He said that he signed up for a live streaming baking course, called “World Cupcake,” or something like that, if I remembered correctly. Supposedly,  he is really busy  to watch it to be able to keep up with the demanding curriculum.  So I did not bother him too much. He’s sent a few pictures that everything is ok at home…

Laszlo watching his baking course...

Laszlo is watching his online baking course…

Laszlo's online classmates...it is an interactive course

Laszlo’s online classmates…it is an interactive course

he told me that he feeds the dogs and they are ok

The dogs seem ok, so Laszlo has not forgotten to feed them – hopefully…

can you see the plants from the puppy? Scarlett has staying with us until July 2, when she can move in with her new owner to their newly restored home.

can you see the plants from the puppy? Scarlett is staying with us until July 2, when she’ll move in with her new owner to their newly restored home.

Even the newly planted veggies are green, unless he photoshopped them...

Even the newly planted veggies are green, unless Laszlo photoshopped the picture…

An der schönen blauen Donau (Blue Danube)

June 16, 2018

As I was driving in the afternoon Budapest traffic jam along the riverbank of the Danube River, an old pleasant memory popped into my head.  https://youtu.be/9dYLEI3lrUg

The cover of Johann Strauss II's

The cover of Johann Strauss II’s “An der schönen blauen Donau

When I was a kid and even later in life, it has been a family tradition to watch the Vienese Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance on television in the  morning of January 1 each year. Many people whom I’ve known,  got up in the morning of the first day of the new year and  watched the concert regardless of how sleepy or hangover they were after their new year parties.

As a kid, the “Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II was the highlight of the televised new year’s day concert.  I guess, for no particular reason. Of course it has catchy  tunes that has turned  into a lifetime jingle (especially when driving along the Danube in Budapest in an afternoon traffic jam…), because my mother always talked about it during the concert and overtime the stories she said has built up my expectations. Also, because of the waltz’s dreamy title, “The Blue Danube…” and the awesome superimposed photos of the cities along the Danube’s 1770 miles banks, Ulm, Linz, Vienna, Bratislava Budapest, Novi Sad… as they slowly floated across the black and white television monitor to the tunes of the music.  It has made me dreaming of distant lands along the river.

The ultimate Kodak moment of the Blue Danube.

The ultimate Kodak moment of the Blue Danube.

There is one memorable photo, easily the  signature picture of  Budapest split by the mighty Danube, taken high up from the great distance of the Castle hill.  The picture shows the Parliament building, the famous Chain Bridge, and the calm mirror like magnificent river below.  It has been the perfect and sanitized Kodak moment of the “Blue Danube.”

But how blue, and how calm and how perfect is the Danube anyway?  It is the second longest river in Europe about 1770 miles long. Its headwater in the Black Forest in Germany and it enters into the Black Sea somewhere near the Romanian Bulgarian border after rolling through 10 different countries.

The Danube's River monster, the Huchen or Danube Salmon it can go about four feet long and weight 110lbs.

The Danube’s River monster, the Huchen or Danube Salmon it can grow up to four feet long and weight 110lbs.

It is one of the most important major transportation water-ways on the continent, has its own unique fauna and flora, including its own river monster, the Danube Salmone or Huchen, that can grow as big as 4 feet and weight 110 lbs.  Last, but not the least, the Danube is also a much feared and respected river in large parts of Europe. People along its river valley have a personal, relationship with the river.  On the one hand, the river has  provided jobs, irreplaceable drinking water, food, helped in building wealth, contributed to prosperity and inspired arts and cultures. On the other hand, its floods have also been the most destructive events that have taken thousands of lives, destroyed crops and wiped out communities over the centuries.

As the results of the repeated devastating floods, Budapest's Danube river bank infrastructure has been rebuilt and improved over the last 200 years.

As the results of the repeated devastating floods, the river banks of the Danube in Budapest  has been repeatedly rebuilt, expanded and improved over the last 200 years.

