Dödölle, ganca

Dödölle is a traditional Hungarian food. A simple, quite heavy but to me very delicious food.
Actually I didnt know that it was called dödölle. When I tried it for the first time here in the Buda Castle, I immediately recognised it by its taste that it was what my grandma used to cook during my childhood.

Dödölle

But she called it ganca. The way she served and prepared it was a bit different but the taste was more or less the same. What is dödölle or ganca? Basically it is potato. You cook the potato in salty water and then smash it. The smashed potato has to be mixed with flour. It was quite hard job for my grandma as she was close to 80. So any time I wanted to eat ganca, she made it only if I helped her with the flour mixture.

Dödölle

The ganca/dödölle tastes the best if after cooking, you continue with one more step by putting it back on the fire making it a bit 'fried' by browning it in the pan, with the help of a little oil too. Some cut it into little pieces (like on the photos here) while smashing together with the flour and preparing in the motion like this. My grandma handled it all together in a pot and baked it for a very short time, then shaping it as a thick pancake.

Dödölle

With a generous amount of fried onion and sour cream as its toppings and you got your lunch! I do not recommend it as a dinner unless you have worked 12 hours prior in the fields:)


Dödölle

About Z&Z



Be it that you will be traveling to Budapest, already here or that you are just planning one, BudapestZIN is an online guide with useful and interesting content which you may find practical for your travel planning. A crazy Hungarian man (Zsolt) and a smiley Singaporean lady (Zannnie) have been collecting all the necessary information you may need for a Budapest trip. We LIVE here!

True Budapest experiences speak louder than any travel brochures!

Frequently Asked Questions:










Budapest Airport Transfer: f-airport


The company possesses many years of experience in providing transfer services to and from the airport. In order to provide the best comfort, safety and quality service to our customers we offer the following:

  • A set of new, top category vehicles which provide smoke free and spotless environment and air-conditioning
  • A staff that is helpful and polite, speaks in foreign languages and possesses great experience in commuting in Hungary
  • A personalized "door to door" service at a fixed fair price that can be ordered on-line (the customer doesn't have to accommodate anyone)
  • Free internet access during the transfer*

(from their website)

Prices: see here.

Contact:

György Vörös
1081. Budapest, Kiss József u. 7.
Tel.: 00/36-20-2617699
E-mail: info@f-airport.com

Photoreport on the 20th of August Fireworks in Budapest - 2009

This year the fireworks were really amazing in Budapest.

Fireworks Budapest - 20th of Aug 2009

Fireworks Budapest - 20th of Aug 2009

Fireworks Budapest - 20th of Aug 2009

Fireworks Budapest - 20th of Aug 2009

National Theatre

The construction of the National Theatre, on the basis of plans by architect Mária Siklós, began on 14 September 2000, and, after a construction process of record-breaking speed, was completed in a little over 15 months. The artists were able to take possession of the building on 2 January 2002, when rehearsals began for the inaugural performance on 15 March. In functional terms, the theatre is divided into three parts. The central part comprises the auditorium, with an almost circular ground-plan, and the studio theatre. This part is surrounded by the areas for audience members, and the U-shaped technical wing bordering the main stage. The theatre is surrounded by areas for parking. Together with the open-air stage, the area of the theatre is 20,844 square metres.

National Theater Budapest

To the left and right of the theatre’s longitudinal axis, stairs lead up to the various floors, following the curve of the ambulatory’s outside wall. Passage by foot is accompanied by two panoramic lifts in front of the pylons at both sides of the lobby’s panoramic window. The centrally located cloakroom is on the ground floor, underneath the auditorium. The refreshments bar is on the first floor, while the space on the second and third floors acts as a gallery from which to take in the view of the Danube and the Buda hills.

The main stage has a capacity of 619, and the entrances to the auditorium are along the ambulatories on the first, second and third floors. The boxes are on the second floor, with three royal boxes in the centre. The gallery is on the third floor, where there are technical rooms between the entrances.

