church

Thursday 21st November – Saturday 23rd November 2019

Are you a Buda or a Pest? The question my mum asks me every time I go to Budapest, ok, that’s an exaggeration, I’ve been there once before but pretty sure that was the first message I got from her! To answer the question, after 3 months of traveling and not much exercise I was most certainly borderlining on Buda, and the epic cold I had sure was a pest, so let’s just say I’m somewhere in the middle.

Usually arriving in a new place I’d have the public transport routes sorted to save money but getting to Budapest sick AF I pretty much googled which taxi company wouldn’t rob me and went with them from the airport to my accommodation. With Air BNB accommodation being ridiculous cheap in Hungary (yep, that’s where Budapest is!), I spent the usual cheap skate budget but got pretty impressive digs. Condo with a balcony right on the Danube river. Winning!! So this is an average view cos it’s night and I was giving zero (insert swear word), but you get the idea, pretty cool place!

Getting there at 8ish, a healthy Holly would have dropped the bags and went to explore, sick Holly walked across the road to a dodgy supermarket, found a day old lukewarm schnitzel to eat, ate and went to bed. There was no normal Holly the next day either, having a small stash of Sudafed left from the UK (why I didn’t stock up no idea!) I stayed in bed and tried to convince myself being healthy was more important than exploring Budapest. If I didn’t have a tour of Jordan starting on the Sunday I would have forced my sick and gross arse out of bed but Budapest really was after all a stop off on the way to Jordan. So can’t remember if I mentioned it before but to get to Jordan from London and back it was about $600, that’s flying London to Amman in one hit via Budapest. Or I could get a cheap arse flight for £30 to Budapest, stay a few days on the cheap then get a cheap flight to Amman before the tour starts. Want that one. Just didn’t plan on being sick and spending said short trip in bed, or on the couch, I did switch between the two at some stage during the day. Also took a chance on their version of Uber Eats called Wolt, there were these dumpling noodle things, didn’t realise you also had to order a sauce but did get some goulash, kinda worked together. No photos cos sick remember, apparently I’m in capable of clicking a button when sick.

So the next day, Saturday if you’re still with me, I was determined to see some of Budapest, even if I had to snot my way through it. Was also determined to find medication that could lessen the flow of snot down my face… sometimes you’re just not fast enough. Popping into a chemist, I thought it could be hard to get what I needed due to the language barrier and having to have ID in Australia for the strong shit but based on the look and sound of me the pharmacist knew exactly what I needed. And unlike the cold n flu tablets in Morocco which contained arse, these were jam packed full of pseudoephedrine, hallelujah! But as my mum taught me, if you’re taking strong drugs then you gotta eat so found this weird kinda hot dog at the supermarket, interesting taste but pretty sure my taste buds were MIA and that was the reason it didn’t taste as good as it looked!

Having already mapped out an itinerary in Goggle, I headed to my first stop, and the biggest must do in Budapest, parliament. Yeah, didn’t sound right to me either but apparently Google reckoned this was one of the top tourists attractions in Budapest. For once, Google didn’t lie. The Hungarian Parliament was that word beyond beautiful, no idea what that is but it’s that. Said wow out loud numerous times which when you have a cold sounds more like OW so people may have thought I was in pain…

And where is the parliament? Smack bang on the river so of course it’s surrounded by a million other gorgeous buildings and monuments, kicking myself for wasting a day and for reals saying OW…

Wandering along the Danube as you do on a glorious day, it was pretty after pretty and kick after kick…

Wandering over the bridge I wished I could turn back time because Budapest is so damn pretty and I just spent a day in bed ignoring her… sorry sweet!

Next stop was Fisherman’s Bastion and St Matthias Church. Now if you know me, you know that I’m not a big fan of seafood, mainly the smell, so why go to some Fisherman’s what ya call it?? Well… this place has nothing at all to do with fish, not even on the river’s edge, I’m sure there’s some reason it’s called the Fisherman’s Bastion will google that after you wowser at these gorgeous pics!!!

Yeah so Google tells me it’s called Fishmans Bastion maybe you commemorate the fishman who lived down by the Danube and maybe protected it in times of conflict, but not even google is sure on this one! What makes this place so damn amazing though is the views over the Danube and Budapest, can you get more picture perfect than this??

