Várbazár II - Ahova Ferencjóska is gyalog járt

- Nagyon szégyellem magam, nincs apróm, nem tudnak egy ezrest felváltani? - toporgott a jólöltözött hölgy a WC előtt.

Nem tudtunk. De meghívtuk.

Erre a WC-re meg kell hívni az embereket. Tudom, ha jönnek majd vendégeim külföldről, el fogom őket hozni ide, hogy ők is részesülhessenek ebben az élményben.

A "retyó" bejárata olyan volt, mintha a Marsra vivő első űrhajó bejáratában álltunk volna. De, hogy nem odaigyekeztünk, azt a fizetőautomata igazolta.

A várkerti ketyere a mindenkori kormány leányálmát testesítette meg: egy eurót százötven forintnak tekintett. Ha én így válthatnék hivatalosan pénzt, rokonságom is hetedíziglen nyugdíjba mehetne egy év alatt.



Az is látszott, hogy a wécésnénipótlót nem egy bevándorló látta el feliratokkal, az "only coin" felirat gyanusan magyarosnak látszott.

Az pedig már a fafkai ábrándok netovábbja olt, hogy a ketyere nyugtát adott a pisilésről.



A belétető után a világ legmodernebb mosdójába léptünk be. Csak ámultam és hadonásztam, mert az energiatakarékos berendezés mindenáron sötétbe akart borítani és ezt nem akartam hagyni.



Létni akartam. Látni akartam, hogy elolvashassam a piszoárok fölé illesztett történelemleckét. Elvégre a férfiember képes a multitaskingra, egyszerre tud olvasni, piszoárt használni és hadonászni... Azaz...

Megáll az idô

Nem lehetett róla tudi a percet. Az órát. A napot. A hetet. Esetleg a hónapot jó közelítéssel. Vagy azt, hogy sok van-e az évbôl vagy kevés. Mondjuk január 1-én e tudásnak hasznát lehetett venni.

Imádtam a homokórát. A környéke tele volt parkoló autókkal, kosszal, de poén volt: ez volt a város egyik legjobb mozgó szobra és a legjobb homokórája.

Aztán pár év megszünt a karbantartás és a szobor meghalt és a homok (vagy az a különleges akármi, amit homok helyett beletettek) nem pergett tovább.

Az illetékeseknek sikerült a homokórát megállítani.

Temporarily out of order since 2002

Unlucky church of St Stephen
Originally uploaded by ribizlifozelek

The St Stephen's Basilica was made accessible during the reconstruction of 1983-2003. The elevator was opened in April, 2002. The Hungarian Government funded the construction of the elevator to provide access to the main gate. The total cost of the elevator was 7.6 million Hungarian Forint (30400 EUR or 47500 USD). The sponsors' names were recorded on a commemorative bronze plaque on the upper end of the elevator.

The elevator had an "ignition key" to turn it on. The church guards had the key. They were upstairs. No bell was installed. There was no indication on how to use it.

Since October, 2002 the elevator has been out of order. (An expensive part broke, the church representative said in April, 2004.) An "out of order" sign was placed on the elevator in 2008, it was put on the upper end of the elevator.

The plaque with the sponsors' name disappeared.

(I'm always surprised why the elevator was installed to give access to the main gate, because this is the largest staircase of the building. Using one of the side entrances, builders could have made the building accessible by short ramps instead.)

The boys and the Queen

Someone save the Queen!
Originally uploaded by lauronsky

This is the adaptation of my Hungarian post to non-Hungarians.

I found a fantastic photo in the photostream of Lauronsky: the Queen surrounded by bearded warriors. (Mr. 5000 is an exception, but he also was in the army.) Yes, all of them are important. There are seven types of banknotes in the Republic of Hungary. Five of them represent kings and princes. Two notes are decorated with politicians. None of the Hungarian banknotes portray women.
I was thinking which Hungarian woman could be on a banknote? It could be Maria Theresa; she was queen of the Hungarian Kingdom, but she wasn't Hungarian. Queen Elisabeth – not Sissy -, the Anjou queen had no important historical role. Queen Mary, widow of Luis II? She wasn’t successful. It could be the women of Eger; they were warriors, not bearded, but warriors who fought the Turkish. (The Ministry of Tourism can popularize goulash soup by putting it on banknotes.)
It could be two of our mythical ancestors, the turul bird and the beautiful Emese in the intimate moment of the procreation of the Hungarians. It would be a very popular banknote.
Or it could be a lesser known person: Margit Slachta. She had noble ancestors and she was a teacher. She created a Catholic Women's Movement to resolve social problems of the working class and she has numerous conflicts with the Hungarian Catholic clergy. She organized agricultural cooperatives during a Communist Republic in Hungary. (Today the word cooperative sounds a blasphemy to some of our right wing.)
Slachta became the first congresswoman of the Hungarian Parliament in 1920. She opposed Fascism and saved many Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. She was a Monarchist and acted against the Communists after WW2. She was against some ideas of modern democracy, but she was always consistent and independent. (Anybody persecuted by both Fascists and Communists must be a good person.) Her immunity was revoked and she left Hungary. She worked for Radio Free Europe until her death. As far as I know, no public place honors her name in Hungary.
If anybody has other ideas about which Hungarian women should be on our banknotes, let me know. No more bearded warriors, please.