Travel experiences across the world
Today's our last day in Budapest, and as such we spent most of the time tying up loose ends and checking items off our to-do list.Our first stop was the Great Synagogue, apparently the second biggest in the world (after New York's), a short walk away from our hotel. As luck would have it, we… Continue reading The Synagogue, Vajdahunyad Castle, the Opera
Okay, so very quickly: last night we discovered this little gem called Ladó Café, a small restaurant right next door to the hotel with live jazz music every night. We had a great dinner for 10€ each and the singer was great.Today our first item on the agenda was to book our train tickets to… Continue reading The train station, St Stephen’s, The Parliament
Here we go! Today the plan was to start from the top and visit Buda Castle! But only after a magnificent breakfast at the hotel, which offers a full breakfast buffet, a bit of a rarity nowadays.We began by taking the metro, which is cleaner and looks newer than many Paris Metro's trains and stations,… Continue reading Buda Castle, the Danube
It's travel time again! This time I'm taking up the blog again sooner than expected. I'm going to spend the week seeing Budapest and Vienna!It's strike season in France, so getting from Versailles to Charles de Gaulle airport took over two and a half hours -longer than getting from Paris to Budapest. Trains to Paris… Continue reading Arriving in Budapest
My last day in Istanbul was a day for tying up loose ends. I had already visited all the "greatest hits" on my list, so to speak, and looking at what else to do there were four options: the Museum of Islamic Arts, the Kariye Museum, the Archaeology Museum and a visit to Üsküdar.The Museum… Continue reading The Archaeology Museum, Üsküdar
My entire stay so far had been confined to the same landmass, so today it was time for a change! I hopped on the tram and crossed the Golden Horn, via the Galata Bridge, up to the district of Beyoglu, the modern, cool quarter of Istanbul.But first I went to the palace of Dolmabahçe, which… Continue reading Dolmabahçe, Istiklal, Galata
After the historical, contemplative visits of this past couple of days, it was time for something a bit more vibrant: I went to the Grand Bazaar!I wasn't sure at first whether it was within walking distance or tram distance, looking at the map, so let me save you the trouble: it's a mere 15 min… Continue reading The Bazaars
So I woke up today and set the clock forward one hour (again [AGAIN]). Sigh.Today the big plan was the palace of Topkapi! I couldn't have asked for a better day to spend sightseeing: gloriously sunny, but cool, and the crowds were blissfully small. When I walked in, at about ten or ten thirty, I… Continue reading Topkapi Palace, the Bosphorus
Today I woke up, as all y'all did, with the clock set one hour forward, and went down to find that breakfast hadn't even been set yet! That's how I found out that Turkey decided to postpone the hour change to tomorrow, because of today's local elections, and I had in fact woken up an… Continue reading Aya Sofya, the Basilica Cistern
-- The streets of Sultanahmet are overrun with cats, who walk up and down the pavement like they own the place (and who's to say they don't?). Some are cute; many look ready to claw my eyes out. The hotel has two or three house cats, all of whom look lovely.-- It's true that the… Continue reading Byzantine Musings: I
This Is A Lake 