AAMAS Doctoral Mentoring programme, which was quite well-attended (this picture was taken during the lunch break).
Sunny day in Budapest, as observed from our room on the eighth floor of Hotel Budapest. We are on the Buda side of the river (Duna/Danube), which is right behind the elevated areas on the horizon. Across the river is Pest. The large shadow is that of the hotel, which is in the shape of an odd cylinder.
Earth and sky: all there is to the world, in breathtaking Budapest!
Todd, Latifa, and Matt in the hotel lobby, in the middle of a laugh.
Tram lines: Budapest has excellent public transportation.
Moszkva Ter (Moscow Square). This is one of the main metro railway stations: our regular point of entry into the underground.
Entering the underground station is a psychedelic experience... more so with Todd beaming at you like that!
Top of the Castle Hill (Buda) -- looks like the tree went in for a conical finish, too!
Three men guard one of the many gates in the castle.
Chequered castle wall, with warriors, horses and a map.
Matt and I: sunny days!
The warrior on the horse does not appear to merit as much attention as the man in red (sitting) -- who is showing off a goat-sized eagle (hidden behind crowd)!
Unlike the multitudes photographing the eagle (bottom left), I decided to opt for the church instead, even if it was behind scaffolding.
Restaurant on the hill, with a perfect view from every window. The silhouettes include Matt, Will, Todd and Jim.
Just the opposite: better lighting conditions for Jim, Matt, Todd, and Will, who spare no thought for the view behind them.
The grey Danube: as we begin descending, we get closer views of the river.
The Parliament building in all its majesty.
Trams scurrying over one of the many bridges connecting Buda and Pest. Behind the bridge is Margit Island, which is mostly taken up by a park.
Buda is very green: there's no dearth of trees to frame pictures.
Tourists having a hard time deciding which way to look.
Wet lady carrying fish.
Gellert and Margit. Not only do those sound like girls' names, there were indeed girls inside these cars who waved as they rode by! Didn't ask them for their names, though.
Little road signs are posted at street corners; streets are often named after Hungary's many famous rulers.
Pest, on the other side of the river, is a more modern enterprise. No surprise then that most of the traffic is heading towards it!
A ferocious lion guards the bridge.
And yet Todd quietly gives it the slip!
This is what Todd is watching: the expanse of the Danube.
And the ducks making merry.
One of the many restaurant boats on the river. Pest is full of cuboidal buildings, with the notable exception of the Hungarian Parliament, flying the national flag.
St. Istvan's Basilica basking in the evening sun.
Rickshaw pullers offering their own kind of service outside the church.
Lunchtime, which has the comic appearance of library-time.
Andrassy Utca, the road on which we walked, walked, and walked,
The walkway by the side of the road is rather popular with older folk.
Franz Liszt, who decides to take a break from his activities inside the opera house to come outside for some fresh air.
Szenvedelyunk.
Heroes' Square, which commemorates the country's glorious past.
Horses hesitating to jump off the ledge, as one hero finds refuge on top of the column.
You can't lead these horses to the water, nor scrub their grimy backs!
These sightseers are quite a sight themselves! And they're about to invade the art gallery.
Avenue overlooked by the parliament. Perfect geometry.
These lions guard the parliament building, and nor did they allow us to enter, despite three desparate attempts. Or rather, the tickets ran out each time.
Lajos Kossuth, a former president, now larger than life.
Wish you were here!
Camera-friendly Matt and Michael.
Every dog has its day; Mr. Extreme Right charged at me as I clicked, with his charging quite exaggerated by the camera zoom.
Trinket store.
Gerbeaud, which serves the richest chocolate cakes in the world.
Todd and Kevin on the train to Visegrad. What a day it would turn out to be!
Ferris wheels catch your attention even under normal circumstances; this time from a train traveling at 100 mph!
No fast-moving antics this time. These flowers grow by the tracks at a station where the train stopped.
Destination reached: Nagymaros-Visegrad. The station is in Nagymaros; Visegrad is on the other side of the Danube river, and is home to the great castle, visible on top of the hill in the background.
Todd's almost showing the same time as the clock!
Lone couple, who spend the day reminiscing.
On our way to the river. Perhaps Dave, Kevin and Todd decided to walk in a line to set an example to the school children, who don't appear to mind them.
And here is the ferry: Zala by name and gala by spirit.
Sharing the ferry with cars and crossers-by. At centre is the ticket collector, who is heading towards us. The tickets were quite cheap, really.
The brown Danube, with Nagymaros at left, Visegrad at right, and a sizeable portion of Europe behind.
Idyllic view of church, which we decided to leave unvisited.
If people are happy to wile away time on the banks of rivers, why do they become software engineers and tax collectors?
On the Visegrad side; some hill-climbing is now in order.
And there is the destination.
Fine day for a walk.
Posta at last! As a boy collecting stamps, I always assumed ”Magyar Posta“ meant Hungary, just as ”India“ meant India and ”CCCP“ USSR. Only now I know: “Magyar” is Hungarian and “Posta” is mail.
Into the valley of death walked the three.
We all made estimates of the time we'd reach the top of the castle; the one with the closest estimate was supposed to be the “winner”.
Signs such as ”25p“ did not help the cause: what was a ”p“ after all?
Of course Dave won; here he touches the castle wall, braving the arrows flying beside.
Arms and the man (me reflected in glass).
Shaky climb to the top. One wrong step and... not quite; there weren't any cliffs nearby.
The bend on the Danube, which we came miles to see.
Solitary boat, all at sea... er... river.
Before deciding to get a move on... and in what fashion!
Todd, I, and Dave. Mission accomplished (whatever it was).
The other side of the river was all that we could see.
The famous royals of yore confined to two dimensions.
And here three dimensions, with a feast thrown in for good measure!
Spot the odd man out!
Paradox of choice.
Yes, I'll hand you the camera, sir!
Many a vista presents itself to the weary traveler.
And many a soulful melody, too!
We could not understand their language, but their music sounded as old as the hills we climbed to hear it.
End of trek.
And the river awaits our homeward journey!
