Parliament

Hey guys,

So, as alluded to previously, I spent Sunday sightseeing around Parliament with Ale's Italian friends.  All the normal pics of the building are from the other side, across the river.  While this view is of course gorgeous (and I get to see it every night when I leave the office!) I think it's still pretty impressive from the other side as well

Some facts:

• The spire is 96m high (the same height as Saint Istvan's Basilica), alluding to Budapest's founding in 896
• It's the largest and oldest Parliament building in Continental Europe (being just barely beaten on both counts by the one in London)
• The architect went blind before it was completed, and never actually got to see it finished.  Sad!

 Those are some pretty haughty looking lions . . .

Of course, not to be outdone by the Parliament, the entire area has gorgeous architecture:

The day was a little grey, but spring has come for sure:

This is the building across the street.  I have no idea what it is, but it has awesome statues on top of it, and that's enough for me

Again, no idea what this building is.  For all I know it's just an apartment building

And yes.  Statues.  Statues everywhere.  Man I love this city

Anyways, sorry I don't have more pictures.  For some reason I was off that day, most of my pics ended up fuzzy =/.  Also, we showed up too late to tour the inside (last tour leaves at 2pm), so that's on the list of thigns to do later

Hope you enjoy these anyways!

Noah out

Random restaurant!

Hey guys,

So, after doing some sightseeing with Alessandro's Italian friends (I got some very cool pictures of the Parliament, which I want to organize first before I post them) I found myself wandering alone.  Just as my stomach started making complaining noises, I turned the corner and saw this:

How could I possibly not want to stop in a restaurant that looked like that?

Bright colors everywhere (the pictures obviously don't capture it), the chairs didn't sit evenly due to the gravel. . . . everything about the place was fun and just a little strange.  Also, I didn't take a picture but right inside the courtyard was a large, fairly full bike rack--apparently a popular destination for people going on a ride around the neighborhood?

Anyways, although I was tempted to get a hamburger (man I haven't had a good burger in seems like months), I ended up ordering a "potato pie".  I expected something like a quiche, but instead got this:

 A thin, flat, crispy on the edges potato pancake topped with sour cream, cheese, and a salad.  At first I couldn't place the texture, and then I realized it was almost identical to a crispy-on-the-outside Korean pancake!  Needless to say, it was delicious

Best of all?  Only 840forint, or less than $5

Wish I lived in that neighborhood, totally the kind of place I'd like to become a regular.  Ahh well

Moral of the story?  Stopping in at funky, slightly sketchy restaurants is always a good decision

Noah out

Secret Park!!!

Ok, maybe not a "secret" park.  But an unexpected one, to be sure
After visiting the market, I decided to wander around Moskva Ter station for a bit.  And, tucked away behind a giant American-style shopping mall, i found this absolutely gorgeous little park/plaza.  That's one thing I love about Budapest--in the most random places, you'll find space put aside for a park or a square or a statue or something else that has no reason but to be kind of awesome.  Come to think of it, a lot like Seattle in that regard . . .

Here was my first glimpse of the park.  Or, as I put it, "wait . . . what the hell is that thing?"

But I climbed up to look at the rest of the park, and it really is very delightful.  Pictures don't do it justice, but it really is nice to have this space in the middle of a crowded station

Here's a closer shot of that pool.  The wind was blowing really hard, so the whole surface was rippling.

Like I said, no purpose to this entire plaza other than art and class and just kind of being neat

Also, the trees were in their own little sunken islands!  I don't know why, but I found this particularly awesome

And of course, no park is complete without a playground.  Especially on a sunny Saturday afternoon

But wait!  Apparently, the playground in the picture above is only the show playground, for tourists or something.  Tucked behind a cafe, hidden in the shadows, is the real playground.  That's right, the already secret park has an even more secret playground.  I only got this close for the picture, I can only assume that if I had gotten any closer I would have been asked to show and ID card or give a password.  This place looked  exclusive

Anyways, there we have it.  Moral of the story?  Wander around a bit!  Parks show up in the unlikliest of places

Noah out

Math is delicious

 +

+

 =

However, interestingly enough (and don't try substitution, for some reason it's not valid here) . . .

+

=

Curious, isn't it?

