Cost of life

Hello everybody,

For  the first  topic in Budapest, I will present changes between Hungary and France. There is now two week that we are in Budapest. During this period we could observe the price difference between France and Hungary . Generally the price is twice cheaper than in France except famous products as expensive  as in France or more expensive. For example : 400g nutella cost 3,10€. For the product a lot of are international, because Budapest is a tourist capital and it must have got these product for them.

            The Bread Inescapable product in France is a ball of bread in hungary and it is sold sell by the kilo for approximately 0.8 € to 1 € by kilo. 

The most common  bread Hungarian 

There is a lot of convenience store in Budapest and some of them are open after midnight. it is the opposite with France because in France we are a lot of Hypermarket. It is the same method than Germany, it is to supply  fresh products and avoid making of too big reserves freeze.

the average wage in Hungary  is  191.930 HUF (1.000 EUR ). It is the only reason on the cost of  life cheaper than France

Thank you and at the next time bye.

Ride in Buda Castle

For the first several days I’ve been to visit the Buda’s hill. The first time I’ve been there it was a sunny day and I was with Mario, one of my Brazilian classmates.

First to go there, we had to cross the chain suspension bridge where we had a wonderful view of the Danube and the parliament on the background.

view from the chain suspension bridge

After we’ve climbed this very sloping hill by walking one kilometer. The more we climbed over, the more the landscape was amazing. After this hard ascension, we had a wonderful view of all the Pest side of the city (the west side of the Danube). 

view from Buda hill

When we arrived on the top, we have seen the big library of Budapest. It’s an awesome building that was founded in 1802, it contains 3 millions of books and 1 million of manuscripts.

library

After viewing this building, we’ve seen the Matthias church set on the heart of the Buda’s castle.

Matthias church

In Hungary the night is coming sooner than in France (at 5pm at this time of the year), so we decided to have a drink and to rest up after our long walking in a nice place across the church.

A day with Hungarian students - Part 1

Hi everybody !

I know that for the moment, we haven't taken so many photos of the architectures, the Danube, and all the things which make the beauty of the city. But there are some reasons for that, and the best one is the weather : whatever if you are in Paris, Budapest, Prague or New York, if the weather is bad, the photos will appears grey, dull. Let's see an example : I will put 2 photos. The first one has been taken by us when we were at this place, and the second one is just one photo of the same place (with a little bit different point of view) from Google Images. Let's see :

Our photo

Picture took from Google Images. Source : http://voyages.orange.fr/reportages/photos/les-plus-beaux-ponts-du-monde/le-pont-de-la-liberte-a-budapest.html

We don't expect to make photos as beautiful as this one, but just have some colors, and in this case, just see the hill behind the gate... So the photos will come at the same time as the good weather.


Yesterday, we met 3 Hungarian students of the Dennis Gabor College at the railway station (Keleti Pályaudvar) at 17:00. We took the bus to go in the 14th district, 3 km from home, and we arrived to the Tájfun Biliárdszalon és Étterem, a bar restaurant and billiard lounge (http://www.tajfunbiliard.hu ; look at the video on the website, I can't import it on this page...). We started by eating a huge pizza with a cocktail (at 17:30... Fortunately, we just took a breakfast at noon, but Bastien had taken a Big Mac Menu on McDonald's at 16:45... He has regretted this choice...), Bastien was the only one to take a salad... but a big one !

The Sex on the beach... cocktail : vodka, orange,
blueberry

The gigantic pizza

The "little" salad after Big Mac Menu

It was here I discovered one important thing : we were surprised to eat a pizza at this time, so I asked at what time Hungarian people use to eat, and I explained that in France, we have one time for breakfast, one time for lunch, and a last for dinner. The answer was very logical and surprising too : "Well, in Hungary, we eat when we are hungry". Yes, why not...

