The members of Number Theory in Budapest convened for the first time yesterday afternoon in the Minneapolis airport. It should be noted that yesterday is used in a particular fluid sense that is created by jumping forward seven time zones in the course of one very long night. In truth, this long night might not have been as terribly long as we expected. Security and boarding in Minneapolis went well, and everyone found themselves on a plane for Asterdam by 7:00 yesterday night. Two other Olaf abroad groups travelled on the same plane- bound for the Hague and the Balkans. Nothing exciting happened on the flight- both a blessing and a curse, I suppose. All-in-all, movies were watched, books read, restless naps taken, and generally terrifying airplane food consumed. Although the sun rose while we were still over the Atlantic, an sea of clouds covered the sea of water, and continued with us as we passed over Scotland and England. The clouds broke just as we made for our dissent, and one of the first true images of Europe on our trip was an ocean studded with wind turbines just off the Dutch coast
Then we arrived at the Amsterdam airport. Before we could go to our gate and await the airplane that would take us to Budapest, we had to go through customs. Customs turned out to be an enjoyable experience. The officers were nice and left no other mark than the stamp in our passports signifying our arrival in Budapest. In the airport we had a two hour layover which, due to airplane delays, became a two and a half hour layover. Many people passed the time playing cards or walking around the airport enjoying the shops.
The plane that took us to Budapest was much smaller than the one taking us to Amsterdam but it was so comfortable. The chairs had plenty of leg room and the the seats were thick soft cushions. It was almost sad that the flight only lasted one hour and forty minutes... almost.
At long last, we finally arrived in Budapest. One of the first things
that struck us was the language. I don't know if it was the six to
seven syllable words, the superfluous umlauts, or the strange
combinations of vowels, but one thought kept bouncing around our
heads: this Hungarian language thing is going to be cake. We piled
into a surprisingly comfortable tour bus that was waiting for us just
outside the airport, and noted how similar the weather and terrain
were to Minnesota's: snow covered the ground, it was moderately chilly
(okay, so it wasn't that bad at all; a balmy 0 degrees Celsius), and
the ground was pretty darn flat. As the bus cruised into the city, we
were greeted by the familiar sights of McDonalds, KFC, and even Hertz
rent-a-car. Despite the often raunchy and in your face billboard
advertising that is less common in the US, there was still an eerie
resemblance to the old steel towns of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western
New York. Fortunately, the uplifting and inspiring architecture from
the communist era that was neither drab nor intimidating helped to
fend off the sleepiness caused by the sun setting at around 4:30pm.
When we arrived at our home for the next month, the Professors' Guest
House on the Buda side of the Danube, we experienced the smallest
elevator ever created, which was so small that it only had one button.
We found our rooms on the top (8th) floor. You know that smell of
roses, or that crisp, clean linen scent we've all come to know and
love and expect from our American Hoteliers? We know that smell, too,
and that was exactly what didn't greet us upon entering our rooms. All
joking aside, though, the rooms filled the role of quaint, cozy,
Central European lodging.
For dinner that night, we ventured out and saw a bit of Budapest, and
ended up eating at an Italian restaurant, finding some familiar menu
items, namely pizza.
that struck us was the language. I don't know if it was the six to
seven syllable words, the superfluous umlauts, or the strange
combinations of vowels, but one thought kept bouncing around our
heads: this Hungarian language thing is going to be cake. We piled
into a surprisingly comfortable tour bus that was waiting for us just
outside the airport, and noted how similar the weather and terrain
were to Minnesota's: snow covered the ground, it was moderately chilly
(okay, so it wasn't that bad at all; a balmy 0 degrees Celsius), and
the ground was pretty darn flat. As the bus cruised into the city, we
were greeted by the familiar sights of McDonalds, KFC, and even Hertz
rent-a-car. Despite the often raunchy and in your face billboard
advertising that is less common in the US, there was still an eerie
resemblance to the old steel towns of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western
New York. Fortunately, the uplifting and inspiring architecture from
the communist era that was neither drab nor intimidating helped to
fend off the sleepiness caused by the sun setting at around 4:30pm.
When we arrived at our home for the next month, the Professors' Guest
House on the Buda side of the Danube, we experienced the smallest
elevator ever created, which was so small that it only had one button.
We found our rooms on the top (8th) floor. You know that smell of
roses, or that crisp, clean linen scent we've all come to know and
love and expect from our American Hoteliers? We know that smell, too,
and that was exactly what didn't greet us upon entering our rooms. All
joking aside, though, the rooms filled the role of quaint, cozy,
Central European lodging.
For dinner that night, we ventured out and saw a bit of Budapest, and
ended up eating at an Italian restaurant, finding some familiar menu
items, namely pizza.
The portions were pretty generous, especially forthe roughly 5 USD we paid for them. Afterward, exhausted, most of
walked back, and those who wanted to brave the cold and drowsiness to
explore the city ended up returning after only a jiff, anyway.
Speaking of exhaustion, we've been up for 27 straight hours (at least
those of us who can't sleep on planes), so that's a wrap for this
first blog post from Budapest. More to come, stay tuned.
Enjoyed the travelogue of the departures from and arrivals to your designated cities! I admit that the the description of seeing McDonald's was a bit of a let down, while at the same time, I am sure that familiar American fare was a blessing for some. The hotel smells - well, not so much I am guessing! And the first meal of Italian in Budapest - the world is truly 'one'! You are off to a grand start. Appreciate the posts!
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