Budapest

Ok, so I've missed a few locations.

Don't worry, I will get to those. Aslong as you can stomach the wrong order of countries visited, rest assured that I'll get to each place when I can.

For this post, I'll attempt to go backwards from the present.

So.. since the 3rd of June (as I may have mentioned, who knows), I've been in Budapest. It's good here, there's plenty to do and it is relatively small, for a capital city. This is especially apparent when you commit to walking around.

Today (4th June) I walked for a 4 or 5 hour stint after I got a good hearty breakfast from the local market. It was a traditional Hungarian meal of fried potatoes, sausages, tomatoes and other bits and bobs. It was a good sized plate and cost just 3 Euro, including coffee (rank, but caffeinated).

I walked along the river and caught various bridges, important buildings and suchlike along the way. I also caught upto the main (biggest) thermal, Turkish bath. The prices seemed quite reasonable, so I think I'll head there at some point before I head off to locations unknown.

Another thing I stumbled upon this evening was a gig for Tito & Tarantula tomorrow night, so... I think I'll inspect that. Can't wait.

After my big walk today, I went to the food market again and got some food for a late lunch, which turned out to be more of a dinner after I finally cooked it. I got a couple of chicken breasts (2x the size of those in England) and some garlic, lemon and small potatoes. I don't remember the price, but I remember at the time it was almost ridiculously cheap.

A bit after I'd eaten I went with Reinier, the dutch guy, to a Hungarian rock band, across the bridge. It wasn't bad at all, even though we only got half an hour's worth (we turned up a bit late) and it was only the equivelent of a Euro to get in. They sounded like the Hives at half-tempo.

So, overall I'm liking Budapest. Apart from the road works and other similar guff going on in too many places, its quite cool.

Valencia

2 posts in one day shock.

This city (3rd biggest in Spain, apparently) is pretty damn nice. Kinda regretting booking a hostel in Barcelona for tomorrow now..

I´ve been doing my usual walking until I can barely stand again today. I didn´t quite manage to get a glimpse of the apparent ´real´ Holy Grail, but certainly saw plenty of other things.

For one there was the Mercado Central (central market). You can discount all previous statements made about bustling markets... this one tops them all. The place is a permanent fixture by the look of it, looks like an old church - pictures to follow at some point.

There was everything imaginable (maybe more) under that roof, anything that walked or flew over the ground or grew in it. Quite an overwhelming place and another thing I would´ve taken more advantage of if i were staying here longer. As you walked in one entrance it was a challenge to find it again, without going out of another door, walking around the building, and going in again.

Another place I took a look around was Valencia´s bullring, right next to the train station. As I missed the last opportunity to see a genuine bullfight in Seville by a day, I was taking what I could get. What I got was a free tour of the bullring, with just 2 other people. It was ok, a little underwhelming as you´d imagine.. was missing a big four-legged animal with huge horns..., but it killed a few minutes.

Next I went over to the Cathedral, each Spanish town seems to have a few hundred each. This one had a huge display of the Virgin Mary inside though, almost a moving sight, were it not for my Religious (lack of) persuasion. Lots of the people sitting infront of it were drawing crosses on themselves and saying a quiet prayer. I didn´t take any pictures as I didn´t want to be disrespectful, it was clearly a very spiritually significant place.

Now after my all-day trundel who should be in the same dorm room as me, but my childhood friend, Jenny! Couldn´t believe the coincidence here. Was really good to see a face from home, and forced me to look back on my accomplishments so far. After my late notice attempt at a meeting in Madrid, this was really cool and unexpected. Going to go for Tapas later.

Train to Barcelona at 10 in the morning.



i - The Valencian bullring, bang next door to the train station. Complete with various stalls in the outer walls
ii - The Mercado Central, didn´t take any photos inside, would´ve felt a right apricot
iii - Impressive display on the wall of the Plaze de La Virgen. I´ve been told it´s made out of flowers or something?¿
iv - Sevillian train station view, about 8pmish
v - One of many views of the Granadian landscape
vi - A perfect example of the spiralling streets hugging onto the hills. Granada again.
vii - ix - Amazing graffiti along the river in Seville.
x - Some paella pans in Valencia, with an old man as a scale guide