London-Bucharest plane was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Budapest – UPDATE
A Ryanair flight from London was forced to make an unscheduled stop at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International Airport on Tuesday because of an unruly passenger, the airport’s operator said.
Police arrived at the scene and handled the situation after the plane which was headed to Bucharest landed, Budapest Airport told MTI. The plane will resume its journey after refuelling, they said.
Ryanair statement
“This London Stansted to Bucharest flight (10 Jan) diverted to Budapest due to a disruptive passenger on board. Police removed the passenger and the flight continued to Bucharest following a minor delay.
We sincerely apologise to passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of this short delay.”
Read alsoScandalous! Ryanair left many Hungarians in London without food, help, accommodation
Hungarian airline Wizz Air warns of strike
Wizz Air informs its passengers that border control police staff in the UK have announced a strike. It will also affect the festive period.
The walkout is expected to take place on 23, 24, 25, 28, 29 and 30 December. However, it is also expected to affect flights departing and arriving on the mornings of 26 and 31 December. Although the demonstration will primarily affect passengers travelling into the country, serious disruption is expected.
In particular, significantly increased waiting times are expected at passport control points and baggage handling may be slowed down, the airline said in a statement.
Wizz Air reminds its passengers that if they have purchased WIZZ Flex service with their ticket, they can rebook their flight free of charge to avoid possible disruptions caused by the strike, turizmusonline.com reports.
Read alsoTourists complain that Budapest is too dark, they miss the Christmas lighting
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.
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.
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.
Ryanair announces new route from Budapest
Ryanair has today (20 Dec) announced a new route from Budapest to Belfast, operating twice weekly from Apr as part of its Summer ’23 schedule.
Ryanair announces 4 additional routes for new Belfast international base
Ryanair, on December 19, 2022, announced 4 additional routes for its comeback to Belfast International Airport for Summer’23. The return to Belfast International will consist of 16 total routes incl. these 4 newly announced routes to Budapest, Cardiff, Mallorca, and Valencia. Ryanair will operate over 140 weekly flights to/from Belfast International with 2 based aircraft from the beginning of the Summer’23 season, driving invaluable inbound tourism to Belfast and offering its Northern-Ireland customers unbeatable choice and the lowest fares when booking their summer getaways.
From Budapest
To celebrate, Ryanair has launched a limited-time seat sale for early bird customers looking to bag themselves a bargain on their Summer ‘23 holiday with fares from just 11999 HUF available now on Ryanair.com.
Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:
“With Easter and Summer ’23 fast approaching, we are delighted to be bringing even more choice and value to our Hungarian customers when planning their long-awaited summer holidays, with the addition of this new route to Belfast as part of our Summer ‘23 schedule.
To mark the good news, we’ve launched a limited-time seat sale for early bird customers looking to bag themselves a bargain on their Summer ’23 holiday with fares starting from just 11999 HUF available now on Ryanair.com.”
Wizz Air under fire in the UK due to failing to pay money owed to passengers
The Hungarian low-cost carrier operating numerous short-haul flights between British cities is under fire from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The body issued an unprecedented statement raising “significant concerns” because the company did not pay a lot of County Court Judgments. In August, an analysis found that the Hungarian budget carrier was the worst airline for flight delays from UK airports in 2021.
The worst airline in the UK?
According to the Independent, Hungary-based Wizz Air came under fire by Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority for “unacceptable” treatment of customers. The authority’s consumer policy head, Anna Bowles, highlighted that Wizz Air has the highest number of those passenger complaints that enter into an escalated stage. That means a court decides on them since the airline cannot settle the issue with the passenger.
The Hungarian low-cost airline had 811 grievances per million passengers between July and September. That is the highest rate in the United Kingdom, much higher than in the case of EasyJet (245), Ryanair (235), or British Airways (166).
“Passengers have every right to expect their complaints and claims to be resolved quickly and efficiently and to be treated fairly by airlines,” the Independent quoted Ms Bowles.
