Sightseeing. The year began with an Arctic snap, which meant the Balaton was almost completely frozen over, and thus just in the perfect state for my tastes- its summery outing as a sea instead of a sea will stay forever alien to someone who grew up with an actual sea- it’s dark yes, and filled…
Category: travel tips
Accidental Strudels- The Compulsory Pre-Christmas Visit to Vienna
I realize all too well that I have by now exhausted anything new or interesting I could say about Viennese Christmas fairs (that’s last year’s post, and even the links work with Germanic precision), except that I still like them a lot, and yes, I bought that damn mug from Karlsplatz again. This although the…
A Day in Kalemegdan
The best way to become familiar with a city is through a baptism of fire. Being left alone, to your own devices, meagre as they are, just you and the city, and the ultimate goal is to find your way. With Budapest, it’s Blaha Lujza square, the square I could not figure out for the…
A Very Short Belgrade Dictionary- Part Two
Smoking. An American tourist walked into a bar: yes, I had to do this, but he really did, and then somewhat sheepishly asked the waiter whether he could smoke inside, to which the answer was of course you can, this is Belgrade, the capital of smoking. And indeed, in a landscape where even the last…
A Very Short Belgrade Dictionary- Part One
Brutalism. If you’re feeling particularly poetic, you might go as far as to call Belgrade the only ugly city that is beautiful. There are of course hideous examples of Socialist architecture out there, the former Soviet states are festering with them, but the great thing about Belgrade is that although its skyline is dotted with…
The Incompetent’s Guide to Wining Out in Etyek
Veering off the main road towards Öreghegy, we made our first stop for some light whites at Fetzer pince- the blog’s industrious co-photographer found the svábbor to be very much to his liking, but sadly he also lacks the sophisticated vocabulary to explain how and why, fresh and fragrant being words he might use, if…
The (Red) Devil is in the Details aka Bruges in the Bloody Rain
So there was this Sunday, and it almost rained. Which is the worst- the sky is grey and you have no idea how it’s gonna make up its mind, and just wait, and do nothing, then order in and idle away your time. The best idling away of time on such days, for me, is…
Accidentally in Etyek- The Bit with (Almost) No Wine
So Etyek had been hovering at the edges of my consciousness for quite some while as that place next to Budapest where wine buffs go on sophisticated outings along some sort of picturesque trail, and after long minutes, hours, days spent carefully rotating the divine beverage first in their glass and then along their palate…
The Incompetent’s Guide to Greek Cuisine: Zakynthian Holiday Part Three
This should be the Bourdain/Ramsay style foray into the culinary wonders of Greece, only I can’t cook for the life of me, and would probably be the kind of person who in Ramsayian terms summons a demon instead of making soup. Also, my favourite local dish is chicken souvlaki and I have an undeniable propensity…
Life is a Beach- Zakynthian Holiday Part Two
I found it very odd that the promotional plastic bags of Zakynthos (every even moderately touristy location should obviously have its own promotional bags) affectionately call it the Island of Culture. Perhaps it’s the already mentioned ubiquitous presence of Dionysios Solomos permeating the island air, for otherwise Zakynthos is probably one of the least cultural…
Pocket Diary Budapest 