No matter if it’s raining, snowing or the heat is burning the pavement, a good glass of wine and a peaceful environment are always a good match. Etyek company City & Wine is offering many possibilities to enjoy a sip or ten, relax and see some of the surrounding sights. Continue »

The international community came together on Friday 5 November to raise HUF 1.5 million (EUR 5,468) for charity – over twice the amount donated during the Bonfire Night charity event last year. Stephen Linfitt, the event organiser, took the occasion of the 10th anniversary of XpatLoop.com to put on the event for The Smiling Hospital Foundation. More than 250 people attended, including many distinguished locals, ministry officials and media personalities. Expats  including several ambassadors, senior diplomats, leading business figures and a whole variety of socialites all joined in the celebration. Continue »

The attention of the world’s most im­portant centres of contemporary art- Berlin, Paris, London, New York, and Basel -will turn to Budapest on 25-28 No­vember. The most successful Hungarian art fair will be open to visitors, avid collectors and art enthusiasts both, in its traditional setting of the M?csarnok. Continue »

A map of a city is an unquestionably objective thing: exact places at exact coordinates, wherever you are in the world. This rigid concept was thrown into question by the organisers of the Subjective Budapest Maps exhibition. As the title suggests, the artists approached Budapest in a very intimate, subjective way, creating maps of their own. One of them described it as a dual situation: there’s a territory, which is invisible, and people barely notice its component parts; while there is another, parallel place that is linked to the private lives, experiences and stories of its inhabitants. Continue »

The numbers are starting to stack up for the Contemporary Drama Festival, Budapest: 13 years of experience, nearly 100 performances abroad and hundreds of foreign guests from five continents. The upcoming week-long event has three parts: international, Hungarian and the guest nation, which this year is the United States. Continue »

 The Saltimbanco show by Cirque Du Soleil promises breathtaking acrobatics and dazzling choreography at Papp László Budapest Sportaréna from 8 to 12 December.  Continue »

On education policy, a new front opens up between parts of Fidesz and KDNP.  With Fidesz’s former education minister Zoltán Pokorni launching a frontal assault on Christian Democratic education policy, the key question is whether Pokorni is just an old-timer with little to lose or whether he remains a well-connected figure whose pronouncements mark a warning to the KDNP’s ambitious education policy-maker Rózsa Hoffmann that she can’t set the course alone.  Continue »

Ferenc Anisits, a pioneering figure in the history of diesel engines, is held in extremely high regard abroad, yet in his native Hungary little notice has been taken of him so far in official and professional circles.  Anisits makes no secret of his disappointment at the attitude of his compatriots in Hungary, which he feels is the result of deliberate rejection and ignorance. It is hardly surprising that he still feels strongly about the fate of his country even 50 years after he had no other choice but to leave.  Continue »

Škoda Auto continues to grow internationally and its October sales were considerably higher than a year ago. With 69,200 vehicles delivered in October 2010, against 65,000 in October 2009, the Czech carmaker achieved its fourth-highest sales result in a single month. In the first ten months of 2010 worldwide deliveries grew 11.9 per cent to 638,200 vehicles, compared to 570,200 in January-October 2009, thanks to both an improved model mix and cost optimisation.  Continue »

An institute for the training of car industry workers named the Automotive Academy Hungary opened in Gy?r last week. It is the latest project of the Automotive Consulting Cluster, a private grouping working with Széchenyi István University in Gy?r to coordinate regional automotive interests. Continue »