Noah out

A Seattle day in Budapest

Hey guys,

First, let me point out that this post is about last week.  Today is still absolutely gorgeous, I'm just really flaky about posting.  Sorry for the anachronism with yesterday's post
Seriously.  The weather right now is beautiful.  Like . . . wow


But, that being said, it's not like there's isn't beauty as well in a gray, drizzling, and (very) windy day.  Maybe it's just the Seattle boy in me, but I love it

Last week, Alessandro, Bek and I got to leave the office early.  And by early I really mean "on time", because we left at 5pm when the office staff left.  See, usually we all stay late, but only Attila and Mike have keys to lock up.  Since they both were out of the office that day, us other interns had no choice but to leave at the same time as, you know, normal people

First, we walked across the Chain Bridge.  I will never get tired of walking across that bridge, it's absolutely awesome.  By the way, check out the flags in the pic below.  Yeah, it was windy

Yes, we walked across on the windward side of the bridge.  Because, duh

Bek wanted me to take a picture of him so he could send it to his family, but I posted it here cuz it came out as a really nice shot!

Here's a shot of the Parliament, taken from halfway across the bridge.  Like I said before . . . sun is all well and good, and I love how nice the weather is today, but days like these can be absolutely gorgeous as well

Anyways, we ended up walking quite a ways.  The original intent was to find a cafe somewhere (which we eventually did), but for the most part we just walked because it was weird to be out of the office before 6:30 and we didn't know what to do ;)
We actually ended up all the way at . . . aww crap.  Now I can't remember the name.  It's one of the famous squares . . . crap.  Umm I'll come back and edit this later XD

This is a picture of a monument commemorating the Soviet liberation of Budapest in 1945 (Budapest was one of the longest and bloodiest sieges in the entire war, second only to Stalingrad I believe)

This is one of the very last, if not the last, monument to the Soviets left in the city.  As you can imagine, Budapest's attitude toward Russia is . . . shaky.  On one hand, they saved Budapest from the Germans.  On the other hand, they then proceeded to oppressively rule over the entire region with an iron fist for the next half-century.  So . . . you know.  Win some, lose some

And, in closing.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Everything is better with the addition of statues

Noah out

First beautiful day of Spring

High 60s, light breeze nothing but a few fluffy white clouds.  Absolutely gorgeous

A photo is so inadequate to capture this.  But it's a beautiful day, without a doubt (and I have the seat by the window.  Hah!)

. . . there's no actual point to this post, I just wanted to brag

Noah out

That time of year again . . .

Noah out

Mundanities

Hi guys!

So, no pretty pictures or grand adventures here today.  I just thought it might be nice to unload the series of mundane this-and-thats that are the result of living all alone in a new city in a new house working a new job

Laundry!  I've already done a few loads which, apparently, is a few more than Tamas has done in this house :P (I called and asked him for directions.  His response was "dunno, never done it")
This is definitely going to have to be a weekend thing, though.  Washer takes more than an hour to cycle, and the dryer is longer than that.  Actually . . . we're not really sure how well the dryer works at all.  The first time I tried it simply kept going for literally all day . . . of which I was only tangentially aware, as I was hanging out upstairs the whole time.  However, Magdi, who lives right next door to the laundry room, had to hear it while she was trying to work . . . for like 5 hours.  Yeah I feel kinda bad about that.  Worst part, though?  Did not even get the clothes all the way dry.  That was just insulting

Anyways, after that I actually brought down my laptop and translated the labels from German, then changed the setting to "actually get things dry" and it seemed to work just fine.  So I think I have it covered.  Still, I generally just turn it on and then go run errands
Regardless, I'm definitely gonna try to make an effort to do it every weekend, so as to avoid letting enough pile up to necessitate two loads (which is what happened last time, a pretty big annoyance).  But hey, that just means I'll have a weekly scheduled laundry day!  Schedule is good for you, right?
I feel so domestic :P

Taking the bus to work is interesting, first time in my life I've done that.  I mean, I took the schoolbus for a few years, but that was different--there was only one bus, plus my mom would make me breakfast and drop me off at the stop.  Ahh I miss that
Having to figure out which bus I want to take and then schedule myself to get to the stop at the right time is a bit of a logistical problem.  It takes me a minimum of 15 minutes to get out the door, what with the whole suit and tie thing, and that doesn't include shaving and breakfasting (I can get away with shaving only every other day if I have to, and I like to grab breakfast at the office and eat while I'm checking my news sites)
Right now the last possible bus I can take is the 8:36, that gets me there at almost exactly 9am.  I've only had to catch that one once though, so far (that being said, the 9am time is flexible.  Really, my only goal is to be there at my desk working when my boss gets in, some time between 9 and 9:30.  But you know . . . the moment I let it slip once, it's a slippery slope til I'm showing up at 10am apologizing about missing my bus or something)
Usually, I try to shoot for catching the bus right before that, 24 past.  Gets me in at 8:45, which is comfortably before my boss--in fact, I'm usually the first of the interns as well.  That being said, more and more I find myself waking up early on my own.  Not gonna get back to sleep, so I might as well get into the office early--office manager gets in at 8am, so I can be there as early as then.  Plus, I assume that word gets around that I get in early . . . that can only be good for me :D