Uniquely, there has been no major superstitions and biblical prophecies applied to the Danube over hundreds of years, as Christian Rohr explains in his study of meteorological history, “The Danube Floods and The Human Response and Perception (14th to 17th Century) “. In fact, there has been a very sober and rational relationship between the river and its human inhabitants as Rohr describes it. People have learned to ignore god and his alleged doings during major devastations and instead of  trying to appease God,  they have focused on rebuilding and developing more effective flood prevention technics and river control methods . Oddly, the church has shared this approach and has provided generous financial support after each flood to help rebuilding  the destroyed lives and communities.

the old riverbank of Budapest around the turn of the 20th century. It had failed to protect the city from floods over and over again.

the old unenforced riverbanks of Budapest around the turn of the 20th century.They had failed to protect the city from floods over and over again.

It’s been a constant armwrestling between the river and its people throughout history. Budapest has also experienced its fair share of devastating floods during its existence. In the 1800’s, 23 major floods ravaged the City (not counting smaller ones) that have generated repeated severe humanitarian disasters.  If you think about it, it is a very disturbing number. It means that people have experienced a devastating flood every four years in one century. Countless iives have been lost,  tens of thousands of people have been displaced, properties destroyed and food supplies wiped out when major floods hit Budapest 23 times in a hundred year time period. For instance, during the flood of 1838, 150 people had lost their lives, 50,000(!) had become homeless. That number was about 1/3 of the entire population of Buda and Pest in the 1830-40s.  (the two cities, Buda and Pest was not integrated that time.)  The Danube effected real estate fortunes, impacted infrastructure over the centuries and  the City kept  defending itself from the destructive power of the river. People have not moved…

However, the mighty river cannot be blamed as the single culprit for all the pains and sufferings of its inhabitants. The river is also a long time witness and a passive conduit of its people’s lifestyle, biases, cultural, religious differences, and hubris, especially in the 20th Century.

Military personnel in protective gear searching for survivals at the Ajka Aluminum chemical waste product escape disaster. The toxic sludge ultimately ended up in the Danube.

Military personnel in protective gear searches for survivals of  the Ajka Aluminum chemical waste product disaster. The toxic sludge ultimately ended up in the Danube.

contaminated creek carrying chemical waste toward the Danube after the Ajka disaster

contaminated creek carrying chemical waste toward the Danube after the Ajka disaster

The Danube has often been used  as industrial  waste dump, harnessed for its energy in harmful and devastating ways, and used to hide humanity’s sinister acts as a mass grave for people and war machines. It has also swallowed up cultures that were nihilated in the name of progress.

The Ada Kaleh, the tiny Turkish island on the Romanian section of the Danube River was sank to give way to the hydroelectric power plant on the Danube. a 300 year old thriving ethnic culture was eliminated in the name of progress

Ada Kaleh, the tiny Turkish island on the Romanian section of the Danube River was flooded to give way to the hydroelectric power plant on the Danube. A 300 year-old thriving ethnic community was uprooted in the name of progress

the island under water on a satellite photo

the island fo Ade Kaleh under water on a satellite photo

The tragic fate of the frequently romanticized “Turkish island,” Ada Kaleh,  or the “Ottoman Atlantis,” as historians named it, on the Danube’s Romanian section has been a longtime Austrian outpost for the Habsburg Empire until  it was seceded to the Turks, in the 1600’s.  The Ottoman inhabitants of the tiny island, have established a thriving economic and cultural life during their close to 300 years of existence, until the Romanian communist government decided to built the infamous Iron Gate  hydro-electric power plant on the Danube in the 1970’s.  The newly built  dam flooded the island that simply disappeared under water like the city of Atlantis with its buildings and entire unique muslim history and culture.

The infamous Iron Gate hydroelectric power plant. Its dam system flooded the island of Ada Kaleh.

The infamous Iron Gate hydroelectric power plant. Its dam system flooded the island of Ada Kaleh.

When Central Europe’s multicultural melting pot have over boiled time to time, it has brought violence, destruction, ethnic cleansing and suffering for the area along the Danube’s river valley. Two world wars have been started in the region, in which the river has always played an important strategic role.  Near the end of WWII hundreds of Nazi river warships were sunken by the Germans to avoid the Soviets to seize and use them against the retreating forces of the Third Reich. These boats have never been lifted from the bottom of the river and during excessive droughts, the gost ships break  though the surface of the water and can be seen from passing boats and from the shores.

