Canada

Budapest Airport offers 107 destinations, plans to launch these Transatlantic flights

Budapest Airport Transatlantic flights parking

According to the Budapest Airport’s Airline Development Account Manager, the airgate will exceed 2019 traffic next year. Until then, they plan a lot of developments. In the winter season, Hungary’s main airgate will offer 107 destinations with 36 airlines. Furthermore, they plan to launch several Transatlantic and East Asian flights.

According to turizmus.com, Dávid Kaszab, Budapest Airport’s Airline Development Account Manager, talked about present successes and plans for the annual workshop of the airport. The partakers were the representatives of airlines and travel agencies. Mr Kaszab said that until 2019, the increase in passenger numbers was dynamic. COVID meant a break in that trend, but the airport plans to exceed the 2019 peak next year.

Kaszab added some destinations like Dubai, Tel-Aviv and Istanbul, which exceeded the 2019 passenger traffic level. Meanwhile, the number of passengers to Frankfurt or Brussels has not broken that record yet.

In winter season, 107 destinations will be reachable from Budapest with 36 airlines. Among others, you will be able to travel to South Korea (LOT), and Shanghai (China Eastern). Ryanair will fly to three additional destinations (Tenerife, Birmingham and Alicante), while Wizz Air chose Copenhagen, Sharm Es-Sheikh and Cairo’s brand-new airport.

Read also:

Another airline to fly to Budapest for Christmas – Read more HERE
Budapest Airport precedes Vienna, London-Luton, Berlin concerning passenger satisfaction

Multiple developments at Budapest Airport

Budapest Airport plans flights to Toronto, New York, Chicago, Nantes, Lyon, Bilbao, Xian, Chengdu, Shenzen, New Delhi, Malé and Addis Abeba. However, due to the capacity problems of the market, such plans need to be postponed.

Nikolett Tóth, the airline marketing manager of the airport, talked about multiple developments aiming to make the airport more passenger-friendly:

new parking lot for 600 cars,
eight new parking lots for buses,
they built new electric chargers,
self-service bag check-in service for Ryanair passengers,
they placed soundproof cabins on both terminals and
a piano at Terminal 2B,

Furthermore, a new playground, baby-mother room and free baby carriages wait for the passengers.

As a result, Budapest Airport became East Europe’s best for the tenth time consecutively.

Mr Kaszab said they planned to build a geothermic well and solar panel systems. As a result, the airport may become zero-emission by 2035.

September 23, 2023

Air Canada will fly to Budapest?

Air Canada, the flag carrier of the North American country, has announced that they regard Budapest as a potential destination for their Airbus A321XLR plane in the future.

According to Budflyer, a Hungarian air travel news Facebook page, the Canadian airline talked about that in a presentation. Of course, the material got its way to the press from the annual summit of the Canadian travel agencies. Budflyer learned that the presentation involved future goals and developments of Canada’s flag carrier.

Air Canada has ordered the new type of plane from Airbus before, but the first aircraft will only arrive in Q1 2025. However, they showed the summit participants where they would like to fly with them. Among the destinations, there were some Central European cities, including Budapest, Hungary’s capital. Other destinations in the region were Berlin and Prague. You may check out the relevant page of Air Canada’s presentation by clicking HERE.

Since the route is under the Toronto HUB, it might happen that Air Canada is thinking about reestablighing a Toronto-Budapest direct flight. Interestingly, such a move would not be surprising. In February 2022, Air Canada announced the launch of a Toronto-Budapest direct flight. However, a couple of days later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Afterwards, the Canadian airline said they postponed establishing a direct flight.

Read also:

Air Canada will come to Budapest in 2025?

The first flight between Toronto and the Hungarian capital took off in 2016. Air Canada’s subsidiary specialised in holiday travel operated the route. Rouge flew until 2019 summer, offering a direct connection during summertime. The link broke after the COVID-19 pandemic and was not reestablished because of the war.

So far, Air Canada has not talked about returning to Central or Eastern Europe in 2024. However, experts are working on it in Prague and Budapest because the routes and the additional links they provides have potential. Furthermore, the new A321XLR planes offer flexibility for the airline to maintain the route even during the low-traffic winter season.

September 16, 2023

Government official: People challenge idea of Hungarian identity nowadays

Many are challenging the idea of national identity nowadays, Bence Rétvári, a state secretary at the interior ministry, said at the third All-Hungarian Mother Tongue Camp in Sátoraljaújhely, in north-eastern Hungary, on Tuesday.

“Some say material possessions are more important than Hungarian identity and the characteristics we are born with,” Rétvári said.

“Our innate qualities aren’t something we should leave behind, since it is what binds Hungarians and Christians together,” the state secretary said.

