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Monday, March 21, 2016

Budapest (HUNGARY) - Welcome to your brother-in-law

Budapest (Hungary)
21 March - 23 March 2016


I don't if it's just me, whether its just a Henry Elisher thing, but when I meet new people I usually try somewhat to make a good first impression. Call it my modus operandi or just the I roll. So within my realms of the believable universe, I thought that most people would generally feel the same. The intention of this get away to Budapest was to have Inga, myself and my cousin Vladimir meet up with Inga's brother Davis. The thought being that all four of us with spend time in the Hungarian capital, exploring and seeing the sites...that was the intention.

Within two hours of Davis landing however my cousin was already most of the way back to the Serbian border. An impression created...for sure.

The seeds of discontent were planted ever so innocuously , and without malice may I say, several months earlier when the booking of the Budapest accommodation, a beautiful apartment in the centre of the city, was made by Inga. The problem came from the sleeping arrangements that were logistically constructed out of necessity when Inga made a 2 BDR reservation. Little did Inga know the sensitivity of my cousin having to share a room, albeit quite a big room, that had two individual beds. She made the assumption that everybody would be fine with those sleeping arrangements. No so Vladimir - no sir, no way. OK, major issue there, I came with a quick fix and decided to accommodate Vladimir in the closest location to our apartment, a hostel/hotel only a 2-3 minute walk from where we were staying.
Where we encountered the major issue was when we went to investigate the room. It was a single room in a hostel. Basically a decent enough bed, with some furniture and its own bathroom. It was average, unpretentious, and something I thought would resolve the issue of distance through convenience....but that it did not do.

To quote my cousin, in translation, when referring to the room, 'No, it doesn't even come into consideration'. That was it, out he walked, not offering a solution, no saying anything - Henry you deal with it. Mind you, this epitomised most of my families debacles in the years in Serbia, as generally it appeared that I created problems from nowhere, that I was completely oblivious to, that somehow I had inherited responsibility for and that I had to resolve. Now, I hadn't booked the initial accommodation but I did try to resolve the issue when it arose, now here my expectation was that someone take a 'harden the fuck up' approach and just appreciate the situation and deal with sleeping in a smaller room for two nights, I wouldn't consider that to have been at all difficult.



The offending room - Budapest - Hungary


As Vladimir was adamant that the room was not an option, both Davis & I offered to jump in and take the room ourselves, and really, neither one of us would have had a problem doing that, but no, Vladimir was ticked and his solution was going to be for him to drive the 3 hours back to Belgrade that day and then return two days later to pick us up. In the end that solution did was probably the best option for everyone but as a first impression to my future brother-in-law, having that argument play out immediately on arrival and being introduced to a member of my family, well, it made me feel completely uncomfortable and awfully embarrassed. There's something to be said for social graces and being simply considerate of the feelings of people in certain situations. My cousin obviously missed the memo on this one. Call it being Serbian or being a Leo or a combination of both, it's not the attitude that I expected or enjoyed in that moment.



Budapest - Hungary

Budapest - Hungary

Outside of parliament - Budapest - Hungary


Budapest - Hungary

Friends for life? Classic brother vs. sister

Budapest - Hungary

Budapest - Hungary

So, from a party of four we quickly translated to a party of three, and in many ways that worked in our favour. I say that without prejudice as I know the interests and levels of tolerance that my cousin has differs from the rest of us. With that said, our first afternoon we took it to the streets, walking around the area of parliament and heading up river on the Pest side of the Danube. Again, it was not difficult to see at all why this city is considered as one of the highlights of Europe. The backdrop, the architecture and the way the city presents itself is exquisite. 



Budapest - Hungary

Budapest - Hungary

For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary



For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

Finishing off our walk we decided to stop in for some food at a place Inga & I had been to previously, a place called The For Sale Pub. What you get here is a great atmosphere, interesting surrounds and a cheap menu with great food. Of course we knew exactly what to zero in on. The goulash soup at this place was both delicious, hearty and plentiful. So much so that one order could easily satisfy the cravings of three people, which is exactly what ended up happening.

Deciding to put a in a little after dinner work we took one of the many main trails that headed to the top of Gellert Hegy Hill. Unequivocally the best views of down town Budapest, without question, the vistas left a great impression on us and coupled with a bottle aptly named Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon, the final brush strokes were placed onto an evening that actually supported what had been a very good day, no matter how inauspicious its genesis had been. Of course, a late night in Budapest would never be complete without an additional late night finale drink  and even later night kebab, its just what you do.



