Airport Venezia Marco Polo – 8:44am Local Time
It is time to leave Italy! The great journey has started and
I thought of buying this notepad in order to jot down thoughts, feelings,
descriptions, reports, and anything that might happen during my stay in
Hungary.
I will be lodging in Budapest at my friend’s flat, which is
located in the city centre (near the Great Synagogue as far as I know). I can’t
remember the name of the street, but I will write it down as soon as my memory
is refreshed with the some visual aid.
My flight will be boarding at 9.30 am and then leave
(hopefully on time) at 10.05 am. The airport is quite empty. I have not yet
realised it is still early in the morning. I left Trieste, my sister’s
hometown) at 5.33 am. Not tired now, but I fear I will be later in the day. I
still cannot access the NON-EU flights area so I am writing and waiting in
front of this big, large window which looks on airport tracks but at the
horizon you can easily spot the Venetian lagoon, even though the weather is
rather cloudy, painted with a light grey fading to white.
Train, bus, aeroplane. The only thing missing is travel by
sea! Anyway, it is a relatively long journey ahead so I will write later,
probably when I have something more interesting and more ‘Hungarian’ to tell.
Semmelweiss utca, Budapest – Evening, Local Time
Settlend in! Journey was fine with Malev Airlines. Nice
service, small express aeroplane and landing on a wet track. Weather is damp
and grey. The Uszta is a huge plan
and with this weather you do not see a clear skyline at the horizon. I stood at
passport control for five minutes (Hungary may still be suspicious of the EU
and the UK) and then met my friend.
We hopped onto the bus to Kōbanya-Kispest [Kobania-Kishpesht],
which is one end of the Metro Line 3, the newest underground line built during
the Communist regime. The atmosphere is really Big Brother-like with a huge
minimalist design but lonely and semi-obscure places. The train are clean and
so are the platforms; all the rubbish is in the station – really dirty!
Hungarians are quite nice people. They look like any other
Western European population and now that democracy is something common you see
them dressed in different old or new styles. However, you easily spot the lower
end which I presume accounts a major part of the urban population. We noticed
this when we went to a Tesco supermarket at the outskirts of Budapest (we went
north with Metro Line 2 and stopped at Újpest-Városkapu [Úipesth-Városhkapu]).
The flat where I will stay is pretty nice. Built according
to 1900s architecture, it uses spaces in a modern way with big doors and high
ceilings. Four spacious rooms, bathroom included, a good deal – can’t complain!
We are located in the Jewish quarter (the road – Semmelweiss – is named after a famous German jew), and we are not
far from the second biggest synagogue in the world! We are basically in the
city centre where the three metro lines cross each other – the only point – and the stop is called Deák
Ferenc tér [Deác
Ferenz tér].
Well, gotta wash up the dinner dishes and then off to bed.
Tomorrow, the first sightseeing will take place at the University for
Humanities in Piliscaba [Pilisciaba] outside
Budapest.
Good night!
VOCABULARY:
Written
|
Pronounced (Italian phonetics)
|
Meaning
|
bejárat
|
beiárat
|
entrance
|
kijárat
|
chiárat
|
exit
|
vészkiárat
|
véschiárat
|
emergency exit
|
igen
|
ighen
|
yes
|
nem
|
nem
|
no
|
jó
napot kivánok
|
ió
napot chivánoc
|
wish a nice day
|
jó
napot
|
ió
napot
|
good day
|
jó
reggelt
|
ió
regelt
|
good morning
|
jó
estét
|
ió
eshtēt
|
good evening
|
szia
|
sía
|
hello
|
sziasztok
|
síastok
|
hello to everybody
|
csok
|
ciok
|
kiss
|
puszi
|
pussi
|
kiss on the cheek
|
en szép
vagyok
|
en sēp
vaghioc
|
I am beautiful
|
köszönöm
|
kōssōnōm
|
thank you
|
tessék
|
teshec
|
you are welcome
(when you give
something)
|
viszontlátasra
|
vissontlātashra
|
goodbye
|
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