During the 2003 drought the water level has lowered so much that sunken german warships broke the surface of the river. this event has opened a new research projects for historians

During the 2003 drought the water level has lowered so much that sunken german warships broke the surface of the river. this event has opened a new research projects for historians

The monument on the waterfront of the Danube remembering the jewish victims of the holocaust

The monument on the waterfront of the Danube remembering the jewish victims of the holocaust

One of the most shameful WWII atrocities along the Danube is memorialized by the abandoned shoes memorial on the river bank of the Danube in the center of Budapest. Between 1944-1945 the henchmen of the Naci sympatizer Hungarian government, executed twenty thousand  Jews on the river front of the Danube. The memorial is a chilling testament about one of the darkest moments of humanity.

Disasters and tragedies in more recent memories were the cyanid pollution of the Danube from the Romanian gold mines in 2000 and the infamous toxic sludge river pollution from the caustic byproducts of aluminum production from Ajka, Hungary. The heavy sludge  broke the levees of the giant storage pools and polluted over 15 sq miles of lands, creeks, displacing and killing wildlife, and livestock.  More than 10 people have died and hundreds were seriously injured. Towns and villages in the area have been abandoned and never rebuilt. The chemical sludge ended up in the Danube that has carried the devastating pollution further downriver to other communities.

What is the takeaway of these stories?  I do not know. Perhaps that the “Blue Danube Syndrome” is really not an isolated chain of events specific to a certain geographic area or its people.  While we tend to dismiss our hubris and the plentiful cautionary biblical prophecies, we cannot escape to be repeatedly reminded of our not too bright future.  In a twisted way, the entertainment industry and cinema have taken charge of the delivery of prophetic messages by way of rolling out apocalyptic action movies and stories that depicts mankind’s potential gloomy fate in response to our arrogance.

Has the cinema industry replaced the role of religion or it has become "the religion? Do movies take over the role of scripture and the diminished impact of prophecies?

Has the cinema industry replaced the role of institutionalized religion or it has become “a religion?” Do movies become the ultimate delivery platforms  of biblical prophecies?

Budapest and the Danube also have their very own apocalyptic film now, produced in 2017. It is titled, “DVNA” (Danube). Tamas Yvan Topolanszky, the young Hungarian director in his nightmarish movie,  depicts life in Budapest, immediately after  the Danube disappears from its river bed overnight.

What is the outcome of the movie? I won’t be able to tell you because the traffic has finally started moving along the river bank and I am not supposed to write on my phone while driving the car.

Instead, I start doodling the “Blue Danube” again.

To be continued…

 

.

Catskill Pumis Behind the Case of Southern Discomfort

August 2, 2017

Csinszka's new grand champion ribbon

Csinszka’s new grand champion ribbon

I had a busy six days last week.  I have traveled with the small contingent of three Catskill Pumis, Anka, Csinszka and Otter,  to Greenville South Carolina, to participate at the Carolina Foothills Cluster, sponsored by Purina Proplan.

It was a relatively large entry for the breed, 14 Pumis have been present including us,  to showcase  a cross segment of the breed in the US. I also had a chance to meet some of the new Pumi owners and reconnect with old ones.

Jan and Anka

Jan and Anka

The venue, the TD Convention Center was a comfortable place to exhibit and seek shelter from the scorching southern heat. The heat and humidity south of the Mason Dixon line is  drastically different  than our mild summer temperature  Upstate NY.

I was pleased with the strong performance of my Pumis. Anka is gradually regaining her pre pregnancy condition. Her hair is also coming back without complications. Seeing her rebounding so fast after her first litter reassures me that my dogs’ BARF diet is working well and that her body has  handled the burdens and challenges of pregnancy beautifully.

our weekend result

our weekend result

Jan and Csinszka in the Ring

Me and Csinszka in the Ring

Csinszka is maturing by the day and she is turning into a beautiful proportional bitch with well balanced movements. She is one of the lightest movers, barely touching the ground.

Otter, the well kept Catskill Pumi secret is out now in the open and keeps winning hearts and minds of those who are looking for quality males.  He needs to be traveling and shown more to gain confidence and to become more comfortable in the ring.

Overall, my Catskill Pumis have delivered a steady and successful performance.

 

Catskill Apacatancos Anka got one “Select,” two BOS and one BOB placements.