A camp organised by the Rákóczi Association can help its participants “get more out of themselves and overcome themselves”, Rétvári said, expressing hope that the students would return to the Sátoraljaújhely camp. Those attending the camp can learn more about Hungarian history, culture and language, he said.

Some 10,000 young Hungarians from beyond the border have attended the Rákóczi Association’s camps, Rétvári said, adding that some 1,000 Hungarians have taken part in the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor and Petőfi programme for Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin and in the diaspora.

Csongor Csáky, the Rákóczi Association’s president, told public media that this year’s camp is attended by students from the Carpathian Basin, Southern Transylvania and Transcarpathia, as well as from Canada, Spain and Australia.

August 9, 2023

Two weeks in Hungary’s capital through the eyes of a Canadian traveller

samuel dunsiger canadian traveller budapest

One of our readers, Samuel Dunsiger from Canada, spent two weeks in Hungary’s magnificent capital, Budapest. He kindly sent us the story of his two-week stay. Below, you may read his exact words.

When we first walked along Andrássy út (street) in Budapest, which led into the heart of the city, we immediately remarked how it was the Champs-Élysées of Hungary for its luxury boutique shops and stunning architecture.

This was during my first day in Budapest after flying here about two weeks ago from Toronto, Canada. As a freelance writer based in Canada, this was my first time travelling to Hungary’s capital. My fiancée Anya, a Master’s student studying European and Russian affairs, had arrived in Budapest two months ago for an internship and I joined her during the culmination of her time here.

That evening, we walked along the bank of the Danube, which separates the two parts of the city, until we reached the Neo-Gothic Hungarian Parliament building, which was hard to miss. We would have to wait almost a week before getting a tour inside this grandiose landmark, but the wait paid off — and you will have to wait too as I get into the Parliament building, figuratively and literally, further below.

I’ve been to parts of Northern Europe before, including Ireland, but this was my first time in Central or Eastern Europe.

As my time in Budapest progressed, we visited the stunning Szent István Bazilika (St. Stephen’s Basilica) — and enjoyed a panoramic view of the city from its dome — and walked past iconic buildings, such as the Opera House. Both places capture Renaissance and Neo-Renaissance types of architecture that Budapest is known for.

While Anya was working, I also got a glimpse of Hungary’s rich Jewish history as Budapest has one of the largest Jewish communities in Middle and Eastern Europe. Budapest is home to the Dohány Street Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe, which also houses the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park.

During our stay here, we also indulged in Budapest’s culinary classics and authentic cuisine. I couldn’t go beyond my first evening here without having a hearty bowl of goulash. But Budapest has more to offer than just goulash, which Hungary is traditionally known for, including delicious pastries such as Eszterházy torta (torte) and Somloi Galuska.

Budapest also prides itself on its café culture — rightfully so, as we were drawn to multiple cafés during our stay, many of them Parisian-style. This included Café Gerbeaud, known to be among the oldest and most famous cafés in Europe, and the luxurious New York Café, which is considered one of the most beautiful cafés in the world with its Renaissance style.

Midway through my stay in Budapest, we finally received a tour of Budapest’s Hungarian Parliament building, which was equally as stunning inside as it is outside. The interior reflects the Neo-Gothic architecture of the building, from its beautiful mosaics to the granite columns.

We suitably spent our second last evening in Budapest crossing the Danube into Buda – where we got a tour of that side of the city from a local Buda resident. In addition to showing us the sites, he also gave us insight on the ongoing rivalry between the Buda and Pest sides – as he proudly proclaimed that Buda is the better part of the city with its hilly terrains and iconic views. He backed up his views by leading us to Matthias Church in Buda’s Castle District and Fisherman’s Bastion, an iconic, Neo-Romanesque terrace that gave us a panoramic view of the entire city.

As a Canadian visiting Budapest for the first time, what struck me most was the noticeable lack of skyscrapers, of which Toronto has an abundance and which I felt has been replaced by architecturally beautiful heritage buildings in this stunning European City with such a rich history.

Living in a crowded urban city in North America, sometimes I also feel like the general lifestyle is different compared to Budapest, Hungary and other European cities. In Toronto, life seems to be more hectic and fast-paced, compared to here, where people seem to move at a calmer pace, take in their surroundings and act much more reflectively. I don’t blame them as one of my favourite pastimes during my weeks in Budapest was to sit at a café, across the street from Szent István Bazilika, enjoying a nice cup of coffee.

Overall, from the stunning architecture to the Parisian-style cafés, to walking along Andrássy út, it became clear why Budapest is known as the “Paris of the east.” It may have been our first time in Hungary’s capital but it certainly won’t be our last visiting this underrated European destination.

