Made it to Hungary (Blog #5)

I officially arrived in Budapest, Hungary on February 12th. We landed at the airport and drove to Dean's College Hotel, where I will be living til June. Dean's College Hotel is a very white modern building from the outside. When you walk inside it is very modern as well and the logo of the hotel is navy and yellow so majority of the lobby is that color. The hotel hosts international students but also functions as a regular hotel with many guests. In the center of the hotel there is a courtyard-type area surrounded by other buildings.

My first impression was the differences in architecture from the United States. The buildings look like castles with 5-10 stories high of beautiful window frames and naturally colored walls. The colors of the buildings are Earth tones such as beige, yellow, and grey. The larger more historic buildings with more meanings tend to have dome shapes on the tips of them. A lot of the roofs tend to have more dark brown or maroon-like coloring. The structures themselves are made out of stone and have a Gothic architectural look. Since Hungary was under Turkish rule for so long many of the buildings and restaurants are Turkish-inspired. 

The diversity in the architecture and the shapes and sizes of the buildings creates a beautiful sight to see. At first sight, the streets are clean and busy. People are on every street, everyone dressed very presentable. Many streets are cobblestone along with the sidewalk. Public transportation such as the tram is located above ground similar looking to a trolley but one that is connected to above-ground cables. The tram has small rectangular windows the top half is a cream color and the bottom half is a bright yellow color. Every street that has the tram, it is a revolving door with tons of people walking on and off of the tram. 

The most fascinating and beautiful aspect of Hungary that I have seen so far is all the bridges that run across the Danube River. There are four main bridges, one of which I can see super clearly on my way to school. The city is split into the Buda side on one side of the river and Pest side on the other. I am living on the Pest side and I go to Corvinus University which is also on this side. You can take a local tram across to the Buda side or drive a car across the bridge. On the Buda side, there is a Castle called the Buda Castle. You can see the castle high up on a mountain/hill landscape from the Pest Side. The Buda Castle was built in the 14th century and has an architecture that is 

From the top of the castle, you are able to see the city from a much higher-up view. There are no super large buildings, all buildings for the most part are the same height. The Ferris wheel is a large attraction that is one of the higher attractions that you can see. In addition, there is a red and white hot air balloon that is located in the City Park. The hot air balloon you can see from all over the city. The City Park has so much rich history built inside of it. It is a large park with the most popular thermal bath the Széchenyi Bath and the Vajdahunyad Castle. 

A busy and bustling city in every aspect. Unlike other cities I have seen, it is much quieter than others. There is no honking of horns or other very loud noises. People in general are much quieter whether it is on public transportation or sitting at a restaurant. Everyone on the metro or tram keeps to themselves and is quiet. Along the streets, you will see many dogs walking off-leash with their owners. The air is also very clean and in the metro stations, you rarely smell bad smells. 

Hungary is one of the first countries to have a metro-like system such as underground trains. Their system is one of the oldest electricity running metro. When you enter the metro station it is common to walk down concrete stairs similar to a subway station in other cities. Most of the stations are concrete or you can find some with accents of bright-colored tiles such as aqua, red or yellow. Each metro stop is split into different numbers and names and each station looks different. 

Pastries and coffee stores are located on almost every single corner you turn. Hungary is known to have delicious pastries some of the specific ones that I have seen at many locations are croissants, donuts, and chimney cakes. Chimney Cakes. Chimney cakes are large cylindrical pastries that can be covered in cinnamon sugar or other things such as coconut. You can see many people carrying them in the streets and they have an amazing aroma to them. In addition to the Chimney cakes, as mentioned coffee is a huge part of the culture here but not like it is in the US. There are no iced coffees, the cup sizes are much smaller and the coffee is hot. 

The country of Hungary has so much history to it and there are so many buildings, castles, monuments, and museums that are so rich with history. Hungary was under Turkish rule for so many years and they faced a lot of destruction in the World Wars. In many parts of Budapest will you see statues of past leaders or those who had a large impact on the country.