Monthly Archives: November 2013

Live in Budapest

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Having finally decided that enough was enough and sitting around in Geneva while Chris worked sucked big time, I booked a trip to Budapest to show that I could do it all on my own. What I proved is that yes, while I can do it on my own, essentially on the inside I’m curled up in the foetal position repeating my mantra “there’s no place like home”. It’s been a mental challenge to say the least.

My first night was spent basically hiding out in my hotel room while I planned the rest of my stay. My excuse was that I arrived late and didn’t want to go out by myself while it was dark. Hey – I can quote you something on Trip Advisor where it says it’s dangerous at night. The next day I girded my loins and sallied forth straight back into my comfort zone of shopping. Oh come on – a holiday where I can do anything I want – you didn’t really think there wouldn’t be a substantial amount of shopping involved? (H & M and Zara seriously need to come to Perth btw). I did in fact start off my day with one of those free guided tours, but let’s face it, I’m really not a people person plus guided tours just aren’t my thing, so after five minutes I ditched the tour in favour of shopping. I was determined not to let that be the sum of my parts however and crossed the Danube to try and find a church in a cave and failing that, (stupid Trip Advisor is not very accurate with the GPS sometimes) climbed the hill to some sort of Citadel. I should know the importance of this, but I’m afraid I zoned out when the guide was talking. In the evening, with some inspired bravery, I crossed the road directly opposite the hotel to go to a Thai restaurant. You will not hear me say very often that something is overcooked (I do like things crispy), but that chicken was well done, even for me. Also, pineapple in chicken cashew nut is just wrong. Just shows you shouldn’t really rely on Trip Advisor reviews all the time. I restored my sense of equilibrium by watching Grease and raiding the mini bar.

Shoes on the Danube

Shoes on the Danube

Day three was eminently more satisfying. Out of all the sights I wanted to see in Budapest, Shoes on the Danube was number one on my list. Why? I couldn’t really tell you, but I’ve always been particularly affected by things relating to the world wars. I imagine it’s on account of all the (mostly dreadful) historical fiction I used to read when I was younger. This was just a quiet reflection on the atrocities of war, but poignant nonetheless. I understand there is a holocaust museum here, but I’m saving that sort of thing for Berlin. If my reaction to the peace memorial at Hiroshima was anything to go by, I didn’t want to be by myself when visiting it! I couldn’t resist the Basilica of St Stephen after this. I’m still hopeful after my Lyon experience that I will be suitably enraptured, but everything else falls just a little short. It was certainly grand, but no mosaics 😦 . I find it a curious thing to see a priest taking entry fee to the church. Seems a bit too commercial for me – but I shouldn’t bag him out too much as he did let me through when I didn’t have enough coin. I then committed a crime against fashion by buying a puffer jacket from Zara. Yes, I’m now one of the legions of muffled up, stuffed sausage Michelin men walking the streets of Europe, but I don’t care – It keeps me soooooo warm – surely that redeems it somewhat?

Best mulled wine ever

Best mulled wine ever

If Trip Advisor had let me down with restaurant reviews, Spotted by Locals certainly hasn’t. In my most daring move to date, I walked all of 300 meters to Sonka Arcok for dinner. Just go here, OK. Great food and I do love a mulled wine that doesn’t come from a tub. I had thought to be alcohol free this trip, but hadn’t counted on the impact of travelling on my own. Oh, I admit it freely: I’ve turned into a lush. I’ve had periods of lushishness in the past, but alcohol has become my crutch this trip. Wow – that sounds really bad. True, but bad. I’m ashamed to admit that room service remembered me from the bar *lol*. So on the whole this solo travelling gig has been very illuminating. I enjoy being able to do whatever I want, but miss the security of travelling with someone who can fight off muggers if need be. Bwahaha – I think Chris might just hand over his goods, but it sounded good as I was writing it.

Go Lisbon

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Modern Art?

Modern Art?

To finish our holiday we ended up where we began: in Lisbon (long story, don’t ask). Surprisingly this part of the trip had zero shopping involved (luggage packed to brim courtesy of Seville) and was all about culture (of sorts), but my sort of culture. In the past I’ve felt the need to go and see as much as I can to get the most out of a trip but it’s exhausting! I’m coming to the realization that most of the time it’s just about being there, so if I don’t go into another cathedral, monastery or ruin* again I shouldn’t feel I’ve missed out on anything 🙂

Funnily enough, the reason we’re in Lisbon in the first place is purely because of one of my current fave bands: The National. After I went to Japan just to see Queen, flying to Lisbon to see The National didn’t seem that odd to me. Let me just say right now that I should have known better. I know what sort of music they play – there was no reason to suspect that they would be electrifying on stage (they’re not in case you haven’t figured out where this is going) and the most exciting thing about the act turned out to be the video background and counting the roving Super Bock beer boys filling up drinks. I’ve never seen an audience so perfectly still. I mean, there was one guy going a bit nuts at the back, but there wasn’t a lot of movement going on otherwise. If we’d had more comfortable seats I probably would have fallen asleep. Oh well, let’s hope the Lumineers in Berlin offer more reward.