Author: Samuel Dunsiger

July 4, 2023

PHOTOS: Iconic Hungarian restaurant to close in London

After nearly seven decades, the Budapest restaurant in London, Ontario, is about to shut its doors for good. The past few years have been hard for businesses, and this restaurant is no exception. The eatery located at 338 Dundas St. announced its closing on its Facebook earlier this week.

The Budapest Restaurant

The London Free Press reported that the Budapest Restaurant was very liked by locals. A cosy, strictly family-run business with a unique vibe. Many customers celebrated anniversaries, birthdays, graduations and other family events at the restaurant. Thus, the memory of this great gathering place will live long in the hearts of customers. The eatery had a great variety of traditional Hungarian dishes, such as goulash, chicken paprikash and schnitzel.

The history of Budapest Restaurant

The Budapest Restaurant opened in the late 1950s. The original owner, Marika Hayek was inspired to open a traditional Hungarian restaurant, as she grew up in the country. She emigrated to Canada with her husband after the ’56 Hungarian Revolution. The restaurant quickly became Hayek’s passion, working seven days a week, striving for providing the best service possible. Years ago, she even confessed in an interview that her business is more important than her personal life. She even prioritised the eatery over her romantic life. Customers loved the cosy Budapest Restaurant. The eatery served many famous people over the years. Among others, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, American singer Barbra Streisand and Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky.

After Hayek’s death

After the founder’s death in 2018, Eduard Nagy and Anita Tasonyi took over the business. They had high hopes for keeping the eatery running no matter what, but the events of the last couple of years were unexpected and hard on businesses. The COVID pandemic took a huge toll on the restaurant. The uncertainty caused a big jump in unemployment rates. Downtown London became crowded by homeless people, and it was not considered a safe place anymore. Of course, there was a significant drop in the number of people eating out as well. Many were forced to work from home, leaving downtown offices and eateries empty. Therefore, the team has agreed on closing the business. The fate of the Budapest Restaurant is very similar to another Hungarian restaurant’s in Canada. In Toronto, a Hungarian eatery has closed its doors not too long ago, which we have reported HERE.

Here is their announcement:

July 2, 2023

Canadian family found 1,100-year-old Hungarian ancestor with unique Asian gene

The Harasti family in Canada knew that they have a lot of relatives in Hungary and Slovakia’s Hungarian community. But they probably never expected that, thanks to DNA research, they would be able to meet the oldest known Hungarian “ancestor” ever found. The warrior ancestor died 1,100 years ago and was probably a member of the Hungarian tribes conquering the Carpathian basin. Moreover, we know that he was close to Árpád, the leader of the Hungarians, or his tribe since his burial site is in the sovereign’s territory. Here is a short but heartwarming tale about the benefits of DNA research and family reunification. Even after more than a millennium.

Válasz Online wrote about an unbelievable story connecting a 1,100-year-old Hungarian warrior buried near Tuzsér (NE Hungary), locals from Tornaszentandrás (Hungary) and Udvarnok (Slovakia), and Canada. The common thread is the Haraszti-Harasti Hungarian family and a unique genetic modification helping researchers connect the dots.

Pál Géza Haraszti was 17 when he left his village given to Chechoslovakia after the Peace Treaty of Trianon. His parents sent him to America because of the economic hardships and unemployment crisis following Trianon and WWI. Mr Haraszti arrived in Quebec City in 1924 and travelled 2,900 km to get to a farmer who gave him a job, food and accommodation. He married, had nine children but did not teach them Hungarian. Therefore, the Harasti family knows only one Hungarian word: goulash. And the 20 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren regularly eat that dish in Canada at big family reunions. But that was their only “Hungarian heritage”. Until 2019.

Paul Harasti, Pál Géza’s son, was the first to come back to Hungary. He found some relatives in Tornaszentandrás, they visited the local graveyard and, of course, ate goulash. Mónika Haraszti told Válasz Online they did not know about their “American relatives”. After carefully studying the birth certificates and other documents, they could trace back their family until 1719.

But the Canadian family did a DNA test in 2014, clearing that they have a unique East Asian genetic mutation. They wanted to know more, so they joined the Árpád-ház program. The program’s main goal is to reveal the anthropological and genetic picture of the Árpád era Hungarians. In a 2020 paper, they examined the earthly remains of 19 conquest era (end of the 9th century) warriors.

One of them was found in the “Witch Hill” of Tuzsér, a small Hungarian village close to the Slovakian-Hungarian border. He was probably a member of Árpád’s tribe since he was buried in his territory. He was not old when he died since his teeth were in good shape. Furthermore, he had silver, arrowheads and decorated accessories on his grave.

