Budapest International Wine Festival

On a recent trip to Hungary, I spent my last two days visiting Budapest and was lucky enough to have timed my trip to coincide with the opening of the Budapest International Wine Festival. Held on the grounds of the castle for the last 19 years, it affords a beautiful view of the city, both during the day and at night, while sampling the very diverse wines of Hungary, with a couple of stalls devoted to foreign wines (predominantly European – France, Italy, Greece, etc.).

Hungary is most famous for its Tokaj Aszu wine, a sweet wine made from grapes that are picked late from the vines (often in November or December) and which have actually started to “rot” (a fungus grows on the grapes known as “noble rot“).  Hungary is also known for a number of red wines, including one of my favorites (simply for the name): Bull’s Blood, from Eger, a town in the North East of the country.

Buda Castle by night

While the festival is dominated by Hungarian wines, there is the opportunity to sample other wines, but the main excuse for attending (in particular for “non-wineys” is the view.  The castle is lit up in the evening and due to its location on Castle Hill, the view of the rest of the city and of the Parliament building in particular is spectacular.  With traditional Hungarian food, music, wine, all accompanied by a fantastic atmosphere, it’s difficult to find a better place to spend a September evening!

The next Budapest International Wine Festival is due to be held from the 7th to the 11th of September 2011.

Revisiting the Past

After what was meant to be a brief blogging hiatus, I suddenly realized I haven’t posted an entry on here in a year and a half!  A lot has happened in that time – both good and bad.  I’ve been busy with life, and that’s the best excuse I could have to let my blogging slip to the sidelines.

I’ve now graduated from University (with a Master’s degree), started my first full-time job (in the UK), and went on a two and half month trip through Asia, revisiting parts of my childhood and discovering new parts of the continent I’ve never been to before.  Starting in Beijing in early July with two friends, we worked our way to Bangkok overland by the end of September (no flying with the exception of Xi’an to Chengdu as the railroad was destroyed by a landslide).  Clearly it was no small trip, but the list of stops is impressive: Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Lhasa, Xigatse, Dali, Guilin, Yangshuo, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor, Kratie, Si Phan Don, Pakse, Vientiane, Luang Prabang and finally Bangkok.

Vietnam and Cambodia were entirely new to me, but having visited Laos and Thailand before and having lived in China for 3 years it was quite an enlightening experience.  My 3 years in China were spent in Beijing – I left when I was 11 years old, 13 years ago.  China is of course going through rapid change, however it was disconcerting to go back for the first time and not recognize a thing.  Sure, the famous landmarks were still there – the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, the Drum and Bell Towers and so on, but the rest was an entirely alien landscape to me.  The residential area where I lived – the Holiday Inn Lido – was relatively unchanged as well, but the school I went to is now a gym.  The silk market is no longer just a street but an actual multi-story, modern building.  Other markets I knew no longer exist.  Many of the streets have huge advertising hoardings and bright lights; the hutong area isn’t even a shadow of what it once was.  Other areas have been transformed into tourists hotspots where everything and everyone caters to foreigners.

I don’t expect countries to remain static, however the sense of loss I experienced when I was there was overpowering at times.  All I have left of my 3 years in Beijing are my memories – and they can’t be shared with people who haven’t experienced the same things.  I can talk about my memories with my family and friends from Beijing, but outside of that close inner circle those 3 years of my life may as well have not occurred.  When I was there it felt like grabbing handfuls of sand – I’d see something small and familiar, the essence of the Beijing I once knew, but all the while the grains of the Beijing I knew – my Beijing – were slipping through my fingers, until nothing is left but those memories.

That is one of the frustrations of being a TCK.  Where I live now I am surrounded by Brits, many of whom have little or no experience of going beyond the borders of this island, let alone venturing far enough or long enough to be able to empathize with me.  It’s therefore difficult to make meaningful connections or share experiences, as what I have seen and done are completely disparate to their lives.  In the end I keep my thoughts and stories to myself unless specifically asked.  But what can I do to inspire an interest in others?  How do I connect with people who have lead completely different lives?  At times it can be lonely not having anyone to share these stories with.

