DAILY PHOTO: Pécsi Synagogue by Night
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Andrássy út is a major boulevard in the Pest side of Budapest. It’s perhaps most well-known as the Embassy Row of Hungary. It’s delimited by Heroes’ Square (Hősök tere) on one end and Bajcsy–Zsilinszky út near Erzsébet tér on the other.
Love locks are padlocks that people hang in a public space as a sign of affection–often with a message written on them. Some are fancy; others are not. It reminds me of the Shinto prayer boards one sees in Japan. Love locks are a pretty common phenomena, particularly in Europe. The first ones I remember seeing were in Helsinki, but this wall is in Pécs, Hungary.
They’re building a new park area at the base of Buda Castle, in front of the Palace. It was open while we were in town for the holidays. (Apparently, it has opened and closed several times and is still not entirely complete–though it does look nice.) The opened-closed thing being tied to the electoral cycle. Though apparently a significant portion of the funds came from the EU rather than domestic tax revenues.
These spheres of light, ostensibly designed to mimic glittery ornaments, were hung throughout the trees on Vörösmarty Tér during Christmas season in Budapest.
I have to say, I’ve never seen Budapest’s Christmas markets thriving like they were in 2014. Granted, my last holiday visit was in 2008 (bad times all around), and my first time was in the mid-90’s (Hungary was still trying to get its post-Cold War feet under it.) I have been a few times in between, but this year was clearly in a different league from previous years.