Vertical Densification

I've long been a fan of vertical landscaping since seeing gorgeous pics of various buildings in Paris adorned with such plantings.  I've been please to see mini forests bursting out of panel housing apartment patios here in Budapest as well, where vines climb vigorously upward over battered urban masonry.

  The concept you see above is "Bosco Verticale", Italian architect Stefano Boeri's "vertical densification" project, whose goal is to reforest the city of Milan in a modern, efficient, and incredibly exciting way.  Check out this link to read more about the project.  http://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/?p=207

  I firmly believe that while urban areas are humanity's natural habitat, nature beckons, of course, and even if we don't realize it, we just don't feel quite right without something green growing nearby. Forests in the cities?  Yes, please.  Woodlands in the sky?  Oh my.  I can't wait to see the realization of Bosco Verticale.  The people of Budapest have been doing this on an individual scale for a while now.  It will be exciting to witness entire buildings devoted to vertical densification.

Szuper Papika

Remember Szuper Mamika?  Now she's part of a dynamic duo...take a gander. x

original Szuper Mamika post: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/grandmas-superhero-therapy-18

 updated post:  http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/grandmas-superhero-therapy

Megabonzai

                                                
                              I'll drink my kriek in the cherry gazebo, thank you...x

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/10/patient-gardener-outdoor-retreat-made-cherry-trees-shaped-over-time.php

Belgian Pub

                                                          trappist ale, bellevue kriek, and a sublime meggyes tiramisu




   I'm not a pub person.  I'm not a hearty drinker.  Usually, when I find myself at a bar, I amuse myself by sitting in a corner watching everyone else get their swerve on.
  I do, however, enjoy lambic of almost any flavor, and when I was told that the Mosselen Belga Söröző serves kriek on tap (in special goblets, no less), I had to give the old pub scene another try.
  Turns out I love the Mosselen.  I found it very easy to get cozy inside the deep wooden booths, clutching and nursing my goblet of kriek, while beer drinking friends sample an array of Belgian brews. Each potion comes in its appropriate vessel..one even comes in a shapely glass which is held within a sort of wooden frame.
  The food is supposed to be mighty fine as well.  I've only eaten dessert there, a delicious cherry (meggy) tiramisu, which seemed the obvious flavor companion for my kriek.
  If I had a usual pub hangout, this one might be it.  It's within stumbling distance of our flat, on the corner of Pannónia and Katona Jozsef. x

Wunderkammer (Curiosities)

 

What is to be done with all of those dratted dandelions?  Here is just the thing:

http://www.regineramseier.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=79

Csokisátán

  Bringing you a duet of articles, appropriate for both American style Halloween and Christmas in general. I really, really enjoy Krampusz lore of any kind. Both of these blurbs made me laugh out loud. I wonder,  are there not chocolate Satans in the U.S.? And if not, why not?  Isn't it an obvious pairing, people?

First this: http://www.pestiside.hu/20061207/local-tots-terrified-by-chocosatans

followed by this :http://www.pestiside.hu/20111017/christmas-comes-early-for-local-christmashaters-as-salgotarjan-santa-factory-goes-up-in-smoke/


  Maybe it's just me... x

Tuesday's Soundtrack

Open your ears and let Nick Drake and his lonely guitar set the mood.  This is what today looks and feels like in Budapest. x

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y11X5WljnFA

Sunny Day Real Estate

                                                    just outside my window, Katona Jozsef Utca


     I went for a walk one sunny day and snapped some pics in my neighborhood, Újlipótváros, known also as the XIII district.  Eventually, gray clouds obscured the blue, but I just kept on snapping.

                               corner of Visegrádi and Katona Jozsef Utcas. I live in the building on the right

                                                             cloud of morning glories, across the street on Visegrádi

                                                                                              stark urban beauty

                                                                     
                                                       one of my favorite kávéház and a mosaic adorning the building

                                                                    view of Buda from my corner of Visegrádi Utca   
          

                                                  Sir Florian, inset on the corner of Katona Jozsef and Hollán Ernő Utcas

                                                                                             pastels of Budapest

                                                                    Hollán Ernő Utca, lots going on here everyday

                   another favorite hangout, the Odeon Lloyd...coffee house, cinema, and dvd rental shop all in one                     

Oh Red Day (1 a.m.)

                                                                
                                                                     Katona Jozsef Utca

 The sky is pink tonight. It's autumn, the air is damp and cold, folks are burning things across the river.  I remember that about living in Buda...I'd see and smell little smouldering piles of debris all over the nooks and crannies of Csillaghegy in the fall.  Indoor fires are being tended on both sides of the city...the blankets I brought in from the railing outside hold the scent of wood smoke. With no fire of my own, I'm feeling snug and warm underneath one of those blankets right now, and now, happily, I smell like wood smoke as well.
  

Budapest By The Sea

   In my dreams, you can reach a beach just outside of Budapest... wild, pounding surf, aquamarine blue water... via the redline Metro, also known as M3.  I was thrilled to discover this and swore to tell no one, but upon awakening, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.  You can also access a restaurant/ hair salon in Missoula, Montana via the yellow line (M2), as the underground climbs up Mount Sentinal and emerges among the newly and hughly urbanized (former) small college town.  You see, you can get any old where using public transportation.

BIG FAT ERROR

To anyone who receives my blogposts via e-mail....I did not mean to post the latest version on Drum Bun! I hate the way it is written, how it sounds, and it was published unfinished, mid sentence, I believe.  I meant to press save but pressed publish instead. Tried to delete it, apparently to no avail.

  Anyway, don't read it.  I hate it.  I have a better one coming up.  This fucking post has been a bane of my existence.