The “ancient Haraszti” had European and Asian features. His headshape was oval, he had a narrow nose and a European eye. However, his cheekbone showed Mongoloid ancestors, it was broad and flat. Researchers believe the warrior’s ancestors should be searched somewhere in South Siberia. Thus, we can say that the Haraszti-Harasti family is slowly moving closer and closer to their origins, but by circumventing the other side of the planet.

Interestingly, Ágnes Kustár revealed the face of the Hungarian warrior. Here is a photo of him:

Paul Harasti, Pál Géza’s grandson, told Válasz Online that he felt at home when he travelled to Tornaszentandrás, and he regards his relatives and the warrior ancestor as important.

July 1, 2023

Canada Day 2023 in Budapest

A large crowd gathered in downtown Budapest to celebrate Canada Day 2023, organised by the Embassy of Canada, on 29 June 2023.

In Budapest, Canada’s friends celebrated the country’s national holiday. With the passing of the British North America Act of 1867, on 1 July 1867, the three separate colonies of United Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were united into a single dominion within the British Empire, under the name of Canada.

This year’s Canada Day was held in the imposing Károlyi-Csekonics Palace, and the distinguished crowd was treated first to the Canadian and then the Hungarian national anthems. László Trócsányi, Rector of the Károli Gáspár Reformed University (KRE) and Fidesz MEP, hosted the gathering and opened the event emphasising the long-standing relationship between the two nations and the importance of living together in peace.

Ambassador Caroline Charette welcomed the guests in Hungarian and said that Canada Day is not about people’s roots or backgrounds, but about the common values that are cherished in Canada. She stressed that the relationship between Hungary and Canada goes back a long way. The more than 350,000 Hungarians living in Canada are valued and appreciated and their role in the present and future of the country is important. Ambassador Charette also pointed out the significance of joint action against Russia, the aggressor that started the war in Ukraine, as together nations are always much stronger. Finally, the Ambassador bid farewell to Budapest, as her 4-year mission came to an end. As she said, she had spent wonderful years in the Hungarian capital and gained many fond memories, thanks to all her colleagues and newly-made friends with whom she worked together on building and deepening Hungarian-Canadian relations.

June 30, 2023

Hungarian Hide the Pain Harold paralyses traffic in Montréal, Canada

The Hungarian Hide the Pain Harold, whose real name is András Arató, is one of the most well-known Hungarians in the world. He makes a living from his face and constantly travels around the globe. In Montréal, Canada, for example, traffic stopped wherever he went, so he almost paralysed the metropolis. Furthermore, the local mayor greeted him. But he still says he is not a celebrity.

According to blikk.hu, Mr Arató and his manager, Pető Zdenkó, are travelling around the globe together. That is because the Hungarian Hide the pain Harold regularly receives a lot of invitations. This week, they travelled to Montréal, where Mr Arató did an ad. His manager told the Hungarian tabloid that they travelled to many places from South America to Siberia.

In Montréal, they made some photos with András with a new public space installation, a circle in front of their hotel. The photos were made as if the circle was a glory around the head of Mr Arató. Here is the photo:

After they posted the photo, the mayor of the Canadian metropolis and many local fans wanted to greet András. Since they had some time between the shootings, András could do some interviews. Mr Zdenkó said András had a lot of fans. He cannot walk on the street without being stopped by passersby. Sometimes even crowds gather spontaneously. For example, in the morning, their waiter said the entire city was talking about András.

In Amsterdam, the Netherlands:

Once, even traffic was paralysed in the Canadian metropolis when András showed up. An ad shooting was on the street, people stopped, and even some drivers got out of their cars to see András. The manager said people love András everywhere they go. András is one of the few Hungarians people recognised everywhere in the world.

Despite being a “celebrity”, András does not act like one. He takes selfies with everybody and talks with all the people who stops him. The first Hide the Pain Harold memes emerged in 2011. In the beginning, the memes disturbed András, but now he is happy with his popularity. András received a new life thanks to the memes: he travels now a lot, and business opportunities find him as well.

Hungary hide the pain Harold — Photo: www.facebook.com/Hide the pain Harold

Before retiring, András worked as an electrical engineer, and he publishes papers even today.

June 25, 2023

New York and Toronto from Budapest with Hungarian Airlines for a low price

Before you think we went mad, we highlight that nostalgia is crucial in one’s life. And what we wrote in this article’s title happened some time ago.

Hungary’s national airline, MALÉV, operated between 1946 and 2012. Even though we have Wizz Air and some other low-cost airlines, MALÉV’s unquestionable advantage was that it had connections to some of the farthest countries in the world. For example, they served passengers with direct flights between Budapest’s international airport to New York and Toronto.

