The number of Hungarian athletes going to the London Olympics was reduced from 159 to 158 on Tuesday after an unnamed competitor was caught taking a type of anabolic steroid. The Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) is theoretically not allowed to make public the name of the athlete because he or she requested the B-test to… Continue »

After the change of regime Lurdy Ház was among the city’s most modern shopping centres. The German-owned mall is managed today by Stephan Szakal, a German, who is also in charge of the other four Hungarian activities of the Lurdy Group in Hungary. Lurdy Ház, which originally opened in autumn 1998 as a shopping centre… Continue »

Strbske Pleso, in Slovakia’s High Tatras, is the sort of place to go to clear out the marsh gas that accumulates in the lungs in a polluted swamp such as Budapest. You can breathe deeply in the clean mountain air and feel it must be doing you a whole lot of good. At the same… Continue »

Music, film and crafts are on offer until next Sunday 22 July with the ninth Tízforrás Festival in Hegykő, right on the steps of the Fertő-Hanság National Park and the Fertõ (or Neusiedler) Lake that straddles the border with Austria. Music starts this Friday at 7.30pm with old and new tunes by alternative group Magashegyi… Continue »

World-class acts will be on display for ten days as the VeszprémFest opens this Friday, with its accompanying Rosé, Riesling and Jazz Days. The two wine varieties from the Balaton region will be blended with jazz and dance throughout the festival. The main acts will take the stage from next Wednesday when George Benson begins… Continue »

The New Orleans Jazz Festival promises to bring out the best of Hungarian jazz over three days, right in the heart of Siófok. The ninth edition of the festival will feature some of the best-known performers in the country, mixed with a bit of up-and-coming talent. Music will be flooding out of the speakers from… Continue »

Have you ever truly been at a loss for words? I have had many opportunities here in Hungary to be at a loss for words, at least the right and meaningful words. Last November I boarded the bus to go home to my house in Budapest. I had in tow the most beautiful birthday cake… Continue »

When I was a prepubescent teen, my cousin told me that when women wanted to get pregnant they went to a doctor who put them on a special diet and the food they ate made the baby grow in their tummy. I believed her. For a while. Before I left primary school, the head nun… Continue »

Negotiators from the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank are to arrive on Tuesday to begin talks over Hungary’s second multi-billion-euro bailout, a local IMF official has said. After eight months of toing and froing, Hungary’s Parliament removed the final obstacle to the start of official negotiations when lawmakers pushed through amendments… Continue »