One of the most traditional spring activities in Budapest is held every year at Óbuda square: the Spring Wine and Jazz Festival. People from all over Hungary and many tourists from around the world will enjoy two days of wine and the best Hungarian jazz bands.

Although the grape harvest in Hungary is in September, the wine festival takes place in spring, because the rolled grape juice has decanted and turned into a delicious wine or sparkling wine. It also welcomes the sun and warm longer days; they leave in oblivion the cold winter.

Wine and jazz are together in this festival as they are also intimately linked by history. Just as jazz is passion, rhythm, character and sophistication, wine is the ideal complement, because it exacerbates all the emotions and stimulates the passions. Nothing better than listening to blues and dixie in the beautiful old town square: live music and a nice glass of wine in hand.

During two days in April you will have the chance to taste the best wines in Europe, and buy some offers to enjoy it at home. But most importantly, taste the wines of the house, as Hungarian producers strive to have very good quality wines at very cheap prices.

Hungary is famous for its delicious wines that complement its culinary culture. Tokaji wine is known to come from the region of Tokaj-Hegyalja. Roumor has it that the countess Susana Lorántffy, wife of the Transylvanian Prince George Rákóczi, personally took care of the vineyards, but one year , and due to the constant wars with the Turks the harvesting was postponed until November, resulting it in a sweet and concentrate wine, which identifies the Tokaji wine.

The Bikavér is a cuvée, the bull�s blood of Hungarian wines. This wine is a real treasure among Hungarian wines that comes from Szekszárd and has a law to protect production, which is a regulation to produce wine and grapes of the kind needed to its production.

Also Szamorodni wine is produced from the grapes affected by the Botrytis cinerea fungus. When the grapes have lost water and have a greater amount of sugar, the wine is produced with a higher quantity of alcohol than normal.

Then there is also the wine manufactured with Eszencia aszú grapes, It is pretty sweet and also considered as one of the most expensive wines in the world. There is also the Fordítás, a sweet wine and wine Máslás.

This festival brings together elements that are part of the Budapest culture, that is why everyone waits for the Spring to celebrate the arrival of the spring and the beginning of a new production of fine wines.

For more information: http://visitbudapest.travel/budapest-events/budapest-spring-wine-jazz-festival/

Nancy Guzman

Rent one of the apartments in Budapest this spring, and don’t miss this outdoors celebration of jazz and wine in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

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After a hard winter, the return of spring means going out onto the streets again, enjoying some sun and being once again amongst nature, eating al fresco and going to café terraces. This past winter was a lot harder than the last. Perhaps it�s because of global warming that the seasons are more intense or unstable, with unexpected climate changes that include waves of wind and cold, storms and other phenomenons, so could it be true that it�s the end of the world in 2012? The human race and the thousands of inventions of its culture are always bordering the apocalypse; that machinery that unites us to death so desperately and that makes the final destruction of the planet something so selfish, eroticized and eventually another product of day to day consumption. Religions and companies, or religions that are companies or companies that are religions, it doesn�t matter, just fill us with fear with these ideas that turn out to be false, that separate us from today, the time of action and the constant daily transformation.

Spring is a reason for rejuvenation, rebirth, of new life and light. Of course it�s related with the green environment of the dry and shadowy forest, the return of flowers and birds in patios and gardens, no other association goes better with love, fertility and the essence of life itself. And so, so many books and poems have been written to spring that we�d need more days to count them, comment on and read them all. In the same way, the association of spring and music has always been intense. The processes of musical creation, like spring, can be the result of a large effort in the personal interior darkness that finally bring melodies and rhythms to light, which move us in a thousand different ways and make us more human and, of course, more careful towards the beauty of our humanity.

Despite the contradictions of our time, art and of course music, above all, can bring us back to think about our species, its future and the immense possibility of change that the human race represents. Even more in spring and in a city as poetic as Budapest, which traps you from the first moment of your visit.