Read also: Important notice: Wizz Air introduces a passenger-friendly regulation
Wizz Air closes one of its flights to Portugal
CAA is concerned with Wizz Air because of the volume of complaints and claims received by alternative dispute resolution (ADR), the delays in processing and paying claims, and a lot of County Court Judgements against the Hungarian airline.
“We have made it clear to Wizz Air that its behaviour is unacceptable and that we expect overdue complaints and claims to be resolved in advance of Christmas”, Ms Bowles said.
“We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience we have caused our customers and we are working hard to put things right and resolve all outstanding claims as quickly as possible. The major disruption we navigated last summer meant that we have been dealing with an unprecedented number of claims. Despite this, 91 percent of claims have already been processed”, Wizz Air replied. The company added that they doubled the size of their customer services team and were committed to settling all the disputes.
Okosutas.hu wrote that Wizz Air would no longer fly to Porto in Portugal from next summer. That is because the flight time is too long (more than 3 hours) and the utilisation rate is low. Ryanair will remain the only service provider in that direction. As a result, ticket prices are expected to increase. Wizz Air continues to fly to Lisbon and Madeira in Portugal.
Scandalous! Ryanair left many Hungarians in London without food, help, accommodation
Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline, left 150 people in a London airport yesterday evening due to an extensive and sudden snowfall paralysing air traffic. However, the main problem of the passengers derived from the total incompetence Ryanair staff exhibited, offering no help, food or accommodation in the British capital. On top of that, many of the passengers were families with kids.
Unprofessional airline?
According to ripost.hu, huge chaos broke out at a London airport yesterday evening. Due to a sudden snowfall, a Ryanair plane could not take off, so the passengers had to wait more than 17 hours without help, food, drink and information.
The plane was scheduled to depart at 6.25 pm from London Stansted Airport to Budapest. However, flight number FR8199 (a Boing 737-8AS-type plane) could not take off because of the weather, so the passengers, including more than 100 Hungarians remained in Britain. Ryanair did not cancel the flight. The company postponed its departure because of the disadvantageous weather circumstances.
The problem was not that. All travelers know that no airline can prepare for extreme weather situations. However, passengers were outraged by the unprofessional way the Irish budget airlines handled the situation, ripost.hu, a Hungarian tabloid, said.
Ryanair offered no help
One of the passengers said that Ryanair provided no information to them. There was no food and accommodation offered, and the question of compensation did not even come up in the discussion with the airline employees. To make matters worse, there was a person, who was actually told to get the hell out of the airport. “We were yelled at by staff saying that nobody should leave without their belongings”, a passenger told Bors, a Hungarian news magazine.
“We did not receive food or a meal ticket, and no information was provided about our luggage. We did not even know where they were. There was no place to smoke, cells did not work, and there was no electricity, WiFi or phone network”, another passenger complained. He added that such a big company should have prepared for such cases during winter.
On Sunday evening, passengers could only rebook their tickets for next Wednesday. However, since their flight was not cancelled, only postponed, nobody did so. Furthermore, many passengers were underage and needed to wait for more than 17 hours, resting, sleeping on the floor and benches of the airport on blankets and coats. HERE you can check out the photos the passengers sent to ripost.hu.
Bors sent their questions to Ryanair but has received no reply yet. They also inquired whether the passengers were eligible for compensation. Passengers told Bors that their new plane had arrived by Monday midday and they were able to do the bearing. If all goes according to plan, they will hopefully make it home by this afternoon.
London Administrative Court Rejects Petition against Morocco-UK Association Agreement
The administrative court of London rejected, on Monday, the petition of a British NGO (WSC), working on behalf of the “polisario”, which challenged the association agreement between Morocco and Great Britain.
With this verdict, the British justice confirms the validity of the partnership agreement between Morocco and the United Kingdom, which fully benefits the populations and the development of all the regions of the Kingdom, from north to south, without exception.
This judgment thus inflicts a new setback on Polisario, who are trying to hide their repeated failures by trying in vain to convince the British justice to re-examine the post-Brexit trade agreement, signed and supported by the two Kingdoms.
As soon as the verdict became known, the British government reaffirmed its commitment to continue the partnership with Morocco.