Vélo’V

Lyon is the 2nd largest city in France (after Paris), with a population of 3 million if you include the surrounding urban area.  As a result, it obviously needs a good transport system – in addition to the ubiquitous metros, buses and trams, the city came up with the great idea of putting bikes at the disposal of the public.  Called Vélo’V, the scheme aims to reduce pollution and promote ‘healthy’ transport.  There are more than 3000 bikes available from several hundred ‘bornes’, or automatic stations.  Once you have bought a card for the service, you choose a PIN number and you can rent a bike whenever you want.

The cost is negligeable – you can get either a short term card or a long term card.  In my case, since I’m only staying in Lyon for a few months, I use short term cards, which are valid for 1 week.  They cost 1 euro and bike rental is free for the first half hour.  Despite being the 2nd largest city in France, Lyon isn’t that big, meaning that you can get to most places within that time, meaning that for 1 euro/week you have nearly unlimited local transport.  Compared to the cost of the other transport (1.10 euros for a student ticket valid for 1 hour on trams, metros, buses), it’s a pretty good deal.  The price quickly rises after the first free half hour, but that is essentially to prevent people from stealing the bikes or appropriating them for prolonged periods (in other words, taking the bike home and using it for say a week).  The scheme is popular with the Lyonnais (the inhabitants of Lyon) – in 2006 the 3000 bikes were used to cover a total of 6.4 million km.

Following the success of Vélo’V in Lyon, the authorities in Paris decided to follow suit with Vélib’.  Unfortunately they’ve had a few more problems with stolen bikes and vandalism – the usual case of a few people ruining something good to the detriment of everyone else.

Assuming the scheme operators can get around the problems of stolen and vandalised bikes, hopefully the idea will spread to even more cities – it’s cheap, convenient and flexible; exactly what so many modes of public transport are lacking.

Fake memories

Later this week I’ll be spending a night in a Holiday Inn – which normally wouldn’t be a big deal, but when it comes to Holiday Inns I tend to get a little sentimental, since I spent 3 years living in apartment buildings owned by (and right next to) the Holiday Inn in Beijing.  Now when I stay in a Holiday Inn it brings back memories of the Thai and Indonesian restaurants; the sports club where I first played squash and table tennis; the school – my first international school; riding my bike over the speed bumps in the complex and chasing cars with friends (that last one didn’t always end well and possibly wasn’t the most mature or responsible thing we could have done)…

Sometimes it’s strange what memories are triggered by a mundane object or event.  Unfortunately all too often the memories are of experiences I shared with people in the past, who I might be in contact with still, but only via the internet, and so I have nobody who I can turn to to say “hey, do you remember when we …?”  Sometimes it can make it feel like because I’m the only one around with that memory, it didn’t actually happen, like my mind has just created fake memories.  Sometimes it can be a little lonely.

To move or not to move?

That’s the question that I’m faced with at the moment.

Following the pessimism of my previous post, I am now faced with two career possibilities: 1) I work for a company that specializes in the field which got me interested in engineering in the first place, but which would require me to (hold on to your seat, fellow wanderlust TCK), settle down, or 2) I work for a company that lets me move around the world, living and working in some pretty cool places, but which doesn’t necessarily fulfill me professionally and where, as a result, I just become another one of the rats in the system.

So which do I risk not liking: my job, or where I live?  Option 1 would probably require me spending most, if not all, of my career in England.  Having spent 5 years living there now, I’m not sure I can manage another 40…  On the other hand, if I work for a company which involves moving every 3 years again – well, I’m not sure I want another 40 years of that either.  Which could mean an abrupt career change 10 years down the road.  On the other hand, if there’s a certain aspect I don’t like (the place, the particular job, the people, etc.), then I’d know it would change within 3 years and I could start over.

Job or place, job or place… somehow I doubt I’m the first TCK to encounter this little dilemma.

Decisions, decisions.  Any thoughts on the matter, dear reader?  All of this could well end up being irrelevant anyway – since option 1 requires me getting through an assessment center first.  Then I’m just left with option 2 and, well, not so many choices to make.

Generation Crunch

For a while I thought that this whole ‘economic crisis’, ‘credit crunch’, ‘recession’, ‘downturn’, ‘sacking-fest’, or whatever you want to call it was just being blown out of proportion by the media.  Then it got a little more serious and I took more note, but figured that, as an engineer, I wouldn’t be hugely affected by it.  I mean, everyone needs engineers no matter the state of the economy, right?  Right guys??  Then it got even worse.  And I went to careers fairs.  And I applied to jobs.   And I got rejected or ignored.  And the number of pessimistic articles about how I shouldn’t graduate this year grew exponentially.  A prime example.