The subway is also very nice.  Not as nice and polished as, for instance the Japanese one, especially Kyoto (that is, however, an incredibly unfair standard)--but certainly better than the few East Coast ones I've taken, if memory serves.  Also comparing to the Japanese ones, the Budapest subways accelerate a lot faster than the Japanese ones.  Maybe it was just that I was out of practice, cuz now I'm fine, but I found myself almost falling over the first few times I rode it.  Whatever, it still gets me there!

Plus, it's very, very efficient.  During rush hours, which I usually catch in the morning (although not at night--usually don't leave the office til after 7) the train comes every like 2 minutes.  Pretty cool

So I have it down to a science now--I know exactly where to get on the train at each station so that I'll be right next to elevators at my destination.  Not a big deal most of the time, but if I'm in a hurry it's important--only the first few people to get to the elevators get to walk up, after that it's so crowded you just have to stand and wait [edit:  Escalators, not elevators.  Duh].  And the Budapest subways are deep so it's a pretty long escalator ride

But the coolest part?  Apparently there aren't vents in the tunnels themselves, cuz you know how to tell a train is coming?  Before you can see the lights around the bend, before you can hear the rumbling on the tracks . . . you can feel the wind blowing s the car approaches.  It's awesome :D

Anyways, just some random observations. That . . . actually turned out very long.  Wow.  Well if you got through it, thanks!  If you just skipped down to read the bottom here, that's ok too

Noah out

Lettuce wraps!

Hey guys,

So for dinner tonight I made lettuce wraps.  I guess a combination of Souteast Asian and Korean--just ground pork (Hungarians like their pork*, so you can find it ground no problem, unlike in America) stir-fried with garlic, shoyu, and sesame, with a handful of green onions thrown in at the end just to wilt.  I didn't have any kochujang, so I used sriracha instead, and then ate them in lettuce wraps with sliced onions that I'd soaked in water

*Historically, the reason why pork is the main meat in Hungary is that this area was once ruled by the Turks,  When they left, they took most of the cattle and other livestock, but of course left behind all the pigs.  History . . . it's more important than you think!

Anyways, the plan was to take a picture so that I could show all you guys.  But then umm, long story short, I got distracted and ate it all.  Whoops!  So here's a picture of the aftermath

P.S. Isn't that great looking lettuce?  While some of the produce isn't great (the green onions at the grocery store were pretty pathetic, wish I'd picked some up at the market--would have been cheaper too) the lettuce at least is gorgeous

Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to post actual photos of food in the future.  Because that's what you signed up for when you agreed to read my blog :P

Noah out

Moskva Ter Market!

Hey guys,

So yeah, markets.  Kind of my thing.  So how awesome is it that there's a very good one right here in Moskva Ter, the main station in my part of town?  On Saturdays, they're open until 2.  Pretty perfect, yeah?  Hopefully I'll be able to make it something of a weekend thing--head to the market Saturday morning to buy food for dinner through the weekend :)

It's smaller than the central market, but in many ways feels much more like a true Farmer's Market.  Take a look:

And of course, it had all the requisites, plus a few extras:

Like I said, Hungarians do love their meat

Of course, it's getting to be the season for beautiful flowers.  Don't know if you can tell from the picture, but all these tulips are juuuust about ready to open.  In a few days, they'll be gorgeous

Maybe it's just cuz I'm from Seattle, but it seems to me it's not a true market unless there's someone selling honey!

And, something that I actually think the Central Market Hall didn't have:  Good cheese shops!

And finally . . . there's just no way this isn't amazing, top-quality vintage wine.  I'm sure of it

So yeah, a very nice way to start the weekend off.  Cheers!

Noah out

Friday night at the baths

Hey guys,

Yeah, I know it's already Wednesday, but I've been super busy and haven't had a chance to write it up.  So there

Anyways, I spent last Friday night at the baths.  I know, weird?  I never thought of the baths as something to do on a Friday night, but man I can't imagine many better ways--four friends, hanging out for three hours .  And for only 3500 forint (less than $15) it's a lot cheaper than going out anywhere else ;)

Sorry, no pictures . . . I feel like it would have been super weird to change, bring my camera to go take a bunch of pictures, then take it back to the lockers.  A theory backed up by how awkward it looked when someone else did exactly that :P

Anyways, the baths are very cool.  They're "Turkish style", which is apparently a misnomer because they were all built by the Romans.  Anyways, they consist of a series of pools, each one hotter than the last.  The coolest is at 28C, then 30, then 32, then 36, and the hottest pool is 42 degrees centigrade, which is pretty toasty.  I couldn't stay more than a few minutes.  Anyways, the idea is you start cool, and then move up whenever you're ready.  After the pools, you can even go to the saunas which are even hotter.  The first sauna is nothing, but the second one is 50-something and the hottest sauna is 72 degrees.  I don't know how hot that is exactly (I've been resisting the urge to convert, instead trying to simply get a sense for units by referring to good ol' xkcd) all I know is it was hot.  Like, a few minutes and I was dying up in there

So, after you get as hot as you can possibly stand, you go over to the wall, pull on a rope, and it dumps a bucket of freezing cold water on your head!  I know, it sounds awful.  And it is.  It truly, truly is.  But for 20 seconds afterwards . . . my god do you feel alive

And after that, you go jump in the coldest pool (even after the bucket, you still want some cooling down) and do the whole cycle again!  Seriously, it's awesome.  We went through three times in as many hours (my fingers got super pruney, I won't deny it) and afterwards I felt great.

Add to that the nice, crisp walk along the Danube to get to where I'd be picked up by my taxi . . . all in all, a pretty fantastic way to spend a Friday night

Noah out

Music in the metro station

On the way home today, a pair of musicians were playing in the Metro station--one on guitar, one on violin.  I dropped off 2000 forint (a bit over $10) and spent an hour listening to them play

We talked, even though I don't speak more than a few words of Hungarian or they of English.  They played the most beautiful music.  Happy music, sad music, dancing music . . .

A fourth person, perhaps a friend of theirs, disappeared and came back with four beers.  So we toasted, and I shared a beer with three strangers, with whom I did not share more than a half a dozen words in common

And when I left, the violinist, with his weathered face and elegant mustache, hugged me and kissed me on the cheek

Best 2000 forint I could have possibly spent

Noah out

Nighttime in Budapest

Bek, Alessandro, Fabrice and me on the Erszebet bridge.  Budapest really is a gorgeous city at night

Also, Noah made a new friend!

Noah out

My office!

Hey guys,

So, I thought I'd how you guys a few pictures of my office!  I love it here

So, the office itself is actually in an apartment building.  This seems weird, but it's actually fairly common in Budapest, especially on the Buda side of the river.  Some people complain about how it "doesn't feel like a real office" (especially compared to the Zagreb office, which is very much a classic office--glass walls, fluorescent lighting, etc. etc.) but I love it.  High ceilings, big doorways, nice lighting, hardwood floors . . . to me, it makes a big difference.  Classier, and in a way a bit homier too :)

The facade of the building is nothing special (just looks like any other apartment building) so I skipped it, but here's the entryway and the stairs up:

In case it doesn't come through in the pic, the floors and stairs are all marble.  Like I said, much more class than boring corporate carpet

Here's the walkway to actually get to the office (you can maybe see our plaque at the very end)

We're on the third floor, which makes for a nice view down into the courtyard as I walk to the office door

As for in the office, here we go.  All the people I work with, including my immediate boss, sit together in the same big room (there's another big room, a private office, a conference room and a kitchen as well, but since I spend 90% of my day in this room I figured they weren't important)

That's my desk, in the corner in the third picture.  Pretty sweet spot, right?  I usually open the window for a breeeze

Oh yeah, and if that weren't cool enough . . . check the view outside my window

This picture was literally taken while sitting in my desk chair.  How cool is that?

And finally, lest you think all I care about is the architecture, interior decor, and view, here's a picture of my and my officemates

From left to right, that's Bek, me, Alessandro, Fabrice, Attila (all of us interns), and Mike (our boss)

(I fear Bek and Mike will both think this isn't a great picture . . . ahh well)

Thanks, hope you guys enjoyed it!

Noah out