Gellert Hegy Hill - For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

Gellert Hegy Hill - For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

Gellert Hegy Hill - For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

Gellert Hegy Hill - For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

Gellert Hegy Hill - For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

Gellert Hegy Hill - For Sale Pub - Budapest - Hungary

Not sure what this manoeuvre was meant to be - in fact it was some sort of 'go to' pose that just had us laughing for ages

Our next day started at a fantastic coffee spot called Cafe Frei. This place was just the tonic for an early morning pick me-up. Their menu was something else. Coffees from around the world in all styles, all modes of delivery. For someone that loves diversity in all forms this place was spectacularly on point. The highlight for me was the Nicaraguan Tobacco Coffee - oh hell yeah - with hints of tobacco on the nose and on the palate, this my friends was an EPIC creation, I could not rate this anymore highly than by simply saying 'go to Budapest just for this'.


Cafe Frei - Budapest - Hungary

Cafe Frei - Budapest - Hungary

One of the GREAT coffees - let me introduce use to the Nicaraguan Tobacco Coffee - Cafe Frei - Cafe Frei - Budapest - Hungary



Buzzing from our caffeine hit we needed to roll it back a few notches and decided to partake in an oddly unique cultural Budapest pastime, of going to a spa/thermal bath. It appears that historically this has been a trademark of the city for quite some time, enjoyed as early on as the 2nd century AD by the Romans, who would probably relax their poor tired muscles in between eating and having raucous orgies. Oh, to be a Roman in Budapest huh. We selected one of the original Turkish baths (Rudas) as our place of merriment (for only the bath of course, no orgies on the menu at this stage).


The attraction here are the mineral filled waters of the baths that range in temperature from 60-80 degrees, offset by the ice plunge pools which are enough to kickstart the heart of anyone. In addition to the pools they also had saunas, aromatherapy rooms and other rooms of absolute tranquillity that were so unexpectedly blissful that a 4hr stay just slid by without even a hint of boredom.



Budapest - Hungary

Rudas thermal baths - Budapest - Hungary

Rudas thermal baths - Budapest - Hungary

Rudas thermal baths - Budapest - Hungary

Rudas thermal baths - Budapest - Hungary

Rudas thermal baths - Budapest - Hungary


As the night started to cast lengthening shadows over what started to become a city full of surprises we headed out to dinner before jumping onto a Danube cruise for a couple of hours. Making our way down the river at night I was full of admiration of the spectacle and lamented, in some small part, the fact that a small way down the river was another city that could not nearly compete with the beauty here. Same river, neighbouring countries but worlds apart in many ways.



 Budapest - Hungary

 Budapest - Hungary

 Budapest - Hungary

 Budapest - Hungary

 Budapest - Hungary


Another discovery of Budapest, and what turned out to be a real highlight for me, was finding a ruin bar.  These have been popping up in the city over the last 20 years and have essentially made their way by taking up residence in some of the abandoned buildings of the city. The craft and style which they've adopted to take advantage of each premises has made something completely unique from each bar and fostered a spirit of creation that has become uniquely associated with Budapest.  We chose to go to the original ruin bar, Szimpla Kert. Located on Kazinczy Street, its bohemian nature coupled with the unreal prices that underpinned  the sometimes chaotic and often eclectic look and feel to the venue. The size and ability to move through areas of variety and find interesting place of both calm and frenzy is what made this one of my favourite bars anywhere. Definitely a must do in Budapest and I'd hit that with a recommendation to go and see as many of the great ones as possible.



Szimpla Kert - Ruin Bar -  Budapest - Hungary

Szimpla Kert - Ruin Bar -  Budapest - Hungary

Szimpla Kert - Ruin Bar -  Budapest - Hungary

Szimpla Kert - Ruin Bar -  Budapest - Hungary

Szimpla Kert - Ruin Bar -  Budapest - Hungary


We rounded another fabulous night by acquiring ourselves a bottle of wine and heading to the roof top terrace of our apartment. Being in the middle of the city and having fantastic views certainly comes with bonuses.



Rooftop terrace  -  Budapest - Hungary

Rooftop terrace  -  Budapest - Hungary

Next stop Belgrade




The next day Vladimir met us at around midday. Not to say that he missed out, because either way he wouldn't have enjoyed any of what we did, but hey, from one cousin to another, let me just say, 'you missed out'.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Bruges (BELGIUM) - shoot first, sightsee later

Bruges (Belgium)
14 March 2016

Irish contract killers Ray & Ken are sent to the medieval town of Brugge (Bruges) following a botched hit in London. Eight years later Inga & Henry show up in this fascinating ensemble of architecture, representative of multiple phases and periods within the commercial and cultural biography of this town. Funny how a movie can lead to someone else's alternate reality.


