Oh, Eastern Europe, how I heart thee!

Ah, Hungary. I won't delineate my whole experience in the country(for it is vast and reiterative of much that's been written), but I will talk about Saturday(and because it is late, and I have not time, I will talk about Saturday day rather than evening).

My Saturday was great: Kristof and I woke up at around ten o'clock, had breakfast, and left at around eleven for the hike. Per my suggestion(or request) we were going hiking up to the "picnic" field, where we happened to be I, Jerry, CJ, and our respective Hungarians. Later we would be joined by Rachel, Sam, and their exchange buddies. The hike itself lasted from 11:30 until 14:00 and consisted mostly of going uphill and then going downhill with a minor interruption by a by a bunch of loud, obnoxious, unhelpful(cursed at by us) motor-bikers. The point is this: walking uphill is fun, and gratifying; it appeals to our manliness, the ability to run around wild topographically uninviting country. I loved the hike. Fresh air, wild green-growth all around, winding color-coded paths(there are patches of color stenciled on trees which indicate what mountain-path one is on), all of these guaranteed a stress-free head-clearing physical exertion. I believe I am not alone impressed by the rejuvenating properties of a good long walk through unfettered nature such as the nature in Hungary.

(I apologize my descriptions are so impoverished, but how could I describe the beautiful aperiodic(chaotic) hills, the sprouting spring grass and aged trees? I really cannot, and pictures I did not take(perhaps CJ has a photo or two))

But so, we did get lost. Twice. The first time we got lost, we got lost globally, we had strayed from the yellow-cross path and wound up on a semi-vast field, which however was not the field we were looking for. Of course, we backtracked, and we happened to backtrack off the field onto a path different from the one we came from(thus becoming locally lost), and ended up a ravine across from the path we were originally on. Like any child of nature(for I have spent much of my childhood in rural desolate and wild Bulgaria), I simply crossed the ravine, leaving no choice to my companions but to follow me. Consequently, I had to go back to the bottom to help with the satch of food and drink, which satchel was to be emptied and its contents cooked and ingested at the picnic. I was happy though, we were doing real forest-trudging, and got to listen to Kristof's lewd threats against civilization which he would enact should he return to civilization from this god-forsaken ravine we rested atop of. 

Thus, we returned on our yellow-cross path and trudged on through mud and on steeps toward the "picnic" field. Finally, two and half hours worth of manly mauling in Hungarian forests, we had success and heavily slumped at the "picnic" table we would soon conquer and enrich with delicious food. The food was such: bread, some vegetables(I care not for them, I think onions were among the taste-corruptors) and MEAT! The sandwiches were made like so: bread was covered with vegetables(yuk!), then meat was put into metal pans, which metals pans were put in a FIRE(like, a live fire from like wood and stuff, contained in a stone pit!!!), then the meat's... juice?... was literally pressed out of the meat onto the vegetable-covered bread. Finally, after the meat was successfully cooked, it was ritualistically placed upon the vegetables on the bread, and the complete sandwich was then devoured. The devouring process was coupled with various actual fruit juices(orange, multi-fruit/vitamin) or coke products(sprite only, I believe). This activity backgrounded our fun for roughly four hours.

During that time, a moronic form of baseball was played between me and CJ(basically, I pitched a pseudo-"soccer ball" to CJ, and CJ stroke with a stick he had personally ripped off a tree and cleaned from obstructive sprouts of branches), tree-climbing was commenced, and a hike up a hill quite slanted was performed. (There were also embarrassing food contests, one of which I won, and of which I shall not speak[shoving things in one's mouth, yeah? not appealing or proper for internet publication])

Finally, we went up to the road and got picked up by cars, which drove us home in ten minutes, roughly fifteen times faster. That is all for tonight; good night and sleep tight.

(coming up another day: the punk-rock concert \m/)

HTHU (where H=Hungarian) [?]

As Jerry obtained an umbrella that acquired a significant amount of arbitrary importance, I felt it necessary to post some pictures that displayed its voyages.