“We welcome today’s verdict. We will continue to work closely with Morocco to maximize the £2.7 billion of trade between our countries,”
said a spokesperson for the UK Department for International Trade.
“We look forward to continuing our exchanges with our Moroccan counterparts through the Association Council next year,”
he assured.
The Morocco-UK Association Agreement, signed in London on October 26, 2019, entered into force on January 1, 2021.
The Agreement restores, within the framework of bilateral relations, all the effects that the two countries granted each other under the Morocco-EU Association Agreement. It thus ensures the continuity of trade exchanges between Morocco and the United Kingdom after December 31, 2020.
By allowing the two Kingdoms to settle definitively in a structured strategic partnership, endowed with operational and institutionalized cooperation instruments, and driven by a common ambition, the Agreement constitutes a guarantee for Moroccan and British companies undertaking economic and trade relations in all sectors of cooperation and covering the whole of the Kingdom.
Hungarian Foreign Minister criticises the EU in London
Decision-makers in Brussels “often react to British proposals reflexively”, and some of their decisions may make cooperation between the European Union and the UK more difficult, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in London on Monday, adding that “in the current difficult situation, good ties are important”.
After talks with James Cleverly, the recently appointed British foreign minister, Szijjártó said Brexit had been “a huge loss” and the damage arising from Brexit should be minimised, but this required “reasonable cooperation based on mutual respect”.
Szijjártó criticised the EU for excluding the UK from the Horizon programme and from digital cooperation.
“Now, when the EU’s economy has suffered a lot of damage in terms of competitiveness … close cooperation with the British could help the EU become stronger and more competitive,” he said.
The Hungarian government will continue to seek resolution of open issues in Brussels, Szijjártó said, adding that “having unresolved conflicts with the EU is in sharp opposition to the interests of the EU and Hungary.”
The officials also discussed the war in Ukraine. Szijjártó said Hungary had an interest in “securing peace as soon as possible”.
Earlier in the day, Szijjártó met leaders of the largest British companies investing in Hungary, adding that the government was working to promote investments to create new jobs and retain the country’s economic growth.
UK companies make up Hungary’s sixth largest investor group, with some 800 companies employing 50,000 people in the country, he added.
Meanwhile, he said the Hungarian and British governments maintained similar positions on nuclear energy and efforts to “eliminate negative discrimination” against it, as well as on combatting illegal migration, which “impacts the two countries equally”.
Szijjártó said Hungary had so far spent 1.6 billion euros on protecting its borders, while the EU had reimbursed a mere 1.2 percent of the grand total. “This clearly shows that Brussels, regrettably, maintains its stance supporting migration,” he added.
Read alsoRussian spy among the guest lecturers of a Budapest elite college?
Hungary Helps programme spent some 80 million dollars on persecuted Christians worldwide
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó pledged the Hungarian government’s support to persecuted Christians worldwide, despite current economic difficulties, at a conference held in London on Monday.
At the International Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) Conference, Szijjártó said the government’s Hungary Helps programme has spent some 80 million dollars on reconstructing schools and hospitals and on economic support enabling locals to stay in their homeland. The programme has provided aid in 54 countries so far, he said.
The scheme has funded the Nigerian Catholic Church and the Iraqi Chaldean Church which work to help women who survived sexual violence at the hands of Islamist terrorists, he said.
Despite economic difficulties, European recession and other challenges, Hungary is committed to carrying on with the programme, he added.
The conference was organised by the United Kingdom’s government between November 28-29.
Read alsoHungary gives delivery of medical supplies to Caritas Jordan
Wizz Air UK denies its presence in the UK after a court ruling – UPDATED with their reaction
Wizz Air UK, the offshoot of Wizz Air in Hungary claimed it has no presence in the United Kingdom after a court ruling. The court decided that the airline has to pay for flight cancellations. However, it refused to do so. As it turns out, this is not the first such occasion. The airline did not even reply to the court, so the case had been won by the plaintiff.