What do a large number of articles suggest?  Putting off graduation for another year by doing a masters degree.  Except I already have one of those and it doesn’t seem to be helping much.  Maybe I’ll have to look into a sponsored PhD – except that would be another 3 years of education.  Or I could work in a bar.  Fun times.

Oh, and I don’t suppose anyone who could potentially be concerned by this will ever find this (unless it miraculously shows up on a Google search – stranger things have happened), but if you’re considering applying to Vetco Gray, the oil and natural gas branch of GE – DON’T!  They got back to me relatively quickly after I applied and asked me when I would be available for a telephone interview.  I thought “Great!  Someone might offer me a job!”  So I sent in some dates and… never got a response.  A month later, not even a second e-mail.  Screw them I say.  It’s their loss anyway.

The Lyon Den

My new home for the next 3 months and 2 weeks: Lyon, France.  As the final part of my degree I have to do a final year project at a French university, so here I am.  At the end of the 3 months I graduate, and who knows where I’ll be after that!  All I know is that it’s about time – I just realised that by the time I finish my degree (5 years) I’ll have spent 23% of my life at university!

My new kitchen (with a concoction being prepared, for some scale)

Anyway, in typical French, disorganized fashion, they don’t have enough rooms for all students so I’m sharing a room with another (2nd year) student (although luckily he seems friendly enough).  On the other hand the kitchen is slightly on the small side (read: tiny).

I spent a good part of the day today wandering around the city; I’ve visited Lyon once before (briefly, last year), but wanted to get an idea of where I was living, how far away various places were, etc.

Lyon, although a large city with some industrial and/or run-down districts around it, is actually a nice place with a nice inner old town.  The centre is based around the confluence of the Rhone and Saône rivers, with a hill nearby with a basilica perched on top.

One of the many boulevards of Lyon

The centre of the city (outside of the old town) is your typical French city – wide boulevards with tall buildings and ornate balconies.  It’s quite a big place, but the public transport is relatively quick and efficient and reasonably price as well.  Between the centre of town and the old town lie the two rivers, which merge into one further downstream (the Rhone is bluer than the Saône (which is a far browner color) so apparently it’s possible to see where they mix for quite a while downstream).  From the bridges across the rivers you can get some nice views of both the riverfronts and of the old town.  In fact, looking towards the old town you can see Lyon’s own Eiffel Tower!  Well, it wasn’t designed by Monsieur Eiffel and it’s a lot smaller, but it’s a tower that resembles Paris’ famous Eiffel Tower (3rd picture below):

The view looking down the Rhone river

The view looking up the Saône River

Lyon's Eiffel Tower from a bridge over the Rhone

The old town is full of small roads and alleyways, with courtyards inside the buildings.  There are also a number of passageways known as des traboules which were originally used to transport goods from street to street, but which were also used during the German occupation during World War II to prevent the Germans from gaining complete control of the area.  I’ve been through a couple of these traboules on my previous visit to Lyon, but this time when I found one (I couldn’t find any others), despite the sign saying it was kept open (by agreement between the city and the owner), the door was locked.

One of the traboules

After a long and steep climb to the top of the hill next to the old town you reach the basilica, built in the 1870′s.  Both the view of Lyon from the top of the hill and the interior of the basilica are well worth the climb (or, if you don’t feel like a workout, you can get the funicular to the top).

The view from the basilica

The interior of the basilica

Walking around the top of the hill presents a few more views of the city, as well as a few other things of vague interest – a couple of stumps of bricks which they claim to be remains of Roman aqueducts (I guess who am I to say they aren’t) as well as an old cemetary, the Cimetière de Loyasse, opened in 1807.

The Cimetière de Loyasse at the top of the hill

On my way back I noticed a park just next to where I live with a bunch of animals (like a zoo, but apparently not a zoo) – elephants, tigers, lions, mongooses (mongeese??), amongst others.  I didn’t have time to stop unfortunately, but expect pictures of all sorts of animals shortly!