🗁Added 23 photos to album Sarajevo, 2017-18.
Misc Sarajevo. Mosty Karuzo and krompirusa.
Posts between 2018/02 and 2018/03 (24 out of 24)
- Fixed some things, broke some things.
- Aleph 2 is launching soon; data migration required.
- Thrice to yoga.
- Completely overhauled my upcoming travel plans.
- Went to Vrelo Bosna.
- Entertained the idea of writing some code but spent all weekend watching Star Trek ToS and crocheting gloves instead.
- Piecing together an authoritative overview of aaaaaall of OCCRP's data, which is a lot of data, in many forms.
- Gave away 3/4 of my posessions and a dreadlock.
- Repacked my life into 45L and handed my apartment keys to someone else.
- Departed sweet Sarajevo! Two buses to London, via Cologne.
- Was promptly replaced by a potted plant with a Mastodon account.
- Saw a few cool people in London I wasn't really expecting to see again for some time.
- Planned, unplanned, replanned, travel in the next couple of months. I still don't know where I'm to be between now and March. Any ideas?
- Spent the week in the countryside with my wee bird and my Mum's angsty cat and no transport links.
- Worked from couch.
- Reviewed a paper for the Linked Data on the Web workshop (WebConf2018) and meta-reviewed for the Developer Track.
- Shaved my head.
- Surprise visit to friends in Lincoln.
- Finished Star Trek ToS, abruptly.
- Had a rushed dinner with Laurel in London at Wulf and Lamb.
- Took a night bus to Amsterdam; spent the day eating and wandering.
- Took another night bus to Prague.. cue more eating and wandering.
- Data migration stuff.
The remainder of the crew who have not been turned into papier-mache blocks must distract the invading aliens with sensory overload. Bones drugs one up. Scottie gets one drunk. Kirk seduces the lady one. Spock is playing chess with one.
I think I'm starting to love this.
Sigh. Apart from the still rampant misogyny.
🗁Added 16 photos to album Homemade food.
Some chips, some pizza, some pasta, some pancakes, some tacos, some beans, some coffee muffins, some curry, and a particularly good fried tofu and mushroom sandwich.
🗁Added 38 photos to album Sarajevo, 2017-18.
The tram to Ilidza, then a couple of hours walking to and around Vrelo Bosne, the mouth of the river Bosne. It's a beautiful park, tranquil in the mist and gentle rain. The water was deep and bright. The derelict once-fancy Austro-Hungarian houses that line the two mile strait to the park are gorgeous. Almost 8 miles of walking in total; GPS trace.
Week in review: 29 Jan - 4 Feb
🗁Added 20 photos to album Sarajevo, 2017-18.
My last nights in Sarajevo, and some bus photos. Featuring falafel and grah at Barhana, and wonderful friends.
Week in review: 5 - 11 Feb
Damnit Jim, I'm a doctor not a well-developed character.
Season 3 and Bones hasn't changed. I am sick of his shit. Him being an asshole to Spock was funny for a few episodes but DUDE move on.
And as for the 'strange Vulcan physiology' issue every time Spock stubs his toe STUDY IT ALREADY ugh
This has been building up for a while, but what really did it just now was Kirk left Scotty in command and Bones is on the Bridge as usual for no fucking reason and Scotty's like "wow I dunno what to do, this sucks" and Bones is like "yikes oh well happens to the best of us" but when Spock is in command Bones spends the entire episode screaming in his ear because he hasn't immediately rescued the Captain even though Spock is clearly executing a well thought out plan at every moment.
Bones is racist.
But mostly Bones is jealous of Kirk's feelings for Spock.
Vegan discovery of the week: I wanted scrambled tofu but all I could find was silken, so I sliced gently and fried it (gently) and it spat loads but came out exactly like fried egg white \o/
No photo, I ate it.
Week in review: 12 - 18 Feb
🗁Added 76 photos to album UK, Feb & June 2018.
Sarajevo to London, via Cologne, on two Flixbuses.
An afternoon at the Southbank Center. Food at Nando's for Jamie's birthday.
Visiting family, Tigo, Pingu the cat, Lincolnshire countryside.
A day in Lincoln with Alan and Pete.
🗁Added 15 photos to album Homemade food.
Home comfort food, largely junk.
Literally every time I register for an academic conference I have to email the organisers to request that the 'title' field of the registration form doesn't force women to declare their marital status, or non-binary people to pick a gender.
Like jeeebus just make it an optional field if you have to include it at all.