Daily Mail reports an interesting case with Wizz Air UK. A passenger sued the company after a flight cancellation which happened with just 3 hours notice. The company did not offer seats on another flight, so the passenger turned to the court as they had to book a flight at a different airline. The court decided in favour of the plaintiff. It awarded a judgment against the airline for about 1,500 pounds (EUR 1,730). The company ignored the claim and said it has no presence in the UK.
Ignoring the court
Ignoring a court decision is very unusual so Tony Hetherington at Daily Mail decided to dig deeper. It was first thought that the bailiffs might have made a mistake, but it turns out they did not. There have been 456 county court judgements against Wizz Air UK. The company only managed to pay 55 of these. There can be two options and one is worse than the other. Wizz Air UK either has no liquidity to pay up or it is just refusing to obey court rulings. Questions were asked, but none of them had been answered properly so far.
No presence in the UK
Wizz Air UK claims it has no presence in the United Kingdom. The company was set up in 2017 as an offshoot of Wizz Air in Hungary. The parent company is Wizz Air Holding, which is seated in Jersey, a UK crown dependency. The shares of the company are being traded on the London Stock Exchange. The bailiffs told the passenger that Wizz Air has no staff, offices or assets in London Luton Airport.
Wizz Air Holdings has 170 Airbus aircraft in total out of which 17 belong to Wizz Air UK. Despite not having any presence in the UK, the airline manages to get publicity in the country. Figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority show that it is the worst airline in terms of departure delays. It also made headlines, when it encouraged its employees to work even fatigued so it does not have to cancel flights.
It will be interesting to see what actions the Civil Aviation Authority will take against Wizz Air UK. The company has been flying in and out of UK airports, operating as a British business, while it also ignored British courts.
Read also Wizz Air joined the elite club of airlines
Here is the official reaction of Wizz Air on the issue
“The claims made in last week’s article about the number of unsettled County Court Judgments are inaccurate. While we regret that there are a number of outstanding claims against our company – and we are working to resolve all of these as quickly as we can – there are nowhere near the numbers being alleged.
Online court records are not up-to-date and present a misleading picture. More than a quarter of the claims shown as outstanding have already been satisfied; another 20 per cent unfortunately never reached us for processing. It is never our policy to ignore court judgments in any jurisdiction we operate in, and all outstanding claims are being dealt with as a priority by our Customer Services team, which is currently working through a backlog of claims caused by pandemic and post-pandemic travel disruption. We will apply to the Courts to ensure that records are updated appropriately.
Wizz Air UK is a registered company in England and a subsidiary of Wizz Air Group. Our UK office is located at London Luton Airport – we would not inform third parties that we have no presence in the UK given that this information is easily accessible online. We are one of the few airlines that has an investment grade balance sheet and have one of the strongest liquidity positions in the industry.
We sincerely apologise to J.F. and C.G. for the delay in receiving their refund. The passengers have now been contacted and their claim will be settled. The refund was initially delayed because the booking was made via an online travel agent which should have received the refund from Wizz Air and passed it on to the passenger. The online travel agency has now made contact with us and we are able to satisfy the claim.”
Yoko Ono show to open in Hungarian National Museum
An exhibition entitled “War is Over! If You Want It – Tribute to Yoko Ono” will open in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest next Sunday.
The display featuring paintings, sculptures, installations and short films focues on the desire for peace by the best-known Japanese performance artist and musician, John Lennon’s widow, who will turn 90 in February. Incomes from ticket sales will be used for supporting Transcarpathian victims of the Russia-Ukraine war, László L. Simon, the director of the museum, said. The exhibition will run until February 18, 2023.
Read alsoHungary will hold many Advent fairs despite the high energy costs
Orbán congratulates Sunak on becoming British PM
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday congratulated Rishi Sunak on becoming the new British prime minister.
In his message to Sunak, Orbán referred to “excellent” bilateral ties between Hungary and the United Kingdom, noting that cooperation was based on mutual respect, shared values and interests and deep-rooted historical relations.
