Any Excuse to Travel

Stories from travels in

July 2012

Food, glorious food…

One of the greatest pleasures of living in Budapest is the sense of discovery when I find a new place to eat – one that

Last stop on the No. 11 bus

‘Come to dinner’, he said. ‘See my new place. I’ve rented out my flat in the city and moved to the Buda hills. We can

View from Park Princeva restaurant Sarajevo

When the lights come on in Sarajevo

I doubt there’s a village, town, or city in the world that doesn’t look good when the lights come on. There’s something magical about dusk

The lakes at Szombathely

I have no sense of direction and had it been left to me to find our way to the lakes in Szombathely, I’d have called

A step back in time

I’m a sucker for living history museums. The best I’ve ever seen was near Plymouth, in the USA, where the actors played their parts to

The Saturday Place

Szombathely translates literally as the Saturday Place and is the oldest and tenth largest city in Hungary. Dating back to 45 AD, Constantine the Great

Alifakovac Cemetery Sarajevo

A grave difference

Some people are good at spotting celebrities; others are good at spotting bargains. Me? I can spot a cemetery from miles away. And in a

Travel warning: When vanity soars sky-high, so can the bill

When I was a prepubescent teen, my cousin told me that when women wanted to get pregnant, they went to a doctor who put them

Coffee in sarajevo

Converted to coffee

A mate of mine once told me that you know when you hit the Balkans: the coffee gets good. Finding myself in the old town

My new favourite place for music in Budapest

My taste in music is  debatable. I like jazz, blues, and moody stuff like Leonard Cohen. I like Pink Martini and the Frames. I like