Jerry and Danielle skip the streets of Budapest:


Mary Poppins pose:

Umbrella in a train station:

The Umbrella protected Jerry from the darkness of the Labyrinth:

The top of the umbrella:

The umbrella sits at the top of the castle in Holloko, not knowing that it is about to find a caring home:
It's love at first sight for Jerry and the umbrella:

Danielle can't help but be humbled by the sight of the umbrella and its beholder:

After providing Jerry with the strength to reach the top of the volcano in Kazar, the umbrella allows him to experience his "the hills are alive" moment alone with the expanse:

Jerry is ecstatic when the umbrella is opened and has... camels and chickens on it (??):

The first of many epic Battles of the Umbrellas:

And, of course, Mr. Karafiol and Alex acquired nice umbrellas, too, although neither was quite as arbitrarily significant as Jerry's. Some people have all the luck:

Labyrinth of Buda Castle

On the last day of our voyage, we visited the labyrinth underneath Buda Castle. This is one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting and I'm glad we found time to squeeze it in. I'm under the impression that it was overly dramatized, but I'll let you make that decision on your own.

There was wine coming out of this fountain:

Just Some Pictures

P.S. I did another post, but I started it back in Hungary and it posted it on the day I started it. It is entitled "Traditional Dress"

Family Day: Visegrad

My family experienced a loss while we were there, so they were at a funeral on family day. I spent this day with Danielle and her family at Visegrad. We got to take a fairy accross the Danube which I thought was fun because I never rode on a fairy before. Also I got some great pictures of the river, especially on the way back.

Once we got there, we saw a castle. The view from the top was amazing.

The castle was ok, it was like the rest, but not as cool as the first one of course. This one was more museumy, kind of like the last. We then rode on these things. They were like little cars on a rail and you controlled the speed. The other one was like a bobsleigh type thing, but was on metal and you once again you controlled the speed. They were interesting and fun. After we got back to the other side of the river we got some ice cream. Of course it was delicious!!

That was my family day. Although I didn't spend it with my family it was still a good experience and I got some good pictures.

Hungarian Culture and Budapest

Hungary is a very historically rich country. On the trip, I saw a weird mesh of many different cultures, which, bunched together in collective, made up Hungarian culture. In Holloko, we saw traditional folkwear and housing, tasted oven-baked garlic (?) flatbread, and experienced a pretty flavorful and dynamic way of life. Juxtapose that against the Soviet architecture and remainders of the Cold War, all simplistic, boxy and cold, it's more than eerie.  

Then there's what I thought to be most inspiring of the mesh, the Austrian tinctures. In Budapest, a city totally rejuvenated during the Hapsburg's reign, Baroque architecture extended for miles. Everywhere you were, you saw a historically rich, captivating, and awe-inspiring building. I asked Andras how much rent typically went for in Budapest, and as I should have expected: "it depends." But, after narrowing my question down, I found out you could get a flat for roughly 100,000 - 200,000 forint/month in most neighborhoods. That's around $600- 1100! Andras, whose family owns a flat in the city, didn't seem too amazed at the fact, because really, with beautiful buildings everywhere (beautiful buildings defining the city you live in), it was the donné.

Swimming in a cave

On Saturday, which was our day to do something with the family, I went to a pool beneath a cave. I can't tell you the name at this moment, and as water and cameras are not such a great combination, I also cannot provide pictures.
Before going, I was told we were headed to "thermal baths beneath a cave." It was about a two hour drive from the house to the caves, most of which time was spent sleeping, but also a small amount was spent looking at the small villages we were passing through (2000-3000 people), and talking to Emese's parents. We arrived, had some langos (basically fried dough with sour cream and/or cheese on top), and then went into the cave.
The "tickets" we received actually looked like watches, without a clock, and you scanned them when you entered or left. Dressing rooms were very interesting: the changing rooms were coed. There were rows of small, closet-like rooms with doors from both sides that functioned as dressing rooms when closed, and halls when opened.
We then went down to the pools. There were three main "sections" of pools--each a different temperature--and each had a series of smaller attached rooms of pools. They certainly weren't as warm as I was expecting (temperatures ranged from normal pool temperature to maybe a mild hot tub temperature), but it was pleasant nontheless. We tried out each of the pools, including one in a dark room with blue lights, which the famil called "mystic". Of course, we ended up spending the most time in the warmest pool...
The cave did have natural pools, but a few years ago, I guess, they decided to make this more of a tourist attraction, and so they installed "real" swimming pools.