🗁Added 23 photos to album Prague & Ljubljana, Feb/Mar 2018.
Dinner in London at Wulf and Lamb.
A nightbus to Amsterdam. Wandering: the library, the top of Nemo, the free ferry. Food: at Vegabond, and Dutch Weed Burger.
🗁Added 42 photos to album Prague & Ljubljana, Feb/Mar 2018.
Day 1 in Prague. Food at Puro and Plevel.
General wandering, and a trip up the TV tower (which has wifi and good seats, as well as the views, but costs 10EUR).
My sister just emailed me asking "should I do a PhD?" hahahaha <3
I worked to overcome the initial PTSD-driven reaction before trying to come up with sound advice.
Today's random discovery in the course of data wrangling: Google translate tells me "imeiprezime" is Basque for "I am depressed", though what I actually needed to know is that it's Bosnian for "name and surname".
In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/02/til
I'm also enjoying things like "obimovlastenja" -> "Insurrection... did you mean obimovlaštenja?" -> "perpetuation... did you mean obim ovlaštenja?" -> "scope of authority"
Week in review: 19 - 25 Feb
🗁Added 190 photos to album Prague & Ljubljana, Feb/Mar 2018.
Days 2 to 5 in Prague. Blog post here.
Five days in Prague
I wasn't charmed by Prague. It's nice enough, but I didn't fall in love with the city or anything.
I stayed in ArtHarmony hostel, a super nice plantlife themed place with lots of bamboo, and mezzenine sleeping platforms in the rooms instead of bunkbeds. It was quiet, the kitchen functions if a bit small, and the staff were friendly. I discovered too late they buy 1 EUR for 26 CZK (for guests only) which is by far the best rate you'll see in town. Internet was good, and common area plus a desk in the dorm were both good to work from. I'd stay there again.
I alternated laptop days with touristing, but it was so freaking cold I ended up more on the side of laptop. At least it was dry and sunny though. But oh god, so cold.
On the first afternoon I went for a wander, and found the TV Tower. It's 250czk (10eur) entry, and good views. I ended up at the top slightly after sunset, which was not optimal. There's wifi up there, sofas, and interesting chairs, so it's a good place to pass time without freezing to death.
I went to see Black Panther at a little independant cinema (chosen due to its proximity to a vegan restaurant).
I worked all through the weekend, with a little break to visit the old town. Of course the astronomical clock, the only thing that sounded particularly interesting to see, was shut down for repairs and covered in scaffolding. Otherwise there's gothic spires and fancy architecture and bright coloured buildings and stuff.
I had a full sightseeing day on Monday. It was so cold that when I wrapped a scarf around my face, the damp patch from my breath condensation froze into a solid block. The small block of scarf-ice was still preferable to the air directly though.
I walked along the river to the Castle. I didn't pay to go inside, but the grounds are extensive. The Cathedral is impressive from the outside.
I walked through Petrin Park and climbed the hill. There's a little funicular, which takes the same tickets as the regular tram, but I am committed to climbing hills unnecessarily, even when I can't feel my legs. Especially when I can't feel my legs.
There's an observatory at the top which was of course closed on Mondays. There's a big castle-y wall. I went up the Petrin Tower (150czk) hoping to catch the sunset, but I was early and it was crowded up there. There are two spiral staircases on top of each other, one up and one down. They're both exposed to the outside, and at that height the wind was bitter. Views over the city are always good though.
I took a different route back to see other parts of the park.
Then I got into bed for two hours to reheat and swore I was never going outside again.
That's pretty much it. I took the bus in to Florenc station, which is further north, about a 30 minute walk from the town center. I didn't stick around, but it looked like a fully-fledged properly-resourced bus station.
I caught the bus out from the Main Railway Station though, which is half way between town and Florenc but also just some signs at the side of a massive highway. The bus arrived on the opposite side to the one I was waiting, and I joined a bunch of other backback and suitcase wielding adventurers in charging across the road to catch it, at midnight. Not ideal. Will use Florenc in future (the ticket prices are always the same).
You may have noticed I didn't write about food! That's because everything I ate has its own blog post.
Vegan in Prague
If you want to know what I was doing between meals, I also have a post about Prague in general.
That was easier than expected. Though also more expensive than expected. I thought I could do two meals on 10-15EUR per day but had to quickly laugh that idea out of the window.
