Budapest is known for its thermal waters and there are a number of baths in the city that you can choose from. One of the more accessible baths are the public Szechenyi Baths and Pool. This was the first public thermal baths to open on the "pest" side of Budapest - opening in 1881. There are a number of covered baths that range in temperature from painfully cold to reasonably hot. Several saunas set at various temperatures are also available. … [Read more...]
The LA Waterfront Has Something For Everyone This Season
SAN PEDRO, Calif. – Oct. 24, 2012 – Milder temperatures and smaller crowds make the fall and winter season a great time to explore the LA Waterfront in San Pedro and Wilmington. Set against the stunning backdrop of America’s Port®, the Port of Los Angeles -- the LA Waterfront is quickly earning a reputation as a destination filled with all kinds of activities for visiting families, cruise-bound tourists or people looking for a fun night of … [Read more...]
Quick Glance at Budapest
Buda, Obuda and Pest are the three towns that melted to form the city of Budapest. The beautiful capital of Hungary, located on the banks of the Danube, is always ready to receive visitors from all latitudes. Budapest is clearly divided by the Danube, on one side there are the hills of Buda, where the old part of the city is and on the other side the flat area of Pest, in which the most important buildings were erected during the … [Read more...]
Budapest: City of Change
There is a lilting quality to Budapest that changes to crashing crescendos as one visits different parts of this medieval city. Budapest has been prey to many conquerors...the Mongols, the Turks and more recently - the Germans and then the Russians. Now it has been restored to its own people, the Hungarians who arrived to create their first settlement early in the 9th century. This beautiful city straddling the Danube has much to offer to … [Read more...]
The European Nightlife
A big appeal of a big city for visitors and residents equally is the variety in its cultural offer but also in its nightlife. Where it is rather easy to find your way around to visit the most important cultural and historical sights and monuments, it is always nice for visitors to know where the local crowd goes for a drink and some music. What is to follow is a list of several cities in Europe that I have been to and that are known to have a … [Read more...]
Where to listen and dance to traditional Hungarian music
As it is well known Hungary it is an exception in linguistic terms, as it's the only country in the central Europe where a non Indo-European language is spoken. This part of the world is also very peculiar for its music traditions especially because the Hungarians are making a big effort to preserve their traditional music and dance. The great Hungarian composer and pianist Bela Bartok himself has studied folk music deeply. Together with … [Read more...]
Europe Trip Highlights
The following are some highlights from our latest trip to Europe: Partying late late in Belgrade Serbia - awesome party town, night clubs on old boats in the river. This was going to be museum-less trip, but we made exception for Nikola Tesla museum in Belgrade - we visited the museum and were duly impressed with the exhibits in action and hearing about his life on the guided tour Budapest - Buda Thai restaurant, one of best Thai … [Read more...]
Select Highlights of South East Europe
These are some of the highlights of visiting select locations in Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia. This trip was totally unscripted and unplanned. All we had were our plane tickets to Europe. We used public transportation to get around - buses, trains, city trams and metros where available. Note that while distances on the map don't look that far from each other especially along the Dalmatian Coast, the roads are narrow, windy and very … [Read more...]
Kotor Montenegro
We are chilling high above the scenic town of Kotor (rhymes with Motor) situated in this amazing, southern most Fjord in all of Europe. We are staying with a family in their home in the hills above the main part of town. The city is lit up, the breeze warm, and the musty earthy smell of the surrounding fig trees all around us. We are also enjoying a late harvest dessert wine from Oremus, one of Hungary's finest wineries in the Tokaj region. Not … [Read more...]
Hanging out in Budapest
Been hanging out in Eastern Europe the past few days. We are having a great time in Budapest so far! Enjoyed 3 hours today in the public baths in various pools ranging in temp from 20C to 40C including the 70C sauna -whew! Did you know some of the residential parts of town are littered with caves under the homes? We spent 5 hours spelunking through a 19km long cave. At times you could barely squeeze through a number of parts of the cave it was so … [Read more...]