Catskill Csucsai Csinszka has earned three “Selects” and one BOS.  Csinszka also finished her Grand Championship over the weekend!

Catskill Otter has received two “Select” placements.

This successful week could not have been possible without Jan Kolnik, Anka’s handler, Eryn Glenn who showed Otter, and Marilyn Funke who has shown her group of Pumis and we shared the hotel room and an enormous amount of gossips for four days.

Otter

Otter

Fear and Loathing in Pécs, Hungary

March 13, 2016

The flag of Pé with the coat of arm of the city. it says, Seal of the Free Royal City of Fivechurch" granted by Maria Theresa (i thin

The flag of Pécs with the coat of arm of the city. It says,
“Seal of the Free Royal City of Fivechurch” granted by Maria Theresa (i think in the center MT stands for her)

Studio detail of Marta Csille where I planned to have two days of felting workshop.

Studio detail of Marta Csille where I planned to have two days of felting workshop.

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Work station at Martha Csille’s felting studio

The county building. Pecs is also the county seat of Baranya County

The county building. Pecs is also the county seat of Baranya County

Barely back to Budapest from Graz, Austria on Monday and by early Thursday morning we hit the road again to the south, to the City of Pecs.  First we stopped in a small town, Egerág, at the studio of Marta Csille Hungarian felt artist, for a two day workshop to learn more about the tricks of the trade and enhance my felting toolbox.  I felt tired and a bit sick, I thought because of the crazy weather, lots of traveling, and lack of sleep.  By mid day, I had high fever, serious sinus pain and major headache.  Things did not go well. I finished the day early, got some cough and headache medicine that somehow got mixed with some palinka (Hungarian distilled spirit)  and went to sleep. Since I did not improve overnight, I got some antibiotics next day. I cancelled my second day of workshop and took an early and a pretty drowsy drive to Pecs, to the weekend FCI dog show.  I could not wait to arrive. I crashed at the duplex that I rented in the middle of town and tried to get some rest.

empty street with one of the perfectly preserved petrified body of one of the victims of the massive volcanic eruption.

empty street with one of the perfectly preserved petrified body by the massive volcanic eruption. He never got to finish his coffee.

Even though, my  condition improved somewhat by Saturday morning, I was still heavily under the effect of the unfortunate mixing of medicines and  alcohol from last night. First thing, I took the dogs for a big walk in the city center of Pécs, while holding my swollen running nose and barely balancing my 100lbs head on my neck.

The streets were dead empty not a single soul in sight. It seemed strange.

the empty Szécheny Square where is everyone?

the empty Szécheny Square, where is everyone?

Location Location Location…Hungary might have been the real estate dream market  throughout history, however, it must have been the nightmare for insurance companies for close to two thousand years. No wonder why. Hungary has been a virtual crossroad between east, west and south where different cultures have clashed for hundreds of years. They thrived, prospered than disappeared overnight, giving space for the next weave of invaders,  Romans, Avars, Celts, Mongols, Ottomans and others who fought over religion, land and resources.

The ghostly street sweeper and the Pumis

The ghostly street sweeper and the Pumis

 

Pécs’s history  go back to the ancient Romans. The City was established in the 2nd century and was named Sopianae. Excavation have unearthed Celtic burial sites and a Christian Necropolis. By the first millennium Pecs, like other parts of the country was under the control of the first Christian Hungarian King, Stephen I.  As the  nation accepted its new religious faith, the semi nomadic tribal military culture gradually faded into extinction and the ruling feudal system has risen from the blood and tears of the past.

The holy Trinity statue erected in 1714 to commemorate the escape from the plague, the Black Death. There are the plague saints on the bottom, and above the father, the son and the holy spirit.

The holy Trinity statue erected in 1714 to commemorate the escape from the plague, the Black Death. There are the plague saints on the bottom, and above the father, the son and the holy spirit – do not mix it with your medicine (I mean the holy spirit).

 

Medieval Pecs was built from the remains of five christian chapels and Sopianae was renamed “Five Churches.” Its new name was used in all of the languages of the area. The name has  been reduced to Pecs over the next 1200 years. The city has become a major cultural center. By 1367, Pécs has opened the doors of the first university in Hungary.  Next, the expanding Ottoman Empire has left its  impact  on the region and the whole country for 150 years…and I kept walking with the dogs in the empty city streets…

Pumis and of Janos Hunyadi the Overlord of Transylvania on horseback. I wonder what was he doing here...