For example, in 2002, they offered tickets for only HUF 69,900 to these American metropolises. Of course, in those days, almost HUF 70,000 was a small fortune. For instance, a full-time teacher’s salary barely reached HUF 50,000. But you had a chance to travel to America from Budapest without a transfer.

Seoul instead of New York or Toronto

Today, LOT, the Polish national airline, tries to reestablish that connection to New York. However, apart from three charter flights on 24 April (2 flights), and on 7 May (1 flight), there will be no direct air connection between America and Hungary. In March, we wrote that LOT planned to reestablish the Budapest-New York flight this summer, but the attempt seems to have wrecked somewhere. As a result, apart from the COVID period, Hungary will remain without a direct air connection to America for the first time in a long period. That may be because of the tensions between the Biden and Orbán administrations. Instead, you may travel to Seoul with the Polish airline this April:

Meanwhile, last February, we wrote that Air Canada would reestablish direct flights from Toronto to the Hungarian capital between May and October. However, we have not received such plans for this year, and May is almost here.

Thus, 2023 will be a year when we remember the good old days when we could travel between Budapest and New York, Budapest and Toronto without a transfer.

March 15 celebrated at the renovated Hungarian House in Edmonton

One of the most important achievements of the March 15 revolution 175 years ago was that it forged national unity, János Árpád Potápi, the state secretary in charge of policies for Hungarian communities abroad, said in Edmonton on Sunday.

“The unity of the nation, the understanding that we can rely on one another and the mother country, gives us strength even in the hardest of times, when our most important values are under threat,” he told a commemoration of the revolution’s anniversary.

The message of 1848 is that “even when outnumbered, we are able to achieve our goals if we join forces,” he said.

Hungarians acted together also last year when the war broke out in Ukraine and 150,000 ethnic Hungarians came under direct threat, with Hungarian communities around the world organising donation drives, he added.

Potápi said the revamp of the Hungarian House of Edmonton also demonstrated the success of joining forces, with the contributions of the local community supplemented by financial help from the Hungarian government when this was needed for the completion of the project.

At the event, Potápi presented the Gold Cross of Merit of Hungary to Sándor Vörös, artistic director of Edmonton’s Csárdás Hungarian Folkdance Ensemble, in recognition of his efforts to promote Hungarian folk dance culture in Canada.

As we wrote before, this is how Canadian Hungarians celebrated the revolution of 15 March, with details and PHOTOS.

read also: Hungarian population smaller than ever in the Carpathian Basin

March 20, 2023

PHOTOS: This is how Canadian Hungarians celebrated the revolution of 15 March

Árpád János Potápi, state secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office in charge of ethnic Hungarian communities, attended a celebration marking the anniversary of Hungary’s 1848-49 revolution and war of independence in Calgary on Saturday.

The official said in his address at the commemoration that “the spirit of all Hungarians is rooted in the freedom all generations from King Saint Stephen I have longed for”. He added, however, that “Hungarians’ freedom is curbed both in Transylvania and in Transcarpathia” and insisted that Hungarian education was being suppressed in Ukraine and the use of Hungarian symbols was restricted in Romania.

“Transcarpathia Hungarians are in an especially great danger because they are dragged into a war which is not our war,” he said. The Hungarian government condemns Russia’s military agression, but “an attack against Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty cannot justify the curbing of the rights of the Hungarian national minority,” he said. He added, however, that “our first and most important dream is to have peace”.

Potápi thanked the Canadian Hungarian Cultural Council for its efforts to help Ukraine Hungarians. The council, he said, had been instrumental in making the local Hungarian community “one of the most active in the diaspora”.

Here are some photos:

Read alsoPHOTOS: 4,000-year-old pyramid found in Hungary

March 19, 2023

How do people in Hungary and in English-speaking countries celebrate Christmas?

Christmas is celebrated worldwide, however, the holiday traditions and customs are different in each country. We have collected the difference between English-speaking countries and Hungary. Read our article to find out how Christmas is celebrated in these countries!

Christmas in the US

As every American holiday movie shows, Americans like to decorate the front of their house with bright lights. They tend to go to great lenghts to impress the neighbourhood with their Christmas decorations. In addition, most families take their traditions from Western European culture and they will typically eat turkey or ham as their main Christmas meal, writes blog.lingoda.com. Gifts are typically exchanged on the morning of Christmas Day (25th December), and the one who brings the present is Santa Claus.

Read also: 5+1 things to do in Budapest in winter

UK Christmas traditions

Boxing Day is a British public holiday on 26th December, and is only celebrated in the UK. As for the origin of this day, it is generally thought that the day was created for people to ‘box up’ their unwanted gifts and give them to the poor who had nothing, writes communicateschool.co.uk. However, nowadays, the British spend Boxing Day with their relatives, traveling or just relaxing at home. Another UK Christmas speciality is the Christmas pudding. This dessert is made of currants, raisins, prunes, spices, wine, eggs and breadcrumbs and cannot be missing from the Christmas menu.