Maybe it's not very representative on the photos, but the plates are really huge : we laughed out loud when Bastien's salad was served : he just wanted a tiny dish after his McDonald's menu, and this was just enormous... and cheap ! Ok, the cocktail cost 1200 Ft (about 4 €), but the pizza was only 1490 Ft, less than 5 € ! In comparison, in France, the pizza is twice as small for the double of the price...

After this lunch, we did 5 or 6 billiard rounds, Hungarian vs French and mixed teams after (we have finished only one round, the 8-ball was always put in a hole before the end of the game...). And the price of the billiard unlimited use was 1278 Ft (4 € more or less...), divided by 6 (for each player), that means about 0.70 € per person...

To finish the comparison : in Budapest, capital city of Hungary, for 10 €, you can eat at the restaurant, take a cocktail, and play billiard for hours. In Angers, capital city of... the Maine-et-Loire region, you have one cinema ticket (with the student price, about 9.50 €), and a 50 cL water bottle (I think it's 2.50 €...) for 6 people. What else?

After that, we came back home. Hungarian IT students aren't used to drinking and going out and come back home at 5 o'clock (of course, there are exceptions... ), and for that, they are like me. I spent a really nice moment with them. Next time, we'll go to bowling !


Bye bye !

Such a beautiful place

Hello world ! We have been in Budapest for one week now, and it's time to give some news of us. Let's go for the jump in time : 

Tuesday 04 February 2014 : We are in the plane, the pilot put the engines of the plane in full power, and 13 seconds later, we are flying. Goodbye Paris, France, families and friends, see you in May ! 15:00 PM : We are now in Budapest, with our baggage, and we go downtown by bus, subway and trolleybus. After the wait (one hour in the street...) for the man who gave us the keys, we are now "at home"...

Wednesday 05 February 2014 : First visit of the neighborhood : what is next to us ? In fact, we are just between a McDonald, a Burger King, a KFC, a little supermarket, and 3 sexshops... There is also a huge shopping center, and the train station. For the night, we went to the Szimplakert bar. 

 

We met French guys, a Brazilian, a German, and of course, some hungarian people. It was a really good first night in Budapest.

Thursday 06 February 2014 : The fridge isn't empty anymore, and we go to visit a part of the city. After 8 kilometers walked, we come back to the apartment, we have seen a big boulevard, a covered market, etc some other things...

Friday 07 February 2014 : We continued our tour in Budapest, and we saw the Danube for the first time (if we don't count the time from the plane). We were between two bridges, but the weather was bad so we decided to come back home. For the night, we came back to the bar. This time, we met english girls who were in Budapest for holidays. we discussed with them and it's interesting to note that they were aware and disappointed to speak only English. As they said, even if "everybody" speaks English, it could be interesting for English people to speak another language, even just for culture. For them, don't learn another language at school is a lack in their formation...

Saturday 08 February 2014 : This time, we go to the Dennis Gabor College, to see where it is, what bus we have to take, and how long it is from home. After 30 minutes in the bus, we arrived near the university. But, again, the weather was bad so we decided to come back home...

Sunday 09 February 2014 : God's day, we did't do anything...

From Monday until now : The classes have begun, the university is very different compared to Esaip : it's very modern, a huge building, etc... We have Brazilians with us in class and all starts very well with them. Tomorrow, classes from 11:00 AM from 05:00 PM, and after, week-end !

Here is our universe, such a beautiful place...

Here we are...

5:30 AM this morning, I sleptg for about 4 hours... We haven't slept enough, but it's too late now. I make my bag, take my food for my lunch, and let's go to the train station !

The Angers streets' are empty, and we don't speak so much in the car.

6:46 AM, the train leaves the Angers station, the trip starts. My train joins Gabriel's one at Le Mans, and we go to the airport.

And here we are, on the terminal 2F of Charles de Gaulle Airport, with our computers on the knees... The bagagge have been deposed, it's 10:45 AM, and we are waiting for the plane...

Next step, Budapest.