This recent photograph shows the remains of a bridge crossing a river that is both an international border at this point and well known to anyone acquainted with Hungary.
But where is it?
And to think that I get criticised for setting 'easy-peasy' testers when regular readers, smiling with unabashed glee, come up with fiendishly difficult piccies like this one. You really should be careful with what you wish for!
This is the bad karma that you have brought upon the entire readership!
But because I am aware of the anguish and worry trying to solve this Tester would cause a number of readers to be losing sleep, getting short tempered with spouses, shouting at work colleagues etc, my (very soft) heart is so moved by this week's challenge that I'm not asking for the specific location - merely the name of the river and which two countries (or rather tiny bits of them) are pictured here?
I know at first sight this may appear an almost impossible task, but believe me, good detective work can, at least, vastly help reduce the possible combinations - though a bit of guesswork is arguably required to pin things down in the final phase of the puzzle.
And before Iván 'super wag' Sellei suggests it, this is not the River Thames north of Reading marking the border between Oxfordshire and the Royal County of Berkshire :)
(All KesterTesters feature scenes or people from Budapest, Hungary or CEE. )
Of course, if you happen to recognise the location, and know the time of the last train to cross the bridge, the engine number and driver's star sign, go ahead and tell us all.
I will update this post tomorrow with the results of KesterTester 33 - so you still have time to achieve Global Fame by getting that one correct - answer please through the website system or by email.
Have a safe, sleuthing weekend!
Update – Results of KT 33
I really don't know how I deserve or put up with the level of stick I get on here! And it's getting worse. One reader said he wasn't nerdy enough to remember when all the buses and tram numbers changed, another said I'd been taking selfies, writing: Very tricky KT33. The picture of you lying in the foreground suggests a recent shot, but I’m not deceived. Well, I tried to ignore these entries, but the Competition Committee said the essence of the answers were correct and threatened to resign and denounce me to the dreaded EU Tester Supervisory Authority for unethical behaviour as a Tester Director. Well, as we all know, fighting anything in Brussels consumes both your money and your life, so I had to give way – but I feel the embers of resentment are still glowing within. Anyway, justice was finally done in the result <blows raspberry>. Well, almost. KT 33 proved more difficult than I'd imagined, and while it attracted six entries, most only identified the location, not the year or reasoning, as requested. So the Competition Committee ruled that all entries were valid with the correct location, but the best would have two numbers in the EU-approved black wooly hat as a kind of compensation. Actually, there were two very good entries: a certain Greg Dorey wrote: It would appear to be Szell Kalman Ter in its Moszkva Ter days, possibly the top end by the old Post Office HQ. Obviously pre-2014 because no FUTAR system and pre-2013 because the No. 18 tram is still going there. But the advertising on the tram and clothes suggest long before that, so perhaps 1985? While Alan Sutton proffered: Moszkva tér obviously from the bus routes. Let's say 1995 as I know 56 and 12 were merged into 56 at some point. Also that concrete thing has now gone. Were they, Alan? I don't think either 56 or 12 exist as bus routes any more, but it's true, you are pretty close regarding the transport clues, and Greg more or less got the location spot on. It was taken probably in 1992 one summer Saturday (IIRC) from a spot near where a few years ago they put in shiny new escalators leading up the bank to where Csaba utca starts. (Except you can't use the escalators at the moment because of some fancy and no doubt fabulously expensive rebuilding work on what used to be the main post office building, now owned by the Hungarian National Bank. Quite what the MNB is doing buying buildings and artworks for all it is worth is another matter.) So, after all this, who is the celebrated winner, set to garner world celebrity status? In fact, the winning number was 5 – corresponding to a loyal, if despairing reader who answered:
On the basis of the numbers, I'd say it's Moszkva tér "régen", but how "régen" that is... I don't know! I am resigned to my name not going into the black woolly hat. Keep the faith, B! True, your name did not, but your number did, and came back out again of said woolly hat! Step forward and prepare for a life of selfie requests, invitations to dinner at Gundel and offers of lead roles in blockbuster films – Benedicte Williams! And thanks for showing me how to spell “woolly” :) Thanks to everyone who took part, and now, thinking caps on please to identify the border river behind the natural flotsam and jetsam in the foreground of GuesterTester 34.