Somosko

One of my favorite parts of the trip was going to Somosko Castle (excuse the lack of appropriate accents), even though it was raining and foggy. But as someone else put it (Mr. K?), the lack of visibility somehow added to the mystique of the castle.



We slid down muddy paths, holding on to a slick railing, to see what I thought was one of the coolest things on the trip...

For those not there, the picture is a little blurry, but there are columns of basalt, that are hexagonal in shape. The unique thing about the ones here are that they are curved.
This was an especially unique experience for me because when I went to Ireland last year, I saw a similar formation at Giant's Causeway, on the northern coast. For comparison, see below:
















Another comparison, too many similarities maybe? (doll on the right)

soundtrack

This is very incomplete but i was making a cd and thinking about how so many of the songs were listened to or very related to our trip... sooo here it is. comment with additions and maybe we can burn some Salgotarjan OST copies for everyone. I have put notes on those which require explanation. i think they all do. Excuse all misspellings... i am cool like that.

1. Anima Libera - DJ Raaban --> we actually heard this song a lot because it was on many of the Hungarian's phones. Video on youtube inspired them to get it. bug me for the link

2. Scotty Doesn't Know - Lustra --> Norbi's movie, Eurotrip, all too appropriate, etc

3. Piece of Me - Britney Spears --> A long bus ride

4. Crank Dat Soulja Boy - Soulja Boy --> We taught the Hungarians how to crank dat soulja boy!

5. Dragostea Din Tei - O-Zone --> Bus

6. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen --> something to sing on one of those long walks

7. All the small Things - Blink 182

8. Video Killed the Radio Star --> my fav cover is Amber Pacific, but i am up to suggestions

9. For The Longest Time - Which artist did this in the context of the trip? I am all for the Me First & the Gimme Gimmes cover... but Billy Joel isn't bad, i guess... --> long walk song

10. Since You've Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson --> this was one of those long walk songs

11. The Time Warp - Rocky Horror Cast --> bus




What'd I forget about?

Have a good weekend everybody. Get some sleep! :)

How much fun can you have in a castle?

These are mostly pictures from our visit to Hollókő castle, which is part of the World Heritage.

Sam fortifies himself with Hungarian flatbread before hiking up to the castle:

Bogi tries her hand at oenofacture. Doesn't everyone have an antique wine press in his backyard?


In the right environment, everyone is the same height!


Discipline tactics for disruptive students, part I:


Jerry uses his umbrella to illustrate topological properties of arrow slits:

Discipline tactics for unruly students, part II:

If our security guards had these, would anyone be late to class?


Jerry is blown away by the sheer beauty of it all:
Wait, maybe everyone DOES have one of these in his backyard!


Not so silly, except that the photographer is so rarely photographed:

Enjoy!

Budapest Again!

On Sunday we returned to Budapest to see three of its most famous buildings: the Houses of Parliament, St. Stephen's, and Buda Castle (really a walled city-within-a-city overlooking the Danube).

The Houses of Parliament were magnificent, even more so than I had expected. What overwhelmed me was the attention to detail: every window had a slightly different pattern in stained glass, with a slightly different rose, that harmonized with every other window yet was subtly unique.




The windows below (from the main entry hall) were particularly intriguing, because from a distance they looked as if they had curtains; a closer inspection revealed that the "hanging curtains" were really just painted on the glass. Each window in the hall has a different set of "curtains", making the total the finest trompe-l'oeil I've ever seen!



And of course lots of math possibilities. Here's a new one: pick a rose window from the ones below, and give a complete set of instructions for its construction. (In fact, just try constructing it on GSP!).