And what makes this ‘bastion’ super duper special is St Matthias Church standing in the background, or foreground, guess it depends which way you come up. This church is something special, in a completely vein and superficial way, cos it’s so so so pretty! Coloured roof tiles, white limestone, gothic towers and windows, just gorgeous. And I’m being vein because I was feeling so sick and snotty that I didn’t go in cos I felt bad spreading germs in a church, so no idea if this pretty one had an substance.

Having done a fair wander around the streets, cos getting lost is one of my favourite things, my tummy rumbled as it permanently does so I headed to the Christmas markets, thinking I’d be able to find something to eat, boy did I find something!!! Soooo much food. Stuff that I had no idea what it was but by gosh it looked good. One of everything please, except the Rooster Testicles, I’ll pass on those!! Ended up with this plate of deliciousness, some kind of meat and potatoes and ???, spinach I’d say but that green stuff did not taste good, and ended up costing me about $30 too, tourist rates me thinks!!

As far as Christmas markets go, these were pretty damn impressive. I guess Christmas was just over a month away so time to get into the spirit!

Well and truly pooped from just walking and wiping, I was homeward bound and somehow between sitting down to stuff my face and finishing, it had gotten dark and a bit chilly. Perfect for a sickie like me!?!? Although I had planned on being back before dark, kinda glad my plans went astray cos Budapest at night is something else, the whole place lights up and feels like magic! Almost looks like a golden city, and the Fishemans Bastion and church at night, wow!! If I had an ounce of energy left I would have legged it back over the bridge to see the view over Budapest at night from the Bastion, but I didn’t. So here one side of the river lit up like a Christmas tree, a golden one…

Wandering back down the Danube by night, my last stop was something that will be etched in my mind for eternity, the Hungarian Parliament all lit up so spectacularly it takes your breathe away. My crapola iPhone only captured about one hundredth of its brilliance!

Legging it back to the apartment along the river, I have to admit that I did start wandering if maybe I should have known better than to walk along a river at night by myself!! Did another quick stop for full strength cold n flu meds to get me through Jordan and it was back to bed. Really really really wish I’d spent more time exploring Budapest, glad last visit with Kylie we went to the thermal baths, no way they’d let me in in my state, my whole head was a thermal bath of snot!! Anyhoo, taxi booked for 4am the next day and it was good night to me and fingers crossed for a less snotty time in Jordan!!

Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd September 2019

Despite my smell the Geordie gave me a warm welcome in Newcastle, I mean the toon. Forgot they speak a different language and damn it, left my Geordie dictionary in oz.

If the Geordie was expecting a fun night out with Matilda he was a bit disappointed! I was rooted so room service and the first five minutes of the movie Dark Phoenix and I was out like a light.

Lucky for me, my Geordie friend, who has been mentioned before under many names, Pattie, Nora and possibly his real name David, is a good bloke and organized a weekend showing me my roots around England. The first stop was Askrigg where my Dad’s mum, otherwise known as Grandma, had family originate. The family also happened to be none other than those of the Terry’s Chocolates fame. Knew I had chocolate in my blood, explains a lot. I was kinda glad when the GPS of Nora’s Vauxhall, a kick arse car I’d never heard of, thought Vauxhall was just a tube station, anyway, GPS took us the scenic route into Askrigg, tiny tiny roads and gorgeous little villages. Nice for me who got to ooo and ahh at the pretty scenery, not so much for the Geordie who had to drive in a road big enough for one car, just, no idea what people do when someone comes the other way?? Driving into Askrigg poor Pattie had to deal with my millions of photos a minute habit but managed to navigate us to the town centre where I could jump out and explore. Such a weird feeling being somewhere you know your distant relatives walked the streets, drank at the pub, lived their lives. Really does make me want to go back and trace my grandma’s family history, ancestry.com here I come! After a pit stop at the pub of course…

BITC (hehe, that’s almost naughty but sure you have it figured out Mum), and we headed to Scarborough, a seaside town in Yorkshire where my Mum’s mum, the other grandma, went to boarding school. The English countryside really is gorgeous, different to Scotland but pretty rather than rough and rugged, and felt different listening to a soundtrack of Elvis and AC/DC rather than my hip hop and Aussie indie rock. Not complaining, love them too! The Geordie’s playlist of movie theme songs made me realize my head really was full, things were just popping out, like names of songs I knew but just didn’t know anymore. So is this what old age feels like???

Anyways, driving into Scarborough Nora had to put up with my ooos and aaahs again, especially when we rocked up at the hotel, a stunning old building right on the beach. Davie did good.

