Day One I try to get a glimpse of the Oslo fjord over the shoulder of the elderly Norwegian in the window seat. That should have been my seat, but in a slight outrage over the seat reservation charges of Norwegian, the airline, I only added one extra suitcase to my booking- extra luggage costs…
Food to Eat and Food for Thought- Thessaloniki Part Two
Disclaimer: You might expect, reasonably, I should add, that a post centred mostly on food and drinks would contain some photography of said items. I will therefore let you down right at the beginning. While the blog’s industrious co-photographer is an enthusiastic eater, he is generally way too concerned with consuming what’s on his plate…
Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Atatürk and A Monk Getting Pizza- Thessaloniki Part One
The plane’s path from Budapest is straight as an arrow, across the southern Hungarian plain, the whole length of Serbia, the brief interlude of North Macedonia and then one of those quintessentially Greek descents, from the sky you glimpse the sea, blue meets blue and the land seems almost secondary, an unwelcome guest among the…
A Good List Goes a Long Way- 2021 Edition
FILMS. 2021 was the year my film watching went decidedly eclectic. I kept mostly out of cinemas- wondering whether someone’s cough is COVID or the nachos scratching their throat is not conductive to great entertainment. Online cinemas can be fun if a little odd- the chat rooms are an unexpected throwback to the weird years…
A Vacation from Myself- Memories of Hydra
The English word vacation comes from the Latin vacans, the present active participle of vaco, which can mean, depending on the context, to be free, to be at leisure, or to be empty. Since Hungarian straightforwardly uses the same word, ‘szabadság’ both for freedom and vacation, and in Romanian you will say ‘îmi iau liber’,…
So What’s the Deal with Spetses
Loukas the taxi driver was interested in my long term plans in Greece. Surely, I was going to the islands, not just staying in Athens. Yes, I was. Which island? Oh! But you MUST go to Spetses. This was the automatic reaction every time I revealed my dirty little plan to just stay on Hydra….
Our Lady of the Hot Mess- Brief Impressions of Athens
Having heard that my boyfriend was Turkish, Loukas, the Athenian taxi driver, looked straight into my eyes, took a deep breath under his mask, and imparted what he felt was a fundamental truth: Greeks and Turks are alike, and would get along just fine, if it wasn’t for meddling politicians. We need to look at…
Vlad Was Here But He Was Not Alone-Journey to the Heart of Transylvania
One of the defining images of my childhood is a Transylvanian village seen from the backseat of a car. It’s not a particular village, it’s a composite of many villages. Not so much a village, but a state of mind. My face against the warm glass, my eyes filled with wonder, the world my oyster….
Procrastinator’s Log 0721
Fair warning. Post with a lot of Olympic and Euro2020 content ahead. Let’s dive into the thick of it, with team Russia, or wait a minute, they’re not called Russia these days, they’re ROC. Yes I have succumbed to the temptation of cheering their men’s gymnastics team with Roc on. Russia are ROC because while…
Procrastinator’s Log 0621
I have always dreamed of being able to find my way around the Milky Way, but I am completely lost on planet Earth as well, where orientation is more grounded, so to speak. I can identify the Northern Star and the Ursa Maior, and that’s where my science stops. Nice one for a Trekkie, right….
Pocket Diary Budapest 