In these difficult times characterised by numerous crises when the various challenges directly affect the two countries’ citizens, it is important that “as like-minded allies and partners, we continue to increase the intensity of our already close cooperation”, Orbán said.
The prime minister expressed his commitment to strengthening Hungarian-British relations and building strong and mutually beneficial cooperation between the UK and the European Union.
Read alsoKing Charles’s Hungarian cook shared secrets about his visits in Zalánpatak
Russian spy among the guest lecturers of a Budapest elite college?
The Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) reported optimistically on 1 September that they would start the new academic year with a record-high number of students, courses and lecturers. Among the guest lecturers of the facility, they named Mr Andrew John Laughland. MCC said that Laughland was a co-worker of the European Parliament and author of numerous intellectual history books. They also said Laughland was committed to conservative values, while his work centred around the relationship between the nation-state and international institutions, especially the EU. Mr Laughland was interrogated by British counter-terrorism agents in Gatwick for allegedly being a Russian spy.
Russian spy teaching in Budapest college?
Szabolcs Panyi, a journalist of Direkt36, a Hungarian investigative journalism centre, wrote the day before yesterday that Mr Laughland was arrested by British counter-terrorism agents on 7 October after he landed at Gatwick Airport, near London. Mr Laughland reported about what happened to him on the website of the Dutch Forum for Democracy party (FvD).
He said the British officers were amateurish. They asked questions to which they could have found the answers on his Wikipedia site. He stated he was not allowed to get legal help because he was not taken into custody officially. However, counter-terrorism agents seized all his official papers, passport and IDs, so he could not have left the airport. He highlighted Great Britain was an autocratic state because of how they treated him. However, he did not tell why he was apprehended.
Later, Thierry Baudet, the chairman of the FvD party, acknowledged in an interview that Mr Laughland was interrogated by British counter-intelligence for allegedly being a Russian spy, hellomagyar.hu wrote.
Read alsoUS embassy slams Hungarian government in a hard-hitting video
In the new interview Dutch politician Thierry Baudet @thierrybaudet acknowledges that #fvd @fvdemocratie director and Kremlin liaison John #Laughland was detained in Britain last week by UK anti-terrorism police and "questioned for being a Russian spy" #Baudet #Putin #Russia pic.twitter.com/8wWjYPpoSb
— dr. Marina (@mmeeuw) October 17, 2022
Government faces embarassing questions?
Laughland started to work as a guest lecturer at Budapest’s elite college of advanced studies, the Mathias Corvinus College, this September. The college was given 10-10 percent of MOL and Richter bonds worth HUF 289 billion (EUR 700m) in 2020. The 2021 dividend was HUF 12 billion (EUR 30m), so the institution’s financial background is stable, and they could pay excellent salaries for their visiting tutors. That was 10 thousand EUR/month plus allowances (housing, travel, etc.) this September.
Based on the Dutch NRC, Laughland arrived at Gatwick from Budapest when counter-terrorism agents detained him. According to Pany, the British lecturer was a regular guest on Russia Today. The Atlantic Council wrote about him in 2016 that the “Eurosceptic British historian and frequent commentator on the Russian-funded television network RT was director of studies at the IDC, which was funded by Russian charitable NGOs (non-governmental organizations). The Russian government makes use of the long-established cultural institutions associated with the presence of an important Russian diaspora in France that dates back to the 1920s and the Soviet period.” Recently, Laughland expressed views that the Americans blew up the Nord Stream pipeline to ensure that Europeans would buy American LNG instead of Russian natural gas.
Read alsoOrbán: I knew before the war that something was wrong with Putin
Of course, all the above written does not support he was ever a Russian spy. However, this conviction in Great Britain would cast a long shadow at the Hungarian government. That is because the prime minister’s political director, Mr Balázs Orbán, sits on the board of trustees of the MCC. That leads us to another question Mr Panyi asks in his Facebook post: should guest lecturers have a (national security) clearance probe before they start their work in Hungary?
RoadPol elects Hungarian officer head
The executive board of RoadPol, the umbrella organisation for the traffic police of 26 European countries, has unanimously elected Hungary’s Elvira Zsinkai as the network’s president, the daily Magyar Nemzet reported on Tuesday.