Christmas celebrations in Ireland

In Ireland, Boxing Day is known as St. Stephen’s Day, which is spent with family gatherings and eating leftover food. Similarily to the British, the Irish have turkey or goose at Christmas lunch, writes secretfoodtours.com. According to an old Irish tradition, people dress up and go from house to house, singing songs and playing musical instruments. Moreover, horse racing meetings and football matches also take place on this day.

Read also: PHOTOS: 7 fabulous winter destinations in Hungary

Christmas in Canada

Although people living in other countries often use real trees for the Christmas tree, Canadians are the most likely to choose real fir or pine Christmas trees. This is especially common in the eastern province of Nova Scotia. The opening of the presents can happen on Christmas Eve, but many open one present on Christmas Eve and the rest on the 25th December. In some parts of the country, such as northern Ontario, stores are not allowed to open on Boxing Day, therefore, shopping is done in another day.

Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa

Christmas occurs in the height of the summer season in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, which makes the Christmas feeling different. Due to the sunny weather, on Christmas Day, families spend time outside, playing games or swimming. Other traditions are very similar to the British Christmas customs. In Australia, the holiday meal consists of turkey and salad. New Zealand has an indigenous tree known as the PÅhutukawa. It produces large red flowers, and is an important symbol of Christmas in the country, sometimes referred to as a New Zealand Christmas tree.

Read also: Want to go ice skating around Lake Balaton? Have a look at the newly opened ice rinks!

Hungarian holiday customs

Unlike in other countries around the world, the most important day of Christmas in Hungary is 24 December, writes studyinhungary.hu. Traditionally, this is the day when angels bring the Christmas tree, families open presents and sing Christmas carols. As for the Christmas menu, Hungarians enjoy a nice halászlé (fish soup), stuffed cabbage and beigli, a pastry roll traditionally stuffed with poppy seed or walnut. A huge difference between Christmas in Hungary and English-speaking countries is that traditionally, the tree is not decorated until Christmas Eve. Usually, 24 December is just for the close family and on 25 and 26 December, big family gatherings take place.

Read alsoThese ski resorts will open this year in Hungary!

December 25, 2022

PHOTOS: Hungarian President met Conservative Ontario premier

President Katalin Novák met Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, on the fourth day of her Canadian tour.

During the talks, focusing on ethnic minorities, the Hungarian president shared her recent experience in the Hungarian communities of Toronto, and the difficult situation of Transcarpathian Hungarians, further aggravated by the Ukraine war. Novák thanked the government and parliament of Ontario for recent legislation under which October was declared Hungarian Heritage Month to be observed each year.

Hungarian Heritage Month programmes included cultural, business, and scientific events in Ontario, concluded with a gala evening addressed by Novák.

Read alsoPHOTOS: Hungarian Diaspora Mission Centre inaugurated in Toronto, Canada

The talks in the Ontario Legislative Building were attended by Michael Tibollo, Ontario’s minister for mental health, Peter Bethlenfalvy, the province’s finance minister of Hungarian origin, Kinga Surma, the infrastructure minister, and Rudy Cuzzetto, the lawmaker who submitted the proposal for Hungarian Heritage Month.

Novák also had talks with Victor Fedeli, the minister of economic development, and paid tribute to Hungary’s anti-Soviet revolt of 1956, at a plaque in the legislative building.

Read alsoVIDEO, PHOTOS – America’s best butcher’s shop is Hungarian!

November 1, 2022

PHOTOS: Hungarian Diaspora Mission Centre inaugurated in Toronto, Canada

Hungary and the Hungarian diaspora have a mutual responsibility, President Katalin Novák said in Toronto on Sunday, at the inauguration of a new church and community centre to the First Hungarian Reformed Church.

Ties between the mother country and the diaspora form an “umbilical cord” which ensures “spiritual, intellectual, and cultural connection” even through long distances. It “nurtures and connects us for good, in an inseparable way”, the president said. Hungary has an obligation to “listen to and take responsibility for” diaspora communities, while Hungarian communities have the obligation to retain their Hungarian identity and their language, she said.

Hungarians in other parts of the world should also take responsibility for Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin, the president said. “Those in need, whether in Hungary or in former parts of Hungary, are looking for help,” she said, noting Canadian Hungarians’ aid to Transcarpathia Hungarians after the Ukraine war had broken out.

Read alsoPHOTOS: Hungarian President in Canada, she met even Katalin Karikó

The new church was inaugurated by bishop Zoltán Balog, head of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church.