While the inside was something of a rabbits warren, I would have been jealous had we been staying anywhere else. It just so happpened that we’d made it to Scarborough in time for the Geordie to watch the soccer, sorry I mean football (I really mean soccer!), his Newcastle boys were playing a team that was gonna whip their arses apparently. Leaving the Geordie at the local I headed right for the beach, oh how I’d missed the ocean. Corfu felt like months ago!!

Scarborough was so not what I expected! Yes the beach I knew was there, but the Ferris wheel and cliffs and esplanade with casinos I had no idea. Very cool surprise!

What wasn’t a surprise was returning to the Geordie at the pub to find a goalless game… I get how skilled the dudes are that play but no score in 90 minutes?!? I need more action in my sport. A few beers in and the Geordie was ready for karaoke. For the record, I will never ever be ready for karaoke. For a dude with a thick accent I can hardly understand, he does a bloody good Elvis! Some McDonalds later and we called it a night, there may have been quite a few gins and beers between the Maccas and night but anyway…

Up and at it on Sunday, I don’t know if I was more excited about the bacon at the buffet breakfast or seeing more of Scarborough. Can we just say equally excited??? BITC and hooning around Scarborough we found the convent my grandma went to school at, THE most beautiful church and cemetery on cliffs overlooking the ocean and a fort. Winning!!!

On our trek back to the toon, we stopped off at the other beachside vacation town of Whitby, conveniently minutes before England and Tonga kicked off at the Rugby World Cup! No complaining from me, getting chauffeured around England to all the places my family are from, dude can stop for as many games as he wants! But once again, did leave Nora at the pub while I explored the gorgeous Whitby. What a picturesque town, a seaside village with ruins of a castle on the hill (no time to trek to) but did make it to the lighthouses for gorgeous views over the cliffs, ocean and back into then the town. Surely this is more interesting and beautiful than rugby reet?? I mean there’s even a replica of the Endeavour, how does anything compete with that???

At least this time when I found the Geordie it was good news, the English were winning, which given that that it was now my other homeland, I was kinda happy about too. I think I’m finally getting the gist of rugby, and might actually know the difference between league and union, union is the one with the scrums right?? If I’m not going to have AFL on the regular for the next year, I reckon rugby is gonna be my game. Exciting, tough dudes and there’s no way they can go a whole game without scoring points! Ok, I’m on the rugby band wagon, but now the question is, who do I support in the World Cup?? Australia, England or Scotland? I think I’ll keep that answer to myself as it may get me into trouble!

BITC and feck, my train leaves in 2 hours and we’re 1 hour and 45 minutes away from Newcastle. Nora didn’t seem all that bothered, gave me some reassuring words in Geordie that I couldn’t even repeat if I tried… well actually, I did try a lot that weekend to speak Geordie but like all my accents, just kept coming out Jamaican! On the leg back to Newcastle, or maybe it was before, at some stage there was the discussion that I’d keep thinking about for days, and change my answer multiple times. So if you could go to the concert of three bands or singers no longer together or alive, who would they be?? It’s harder than you think!! After lots of back and forth, Nora and I both agreed that Queen and Elvis were on the list, his third was Sinatra and mine was The Beatles. Bloody hard cos that means other epic bands and singers like David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, Janis Joplin, and Amy Winehouse don’t make the list. And since we were on the topic, next question was what three people that have passed would you love to have dinner with? Not necessarily all at the same time… I think the question may have changed part way through cos the Geordie picked Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and the Dalai Lama, who obvs is still with us – my picks were Princess Diana, Mary Queen of Scots and Hitler. I know the last choice is controversial but as a psychology student, meeting someone like him that did so many horrid things, a conversation about values and morals would be out of this world, how he’d justify the atrocities he committed would be an interesting conversation. As would the conversation with all our other choices of course. In hindsight the dead people conversation may have just been a tactic to distract me from how close we were cutting it with time, it worked. At the station it was a quick good bye to the Geordie and I literally had 8 minutes to get into the station, find my platform and get onto the train. I made it in 5…. how I have no idea, a cross between running and shimmying through the crowd with a backpack, handbag and bag of other crap, mostly gin. Back in London, it did kinda feel like coming home. Mind you as someone that doesn’t technically live anywhere, wherever the roof is over my head is my home. But it’d only be home for one night, I’d booked a sneaky trip to Pisa and Florence the next day…

Holly vs the world

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Are you a Buda or a Pest?

Roots