Zsinkai told the paper she would promote adopting best practices from other countries to improve traffic safety.
She said Sweden, Denmark and Norway had managed to reduce the number of fatal road accidents to nearly zero, which she said could be achieved in other countries.
Zsinkai said the foundations had been laid by adopting the 3E principle of enforcement, education, and engineering, and made a special mention of Hungary’s “traffic boxes” as a best practice. The boxes placed by busy roads may contain a camera recording speeding drivers, but “drivers will not know if there is indeed a camera in the box, so they will slow down,” she said.
Zsinkai also mentioned the practice of the United Kingdom and Netherlands, where cyclists are required to take an exam and obtain a licence, whereas in Hungary “anyone without any training could take to the road”.
As for engineering, Zsinkai said the Scandinavian police routinely informed road managers if technical aspects of the road could contribute to accidents, and the manager could make repairs or even redesign the given section. The system could be introduced in all countries “but this also has financial considerations,” Zsinkai said.
King Charles’s Hungarian cook shared secrets about his visits in Zalánpatak
Blikk, a Hungarian tabloid, found the Hungarian cook of King Charles III. Aunt Éva (Éva néni) is proud of the walking stick she received from the former Prince of Wales. She shared some secrets about the king’s visits to the tiny Hungarian village of Zalánpatak in Transylvania. She said they hoped the king would continue his visits to Transylvania, where locals would always welcome him. Here are some stories about Charles you probably never read before.
Zalánpatak, where the king bought a house
According to blikk.hu, Charles III visits a tiny Hungarian village in Central Romania if he seeks time and opportunity for recreation. He “fell in love” with a small Hungarian village, Zalánpatak, fifteen years ago. The village is at the end of a side road, in the middle of some beautiful forests where only the barking of the shepherd dogs disturbs tranquility.
96 percent of the locals are Hungarians, and the village looks as though time stopped there. The king bought an estate in the settlement years ago. He renewed it, but it remained a small farmhouse-like building with a beautiful garden with flowers and endemic trees and plants. Instead of numerous staff, there is only Aunt Éva. She is the cook but also does the washing up, the washing, and the administration.
Anybody can book a room in the house. Furthermore, you can even sleep in King Charles’s bed, and you only have to pay 100 EUR per night.
Read alsoEverything you should know about King Charles III’s Hungarian relative
Locals shared some secrets about his visits
“I have known the prince since 2012. He visited us every year except the years of the pandemic. We met in May for the last time. He behaves simply, not flamboyantly. He has a good sense of humour, he is friendly, and his staff always thanks everything. He never goes to sleep without saying goodbye to us in the kitchen. We always wait for that”, the king’s Hungarian cook said.
Charles regularly arrives with 9-10 of his staff and in secret. Of course, locals know when he comes, so they swarm the entrance. But that never disturbed Charles. On the contrary, he shook the hands of the children and greets everybody. “He likes our village and finds our dishes attractive. I cook for him and he regularly tastes everything. His favourites are tomato soup and pörkölt. There is a small table in the back of the garden where he paints and draws. He likes wildflowers and takes long walks on the hills. He drinks tea at 5”, she added.
Even the king’s room is cheap
Blikk visited the king’s room, and they experienced the lack modernity, maybe for the lamp. “He respects traditions and likes to preserve what is old”, Éva said. She added the king always sleeps in one corner of the bed and puts the photos of his wife and children on the cabinet. He never brings too many clothes, only what he needs. There is always enough space for his clothes in the wardrobe, she told Blikk.
Read alsoVIDEO: King Charles III greeted Hungarians partly in Hungarian
King Charles regularly organises parties inviting local musicians. Aunt Veronka, another local, said his father was one of the king’s favourites. They shook hands many times, and Charles adored how he played the violin. Sometimes he brought Veronka with him to sing some folk songs for Charles. She was surprised that Charles tasted every dish he was offered. He liked even the poppy seed polenta.