The First Hungarian Reformed Church of Toronto left its previous church in January 2019. The new church is part of a complex including the Hungarian Diaspora Mission Centre complete with halls and other facilities to serve Hungarians in Canada. The complex was built with a contribution from the Hungarian state.

Read alsoPHOTOS: Hungarian president gave lecture at an Austrian Catholic university

November 1, 2022

PHOTOS: Hungarian President in Canada, she met even Katalin Karikó

Hungarians are liked and recognised in the Canadian province of Ontario, and the Hungarians here can count on Hungary as much as on Canada, President Katalin Novák said in Toronto on Saturday.

Attending the closing night of Hungarian Heritage Month in Toronto, Novák said she felt it was her duty to be aware of Canada’s Hungarians, to care for them and to be proud of them. She is committed to work for Hungarians to be better understood and recognised in the world, she added.

Novák said October is a special month for Hungarians, the “month of freedom”, when Hungarians celebrate the acts of great Hungarians who won the world’s recognition, but the world was not brave enough to help the people who started the uprising in October 1956 to complete their revolution.

She said it would be great if Hungarians today could turn towards the future with all their might and called for an end to the war in Ukraine as soon as possible.

Read alsoWere Hungarians in America Before Columbus?

Novák handed over the Hungarian Order of Merit to László Radványi, President of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, whose parents arrived to Canada as 1956 refugees, and Michael Tibollo, member of the Ontario Provincial Government of Italian origin, who was one of the initiators of the enactment of Hungarian Heritage Month into law in Ontario.

Novák also met Hungarian-born biochemist Katalin Karikó in Toronto on Friday. Karikó received the Gairdner International Award, one of Canada’s most prestigious medical science awards on Thursday.

Read alsoCanadian swimmer drugged in Budapest? Some say she was just badly drunk

October 30, 2022

Were Hungarians in America Before Columbus?

A 200 kg stone with curious inscriptions found in Canada’s Nova Scotia has scientists and historians wondering if perhaps this stone bears proof that a Hungarian set foot on North American soil centuries before Christopher Columbus, 3Seas Europe reports.

Richard Fletcher, a surgeon in the British Army, retired to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, for the understandable reason of its magnificent landscape. It was the first decade of the 19th century, and the area was still wild. He purchased a plot of land near the harbor, not far from a salt marsh created when the nearby Salt Pond had been dyked off. It was on his land near the marsh where he made a fascinating discovery.

Were letters on Yarmouth Stone… Hungarian runes?

In 1812, Fletcher happened upon a quartzite slab with a mysterious inscription, which remained a mystery for many decades to come. Fletcher announced his finding to the public, and then after his death some years later, the stone was transferred to the Yarmouth Public Library and finally on to the Yarmouth County Museum. Finally, in the late 19th century, the slab started to gain scientific attention.

It was at this point that the inscription was identified as runic. Now it widely serves as proof of European presence in America before Columbus. Even so, the inscription’s meaning remains a secret, with numerous theories. One of them is that these are Hungarian words in a foreign alphabet.

Photo from Yarmouth County Museum exposition, Photo: Wreck Smurfy at Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The 200-kilogram stone has a line of 16 runes, some more legible than others. The symbols were attributed to several civilizations of the Old World – Vikings, Basques, Japanese, and Greek, with some researchers claiming that different letters came from different groups.

Then in 1935, Frank Kovatch put forth another theory in the Hungarian Scientific Bulletin. In his understanding, the letters were Transylvanian runes, and he hypothesized that the language was a mix of Uyghur, Scythian, and Native American. Kovatch pointed out the established fact that Vikings explored America under Lief Ericson in 992.

Erikson and his fellows

Per their chronicles, a member of their expedition team was a foreigner (to the Vikings) named Tyrkir, who is considered to be Turk. The cultural influence there is possible, as Varangians, aka Vikings, could sail from the North all the way to the Black Sea. Per the newspaper “Magyarsag” (“Hungarian”), in 1996, a woman named Maria Rabl managed to decipher the runes, claiming that, read from right to left, the text says, “(Erik)son walked this place along with many of his fellows.”

Was this Turik-proto-Hungarian the author of the inscription? That’s as possible as any other hypothesis about the Yarmouth stone. As long, of course, as the whole inscribed-slab discovery is not a giant forgery. This is, of course, another possibility.

Read alsoVIDEO, PHOTOS: tribal assembly of Hun-Turkic peoples started in Hungary

September 6, 2022

Canadian swimmer drugged in Budapest? Some say she was just badly drunk

Canadian swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey was drugged while she was in Budapest participating in the World Aquatics Championships. On 25 June, she attended an after-party in a nightclub, located on the Pest side, that is where the incident took place. Now Harvey has held an online press conference during which new details have emerged.