No signs of life except the Pumis and  Janos Hunyadi the Overlord of Transylvania on horseback. I wonder what was he doing here…

The dramatic eruption of the nearby volcano of Mt. Mecsek destroyed the city of Pécs, killing all and burying the city under 20 ft of volcanic ash. For several hundreds of years the buildings, objects and the bodies that lay beneath the ash cover have been untouched and perfectly preserved because of the lack of air and moisture.  When the excavation uncovered the hermetically sealed site, plaster fillings were injected in the voids of the ash layers that held human bodies. It allowed to see the body positions of the people, as they died.  The city has remained an empty haunted place, virtually an archeological site ever since.

First floor of the duplex that I rented in Pecs. It served more as a hospital.

First floor of the duplex that I rented in Pecs. It served more as a hospital.

the Pumis got comfy while I was chatting with Timothy Leary

the Pumis got comfy while I was chatting with Timothy Leary

The Mosque Pasha Quasim converted into a catholic church in 1702. The largest Turkish building in Hungary

The Mosque of Pasha Quasim converted into a catholic church in 1702. It is the largest Turkish building in Hungary

As I walked on the empty streets with the two dogs, the rhythmic clacking noise made by the impact of the dogs’ nails with the cobble stones pavement,  echoed from  the thick walls of the empty buildings.  My brain was pulsing, my vision was blurry and my body still exhausted from the fever when finally the fresh air and the warm rays of the morning sun slowly started clearing my druggy head.  I felt hungry and my brain craved for coffeine.  I walked into a patisserie and I bough a croissant and a large cappuccino.

When two Pumis occupy an empty city.

When two Pumis occupy an empty city.

After a few sips of coffee, I went into panic mode as I realized that holly @*#%…! I was mixing up the history of Pécs, Hungary and Pompeii, Italy.  But  something still did not add up, where did all the people disappear from the city…? “Why are the streets empty?” I asked the barista.

“There is a dog show in town and they all went to see some wonder dog from New York, I think a Pumi…,” she answered.

p.s. Agyag did fantastic both days. She got BOS, CACIB, CAC and Excellent 1 Saturday and Sunday too.

Kaffogo Agyag BOS, CACIB, CAC, Excellent 1 both days. the mystery has also been resolved. Yes, indeed, the good citizens of Pécs all came to see the American wonder Pumi at the dog show just look at the seats behind me.

Kaffogo Agyag BOS, CACIB, CAC, Excellent 1 both days. the mystery has also been resolved. Yes, indeed, the good citizens of Pécs abandoned their city and all came to see the American wonder Pumi, Kaffogo Agyag at the dog show. Do not believe me? Just look at the seats behind me.

the proof of that we were there and the rest was a nightmare.

the proof of that we were there and the rest was a bad dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sinus free and back safe and sound in Budapest again.

on the way back to Budapest. Double vision? oh not again...

on the way back to Budapest. Double vision? oh not again…

there is light at the end of the tunnel. Huhh...

there is light at the end of the tunnel. Huhh…

 

A Day Without Pumis

March 1, 2016

My sister posing with the Pumis in front of a subway musician. The guy probably finished the Liszt Ferenc Conservatorium.

My sister posing with the Pumis in front of a subway musician. The guy probably finished the Liszt Ferenc Conservatorium.

Dog shows, meetings, breeding dogs,  exercising, eating, visiting family…pretty much thats all that I could do during the  first two weeks in Budapest. Time flies fast. Finally, Sunday my sister convinced me to forget the Pumis and dragged me to the City.  I did not oppose and there we went.

My buns are perhaps growing from the delicious food , however, I turn them into buns of steel during the spin classes I've been taking in the near by gym.

My buns are perhaps growing from the delicious food , however, they turn into buns of steel during the spin classes I’ve been taking in the nearby gym.

