The taxi driver in Debrecen is so startled by the size of his tip that he gets out and opens the door of the university for me. The conference is somewhat smaller than usual, but for some reason Canada seems to have bankrupted itself to send most of its academics here, and large parts of Oxford must be empty. In general, the lecture sessions are excellent. One speaker is late because she fell asleep on the tram and went right round the loop back to the station. The student accommodation is spacious and reasonably comfortable.
Breakfast is the daily challenge.
Evidently Hungarian students think that caffe latte with almost no caffe, served slightly lukewarm, is a delicacy without which no day is complete. Or so the canteen believes. And picking up a pot of what looks like yoghurt but is actually sour cream is a terrible shock to half-awake taste buds. I thoughtfully provide my own orange juice for breakfast. Lunch is considerably better, except for the soup, which frequently bears an alarming resemblance to the washing-up water.