Travelling Tastebuds

Distance Traveled:   40,190 kms (BNE-MEL-SYD-BKK-PKT-BKK-CNX-BKK-PP-SR-BB-PP-HCMC-NC-TH-HA-H-L-MR-AG-SV-TF-AC-LL-ML-CZ-TF-CZ-SV-L-BP-ZG-SP-LJ)

Time Difference: -8 hours (from Brisbane)

Soundtrack: Sarah McLachlan, Beyonce, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Edith Piaf.  Women rock!

Currently Inspired by:  It's a secret

Stacks: See Toilet Toboggan Story Below
Words written: 70,038. 

My hotel

Budapest is really lovely, and I was sorry that I had such a limited amount of time in which to explore it, however the Croatian tours leave on set dates, I already had my flight booked from London and had to try and fit things in as best as I could.  Fortunately I arrived early in the day so I had nearly two full days and a two nights, and I made the most of it!  I initially balked at the dodgy old building that housed my hotel on the third floor, with its turned up pavement stones and doors covered in graffiti, dark and creepy cement hallway and the world’s ricketiest elevator, but the hotel itself was surprisingly nice, and my room was very large and modern.

A great building in the city

Budapest is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been, and I absolutely love being able to say that.  There is something very soft around the edges about it.  The sun was warm without burning, the wind was cold without biting.  Even in the heart of the CBD the Budapestians (I don’t know) stroll along at a leisurely pace without crowding or bumping into each other.  Their curved roads are lined with tall, skinny buildings that are softened by curly and intricate balcony and window designs.  Even the busy city traffic seems oddly muffled compared to other capitals.  More than anything else however, the impression comes from the Hungarians themselves.  Not overly jocular or expressive, the ones I encountered were nevertheless calm and kind, with easygoing temperaments and quietly raspy voices. The language sounds not entirely unlike feet in slippers, shuffling along carpet. The people also tended to be slightly shorter in stature than most and a little rounded, particularly from middle aged upwards.

Hungarian Flatbread

Although I feel sympathy for homeless people and believe them to be a generally maligned and misunderstood section of society, I was less than thrilled to have a drunk homeless man blocking the entrance to my building when I was returning alone at night.  I think there is a fair degree of homelessness and certainly very high unemployment rates throughout Europe right now, which is sad.  I was shocked to discover that Spain was about 25% unemployment while I was there, Hungary is around 11% which is one of the best I have heard so far, and Croatia is around 15%, with something like 18% of the population living below the poverty line.  Although I didn’t go to Bosnia, from the people on my tour that did I heard it was about 45%, which is so horrible I can’t even contemplate it.  I can be sympathetic, but I am also keeping a careful watch on my wallet.  It’s so hard not to give money to every single person who asks for it!  If I did, I’d probably have to have come home by now.

The Hungarian do not hold back when it comes to food.  Proper Goulash has so much paprika in it the flavour blows your head off.  One serve of chicken paprikash with buttered dumplings could serve a small army.  They deep fry medium pizza sized pieces of flat bread and smother them in all sorts of goodies like cheese, sour cream and bacon.  Hungary is not a place in which to begin a diet, a concept I find etymologically amusing.

The Danube and Pest

Once three cities (Buda, Obuda and Pest), the unified city of Budapest is indescribably striking.  The Danube divides the old Buda and Obuda from Pest, and what a shock it was to discover that it was not remotely blue, but rather a nasty greenish brown colour!  I hope Johan Strauss, who was no doubt employed by the Hungarian Board of Tourism on the side, is currently enjoying his sojourn in hell for practicing such a deception on the general public.  Someone has since advised me that the Danube is supposed to only appear blue to those who are in love.  Unfortunately I didn’t find this out until later or I would have accosted a married couple and demanded they tell me what colour they thought it was.  This story was no doubt made up by the Board of Tourism to placate disgruntled tourists such as I, however they might do better to simply hire a modern composer to come up with a piece entitled “The Greenish Brown Danube”, and we’d all be fine.  To see the pics from Budapest, click here.