Budapest is a humungous size city with a population of over 3 million people within 203 square miles of land. This area is strictly the 22 districts of the City of Budapest without the greater metropolitan area.  (compare it to New York’s  five boroughs with over 8 million people on 305 square miles of land .)  About 1/3 of Hungary’s population of 10 million lives in Budapest.

or

Spin…

Checking out street vendors in the Jewish quarter

Checking out street vendors in the Jewish quarter

Spin...

or not to spin

We aimed the famous Erzsebetvaros, or Elizabethstadt in German or in English simply Elizabethtown, the VII-th district (7th district). This area was the outer edge of the City of Pest prior to the 1873,  unification of the three independent cities, Buda, Pest, and Old- Buda.  During the 1800s there have been gardens, small agricultural plots around this area with one  and two story houses where the jewish population started moving in to the city from the countrysides  in search for a better life.

Cobble stone, narrow streets, old buildings...

Cobble stones, narrow streets, old buildings…

 

The turn of the century (1900) has brought an incredible urban renaissance to the area.  Eclectic high-rise buildings and wide boulevards, were designed and built  that surrounded the perimeters of the largest jewish quarter in Budapest. During this time, the area’s  vernacular name has become “Csikago” after the City of Chicago in the U.S.. The nickname drew a parallel between the rapid urban and economic growth of the area and the American metropolis. Ironically, during the Great Depression, the name stuck with the district, but at this time  because of another parallel drawn between the two cities, the growth in crime rate.

the sign basically says shot up and respect you neighbors

Shut up visitors !

 

Near the end of WWII the jewish population has been systematically  decimated by the retreating German military from the Russian front and the Hungarian National Socialists.  After the war, during the rebuilding of the City, the center of Elizabethtown, the “ghetto,” as it was unofficially called by the communists, got  very small attention. It has remained one of the most dilapidated, poorest and crime ridden part of Budapest, hidden behind magnificent edifices.

City bikes to avoid driving around tipsy in the neighborhood (hungary has ZERO (0) alcohol tolerance for drivers of automobiles (also, Hungary has the strongest "Drunk Drivers Against Mothers" movement. (OK bad joke...)

City bikes to avoid driving around tipsy in the neighborhood. Hungary has ZERO (0) alcohol tolerance for drivers of automobiles. Consequently,  Hungary has the strongest “Drunk Drivers Against Mothers” movement. (OK bad joke…)

During the 1960s’ Communist integration policy, the Gipsy (Romani) from the countryside, was forced to move under the  urban relocation programs into the district’s abandoned and battered buildings. Lack of infrastructure, sanitation, policing and available jobs, turned the area into a hotbed of urban crime again. During  the 1970’s and 1980’s’ communist gentrification, a slow, however, steady wave of “bohemian artistic crowd” moved into the area that has become the beginning of the second urban renaissance of the district.

Memorials for the members of the Swiss Embassy who saved the Jews of Budapest during WWII

Memorials for the members of the Swiss Embassy who saved the Jews of Budapest during WWII

 

Today, Elizabethtown is a huge tourist attraction with street vendors, artisans, galleries, restaurants, bars, micro hotels and great apartments for rent. We spent pretty much the entire Sunday in the area wondering around.  One of the greatest attractions are the “Ruin pubs” that open up  in abandoned buildings and empty lots with good food, wide selection of beers, art works for sale and music.

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The entrance of one of the “Ruin pubs” in the district. The fundamental idea is to rent or occupy an abandoned building and set up shop using second hand  furniture, weird art work and thrift store clutter. Serve alcohol with no regular hours and no permits and move on when the neighbors complain or the authorities are after you.,

The "Madach Building... in retrospect one of the most ironic architectural piece of the area build in 1938 right on the perimeter of the "ghetto." Its style suspiciously remind me so many Nazi and fascist architecture of the era.

The “Madach Building… in retrospect one of the most ironic architectural piece of the area build in 1938 right on the perimeter of the “ghetto.” Its style suspiciously reminds me to Nazi and Fascist architecture of the era.

Although most of the area has been restored and sanitized to entertain tourists, the ghosts of those who perished during the violent past, have been and will be present in the air,  the bricks of the buildings, the cobble stones of the streets and in the reflections of leaded glass windows of the synagogues.

The arcade of the Madach building. Regardless, it is a fine piece of representation of the era. The apartments in the building in this area must worth a fortune.

