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...]
Sziget Festival 2011 in Budapest
The festival season has already kicked off with a bang and still some of the best events are yet to come in the month of August. One of the events not to be missed is the Sziget Festival in Budapest. The Festival started off as a little student event in 1993 and has by now transformed into one of the most important dates in the summer festival calendar in Europe with almost 400,000 visitors every year. The date for this year's edition is … [Read more...]
Sweet Tooth in Budapest
Budapest has been a place of inspiration for many writers and composers. For this reason the city was known for its coffee house culture which served as a meeting point for creative minds. In Budapest you can find historical coffee houses that are traditionally owned by one family and passed on generation to generation, but also there are many trendy hip cafes to enjoy a good cup of coffee. The coffee houses are often very elegant and still … [Read more...]
The Healing Waters of Budapest
There is no doubt that Budapest in one of the destinations in Europe with a rich cultural and historic backbone. The "Pearl of the Danube" has inspired countless musicians, painters and writers. Throughout the year tourists from all over the world visit Budapest for its beautiful monuments, scenery and countless museums. But aside from the great cultural offer, many tourists rent apartments in Budapest to visit on of its thermal baths. … [Read more...]
Top 10 European Summer Festivals
Since we're already into May, summer is right around the corner, and summer in Europe officially (kind of) means festivals. But these days, there are so many of them, it's hard to know what's good and what's not. The daddy of them all, Glastonbury, is sold out already, but here are 10 other you might want to try: Sonar, Barcelona, Spain (June 17-19): Its long title is the International Festival of Progressive Music and Multimedia Arts but … [Read more...]
Europe – Transportation
Finding one's way around a foreign city in the time of pre-Internet was a challenging situation at best taking significant time to avoid getting lost (which invariably happened anyway). One had printed maps that one had to determine their location on before being able to route a course to a desired destination. Not always easy without a digital blue dot to guide you. And road signs were often missing further causing complications. Later some … [Read more...]