Our yacht, the Lopar

A seven hour train trip from Budapest to Zagreb in Croatia was followed by a four hour wait and then a nine hour overnight trip to Split, where I arrived, dishevelled, cranky and dying for a shower on the Saturday morning.  The heavens heard my wish and proceeded to open up with a freezing drizzle and unpredictable wind that ensured you got wet no matter where you hid, and the low grey clouds matched my mood wonderfully.  However, a visit to a Croatian bakery (yummmm!) boarding the gorgeous yacht that was to be my home for the next week, seeing the great room I had to myself and taking a super hot shower lifted my mood considerably and I was able to meet all my fellow passengers with a degree of equanimity.  Mostly very young Australians (19 – 23), there were five of us around my age plus a lovely middle aged couple who all got on like a house on fire and we tended to hang out together for the most part.  Not to say the young people weren’t nice, most of them were and there were a couple I got on with quite well.  Most of them were just very Gen Y in their sense of humour and very giggly, shouty and woohoo-y.  So it was nice to have some kindred spirits to talk to.  All the Croatians I met were really friendly and lovely as well. 

Making the most of the sun!

It did rain quite a bit throughout the week and was also quite cold, although we were lucky enough that the actual rain held off most of the time we stopped to go ashore.  The main exception was Dubrovnik, which was unfortunate as most of us booked a walking tour for this and we all got soaked and uncomfortable.  When the weather got bad during sailing, walking around the cabin could turn into quite an interesting adventure.  As did going to the toilet, which I discovered the hard way.  The toilet seat in my bathroom was already precariously attached, and when I sat on it during a particularly large wave, it slid off like a toboggan, taking me with it and skidding us both across the bathroom floor and into the wall, hurting my foot.  No doubt it would have been hysterically funny to an observer, but fortunately there was not one to there to have to laugh, and even more fortunately, I had literally JUST sat down, if you know what I mean.

The gorgeous Adriatic

When the weather was calm it was amazing.  I saw some of the most beautiful landscapes and seascapes, and a few of the crazy young uns even jumped off the boat into the freezing Adriatic, while the rest of us stood there in our jumpers and windbreakers in amazement.  The food was delicious.  Lots of fresh tasty seafood, meat dishes in savoury sauces, terrific bakery items such as Burek (a sort of mince or cheese filled puff pastry, different to pies or filos, hard to explain) and of course amazing icecream.  All the stops had their own features and positives, so I’ve given them separate albums and will explain each a little bit below.  I can’t really remember the order that we did these in, but I’m sure that doesn’t matter.  We didn’t stick to the original itinerary so I can’t refer to it.

Hvar:  Our first stop.  A very quiet island, known to be the longest in the Adriatic.  The main feature of the town we were at was a large fortress at its highest point which offered a terrific view of the houses and surrounding, smaller islands.  We had delicious pizzas there, and some of us got into trouble for taking photos in a shop.  Click here to see the pics from Hvar.

Dubrovnik: A beautiful town, packed with history, huge fortified walls, large and ornate sandstone buildings and a castle.  I had the best squid I’ve ever eaten here!  Perfectly cooked and seasoned.  So annoyed that it rained the whole time.  Click here to see the photos from Dubrovnik.

Mljet:  This was a seemingly almost deserted place that apparently doesn’t open until the 1^st May however managed to get someone down to the ticket office for the national park pretty quick smart when they saw us coming.  It was worth it though, a boat ride through the turquoise waters of the national park, then a walk around an island on which sits a monastery, a cafe and not much else but has the most breathtaking views.  Click here to see the Mljet photos.

Korcula:  Famous for being the birthplace of Marco Polo, this delicious little town had about a dozen “Marco Polo” bars and cafes that I saw, some friendly cats and the requisite cream coloured architecture.  Great views from the hill.  Photos of Korcula are here.

Makarska Beach

Makarska:  One of my favourite stops.  The water looked positively drinkable, and we had a nice warm afternoon where two of us just lay on the beach, soaking up the rays and chatting quietly.  So relaxing.  The curved bay lead around to a huge mountain topped with cloud... stunning.  I really wished the water was warm enough to go in on this day.  Photos here.

Split:  Split is the main port town from where the boat left and docked again.  I spent a great day with a couple of Canadians from the boat after we got off, as my train didn’t leave til 9pm.  We explored the town and its magical alleys, encountering a magnificent wall or structure or Roman ruin or statue every fifteen metres.  Split has the gorgeous harbour and a ton of fabulous bakeries and cafes.  It was one of the best days I had in Croatia.  Click here to see the photos from Split.

Just got to Slovenia and its unpronounceable capital, Ljubljana.  Here til Wednesday then off to Vienna!  

Til Next We Speak

*LOVE*

Nat