Valpo Voyager

Student Stories from Around the World

Tag: Budapest

The Best Things I Ate: The European Tour

 It’s time for the last installment of “The best things I ate.”  Check out parts 1 and 2 if you haven’t yet. This time, instead of dishes from Germany, I’ve collected all of my favorite meals from various countries I visited over spring break. Since this post required extensive research, it will be rather long, but I have to share these things because they are such an important part of why I love travel, and they are what inspire me to create new recipes of my own. Whether I’m at home or halfway around the world, I try to branch out and try new things, as well as authentic classics, and here, you’ll see a good mix of both, organized by city.

Prague:

This was the first dinner I had in the first city of break, and it was a great way to kick it all off! It was roast pork with horseradish mashed potatoes and a gorgeous gravy. It was classic Czech food with a little added elegance. Another reason to love Prague is that even fancy restaurants are ridiculously cheap because of the exchange rate!

This little treat is something I grew up eating at home. Kolacky are little Bohemian cookies filled with jelly or cream cheese that come in all shapes and sizes. I saw these at a bakery stand at a local festival and just had to have a real one!

Budapest:

For even cheaper fancy food, this is the place for you! This was my birthday dinner, chicken with beetroot risotto. I’m not really a fan of beets, but I am a huge fan of risotto, so I decided to take a risk and order it. And not only does it look beautiful, it tasted perfect too!

Vienna:

A long time ago, I did an entire post about my favorite foods in Vienna, but one thing I regretted missing out on the first time was some real Wiener Schnitzel. So this time, I found a restaurant that was really popular with the locals and finally had some. Some of my friends got the giant version that was bigger than the plate, but I opted for this one to get the sides. That way, it didn’t look entirely like a heart attack on a plate. At least there was some lettuce.
Venice:
 

Unlike Prague and Budapest, food in Venice can get pretty expensive. But one thing that’s always a deal is pizza. Honestly, my favorite pizza in the world is still Chicago style deep-dish, but for authenticity’s sake, this one was pretty good too. But it was a struggle to eat with a knife and fork.

Rome:

It was here that I first learned how to eat like an Italian. Apparently, the giant bowl of pasta is only the first course, and you’re supposed to have room for a meat course after that. I usually just picked one or the other, but this pesto was my favorite pasta course, mostly because I believe you can never have too much basil.

Cinque Terre: 

As a general rule, whenever I’m lucky enough to go to a restaurant where I can see the ocean from my table, I order fish. And that’s almost the only time I order fish. This was the first time that I ever got one with the head still attached, but after respectfully laying a piece of lettuce over the face, I thoroughly enjoyed this meal.
So far, I haven’t mentioned any restaurants by name, but I feel compelled to for this next one. Based on rave reviews from Rick Steves and Tripadvisor, I had to try Il Pirata in the tiny town of Vernazza. I’m sure all their food is great, but I specifically wanted to go for breakfast.

First, there’s this little cup of wonderful. The owner gave us a little free sample, describing the mix of fresh strawberry slush and whipped cream as “the Italian yoghurt.” That little taste was not enough. And just the fact that this is considered just like yoghurt here is just another reason why I love this country.

noname-2

Finally, yes, I did order a cannoli for breakfast. I had to do it, and it was the best one I’ve ever had. And now I know better than to order a pre-filled one. These are filled only after you order them so that they stay delightfully fresh and crunchy.

So that’s how I ate my way across Europe. Next week, I’ll write my last post as I prepare to go home for the summer. I’m sure it’ll be bittersweet and super cliché, but hopefully it’s a good final chapter.

Spring Break Part 1: Exploring Eastern Europe

It’s been a while since my last travel post. Where have I been all April? Well, it feels to me, like almost everywhere. I just returned from two and a half weeks traveling around Europe. It was an Odyssey. It was like the Amazing Race, only without the actual race and the million dollars at the end. I feel like I just walked across half of this continent. But it was unforgettable, a true once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’ll cherish forever. Since there’s no way to cover the entire trip in one post, I’m going to split it into three. First, there were the eastern cities of Prague, Budapest, and Vienna. Then, there was Italy. Finally, I’m going to have one more installment of “The Best Things I Ate,” a spring break edition.

Prague:
     We kicked off our break in Prague, a place I’ve wanted to visit for years. It was one of the cities on our itinerary that I was most excited for, and in the end, it still was one of my favorites. Everyone says it’s ridiculously beautiful, and everyone is right. It’s more similar to Germany than even I had expected, and that made me feel at home, despite the language barrier and confusing currency. My favorite things we did there were the very thorough free walking tour, seeing the castle (and the whole city) light up at night, and most of all, learning about my Bohemian heritage. All weekend, I just kept eating everything I could find that my grandma and mom make at home.

Budapest:
     The language barrier I had experienced in Prague was even worse in Hungary. Still, it helps that in these smaller countries, no one expects you to speak the language, and it’s not too difficult to get by. This was definitely the city that felt most foreign to me. It’s the farthest east, it’s not super touristy, but the good side of that is that it’s even cheaper than prague. Despite the challenges, I found the history of this city really fascinating, and found a bunch of fun things to do. Here, we went to the third best bar in the world, and we spent our entire second day in one of the famous bath houses, which I highly recommend.
noname-94
Vienna:
     This was my second time in Vienna, so I had mixed feeling about coming back. It is one of my favorite cities in the world because of its imperial elegance and long list of cultural attractions. I did really enjoy coming back because I got to do all different things than the first time. Last time, I really wanted to have Wiener Schnitzel in Wien, but I ran out of time, so I always told myself I’d come back someday just for that. Besides the Schnitzel, my favorite things were the grand tour of the Hapsburg’s Schönbrunn Palace and the view at night from the oldest Ferris wheel.
     These three cities made up the first week of my break. Each has its own distinct character, and I love them all almost equally for different reasons. For the second week of break, we went south to explore some of Italy’s greatest cities, but that’s another story for another post.