The other side of the cultural experience related to art. You wouldn’t have thought it, but the modern art museums in Lisbon are pretty special, particularly the Centro de Arte Moderna which had an exhibition by the Portuguese artist Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso which was quite something. Unfortunately it is rather small and you have to fork out a few bucks to get in (unlike the other modern art museum in Belem which is free and enormous). What makes this worth seeing is the associated Gulbenkian Museum which has quite a remarkable collection – and story behind it too. My particular favourites were the portrait of Mrs Monet by Renoir and the Lalique collection. Amazing. He was quite the pack rat Mr Gulbenkian. If you are interested in art in any way go and see it. Oh heck, go see it even if you’re not. Plus if you get bored you can always go outside and watch the ducks in the gardens between the two.

Cafes to try in Lisbon:

  • Café Tati – Eclectic styled café with delicious and really cheap breakfast
  • Pois Café –Over ordered considerably because it all looked so good (try the cheese toasties)
  • Deli Delux – Nice café/wine bar with gourmet delights abounding. Can’t believe how cheap the wine is here (we drank two bottles)

*Couldn’t quite stay away from Roman ruins as we passed by Merida on our way to Lisbon. Have to say that it was worth a visit, but don’t bother staying the night because there’s really not that much else to see.

Siesta time

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Do the octogenarians like me? Oh yes they do...

Do the octogenarians like me? Oh yes they do…

It’s kind of embarrassing to admit this, but our Spanish excursion got off to a rather ignominious start when we arrived at the airport a day early. How did this happen? We’re still not sure – but all you can really do is laugh and chalk it up to one of those travel experiences that give you good mileage at dinner parties. As it turned out, this was just the precursor to a series of cock-ups until we arrived in Seville (via Lisbon). But we’re here now and that’s what’s important!

I initially had no desire to come to Spain but now I wonder what I was thinking because I love it here. It’s a bit of a culinary adventure for me and ordering tapas is like Russian roulette with a distinct lack of English on the menus, but I’m just giving it a red hot go. Chris will eat anything I don’t anyway so I know it won’t go to waste. But the best part is how cheap everything is. Dinner is a fraction of what it would be in Geneva and we’re staying in a lovely apartment in the heart of Seville which is only 80 Euros a night. To top it all off it’s been lovely and sunny. However one of these days I’m actually going to go to Europe in spring or summer instead of the middle of winter.

The highlight of the trip would have to be a visit to El Rinconcillo a tapas bar made (in)famous by Rick Stein. We had only just started drinking when an old man came up and handed me a table napkin with a poem written on it. Google translate doesn’t quite do it justice I’m sure, but the general gist of it is that I have hair like the sun and I’m beautiful, lovely and elegant. What a charmer. Once I’d had it translated for me I went over to thank him. I’d only intended to shake his hand, but he swiftly moved in for the kiss and hug. He’s certainly got some moves on him – not bad considering he must be pushing 80, but I’ll take my compliments where I can get them these days. But it didn’t end there – he made a return trip with a handful of flowers and finally bought me a seat (stolen from the restaurant). I suspect he wanted me to buy him a beer for his efforts, but basking in my beauty should be enough reward 🙂 Eventually his wife came to drag him home, but Valentin has obviously got a good thing going on.

Go here:

Eslava – tapas bar a bit off the beaten track, but well worth the effort to find.

It’s hip to be square

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The door to our flat!

The door to our flat!

After walking past the 10th sex shop en route to our accommodation in Copenhagen, my expectations were plummeting to the soles of my unfashionable shoes, but once I saw the wine bar opposite where we were staying, my worries disappeared. On first glance it did indeed seem we were staying in the seedier part of CPH, and sex toys have certainly come a long way, but we’d actually found ourselves a pretty cool home away from home as it turns out… and the Vesterbro district is very cool – how do I know this? Because everywhere we went was a magnet for the hipster brigade, packed to the rafters and, in what seems to be a direct correlation, had fairly uncomfortable seating.

We only had three nights and were on a mission to seek out the best of Danish design and I have to say, thanks to Illums Bolighus, mission accomplished. Who needs museums and art galleries when you can see four floors of Eames, Hansen, Jacobsen et al, and it must be mentioned that I have a serious crush on Muuto at the moment. The only problem is that there is absolutely no more room in our tiny two bedroom apartment for all this amazing stuff.

...but it was quite nice inside

…but it was quite nice inside

Shopping aside, I was determined to ride all over Copenhagen but the constant drizzle of rain put paid to that idea. Most of where we needed to go was only five to ten minutes away anyway, but it would be lovely in summer. I did interest Chris in a trip to the river, but half way there he saw the shimmering gleam of the mall in the distance and exclaimed disgustedly “I’ve been tricked”. Well of course I tricked him! – I knew I wasn’t going to get him anywhere near a mall, but I have needs that must be met so a little subterfuge is sometimes necessary 🙂

I didn’t get to see The Little Mermaid in the end, but now I have something to go back to Copenhagen for, apart from food & design.

Food highlights (Vesterbro district):

  • Kaffe: delicious hot chocolate, spartan seating and what looks like an indoor tree house out the back
  • Malbeck: best cheese board I’ve had since being in Europe and fantastic wines – very odd seating arrangement
  • Madklubben: If you only go to one restaurant in CPH, make sure it’s this one (also make sure you book because it’s hugely popular)
  • Mother: another hugely popular restaurant – it’s more of a vibe thing tho – the pizza is just pizza
  • Granola: kept coming back until we got a seat for breakfast. Worth the wait.