Budapest

I wake up, check out of my hotel in Ljubljana and head down to the bus station. I have an all day bus ride today and we are heading to Budapest, Hungary. We leave on time but while still in Slovenia we are stopped to check ids. It gives me a chance to run to the bathroom.

There are no border checks Slovenia to Hungary. I can’t believe I don’t have to go to the bathroom again. Either I am getting real good at monitoring my liquid intake or I’m dehydrated. At least I am not having to pee every 45 minutes!

I arrive in Budapest at what I believe is the most convienent bus station of the two stops. Google tells me to take the 3 line on the metro. I haven’t had a chance to find a bank yet; I have a new currency to deal with here. Luckily I can buy metro tickets with credit cards. I buy a 72 hour transportation ticket because I will at least be here that many days – It’s a good thing I do. I get stopped almost immediately by someone who works in fare enforcement. There are signs warning you everywhere of this but it is hard to believe until you get stopped. I meet a couple later who actually had to pay the fine because they couldn’t figure out the ticketing system.

From my stop it is about a twelve minute walk according to google but with my bags and me being me it takes about twice that, plus I stop to admire things around me. It becomes clear that my apartment is in the “happening” part of town, the Jewish Quarter in Pest. Hopefully I’ll have some stamina to stay out late a night or two.

After settling in my cute and convenient apartment I head out to get a proper meal. I’ve only had snacks all day. I go back and forth about what I want but end up at this nearby restaurant where I order something local, Chicken Paprikash. It is satisfying but I can’t say its the best dish I have ever had. I’ll have to try my luck again later with Hungarian dishes.

Budapest wasn’t originally on my itinerary this year because I didn’t have it high on my priority list. I noticed I had a extra slither of time to dedicate somewhere between Slovenia and meeting my friends in Norway. I feel like I already had good amount of time in Slovenia and Norway is too expensive to add extra days this year so Budapest seemed like the only logical choice.

Budapest is the capitol of Hungary and formed by the two former cities Buda and Pest (and also Óbuda). Buda and Pest are still distinct parts of town today separated by the Danube river. They used to be part of the Ottoman then Habsburg empire, a nazi occupied territory, a communist dictatorship and now a member of the European Union.

The next morning I am up way earlier than I should be. Today is my Buda day. I plan to spend the entire day exploring Buda on the hill. Buda is the name of the part of the city of Budapest on the west side of the Danube. It contains government buildings, the Buda castle, wealthy residents and some good museums. I start my day at a breakfast where I order some avocado toast, a staple from back home.

I start walking toward the funicular to get to the upper part of Buda. The famous chain bridge to cross the Danube is closed for repairs for pedestrians so I cross another bridge. I am enjoying the architecture on the way.

I take the funicular up and enjoy the views from top.

Not doing much research besides figuring out what time things open, I have no idea where to start today. I end up at the Buda Castle History Museum. I have booked a tour at 12:15 to see the newly restored St Stephens room so I wander the museum as I wait. One thing I notice is the ruins of the old town underneath the buildings. This and the fact that there are so many buildings destroyed from wars outlies an long history, one that the government wants to preserve. In fact today I discover all the nearby construction is because the government has a project to recreate each destroyed building as they were originally in place using the detailed records that fortunately still exist. It is a long and expensive project that I am not sure I have seen replicated anywhere in my travels.

The beautifully restored St Stephens room is a great choice to tour today.

After the museum I walk over to the labyrinth and I watch someone lock the doors of the attraction. Apparently it is closing for lunch. I’ll go somewhere else and come back.

I try to visit the Hospital in the Rock Bunker but it is thirty minute wait for the next tour. It is expensive, no photos are allowed and reviews say you are rushed through the whole thing by the tour guide. I decide to skip it or come back later if I change my mind. It’s late afternoon and I haven’t eaten lunch so I decide to try one of Jamie Olivers chain restaurants for lunch. Foods ok and what I would expect from a chain. It gives me the energy to walk over and look at the Matthias church and nearby Fisherman’s Bastion.

I visit the Fisherman’s Bastion (fortress) and nearby cathedral (Matthias Church), although I did not pay to enter either.

My lunch was light so I visit a stand selling langos, a food I want to try. Langos is basically fried bread with your choice of sweet or savory toppings – like a pizza. I order a standard one with popular ingredients of sour cream and cheese. I don’t have high expectations for this food item but I am pleasantly surprised; It is very good. While I eat I watch all the extra tourists that are in town today because the Europa final is tonight. Throughout the city I’ve been hearing Italian and Spanish.

You think I am done with eating but I had my eye on this cake earlier – Chestnut Chocolate Cake. It is unique and surprising good.