 

Math Everywhere!

It’s been quite a while since my last post, here’s a quick update on the courses I ended up taking:

  • Combinatorial Optimization. Taught by an Operations Research professor, this course concentrates on solving graph theory-based problems using algorithms. This is an interesting mix for me as a computer science and mathematics double major — I’ve seen many of the algorithms before, but never seen the proofs of why they are correct. Likewise, I’ve seen many of the proofs for graph theoretic results before, but never seen the algorithms used to obtain these results. It’s one thing to prove certain objects exist, it’s quite another thing to find those objects! This interchanging of algorithms and proofs makes this course one of my favorites (and most challenging).
  • Game Theory. My only applied mathematics course, Game Theory attempts to model conflicts in the real world through mathematics. While most Game Theory courses concentrate on 2×2 simultaneous move games and culminate with Nash’s equilibrium theorem, this course attempts to build up the tools for game theory in general by making multiple passes through the material. We are currently starting our third pass and are defining things such as a Rational Player through mathematics (a preorder, in fact), which I find very interesting. More on Hungarian teaching styles soon!
  • Mathematical Logic. While many people think of truth tables and Boolean circuits when they hear of logic, this course is more like the intersection between abstract algebra and computability theory. Highlights of this course include Godel’s Completeness and Incompleteness Theorems, primitive recursion, and a look into second order logic.
  • Mathematical Problem Solving (Audit). This course is offered as a problem solving course much less abstract than Conjecture and Proof (only really needing highschool math), but no less difficult. I didn’t originally plan on taking this course at all, but several friends told me it was their favorite and persuaded me to sit in on a few lectures. The professor is indescribably good at lecturing, I highly highly recommend any future BSM students to at least try MPS.
  • Set Theory. Starting with the fundamental idea of “what really is a collection of objects?”,  Set Theory begins with the classic naïve approach, examines some axioms such as the Zorn Lemma and Axiom of Choice, proves results in applications such as vector spaces and graphs, then dives into an axiomatic version of set theory as a response to Russell’s Paradox.  Perhaps one of the easier courses I’m taking, it’s nonetheless incredibly enlightening to examine the very building blocks of higher level mathematics, especially when taking it in parallel with Logic.
  • Hungarian Art and Culture. As one of the five or so humanities courses offered to BSM students, Culture is definitely worthwhile. Every week we examine a new facet of Hungarian culture such as music, politics, social issues, etc. We’ve also had the opportunity to attend a guided tour of the Hungarian National Gallery and next weekend will attend a play in the National Theater. I definitely recommend the course to anyone looking for a taste of Hungarian culture beyond what you will learn by just living here.

I will be updating this blog much more often now. Upcoming posts include a look into the mathematics culture here, how my lifestyle has adjusted, and a peek into the life of famous Hungarian war photographer Robert Capa!

Introduction: Timothy in Budapest

Hello! My name is Timothy and this semester I am studying in the Budapest Semesters in Mathematics (BSM) program in Budapest, Hungary. Details about the program are below, but first I want to outline how I’ll be using this blog. To communicate the different facets of the experience and have a regular flow of updates, I plan on posting on this schedule:

Sunday Reflection on my study abroad experience
Monday Problem of the week statement
Tuesday Pictures (Twitter)
Thursday Pictures (Twitter)
Friday Problem of the week solution and discussion
Saturday Overview of my recent activities

 

In more detail:

  • Reflection. I’m not on vacation in Europe, and neither am I studying mathematics in America. What’s up with this study abroad experience in the context of both of these individual activities? How do they interact and what am I learning? In this weekly reflection I hope to share some of my perspective as it develops.
  • Problem of the week. It’s not a mathematics program without some actual math, right? Every week I’ll post a favorite problem, discovered from my studies here or otherwise. Participate actively and email me your solution before I post mine on Friday, and perhaps I’ll bring back a little prize for you from Hungary 🙂
  • Pictures. Along with this blog I’ll be updating a Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/TimInBudapest). Tuesdays and Thursdays I’ll specifically put an interesting picture or two up, so check it out!
  • Activity overview. Sure, I might be learning about life and math, but what actually brought these changes about? Twice a week I’ll overview what I’ve been up to and what you can expect to do if you choose to participate in this program too!

Finally, the purpose of this blog is to share my experience to others, not to talk into a void. Please do communicate with me so we have an active dialog going! Commenting on this blog and on Twitter are particularly appropriate means of communicating, but I will also answer emails if needed. No question is too silly or bothersome, so please do share your thoughts!

I hope you enjoy sharing a bit of my travels!

 

About the program

Home to several prominent mathematicians such as George Pólya, Paul Erdös, and Béla Bollobás, Hungary has a rich tradition of mathematics excellence. Designed in 1983, the BSM program allows around 70 undergraduate students from North America to study mathematics taught, in English, by Hungarian professors. More information about the BSM program can be found at the American website (http://www.budapestsemesters.com/) or the Hungarian website (http://www.bsmath.hu/).

© 2024 Valpo Voyager

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