Nemzeti

In every sense, the National Thatre has all the given conditions to be site and home of a representative international theatre festival, which at present is missing from Hungarian cultural life. One goal of the festival would be to bring the most exciting current productions to the Hungarian public. Another goal, whenever possible, would be to work for a theme that would provide harmony for the performances: a given theme arranged around a certain regional area, or a theatre's artistic program, or a foreign director working at the theatre. This would create a context for all the pieces, so artists taking part in the festival would remain in Budapest for a couple of extra nights. We could arrange for their participation in encounters with other theatre professional or audience members. Importantly though, our festival would connect partner institutions at home and abroad. As a realistic estimate, the first such festival could be arranged in 2010. We believe it is natural and necessary for the National Theatre to cooperate with the outstanding and justly famous festivals in Budapest (the Budapest Spring Festival and Budapest Autumn Festival). We would strive to form a cooperation with thinking together at its core, considering the partners' requirements while bringing into harmony their opportunities and their assets.

National theater

The theatre has initiated a play-reading series, selections including he freshest work from contemporary international drama literature. Play-readings, with their own particular tools, can display the worthy features of a work, drawing attention to the author's craft and perhaps drawing followers to modern theatre literature. The speciality of today's National Theatre could lie partly its integrating role and partly in its quality. The cultural administration recognizes this quality and makes it possible for the National Theatre to enjoy such distinguished opportunities. (source)

The National Theatre stands in the area between the Danube and Soroksári Street, by the Pest end of the Lágymányos bridge. The artists’ entrance is at the side of the building closer to the river, while the main entrance is on the side facing the Gellért Hill.

By tram
Take tram 2 which runs from Jászai Mari tér to Vágóhíd, or tram 24 which runs from Baross tér. The Vágóhíd utca stop is right next to the theatre. Or take tram 1 from the direction of Bécsi út to its terminus at the Lágymányos bridge.

By local train (HÉV) or bus
There are many lines to the theatre from Boráros tér: the Csepel local train has a stop nearby, as do buses 23 (both black and red) and 54.

Parking
Parking is provided for those arriving by car, and is free for those in possession of a theatre ticket. The National Theatre’s guarded car park holds 250 cars, and is reached from the service road parallel to Soroksári út.

From the north, turn off the junction at Boráros tér and take the service road to the car park. This can also be done by taking a U-turn at the crossing of Soroksári útand Vágóhíd utca.

From the south, or if coming over the Lágymányos bridge, turn off the junction ofSoroksári út and Vágóhíd utca and follow the signs to the car park.

Sziget Festival 2009


12-17 AUGUST 2009, ÓBUDAI ISLAND

Of course....again Sziget Festival in Budapest on the Óbudai Island!

Check out our 2007 and 2008 reports.
We will be there this year , too!:)


The festival will take place between 12-17 August, 2009. The organizers of Sziget Festival plan to have a shorter event with a stronger program for next year. Sziget Festival is going to be five days long.



Sziget will still share the ’Sziget feeling’ for five days. The festival – just like in the previous years – on wendesday will start with more than 60 program venues and thousand programs per day.















Prior to "-1" day (10 August), there is a possibility to purchase a "Moving in" Ticket for 8 and 9 August. In case of buying it the purchasers must take notice of the fact that there are construction works on the area and they can only enter on their own responsibility. At the same time they must accept that only a certain part of the festival's infrastructure is in operation.















The importance of protecting the environment and the environment-conscious way of life from the point of view of the Earth and its inhabitants seems to be obvious to everyone today. From this conviction, the organizers of Sziget Festival have always considered an exceptionally important task to protect the flora and fauna of the festival’s scene, this unique green area in Budapest and when necessary the rehabilitation of the land.















(source and more info: www.sziget.hu)

Chico Buarque - Budapeste

Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born June 19, 1944 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), popularly known as Chico Buarque, is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, and nowadays, also a writer. Based on his book Budapeste they made a movie in Brazil with the same title. Here you can see the trailer: