Budapest
In the name of catching you up with all of the adventures that we've taken (even if they don't get posted in the oder that we've taken them), here is a short post on Budapest.
The post is short and sweet mostly because we really didn't see that much. Both Erin and I were working while there–Erin more than I– and neither of us really had the feeling that we got to see the city. Perhaps more importantly, neither of us had the feeling that we really wanted to see the city either. Many of the guidebooks tout Budapest as the "Poor man's Prague", and it's only now that we realize that this is code for "don't go if you have the money to go to Prague".
The city is pretty depressing–the people, the taxi drivers, the street trams, even the buildings. This is a well known phenomenon among the locals and surveyors of the Magyar (Hungarian) people. It seems that between the Hapsburgs, two World Wars and communism–all of which the Hungarians ended up on the wrong side–have worked a bit of an inferiority complex on the people. Our gut feeling about the city was only confirmed when Erin took a taxi to the conference only to have the driver try and tell her that she owed more than three times the amount on the meter (which had somewhat artfully been half obscured by the driver).
Design on the façade of the Synagoge.
Anyway, the best part of the trip to Budapest was meeting up with Erin's former advisor, Rich. Rich is such a generous and caring person, that even though I wasn't one of his students, I can't help but have a sentimental attachment to him myself.
House of terror, a former prison and torture place for dissidents.
In the name of catching you up with all of the adventures that we've taken (even if they don't get posted in the oder that we've taken them), here is a short post on Budapest.
The post is short and sweet mostly because we really didn't see that much. Both Erin and I were working while there–Erin more than I– and neither of us really had the feeling that we got to see the city. Perhaps more importantly, neither of us had the feeling that we really wanted to see the city either. Many of the guidebooks tout Budapest as the "Poor man's Prague", and it's only now that we realize that this is code for "don't go if you have the money to go to Prague".
The city is pretty depressing–the people, the taxi drivers, the street trams, even the buildings. This is a well known phenomenon among the locals and surveyors of the Magyar (Hungarian) people. It seems that between the Hapsburgs, two World Wars and communism–all of which the Hungarians ended up on the wrong side–have worked a bit of an inferiority complex on the people. Our gut feeling about the city was only confirmed when Erin took a taxi to the conference only to have the driver try and tell her that she owed more than three times the amount on the meter (which had somewhat artfully been half obscured by the driver).
Design on the façade of the Synagoge.
Anyway, the best part of the trip to Budapest was meeting up with Erin's former advisor, Rich. Rich is such a generous and caring person, that even though I wasn't one of his students, I can't help but have a sentimental attachment to him myself.
House of terror, a former prison and torture place for dissidents.
posted by Dave Suss at 10:07 AM
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