We are András Király and Dávid Timár from Corvinus University of Budapest Hungary. We strongly recommend you to spend one or two semesters in Budapest, at our University.
Why?
There are lot of reasons, let’s begin with the University. Corvinus is the best and oldest university in Hungary focusing on economics and business. Predecessor in title of Corvinus was started in the early 1910’s as an independent department of economics in the National Academy. After World War II, it became fully separate and independent, by the name of Hungarian University of Economics. In the communist era the university was renamed after Carl Marx. The final and current name – Corvinus – was given in 2004, after a great fusion between the economics, business, social sciences departmens and the College of Public Administration and the former University of Horticulture and Food Industry [http://portal.uni-corvinus.hu/index.php?id=44616].
Therefore, our university has the best economics programmes, recognized by the labour market. A degree from here is a good entrance. The education is of high-standard, lot of very well-known international professors, economists, politicians come to hold here for some lectures. The latest “big name” visitor was Ban Ki-moon [http://www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml], Secretary-General of the UN!
The main building
About the localization and student’s life: The campus of the economics departments is located in the centre of Budapest, at Fővám Square. The main building is a national monument, one of the most beautiful sights of Budapest.
Building C is a new one, with very modern classrooms, and there is the 3 floored library. The third building is between the first two and that’s the smallest one, but it’s very important, because that hosts the IT sections, it’s called “Sóház”. The lectures are 90 min. long, and between them there are 20 min. breaks. Usually the teachers let you drink and eat in the classes. There are several smoke zones around the buildings, inside smoking is forbidden. The university collects the garbage selectively to protect the environment. You have the opportunity to do some sports for free at the university. Nearby located one of the dormitories, called Kinizsi, and there is a sport hall in the basement. Football, basketball, volleyball and also a little fitness room. You can also do some swimming in a swimming-pool located at the other side of Danube.
In the surroundings there are lots of shops, restaurants, fast-food restaurants and of course bars, pubs, beer-houses. We can recommend the followings to eat in: Leves (fast-food shop which offers hot soups), City Gyros, Tao (Chinese food restaurant), and followings to drink in: Lónyai Pub, Kakas Presszó, Mézes Café, Trapéz. All of them are atmospheric, maximum 10 min. walk from the university. Good price, good quality. Also in Fővám Square, there is the Great Market Hall. In this huge hall you can buy great variety of souvenirs, you can have a meal, a beer, a “fröccs” or a famous Hungarian roast sausage! It’s definitely worth a try 🙂
About student’s life: there are plenty of student organizations in the university, over 30! One of the biggest is ÖCSI (We don’t even try to translate it 🙂 ) with more than 140 active members. They organize the freshmen camp every year, lot of parties for them (freshmen ship, tavern-tour) and the biggest event of the university, the freshmen ball! This event is the biggest ball in the country, and it takes place inside the main building! With a fantastic atmosphere, at least 3 stages, more than 6 different hand-made scenes, world famous musicians, and the most popular domestic artists. If you are in Budapest, you should definitely take part in it!
Freshman ball, Main Stage
Now let’s talk about the capital city of Hungary, Budapest. First a little history: The Hungarian Catholic Kingdoms was established by István the Saint in 1000 A.D. The capital city was Fehérvár, after a few centuries it moved to Buda. In the medieval times Buda and Pest were separate cities. Buda was the royal seat and the prefectural capital of the kingdom, Pest was the trading centre. Later the Turks invaded Hungary in 1541, and Buda was occupied by them. Buda was recaptured in 1686, after a grand assault against the Turks, led by the Polish prince John Sobieski and the Habsburg commander, Charles of Lotharingia. From 1541 till 1848 Pozsony (today Bratislava) was the capital of Hungary. Budapest was created in 1873, after the merger of Pest, Buda and Óbuda. The kingdom was truncated after World War I, by peace dictatum in Trianon, Paris 1920. 66% of the territory was taken away. The kingdoms was extinguished in 1944, during World War II, Hungary became a republic. Then came the soviet army, and Hungary became a soviet interest. The iron curtain got down, and the communist era has begun. After 1989 Hungary reclaimed its independence.
The Chain Bridge and the Buda Castle
The city is located both sides of the river Danube. On the right side there is Buda, with its small hills and valleys, with lot of public baths, the castle, and an amazing view. On the left side there is Pest, with the Parlament, Basilica, Heroes Square and so on…
Budapest is especially gorgeous at night. That’s why we suggest you to take a walk in the city after the sun went down. We advise you starting from Fővám Square and follow the Danube to North. You can walk near the river, or on the very famous shopping street, called “Váci utca”. Go to the Parlament, admire the hills at the other side, the bridges bathing in light. The most beautiful bridge is the Chain Bridge with its magnificent lions!
Buda Castle
Heroes Square
If you plan to see all the sights, a whole week won’t be enough. When you’re there, you can ask your local mentor to guide you.
And know the most important thing for a student, the nightlife! Budapest is world-famous about its nightlife. Plenty of clubs, pubs, bars are waiting for you to discover them. Usually in the city centre, but outside of it as well. We generally prefer to get some drinks in a pub, and after that go in a party. In pubs, bars the average price of a beer in the centre is around 400 HUF (1euro = 300 HUF). Moreover if you’re interested in cocktails or long drinks, there are also lot of places offering them. Our favorite is Andersen 1 and 2. You can buy 1 meter beer (10 glasses) for 1200 HUF (2.5 liter), moreover there is always some special offers –cocktails, shots- and our personal favorite: the minimeters! It means 5 shots for 1000 HUF, and a very wide-selection of them. It definitely worth a try 🙂
1 meter beer
Some other great taverns to visit: Akácfa Söröző, Gong Café, Presszó 53.
About clubs: in general, women are free to entry whole night long. There are some places where 4 of them could go in for free, individually they have to pay. It’s customary, that women pay half of the price for men. For men the usual price is between 1000 and 2000 HUF. Of course there are cheaper and much more expensive places also. The cloakroom is for 200 HUF. Because there is a great variety, we can only recommend what we like, and it doesn’t mean that what we don’t recommend is bad! (also true for the pubs). In summertime we prefer the open-air places such as Budapest Park, Zöld Pardon, RIO. In wintertime the followings: Morrisons 2 and Morrisons Liget, Peaches and Cream… Instant and lot more. The prices there are much higher than the average of bars, a beer could cost 600-700 HUF, so we advise you to drink before entering any club 🙂
Hope we provided some useful information, if you have any further questions, or need help, we are happy to help you 🙂
András and Dávid
*English title: Pole and Hungarian — two good friends, joint fight and drinking are their ends.