Now that I have food and dessert out of the way I head back to the labyrinth. Again I didn’t know what to expect but I get a very bizarre and creepy experience. The visit starts with statues of mostly famous people then leads into a wax museum type experience with wax figures acting out an opera….with the opera music playing in the background. You then have the choice to continue on the well lit path or follow the pitch black path. I am up for adventure so I went the dark way. When I say it is dark, I mean it is dark. There is an occasional green light on the floor but I spend the majority of my time with my hands against a stone wall following it around listening to water dropping. Occasionally there will be music playing and a hidden creepy wax museum figure behind some bars. There is a little rope part of the way you can grab to take you along so I started using that eventually. I got creeped out and returned to the light. Only after looking at the tunnel map I realized it isn’t a true labrynth so I really wouldn’t have gotten lost. In fact a tour guide tells me later that these tunnels actually connect many of the residential buildings in the city through basement openings. They utilized an existing cave system to create a sort of alternative entrance and exit situation for the city. Kind of fascinating to think about it.

Eventually I get to the whole vampire lore part of the tunnel. There is a story that Dracula (the man or vampire) was captured and kept here at one time but no official record confirms that – it is just a fun story.

I have a Buda Castle vampire tour scheduled this evening and still have time to kill so I do more walking and photo taking. I forget to bring my phone charger aI head to a bar to have them charge my phone and get a drink (It’s a necessity!). For a short while I am living like I did before cells phones were everywhere. I just have to people watch and enjoy my own company.

I grab my slightly charged phone and head back down the hill to meet my tour guide. We know right away it is him because of his long black coat and top hat. He gathers us then slowly takes us back up the hill telling us story after story of mostly vampires or vampire adjacent creatures in Hungary’s history. He even includes his version of the “true story” of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula). He is a good story teller and I enjoy seeing Buda all lit up for the evening.

The tour ends and I just miss the bus that would have made my journey back much quicker so I make the silly decision to walk back the way I came this morning (40 or more minutes). It is 10:30 PM and I am exhausted but I do it anyway, enjoying the city in lights. I am tired but I am very surprised I still have this much stamina when most days I do not. I will definitely pay for this tomorrow in body aches.

I finally get to my district and as I suspect it is lively but not as lively as I thought it would be. Apparently that Europa match is still on and they have just started overtime and penalty kicks. I watch for a bit while walking down the really long party street that is two blocks from my place. I really need to go to bed so I head back.

What a long day. I have a feeling I am going to get a late start tomorrow !

Taking a ride on the Paddywagon

I’ve already taken a couple of bus tours in Ireland and while doing so I’ve noticed the Paddywagon tour buses look much more fun that the tours I am on. For today my friend has booked us one of these tours. We are heading to Rock of Cashel, Cork City and Blarney Castle.

Our first stop is at Rock of Cashel, a place of religious significance in Ireland. St Patrick came here to try to convert a king to christianity. Today the rock are ruins that are fun to look at. It’s cool to wander around and wonder how it looked during its time.

The second stop is at Blarney Castle. Blarney castle is basically an old medieval castle. People come for the beautiful lure of the castle, the nice grounds around the castle and the most popular Blarney Stone. The legend is that if one kisses the stone they get the gift of gab, or ability to speak with eloquence. I don’t know about all that but I waited in a pretty long line to kiss the stone and not sure much has changed with me. My friend decided to forgo it all and I don’t blame her, who in their right mind would kiss a stone that millions of others kiss. Anyway I am here and I am doing it. As I wait in the long line I admire the castle but it would be nicer to see it without a line snaking through it. I get closer to the top and ask these two girls near me to take my picture figuring they would do a decent job since I see them taking other photos of each other. However at the last minute the man in front of me, also by himself, wants to work out an agreement that we take each others pictures. I reluctantly agree. They do sell photos here of the kiss but I want my own instead. When it is time for the guy to go do the thing he freaks out and cannot do it. We wait there for him to gain his composure which he never does. You see you need to lay on your back and lean your head over while one of the men lower you down. I can see how some would find this whole thing scary but I just turn off the fear switch and do stupid stuff like this so it is no sweat to me. Did I mention it is raining the whole time so everything around is like wet? He decides not to do it so I give him my phone making him at least hold up his part of the bargain. The whole thing happens so fast but I think I am really good at this and have reached down low. I pop back up and my guy says to me “I’m sorry I forgot”. What?!? He forgot to take my picture, his one job? I am annoyed and he is still up there contemplating everything and I resolve to buy the photo the castle takes. He eventually gives up and goes back down. I buy my photos since they are not too terrible anyway. Since I spend so much time in line I basically have no time left to explore the grounds. I head to the bathrooms to meet my friend and return to the bus. While I wait for her I look at photos on my phone and realize he did actually take some pictures. They aren’t the best but he wasn’t totally unsuccessful. Now I feel bad for being annoyed since his anxiety about the whole thing problem had him all out of sorts (plus language barriers). I’ve been there with the anxiety so I know. I feel fortunate that I am able to control my anxiety most of the time these days.