Charles bought another house in Szászfehéregyháza, another village close to Zalánpatak but populated by Romanians. He also supported the settlement to renew its buildings through his foundation. His house is like a museum in the village since he does not sleep there. Charles always visits his friend, Count Tibor Kálnoky’s mansion in Miklósvár.
A firm handshake
Zsolt Ambarus, the mansion’s manager, said the king had a firm handshake, worthy of a king. He was nice and direct. He also tried their apple pie and elderflower syrup. He has a room in the mansion, too. It is like the others, but its bathroom is a bit bigger and has a sauna and an ice machine inside.
Charles will not get rich from his Transylvanian estates. His room in his estate in Zalánpatak can be booked for 100 EUR per night. The entrance ticket to his other house in Szászfehéregyháza, operating as a museum, is 2.83 EUR. His suite in Miklósvár is more expensive. But it is also better equipped compared to his room in Zalánpatak. You can book it for 263 EUR per night.
Missing: a British woman has disappeared in Budapest
A thirty-year-old British woman, Bartram Christina Frances, has disappeared from Erzsébetváros, the 7th district of Budapest. Police are searching for her.
She disappeared in the early hours of 28 September and police are asking anyone with information about her to come forward.
Bartram Christina Frances is about 165 centimetres tall, of average build. She has long, curly brown hair and blue eyes. She has a piercing around her left eye and tattoos on her right wrist and left forearm. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing yellow sneakers, long socks with a black pattern, fishnet tights, a black coat with a waist length, a yellowish-green T-shirt and a pink furry hat.
The Budapest Police Headquarters VII District Police Department asks anyone who has information about the whereabouts of the 30-year-old woman to report her location, even on condition of anonymity, to the 24-hour hotline 06-80-555-111 or to the toll-free emergency number 112.
Read alsoHungarian city has to resort to brutal emergency measures due to soaring costs
Could this Hungarian king be Sir Lancelot?
The heroic knight, Sir Lancelot, is perhaps the best-known character in the medieval legends surrounding King Arthur. However, not many know about the origins of Sir Lancelot. According to a recent discovery, the Hungarian King László has fought alongside King Arthur and is in fact, Sir Lancelot.
Where does the character of Sir Lancelot come from?
Sir Lancelot is probably the most famous character from the Arthurian saga. According to kingarthursknights.com, Lancelot was the first knight of the Round Table, and he never failed in gentleness, courtesy, or courage. He was not only extremely brave, but also he was also consistently serving others. However, researchers could not find where the world-famous literary figure came from. According to mult-kor.hu, the character first appears in the works of the 12th-century French novelist Chrétien de Troyes. Prior to that, no kind of prototype of Lancelot’s figure could be identified either in the earlier texts of Arthurian literature or in Celtic folklore.
Read alsoOne of the greatest Hungarian medieval king’s remains were identified
Is the Hungarian King St. László Sir Lancelot?
The figure of Lancelot can be associated with Hungarian history. During the time of Béla III, who reigned in the last quarter of the 12th century, Hungarian-French relations strengthened. As a result, many Hungarians ended up in the west. Some researchers believe that the character of Sir Lancelot has been modelled after King St. László, the famous Hungarian king, writes promotions.hu.
The name László or Ladislaus, used in Hungary, could easily have been turned into Lancelot in the New Latin-speaking area. For example, the Hungarian king László V Utószülött, who reigned in the middle of the 15th century, regularly appears in the form of Lancelot in contemporary French and Italian texts. Therefore, King St. László could easily be the equivalent of Sir Lancelot.
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Hungarian President leaves for London to attend Queen’s funeral
Hungarian President Katalin Novák left for London on Sunday to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
“I am leaving for London with my husband, István, to pay my last respects at the queen’s bier on behalf of the Hungarian nation, and attend her funeral service along with world leaders tomorrow,” the president wrote on Facebook.
Novák said that although she had never got the opportunity to meet Elizabeth II in person, she respected her for her attitude, wisdom and service of her nation. The Queen died on September 8 at the age of 96 at her summer residence of Balmoral Castle in Scotland after 70 years on the throne.