Canadian swimmer drugged

Canadian swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey won the bronze medal as part of the relay team at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships held in Budapest. However, she did not leave Hungary with happy memories. She claims that drugs were slipped into her drink when she was out celebrating her win. The incident took place at Gigi’s nightclub on the Pest side of the Chain Bridge, during an unofficial afterparty that was not organised by FINA.

According to reports, there was a separate room for VIP guests. The event was attended by athletes from several countries. Mary-Sophie was accompanied by her friends and fellow swimmers. They later found the swimmer in an unconscious state somewhere in the streets of Pest, reports index.hu.

The Canadian swimmer said that she still could not put together the pieces of the incident weeks after it occurred. One moment she was OK, and the next, she blacked out. “I’m still terribly disturbed thinking about what could have happened while I was unconscious,” she added.

No charges

Harvey has not pressed charges in Budapest and will not do so. The Canadian athlete says there was no point. “Honestly, I didn’t even care for the first 24 hours, it was only when I got back to Canada and saw the bruises on my body that I started to get desperate. What could have happened to me, who could have caused these injuries? ” she wonders.

According to Harvey, a Hungarian swimmer invited her to Gigi’s.

However, she did not reveal the name of the person. The event, called the Swimming World Championships Afterparty, was attended by Canadian athletes and French swimmers, including swimming sensation Léon Marchand.

Harvey woke up on the street, according to her latest recollection on YouTube. Her wallet, mobile phone and documents were initially missing, however, she managed to collect them when she went back to the bar. The only thing she could not track down was her disposable camera. Harvey thinks it might contain compromising footage, that is the reason why the staff did not return it.

Harvey mentions in her video that others have also reported similar incidents.

The swimmer rules out the possibility that she was just drunk.

“What bothers me the most is that the people I’ve spoken to all say that I must have had too much to drink and that I should take better care of myself next time. But I didn’t get drunk, I had four drinks in total and I was perfectly conscious up until the moment I had a movie breakdown.” said the swimmer.

But many people doubt Harvey’s story. Some question why she only noticed the bruises on her body when she landed in Canada. According to several Hungarian swimmers, Marie-Sophie Harvey was so drunk that she spilled a glass of drink on an index.hu informant.

Read alsoShocking: Hungarian woman tries to flush newborn baby down the toilet

July 12, 2022

Hungarian baroness’s memoir about aristocratic roots, father’s legacy, 20th century nightmares

Mascot Books announces the release of the new book Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality: A Family Memoir by author Helga Hatvany.

The author’s last name holds incredible weight. Born to one of the most prominent Hungarian families of the past two centuries, Helga was the last family member to be raised in her home country during the goulash communism era.

Central to her childhood was her father, József Hatvany, a brilliant man born into an exceptionally wealthy family of mighty industrialists, influential writers, progressive political thinkers, and patrons of art and literature, having amassed one of the most admired collections of impressionist art in Europe.

Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality explores József’s fascinating life story.

Read also: Get to know the national symbols of Hungary!

As a baron of Jewish descent, József was sent to an English boarding school to escape from fascism and Nazi terror in his homeland. Returning to Hungary after World War II, his dreams of building a utopia in the mold of communism turned into a nightmare when he was arrested, tortured, and imprisoned by the Stalinist regime of the 1950s. Miraculously, he emerged into a new reality in the following decades, becoming a world-renowned research engineer on the cutting edge of the new digital era.

At once an intimate and captivating portrait of a legendary European family and a
larger-than-life father, Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality is a deeply felt

multi-generational memoir that is sure to transport you from the first page—and never let go.

Not only does it chronicle Helga’s stunning exploration of her family’s history, but highlights one of the largest truths of all: her father’s legacy is more than accolades and achievements. His biggest impact was on the lives of those around him—most especially her own.

Read also: All you need to know about Budapest’s nostalgia tram routes! – PHOTOS

For more information, contact Michelle Garcia at mi******@am***************.com. Dreams, Nightmares, and Reality is on sale now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Amplify Publishing Group (APG). It is distributed by APG, Ingram, the American Wholesale Book Company, Baker & Taylor, and Follett Library Resources.

About Amplify Publishing Group

Amplify Publishing Group is a leading independent hybrid publisher that is passionate about ideas and voices that need to be heard. APG publishes across a wide variety of genres and is the culmination of twenty years of experience acquiring, producing, marketing, and distributing books. It is home to a number of distinct imprints, including Amplify Publishing, RealClear Publishing, and Mascot Books.

Featured image: illustration

July 10, 2022