The arcade of the Madach building. It is a fine piece of representation of the era. The apartments in the building must worth a fortune. Location location location…

The famous six-story "Huszar Building" the former home of the "Film Museum" The entry was on the first floor and the theater itself was on the basement level under ground. It was very difficult to get tickets. We have watched some of the greatest movies of cinema history here. Fellini, Bergman, Fassbinder, Herzog, Schlondorff, Bunuel, Truffaut, Godard, Cocteau... and the like

in the Jewish quarter, outside of the Main synagogue

FullSizeRender 94

The famous six-story “Hussar Building,” the former home of the iconic “Film Museum.” The entry was on the first floor and the theater itself was on the basement level,  way under ground. It was very difficult to get tickets there. We have watched some of the greatest movies of cinema’s history here with Laszlo. Fellini, Bergman, Fassbinder, Herzog, Schlondorff, Bunuel, Truffaut, Godard, Cocteau, and the like… In my opinion, the program of the Film Museum had a significant role in the collapse of communism….

City Hopping in Helsinki

March 27, 2015

The Central Railway Station of Helsinki

The Central Railway Station of Helsinki

We’ve decided that we had enough of the dogs and went to see Helsinki yesterday.  Strolled through part of Kluuvi, the commercial center of the City. It has a shopping center, the University of Helsinki, Movie theaters, museums and the Helsinki Central Railway Station among many other things. One interesting fact that I learned that the Square has two entrances, one for the public and a second one for the President of Finland…

Civic center  a euphenism for a place where you smell th

“City center” a euphemism for shop until you drop dead…

The first Finnish brewery, an integral part of our city "hopping"

The indoor city market

 

vintage beer tanks. During WWI and WWII they justinstalled wheels and tracks  and they had war tanks...

During our city “hopping” we bumped into these vintage beer tanks. During WWI and WWII they probably just installed wheels and tracks on them and they had war tanks  They must have been useful during seize fires (they could brew beer until the fights picked up again…)

 

 

 

beer/war tanks I guess they nevermade it to the front line they were pulled over for drunk driving

beer/war tanks I would not be surprised if they had never made it to the front line the drivers probably were pulled over for drunk driving

 

buy buy baby who can resist in a narrow alley?

buy buy baby who can resist  the great aromas of gourmet food and spices  floating in the narrow alley of the city market?

 

Fresh fish

Fresh fish

 

and the canned goods I bet I could find fermented shark fin if I looked more carefully...

and the canned goods I bet I could find fermented shark fin if I looked more carefully…

Photo Mar 26, 12 46 55 PM

Kapelli

We also checked out the exhibitions at the contemporary Art center, “Kiasma.”  After the culture rush,  we escaped to some fine shopping places and checked into some great food stores.  It was such a breath of fresh air to spend some time in cafe houses, fine restaurants and (only…) browsing  ( this is for Laszlo in case he reads this entry) in some high end department store after our local convenient stores and Walmart upstate NY.

our appropriations of one of the installations at the Kiasma:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7bOLNMGI9Q<—Click here

a very interesting drink that I learned from Marja-Leena if you want to know it contact me privately

a very interesting drink that I learned from Marja-Leena if you want to know it contact me privately

yum yum pastries

 

 

the famous historic Kapelli cafe, bar, restaurant where the bohemians and artists, of Helsinki gathered the the past 150 years or so including Sibelius, the composer.

the famous historic Kapelli cafe, bar, restaurant where the bohemians and artists, of Helsinki gathered the past 150 years or so including Sibelius, the composer.

 

 

 

 

Scandinavian cafe

Scandinavia cafe

 

Photo Mar 26, 1 23 05 PM (1)

the contemporary art center “Kiasma”

 

 

Photo Mar 26, 1 29 22 PM

one might think twice wondering in these hallways with a hangover

Photo Mar 26, 2 49 33 PM

Tom of Finland

Photo Mar 26, 1 41 11 PM Photo Mar 26, 1 41 36 PM Photo Mar 26, 1 42 34 PM (1) Photo Mar 26, 1 50 00 PM (1) Photo Mar 26, 2 49 13 PM Photo Mar 26, 2 32 25 PM Photo Mar 26, 2 03 04 PM

 

At the end of the day I felt like a tired farm girl who got lost in the city.