In the past years I have occasionally complained to whoever was willing to listen (or not, it was not really their choice) that I miss visiting the El Grecos in the Museum of Fine Arts. The El Grecos, mind you, have not made any grand escape, it’s simply that the museum is closed for restoration,…
Tag: traveltips
Crown of the Mountains: A Weekend in Brașov
Checking the Wikipedia page of Brașov I was informed that it’s climate is humid continental, the humid part of which disturbed me slightly, but I needn’t have bothered all that much, since during our four day stay we were faced with all four seasons, ranging from a hot and sunny morning to spritely spring rain,…
Barlove: Viennese Coffee and Cigarettes. Still.
It was one of those very rare moments when I was loitering on a street in Vienna without the actual and definite purpose of going into a coffee house, which altered, and somewhat unnatural state was caused by my having just left Café Phil about half an hour before. But, as we have learned from…
Barlove: Café Phil Vienna
Borges once said that he always imagined Paradise as a library, and he was right, only you can go one better, and picture it as a coffee house with books, or a bookstore with coffee, depends on how you look at it. And breakfast, because if it’s done right, no matter at what hour, breakfast…
Sunlight through the Snowstorm: Vienna’s Kirche am Steinhof
I have often sung the praise of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s concert (Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker, a little gratuitous German never hurt anyone), which might seem odd for someone who is otherwise rather unattuned to classical music. Waltzes are however an exception, melodic and lightweight enough for the silly, familiar from Tom and Jerry…
Best of 2017 Travels
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…
Best of 2017 Budapest
The third year must surely signal a tradition, so here are some new additions to the ever growing list of particularly nice Budapest things. (For the previous editions see here: Best of 2015 and Best of 2016.) -I am prone to moaning that it never snows in the city, although in all honesty I dislike both snow and…
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…
Belgrade Off the Beaten Track
You might argue that Belgrade (in spite of hosting the Sagrada Familia of the East, as quoth American Vogue) is still mostly off the beaten track itself, but just like any other city of a certain size, it does host a number of locations which can be called its traditional tourist attractions. Often enough,…
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…
Pocket Diary Budapest 