KesterTester 28 - It's somewhere between Vilnius and Varna - in SE-CE Europe - mid-90s
I don't quite know how I got this photo of the boy with just one or two other souls in the background, because this is a major focal point and busy area of this city. And I don't think this was on a weekend.
Whatever, your job is to guess where :)
(If you happen to live there, you can enter, but can't win the glorious KesterTester prize. Global celebrity status just can't come that easy.)
Tough one? OK, softee that I am, here's another clue: this country likes to think of itself as a champion of things green, and I suspect would not want to be closely associated with 1960s socialist concrete. But that's what it's got at its political heart.
Meanwhile, in other international headlines: here is the answer to KT26, news of fame and fortune for the esteemed winner and an extra twist to the whole tale.
Hungary: For Us, Work is a Respected & Praiseworthy Activity (liberal translation)
First of all, I have to say I was reluctant to post this photo. I thought it would prove far too difficult, as it is not somewhere that I thought many readers would ever visit, and if they did, would notice as they drove past, so it might attract no entries.
Wrong (again). It produced six correct and three sensible, but inaccurate guesses.
Definitely wrong in that I'd forgotten the power of google, which I'm pretty sure several used to hunt down this location. But, from the answers proffered, not only did one or two of you recognise the place from visits - one had actually worked there, albeit decades past.
Sanyi wrote to offer an alternative, and probably more accurate translation: At our [work] place, work is a matter of honesty and glory. Something tells me my errors didn't really put anyone off the scent - but thank you Sanyi - who went on to guess the pic might have been taken in Tatabánya or Székesfehérvár.
Tatabánya ... hmm - that's pretty close, and perhaps you've kind of identified the place, but I don't think it counts as a correct answer. (Sorry.)
Alex, noticing the word Hungalu below the logo, guessed it might be Devecser, the site of the "red sludge" disaster in 2010. A fair effort, although the Aluminium smelter - the original source of the red sludge - is a few kilometers distant in the town of Ajka.
David McCall, from Oregon, USA, was first in with (more than) the correct answer: "I'm pretty sure that this was the entrance to the administration building for the aluminum oxide plant in Almasfuzito," he wrote.
"At first I thought that the old neon sign was for Allami Biztosito, but then I saw the Hungalu below it and was reminded of this company's contribution to so much tragedy in Hungary, though ownership had changed by the time the red sludge made international headlines. Great pick of a pic this week!"
"What a great place name, isn’t it? Almásfűzítő," wrote John Cantwell, "It's the Almásfüzitői Timföldgyár."
Well, for those of you not familiar with the Hungarian vocabulary associated with the production of Aluminium (or Aluminum, as David would say), timföld is the vernacular for alumina, which is an intermediate product in the energy-intensive process of making the metal from bauxite - and if my memory of 'A level' chemistry memory is correct, as David wrote, it is aluminium oxide (Al2O3?)
But the biggest surprise of all was a note from and old friend, László Magócsi, who wrote: "Dear Kester, No contact for ages. Though I follow your blog. The picture shows the main building of Almásfüzitői Timföldgyár (Almasfuzito Alumina Factory). I happened to start ages ago my working career as a chemist at the Research Institue for non-ferrous Metals belonging to the Hungarian Aluminium Industry of which Almasfüzitő was also part. I also spent a week or so in a laboratory of this beautiful building . Sweet memories. Best regards, Laszlo"
Alas, dear Laci, despite your excellent and much appreciated contribution, fame, fortune and the right to buy me two beers has eluded you this week, as your number was not the first out of the EU-approved black wooly quiz hat.
Correct answers by Ferenc Sipos and Hubert "Poirot" Warsmann also fell into the vast anonymity of the quiz ether too, I'm afraid, as the first number out of said wooly hat was number 1, allocated to Greg Dorey - who I suspect is still dizzily enjoying his first taste of celebrity status, having won a KesterTester only a few weeks ago.
Congratulations, Greg! (But how he'll manage the fandom now, I don't know.)
Have a good week, everyone!