The Spring Musical Festival in Budapest is one of the best pretexts to travel and see this beautiful city in a climate that rejuvenates us and with the spirit of seeing contemporary, classical, jazz and folk music as well as the opera from inside in some of the most emblematic places in the city: churches, the Palace of Arts and the Thália Theatre among others. For more information visit the following website: http://www.btf.hu/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest and enjoy this important spring music festival. Budapest and its diverse and rich cultural lifestyle await you to wrap you inside it. Without doubt, it�s one of the most interesting cities in Europe today.

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Art is one of the major markets throughout Europe. With the global economic crisis and the various ways of resistance to problems such as racism, anti-immigration laws, feminism, etc, the production of contemporary art today is overwhelming. This is not new, plus getting profit from the current economical situation is possible if you have an artistic and conceptual radical nature. Thus, institutions, collections, artists and museums are rewarded.

On one hand the artists create projects and works that go hand in hand with the policies of the galleries and museums. Similarly, the galleries and museums receive recognition and cultural capital, and then the institution sponsors these artists, in their radicalism. The institution on the other hand, ensures payment to the artists, who ultimately complete the financial wheel, also being recognized officially by the institution. The museum or gallery purchase souls without a doubt. But this is information for artists. If you�re seeking the best art in Budapest, don’t hesitate to visit the following places:

Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, one of the most important institutions of modern and contemporary art in Budapest. Open since late nineteenth century, this area has been the focus of art in Hungary and a key player in the formation of the canon of Hungarian art.

Polgár, opened back in 1987, this gallery also began to make considerable auctions since 1995. Polgár is centered above all in classical art, furniture, utensils made of different materials, porcelain, paintings and jewelry. For knowledgeable and lovers of the relics.

Acb, this gallery has existed since the 90�s, and currently supports the work of new artists, especially from experimental trends and on various media such as video, photography and installation. The most recent young Hungarian art can be found here.

Kieselbach is another important impressionist art gallery, focusing on Hungarian art and other art oddities of Budapest. They also have pieces of abstract art, art deco, and art nouveau, among others. This gallery also works as auctioneer.

Art Mission, opened back in 1990, this gallery exhibits mainly contemporary art from renowned figures of art made in Hungary.

While these galleries are routed to the acquisition of important works of art, just as their spaces and exhibitions, which can give you a better perspective of the art made in Hungary and other countries. Budapest is a city full of attractions for scholars and art lovers as well as young artists. Probably, a city will be even better positioned in the market pendulum of the always modern and contemporary art in the coming years. Make sure to explore the libraries, squares, churches and monuments around the city center. More than a pleasant surprise awaits you in the Hungarian capital.

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest and visit its important museums and galleries. Budapest offers a diverse cultural and intellectual life, and if you�re an art lover, you will have the opportunity to appreciate it to its full extension.

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Next year will be better, or so they say. On 2012 there are thousands of sensational speculations that have been there for two or three years. Among many, that the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world for the beginning of 2012. That�s not happened nor will it happen. Maybe, something that the calendar was right about was in the change and the end of many ideas that we�ve had on reality and its structure, on the inconsistent way in which capitalism hasn�t been able to control its networks and, from the United States to Europe and back, due to the bad handling of investments of many thousands of people, as well as political abuse against the working rights of many people, we�ve reached a global crisis.

The word �crisis� is today one of the most widely used in global language. This can be translated with some Google and seeing the results on social networks. Inadvertently, the social networks have unleashed a wave of text and information exacerbating the crisis from a problem which was essentially economical. And it�s not about dis-informing, of living in denial about what�s happening or turning one�s back on things, but more about understanding that the essence of the problem is in the language, and therefore we have to be alert towards other things such as music, art or travelling. There are ways of getting rid of the problems, which aren�t necessarily expensive and totally accessible.

