Adventuring and Academics in Budapest

On the bridge between Buda and Pest

Our hotel in Hungary has a number of apartments and we’ve been randomly placed into our rooms. I ended up getting placed into one of the bigger apartments with Hannah, while many others have six to an apartment. It’s spacious enough to accommodate all, but Hannah and I are able to spread out a bit more. We all have kitchens, living rooms, and balconies as well, which is quite nice. Our balcony looks onto our street, and is a great place to relax on breezy evenings.

Classes have been scattered throughout our time here, and we’ve heard many speakers. In Budapest we’re learning about radical nationalist movements, such as Jobbik, a political party in Hungary. Many of these movements have alarmingly intolerant policies that could prove dangerous if they gain mainstream support. Jobbik is a strong example of this, since it garners around 20% of the popular vote in Hungary. The party also has strong homophobic, anti-Roma, anti-Semitic undertones (and sometimes, overtones). We were able to meet with a high-ranking official within Jobbik and ask many questions. It proved quite educational (and disturbing).

Last Friday I made it to one of the ruin bars in the city. This area is full of renovated WWII buildings that have become central to Budapest’s night life. There are numerous beautiful pubs with eclectic furniture, multiple floors, and colorful lights. I went to one bar in particular, named Instant, for the evening.

This past weekend I also went to the famous baths in Budapest. I did not take any photos, but found a picture online from the place I visited. I spent many hours there, both in and outdoors, enjoying the 

different pools, saunas, and baths with some friends.

Gellert Baths

BUT LET ME TELL YOU…

Lots has happened over the past two weeks, I can’t cover it all, but I did have an absolutely wonderful day today. We adventured through small towns outside Budapest and I have many little stories.

Our first of two stops was to a village named Szentendre. This was a little town that sits right on the Danu river that runs through Hungary. I walked along the river with the wonderful Paige Dedrick, while eating a cheese and bacon roll from a nearby bakery. We also got in some interesting conversations about Monsanto and agro-business, which was quite educational. Afterwards we wandered through some shops and I made some wonderful, top-secret discoveries that I’ll bring back to the states with me. Afterwards we sat in the shade (it was around eighty degrees out) at a café on the river to drink some coffee. We picked up gyros and gelato on the way back to the town’s center, to meet up with the rest of the group.

BUT WAIT! It gets more exciting.

FIRSTLY: the gelato was some of the best I’ve had yet. I ate Nutella/Coconut and Coconut/Pineapple. Even more exciting, though, is where Paige and I sat while eating said gelato. We were on a bench in the shade, next to a painter who was involved in his work and conversations with other townsfolk. It was beautiful, and I decided to risk being the sneaky, tacky photographer, and snapped a shot of the painter. It’s my favorite picture thus far.

I love how candid the picture is. They seemed like very interesting people.

I also got a photo of a biker from that same spot. 

After a blissful morning in Szentendre, we moved to a neighboring town to visit the Open Air Museum. It’s inside of hilly, picturesque parts of Hungary and has numerous little villages modeled after different regions in Hungary. But more importantly than the museum villages, there are many open grassy spaces and free-roaming animals. We spent lots of time petting horses, cows, and small, sleepy dogs.

We finished the trip with a forty minute train back, during which we assigned everyone spirit animals and did some quality day-dreaming.

Yeah m’kay cool, what exactly is your itinerary for the rest of the trip?

I’ll be in Budapest through next Tuesday. On Wednesday I depart for my second field research site, which is Zagreb, Croatia. I get back the following Tuesday and have two more days in Budapest. At that time our program concludes and I begin my adventure to Italy, for some quality time with my close friend Hallie (she is presently studying in Paris with a Carleton program) and her family. I then will take a train from Florence to Paris and fly out of France on the 14^th of June.

Pictures in Paris

"Ohhhh Champs Elysees"

Outside Musee D'Orsay

The famous lock bridge

Three meals, everyday

Didn't edit these photos. Just the serendipity of a cheap digital camera I guess.

A Week in Paris

WOW WOW WOW. A lot has happened in the past week! Let me share a couple of pieces with you.

First, let’s review just where I have been and for how long.

Edinburgh, Scotland (with one weekend in Belfast)

Brussels, Belgium for one weekend

Paris, France for a week of research

And now…BUDAPEST! For a couple more weeks of classes.

Mandatory music choices while reading about my time in France:

Les Champs Elysees

Le Temps de L'amour

1. Places I visited: three museums (the louvre, the d’orsay, and l’orangerie), the Eiffel tower, and many bakeries.
2. Our research was deeply interesting. We interviewed people about the integration of the Muslim community into mainstream French society. We learned about more subtle ways in which Muslims can be discriminated against, and heard the stories of many people along the way. Although we were not able to speak with people in French, we found the Parisians to be enormously accommodating. After this week in France I’m beginning to think the cranky, French-speaking person who looks at you with disdain doesn’t exist.
   
   Ex: While we were booking our train tickets to Budapest we had trouble communicating with the people at the station, they only spoke French and we were quite concerned about making arrangements so we could get back in time for classes in Hungary. It wasn’t too long before a very kind, stylish woman stepped in and translated for us. We learned about her son, who teaches at Columbia, and her time living in Switzerland.