Antwerp station - Belgium

Have not seen a station as grand as Antwerp - quite impressive

Antwerp station - Belgium



Brugge - Belgium

Brugge - Belgium


It was the movie that brought us here, plain and simple. In Bruges which stars Colin Farrell is the reason that I had already become acquainted with the beauty of this town prior to visiting. The movie In Bruges  is one of those black comedy style of movies, in the elk of Burn After Reading. Not to say that Bruges is in any way of the mould of a black comedy, the town itself is more the foil to the main story but in a way personifies  or embodies the actual subtext to the plot. Beautiful, mysterious and honourable. The setting classically supports the characters and the ideals of honour and friendship in a world of oddly inept criminals. Side by side, the movie and the town do justice to one another.

From Amsterdam its approximately 3hrs one way to Bruge. From memory the connections were to get there went something like Amsterdam - Antwerp - Ghent - Brugge. It became a  six hour break from our Amsterdam getaway which allowed me the time to essentially go and see a movie. So the question, was it worth it? Absolutely, Bruges has golden offerings, in spades.


The Belfry tower - Brugge - Belgium

A glass of Chimay in the square


Brugge - Belgium

Brugge - Belgium

Brugge - Belgium


The town is spectacular. Another contender in its own right for the moniker of being the Venice of the North, it competes along with its Dutch soulmate Amsterdam. The waterways of Bruge however offer something different again to that of the Dutch capital. An architectural time warp, a treasure trove of medieval structures that all seemed to fit perfectly within the whole make-up of a desperately beautiful town.

I had some expectations of Bruge, Inga had none. Now we were here, in the midst of the shadows of the mighty Bruges Belfry tower located in the Markt of Bruges. On this particular day we find ourselves a large slice  of luck for a day in mid-March, the sun is out, its pleasant in the direct sunlight and the restaurants are full of people soaking in both the atmosphere and quality suds. Even as a non-beer drinker it didn't take much arm twisting for me to get into the Belgian stuff. I know it's good, too many Belgian Beer Cafes in Sydney & Melbourne haven't allowed me to make any sort of argument against that fact. Chimay, Kwak, Duvel, Stella, Hoegaarden. All familiar names and all wonderfully delicious but particularly so when partaking of the precious liquid in their country of origin.


Brugge - Belgium

Brugge - Belgium

Brugge - Belgium


Like Venice & Amsterdam it would also be difficult to walk away from the town without allowing ourselves the small indulgence of taking a canal cruise.. Offering a different perspective yet again, viewing the town whilst navigating the sometimes challenging twists and turns of the, in part, small canals, only sort to give Bruges another dimension of charm and beauty that is equally evident by impressions garnered fromwondering through its streets and lane ways. I couldn't say that the beauty of Bruges suprised me, because in a large way it was expected, but even the lofty expectations that I did have were surpassed by some distance.

Savouring as much as we could off the day also meant that we ended up at a place called the Beerwall in order to decompress and reflect on what we'd seen. The Beerwall itself occupies pride of place on probably the prettiest section of the Dijver Canal, one of the main canals of the town. It wasn't hard to see why so many people were holding up their phones in the immediate vicinity, and also, why so many bad photos were being taken. There's only so much artistry that can be afforded to mediocre photographers after downing the local amber ales. It has to be told with certainty, what they have in Belgium is priceless. This product, this drink that they make, it's like beer without frontiers, beer that is so egalitarian in its fine quality that even the most ardent Baptist would succumb to the wiliness of the collective offerings.


Brugge - Belgium

That's the Beerwall - what a great place to have a drink!

Brugge - Belgium

No fears for a Kwak or six


Inga & I spent a few hours in the Beerwall, for most of that time in the company of a chatty & cheeky Englishman, along with his silent Thai partner. He was one of those cocky, amusing types. One of those that could easily turn you off but somehow became more engaging with every additional drink in each passing moment. In fact we did find ourselves getting to a point in our stay where we realised that we were running a bit late for the last train out of Bruges and found ourselves literally having to run a few kms on the back of a gallon of good 'ole Belgian beer in order to make an ignominious exit.


Train boredom - somewhere in the Netherlands

The boredom continues


And that's how we made our exit, something churlishly making our exit without so much as a thank you or a tip of the hat to our most gracious of hosts. So to you Bruges I say, thank you, spending the day with you was just like being in a fucking fairytale!