The New Year�s Eve parties are usually a moment of excess around the world. We believe that, getting ridiculously drink and dancing, we will leave behind a year which hasn�t gone according to plan with our wishes. But a party is a party and it can happen on any day. Maybe the best thing to do to celebrate and say goodbye to the year gone by is to pay attention to music and see what it says to us, which new options it offers us and think a bit about it. Being drunk and dancing is very easy, but listening to beautiful melodies is more important.

For that, the concert of Amadinda and Gábor Presser on the 31st of December is an option to unwind from the noise of the party and enter another musical dimension. Amadinda is a unique percussion band who began their career in Budapest in 1984, and since then present compositions of contemporary Hungarian music in different formats, from the most traditional to the most minimal. Gábor Presser is another experimental musician who remains classic. He makes electronic compositions of classical and modern pieces. This concert is a chance to get to understand that the frontiers of traditional and improvisation are very light and, on the contrary, can go hand in hand in such an important place like the Palace of Art in Budapest.

It will undoubtedly be a night of the best contemporary Hungarian music. Recommended for fans of international contemporary music and experimentation. For more information visit the following website: http://mupa.hu/en/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest and enjoy this fabulous concert to send the year off.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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To talk about design in today�s day and age is to be aware of what is really going on in the field of aesthetic exploration and production and marketing means. All of it is linked with one another: don�t expect that the new t-shirt that you�ve bought in the kitschiest shop in your city has nothing to do with any new conceptual agenda or relation with the newest in political complaints or new ways of production which are environment-friendly. Many designers, today go for �green� trends, an option which as well as helping the planet with its immediate corrosion and destruction, works as an even more seductive factor for the product you�re about to consume; and it�s more than obvious, don�t let them fool you: behind any attempt of �political correctness� there�s also a catch to get more money out of you so that others make more money.

The ease that design production is made with these days, thanks in the same way to quicker and more efficient means of production, makes that many young people can show their work and that there�s a larger variety of new possibilities. Despite that quantity doesn�t mean quality, what�s true is that among more range of choice regarding fashion, accessories, objects, music or home decoration, there are better options of finding the right gift or fetish. In other words, as well as being a very good option so that thousands of creative people gather, Wamp is also one of the best places to find the most unusual and special Christmas gift, which will surely delight the person receiving the gift, because they will have a unique stylish item, and especially because it will be the latest in Budapest�s world of design.

And so, Wamp is more than a market, it�s a designers exhibition, a space of action, an emerging community of new talents in Budapest. Wamp presents itself once or twice a month during the year. This way, the best in design is available for citizens, tourists, curious people and everyone who is passing by or lives in the beautiful city of Budapest. This way, Wamp is the perfect meeting place for creative people from around the world, as well as the trend setters who search for the cutting edge in European fashion.

Wamp presents the best in graphic arts, photography, painting, sculpture, ceramics, home textiles, fashion, accessories, jewelry, furniture and gastronomy. Some of the names you have to remember when visiting Wamp are, MÍO Design, Gera Noémi, Muka Viktória, Kaintz Regina, Czeizler Zsolt, Földi Klára, Ligeti Miklós, BringaBag, Becker Judit, Csekő Etelka and MUSU among others. For more information on Wamp visit the following webpage: http://www.wamp.hu/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest and be part of its vibrant cultural life as well as the unmissable Wamp Market, where you�ll definitely find what you were looking for in new fashion, design and accessories. Highly recommended for artists, designers, art critics and, of course, trend setters.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Theater had a realistic slope for many years. It was not until the late nineteenth century when it started to appear a change in this trend, mainly due to the various artistic vanguards and the advent of modernity. So, thanks to advances in visual media through symbolism and abstraction, theater took a step to higher levels of representation, staging and proposals. Today, contemporary drama uses a variety of new resources ranging from video, installation and increasingly minimal and conceptual staging, in which new records interact with aesthetic, political, current and controversial stories.

