pinkbirdflies

Flew from Corfu via Athens to Budapest arriving to a cold, windy 13 degrees! Interesting taxi ride into the city..very eastern bloc looking! Arrived at Hotel in Buda which is on one side of the Danube and Pest is on the other. Met Jenny McArthur in our hotel apartment which is exactly like something out of George Orwell’s 1984 book…rag mats and the smell of boiled cabbage..even a mirror where Big Brother could even still be watching…Lovely dinner of Hungarian Veal and their cucumber and sour cream side dish! Explored the city via a walking tour…Vorosmarty Square, Erzsebet and deak Squares, St Stephens Basilica,  across the Danube via the Chain Bridge climbing up to the Royal Palace and Matthias Church and Fishermans Bastion. 

Left Paxos taking the ‘Flying Dolphin’ hydro foil back to Corfu…wandered the streets of old town appreciating the Venetian architecture and decent coffee!

Went exploring and found old tombs of unknown origin…hand made stone cisterns to catch and store precious water…coffee on the waterfront and squid at loggos…

Ancient Christian church…sandy bay…ubiquitous “Greek Cappuccino”…Mythos beer and fresh calamari…

Stone terraces created by the Venetians for olive growing and some viticulture…ruins…ancient olive groves…a remote cove with a goat herder, two fisherman and me…rough roads and lane ways…Greek Orthodox churches and their bell towers…Lunch waterside at Lakka…Donkeys who loved a good pat…

In Turkey I was reduced to Nescafe (called this on menus) with whitener (in plastic cups!) which I actually drank at University in the 80’s…bit of a retro flashback actually with the distinctive taste of ‘Coffeemate’. Thought things had improved in Corfu Greece but this was short lived and the Paxiots were never able to understand my orders for ‘a cappuccino, extra hot please??’…So a visit to the local store produced a Bialetti style coffee maker and can of Illy coffee which is producing a reasonable cup given all the milk is UHT….Hungary and Austria, what will you have in store???

Drinks by the water and dinner at a tiny taverna at Loggos followed by the Paxos Chamber Music festival performance in Loggos old school…amazing!!!! Internationally renowned artists performing on a tiny island… 

Picture perfect..idyllic…white sand and azure waters…