This is another I could have skipped the lunch days. We stop for lunch and the guide makes it seem like they’ve held some space for us at this upcoming restaurant so we can get in and out very quickly. What we find is an extremely busy restaurant packed with diners and possibly other tour groups. It is a buffet with a line out the door. However it is not an all you can eat, it is more cafeteria style where you pick out your main dish and sides. We are here for the long haul so I decide to eat. It is expensive and way too much food. I should have opted for a side dish like my friend. We finish early but have to wait around because the line was so long that some in our group just got their meals. While we wait my friend plays bus driver.

We finalize our day by a stop in Cork. We don’t have much time in cork because our long lunch. The roads are torn up in town and things don’t look too pretty today. I already know I am going to have to return another time to really see it. We just pop into a pub for a drink because its all we have time for.

We do stop at one more pub before we get back closer to Dublin. We sit down and chat with some girls from our tour and have a drink.

Soon we head back to town. Overall the tour is fun but the second half feels rushed. This is where a car would come in handy. I definitely plan to come back and do Ireland properly by car.

A late night Italian dinner is in the agenda. My friend is leaving tomorrow and I’m on my own again for another day. However I am heading back to the USA too. I will be taking a break from traveling to do some stuff back home. But first tomorrow is Howth. More on that later.

Segovia

Today is a early start. I need to take the metro to the Madrid-Chamartín train station to catch my train to Segovia for today’s day trip. It is a new station to me so I give myself extra time to arrive. The ride to Segovia is around 30 minutes and we go through a long tunnel during the trip. The train arrives at the high speed rail station of Segovia-Guiomar that is about 4 km outside the city center. Luckily there is bus 11 to take you into the main tourist areas. Exact change needed for the bus, or at least smaller bill, because there is no where at the train station to make change (at least when I arrived the only restaurant was closed). I find a smaller bills hidden in my bag, others in line have a harder time collecting fare.

The bus drop off is right in front of the aqueduct for which the city is famous for.

View of aqueduct right past the bus stop

The exact date of the construction of this roman aqueduct are not know but it is still a marvel to view considering this had to be done prior to 200 AD.

My gaze heads to the sky while I watch flocks of birds flying in and out of the arches in round patterns.

My train to Segovia was quite early this morning and I didn’t get a chance to eat a proper breakfast. I pass by a café that seems like a place the locals go and I order a café con leche and the bread-like thing that is sitting on the counter. The Torrijas de Leche ends up being a sort of French toast-style egg custard bread. I normally don’t choose sweet things in the morning but it is nice to try something different every once in a while.

I am now ready to begin my day.

The second most important thing that people visit in Segovia is the Alcázar de Segovia. This fairytale castle is said to have inspired Disney’s Cinderella’s castle. Not sure about that since I heard the same story about Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Anyway it is neat to tour and it has some great overlooks from the castle.

To get the the alcazar I take the long way and wander through the quiet streets of the Jewish quarter.

I eventually come to the city wall and I follow that to the alcazar. Soon the castle appears in the distance.

Again I spend a good amount of time looking at the ceiling. I am always fascinated about how much detail is given to ceilings.

I walk by a couple churches, including the Segovia cathedral. It is only day 3 of my travels and I’m already burned out on churches so I decide to not go inside. From the pictures I’ve seen online it has some pretty neat floors though.

I prefer instead to just wander the streets. This time of day there aren’t as many day trippers so it is nice and peaceful.

Again I walk through the Jewish quarter. I love the texture patterns on the walls of the buildings.

I return to the busy areas. People are shopping and gathering. It is lunchtime.

I have planned in advance for lunch today. A stop to Segovia is not complete unless you try a local specialty the cochinillo (roasted suckling pig). Mesón de Cándido is recommended for suckling pig. I have made reservations in advance and have an outdoor table with a view of the aqueduct. I am very glad my temporary meat aversion is gone by the time I arrive in Spain so I am able to enjoy this very juicy pork. The skin of the pig snaps loudly when pierced with a fork. I apologize to all my vegetarian friends for the vivid description.

Still have some time before I needed to head to the train station so I walk down another busy street. I see more nice churches and there is a nice view of the cathedral off in the distance.

I stop for one last snack before I head back to Madrid. Its been another hot day but I’m slowly getting back into the groove of travel. I just need to slow down at times.

Around Selcuk

I got to visit the 6th century Basilica of St. John the Apostle. John spent his last days in Selcuk/Ephesus and it is rumored that he is buried here. The Turks destroyed it during the 10th century.

In the background you will see the fortress nearby.

On my way out I took some time to admire some of the plants that were along the pathway.

The next two major sites in the area I did not visit: Virgin Mary’s house and the Artemis temple. Virgin Mary’s house I didn’t visit because there is no public transport to get there and cab rides were very expensive. I didn’t have it as a high priority to visit. I chose not to visit the Artemis temple due to it being mostly destroyed. In lieu of visiting the temple I chose to visit the local museum which provided a good overview of the temple. I’ll talk more about that later.