Perhaps the greatest example of total contemporary theater is the King Ubu by Alfred Jarry, a piece with multiple variations and recurring themes, works both the in stage and the subject matter from a political irony and humor truly amazing for its time. Jarry was a visionary, and as such, a precursor of Dadaism and other “isms” of the time. The curious thing about a piece like King Ubu, is that besides its high sarcasm, questioning the political environment of its time, anarchic and volatile capacity, is structured from the meaning and quite complex language games, in which the reader or anyone who witnesses the piece, simply get carried away by logic staged games. In this work, too, shedding is minimal nature of the staging of contemporary art.

Antonin Artaud took a step forward in creating theater. With his theories on the “Theatre of Cruelty,” Artaud not only proposes new means even more abstract and metaphysical included in the staging. It was after his explorations in Mexico with peyote in the Tarahumara tribes Theatre Artaud understood as a profound exploration of the unconscious, which also reveals a ritualistic nature scene on the set. So Artaud makes plays in their colors appear as substances, or occurrences that increased the volume on stage. What encourages Artaud is not stable look over the world, but rather quite the contrary. Artaud reveals the short depth of human spirit and the horror of the void, the inability to be present or be in the unrecognized breath by breath, no more than a pathetic construction of meanings around us, and that reality invention is also empty, no other culture density that gives, and which confuses us, contra lateral and manipulated.

The Contemporary Drama Festival Budapest has over ten years. During this period, there have been more than a hundred international performances in the festival, which each year continues to cause interest at the Hungarian public as well as internationally. The festival is a very interesting space in which new proposals for theater and performance converse, mingle, and generate new creations. For more information, visit the following website: http://dramafestival.hu/

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Budapest and enjoy the best in current drama.

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Translated by: Hans
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There is a before and after Cicciolina, both in pornography and in Italian politics. But first we should ask what strange twist of fate causes women born in Hungary to be some of the most beautiful on the planet. It�s no joke. Hungarian women have a very particular grace and beauty that has made them perhaps the most desirable women in the world. Some of the most attractive porn actresses working today come from this country.

But to tell this story, we must go back in time. The history of pornography in Hungary dates from the period after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Until then, both production and distribution of pornography was illegal in communist Hungary. However the laws were changed with the arrival of “democracy” and these more permissive laws soon allowed this country to come to the forefront of the industry. Foreign directors were quick to take advantage of Hungary’s permissive laws, its low production costs and its large numbers of attractive actresses. 

However, the history of La Cicciolina dates from long before the Wall fell, and although her story is mainly connected to Italian culture and government, it is worth noting that she is from Budapest. In the 60�s she worked as a model in Hungary, and it wasn’t until the early 70�s that she began to develop her career in Italy. In the 80�s she starred in her first hardcore film and her fame grew even more. After this, she entered politics and, in 1987, was elected to the Italian parliament with more than twenty thousand votes. Her prime aims were to combat the nuclear threat and world hunger.

Among the most memorable moments of her time in parliament was the occasion she offered to have sex with Saddam Hussein in exchange for him releasing prisoners during the Gulf War. After failing to be elected again in 1991, she became one of the founders of the Partito dell�Amore, along with the porn actress, Moana Pozzi. Her further attempts to take an active part in politics failed, as did her offer to Osama bin Laden to have sex with him in exchange for an end to violence in the Middle East.

Although the successes of Cicciolina’s political career may have been negligible, her presence in the Italian parliament undoubtedly had an impact on European society. The fact that she found enough support to be able to crossover from the “underground” world of porn to the international political arena opened many people’s eyes to the true market size of pornography and its deep integration in contemporary culture. In pornography’s revelatory power of display, in its rawness, and in its blatant use of sexual intercourse as a means of production and capital, it explodes all society’s ideals, whether moral, political or religious about what sex means in our culture. La Cicciolina represented the impulse of downtrodden women everywhere to take control for themselves and wield some of the power in an industry, religion and world ruled by men.

Alexa Ray

There can be nothing better than renting apartments in Budapest and exploring this city, which, as well as being beautiful, is also the home of some of the best porn stars working today.

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Translated by: Ben Palmer
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