   

   An afternoon snack in Paris

   

   First crepe of the trip

   

   Coconut, amaretto, and salted caramel gelato

   
   
3. One of my favorite moments of the trip was sitting on a canal the first full day we were in Paris (that Sunday). It was sunny and we made our way to a canal with many cafes sitting by the water. The rest of my group branched off to walk down the canal, but I ate at one of the restaurants.  
4. The meal choices were unstoppable. I’ve told many of the students on our program that my group had the self-control of four year olds and the energy of ninety year olds. Can you sustain yourself for a week on baguettes, cheese, wine, and crepes? Yes. But you’re gonna feel pretty tired. Even so, no regrets.
   ***Another favorite snack while in Paris? Flower shaped gelato. They put different flavors on the cone and make it look like a flower.
5. I WENT TO THE BEST VINTAGE STORE IN ALL OF PARIS. It’s called the Kilo Store and they sell clothes per kilo. It was a great opportunity for me to find a few affordable souvenirs from my time in France. I got a dress for five euro and a blouse for three.
6. Despite the amazing dress find, I got an even better purchase out of this trip. Some of you may know that I take notes and draw intricate webs in these journals by Knock Knock that have quotes in them. They're rather expensive, but I've had the fortune of finding them in various places on the internet for cheaper than the retail price. Even so, it's always a bit stressful when I make it to the end of one. They're the only way I've grown to take notes, but it's one of the more pricey academic indulgences I make. I love them dearly and have collected nearly every version in production. I even have a lot of the quotes memorized, they're just really amazing okay. BUT WAIT! I found them in French! FOR THREE EURO. I lost my mind. I can look through these journals while I'm travelling and know what they're saying, never having learned French. It was a wonderful discovery.
7. The Eiffel tower is all that. I climbed the stairs and phew. I’m done with fitness for the next couple of months.
8. I finished off the time in Paris in style. Friday night we got into the Louvre for free, because it’s open to students on Friday nights. I drank wine from a water bottle and looked at some amazing statues.
9. The L’Orangerie, which I visited the Saturday morning before our departure, was really beautiful. It’s home to Monet’s water lilies and many other impressionist pieces.
   
   Travelling to Budapest went just fine! It was really crazy, but all our arrangements fell into place and we didn’t have to sleep in a train station or arrive in Budapest late.

Mid-Term Break in Belgium

Hello from the continent!

These past three days were spent in Belgium and I have so much to share.

FIRST: I’ve been listening to Broken Bells’ Control non-stop. The chorus always gets me going. My friends like to give me funny looks while I jaunt along to the song during paper-writing. I also love Leave It Alone, but that one’s a bit more moody.

But let’s start from the beginning

I concluded my EU class on Tuesday in Edinburgh, Scotland. The evening was spent eating take-out noodles, packing up our townhouse and angsting about our final paper for the class. We have a 10-12 pg paper on sophisticated EU political theory this Monday, and it’s half our grade for the class. We’ll be writing on planes and trains as we move from Scotland to Belgium to our research sites (in my case, France).

Some of my favorite graffiti outside our apartment

One final 11pm trip for bubble tea…

I managed to get away from the house with Alice for a late night bubble tea run. The café is open until 11:00pm, which is seriously abnormal for Edinburgh, where everything seems to close at 5.

We took a nice night walk along the canal and I got to say one last goodbye to the city that was our home.

Then we all piled on a flight to Brussels

“Wait , why Belgium? Is that relevant to your coursework?” Not really, and I have no clue. I think it was supposed to be a little break in between our different classes on the program. Anyways, I’m DEFINITELY NOT complaining.

We arrived on Wednesday at the lovely Novetel, in a bustling tourist square. There were waffle stands, chocolate shops, street performers, and towering buildings.

We were only a block away from the Grand Place (pronounced “grand plaz”).

A brief note on Belgian waffles: what makes them so delicious is the bursts of brown sugar mixed into different parts of the waffle. People walk around with towers of whipped cream, but I don’t think you really need it. The waffle is what it’s all about.

Thursday visit to Bruges…

We took a train to Bruges for the afternoon, but first I must emphasize the wonders of a Belgian continental breakfast. There were baguettes, croissants, waffles, lattes, Nutella, salami, brie, and RASPBERRY JUICE. No words only feelings.

Bruges had great chocolate and city life, but I think the nature is what made it special. There are so many wonderful parks and canals. 

Official business- a trip to the EU Commission

Friday we visited a couple offices at the EU Commission buildings in Brussels. Fun fact: there are SEVENTY EU Commission buildings in Brussels alone. For those who don’t know, the Commission is one of the three facets of the EU, functioning as something similar to the executive branch.

Much paper writing

Lots of students spent the majority of Friday in the hotel working on their papers. I got a little work done, but I got out for the evening and walked around a bit. I also visited this enormous bar, Delirium. I heard a lot about the bar from other students and knew it was supposed to be a pretty cool place.

I planned to go and meet up with some friends from the program, but didn’t end up seeing them when I got there. I did, however, bump into Dev (our program director + professor) along with Molly (the program assistant)! I stuck around and talked with them for a couple hours. We talked about childhood books, social movements, and what Dev terms the “sugar hierarchy.” There was also some discussion of Parks and Rec and 30 Rock.

I have a deep admiration for Dev, so getting to spend some time with her was really nice.

But I’m on a train through France right now…

It’s too beautiful y’all. I can’t write and look at a computer one more minute.