BEAUTIFUL BUDAPEST
by Michelle Bienias
Many first-time visitors to Budapest are surprised to learn that it is comprised of two cities: the hilly Buda on the west side, historical center and home of kings; and the flat Pest, the economic heart of the Hungarian capital, on the east. This helps explain why bridges are an important and integral structure for the city. The first bridge, Széchenyi lanchid (known as the chain bridge) was only built in 1849.
Francois Panchard, of www.panoramas.hu, had one night left in the city to complete a shoot of the brand new National Hungarian Theater when he ran into an unexpected problem; Albert II, King of Belgium, was visiting the theater and police had barricaded the perimeter to visitors. Frustrated and seemingly stymied (he had shot the theater several days prior but every set of photos included one that was out of focus, leaving him unable to complete the circle), Francois left the area and found himself on the Lágymányos Bridge. When he looked up, he realized he had a great shot of the theater against the evening sky. The last challenge was to shoot when no vehicles were on the bridge because of the unpleasant vibrations and the 4-second long exposure time.
Mission accomplished, Francois says it was then that “I started to love Albert II, King of Belgium, because he made me take this picture”. We think we love him too.
Francois has recently revamped panoramas.hu, giving it a spiffy new interface with interactive maps, 50 new VRs, 9 object VRs, a short movie about Budapest and an online shop where one can buy posters.
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