But there are enough vegan restaurants that I could eat solely at vegan-only establishments and still didn't try them all. There are about 6 Loving Huts. There's lots of Vietnamese food. Here goes:
Veganland
A stark, canteen-like ambience, but very friendly staff. There are a couple of Veganlands; I went to one in small mall, which didn't help with the atomsphere. It's a buffet (25czk/100g) as well as a fixed menu. The buffet food is mostly Asian style, vegetables, mock meats and noodles. Some good stuff, mostly kind of greasy and junky, but satisfying. It reminded me of the terrible-but-awesome Chinese food I ate in Penang, the likes of which I haven't had in a really long time. On one occasion I had the buffet for lunch, and took away summer rolls and sushi (from the menu) to eat later. I ended up eating them for lunch the next day, and they were all good.
The next time I went (it was the closest vegan place to my hostel) I had the mozzerella pizza and it was fab. All the HappyCow reviews said so, and they are right. It was the right size, and super cheesey. I also had 'homemade lemonade' which was just a syrup and they mixed it with sparkling water and this was a terrible idea.
They have some raw cakes, but they didn't look particularly appetising and I didn't try them.
Loving Hut
Loving Huts in Prague are buffet style, 24czk/100g, and similarly Asian fare. Actually very similar to Veganland. The fixed menu is different though. I tried pho and wonton dumplings and they were both great. I didn't try the buffet. The pho was way more filling than I expected.
The atmosphere, in the x location at least, was nicer than Veganland. Still pretty stark, but less canteen-y. It opened last month though, and there's no wifi currently.
Pastva
This is a good place to go for a fancy meal if you're feeling fancy. But they also have little one-person shelf bench things against one wall, with power sockets, so I took my laptop out and didn't feel bad about taking up space. I went around 9pm, as they're open til 11pm and I was killing time before a midnight bus.
All of the food looks great. I had gnocchi with 'salmon'. I'm not sure where the 'salmon' came into it, it seemed to be a sauce made from mostly carrot and onion, but it was really nice nonetheless.
People were raving about the tiramisu, but I didn't feel like it. They had some crumbly fruit cakes too. I went with a hot chocolate, which was great. Super dark and bitter, yet smooth, with cacao nibs on the top.
Forky's
This is a good-food and fast-food place in the old town. They have bowls of healthy Asian mixes, as well as burgers, kebabs and hotdogs. Good for a mixed crowd, or if you don't want to decide what kind of lunch you're having until you get there. I had a hotdog, which came loaded with healthy toppings including kale! And good sauce. The fries were mediocre. I took a brownie for later.
The space is nice, with a vast downstairs area, lots of nooks, power and wifi. Would be a good place to work. Staff were super friendly.
Plevel
I planned to have a lengthy three course meal before heading to the cinema across the street, but the portions were so huge I had to skip dessert and content myself with a chai latte. I was sitting next to the cake cabinet though, and they looked fantastic. Not trying cake here may be my biggest regret.
I had a starter of pea guacamole with roasted portabello mushrooms, and a main of spaghetti with tempeh and tomato. They were so good. This is also a good place for a fancy meal.
Moment
I managed to spend 7 hours here on the last day after my hostel checkout. The menu is extensive and great, including breakfast options, and it was tough to choose, but the HappyCow reviews hyped up the seitan and cheese bagel, so that's what I started with. The HappyCow reivews were right. A huge chunk of burger-y seitan, and a huge chunk of melty not-cheese, plus a heap of salad and pickles. They were out of bagels, but the seedy bun served its purpose. I bet their other burgers and quesedillas are amazing too. The espresso was great.
I got 'homemade lemonade' here too which was also syrup with sparkling water argh, but better than at Vegan land cos they also packed it full of lemon chunks and fresh mint. But yeah, must stop getting lemonade in Prague, it's not Sarajevo.
I progressed to waffles, which were accompanied by a dollop of interesting cream, and shredded apple and pear, and sliced banana, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Pretty good. They have pancakes too. The yerba mate came in a proper mate cup with a metal straw.
I took a tofu 'egg' wrap and a peanut butter brownie to go, for next day's bus. They got a bit squashed but survived the backpack well, and the wrap was excellent. The brownie was good, but could have been peanuttier.
Compared to everywhere else, this was the cheapest.
It was an excellent space to work. They have loads of seats, power and wifi. Staff were nice, and it was definitely attracting an alternative sort of crowd. Also dog-friendly, and I was much entertained by various canine vistors over the afternoon.
Puro
I spent a few hours over lunchtime here. There's not much seating, but another person sitting alone let me share their table. There's wifi and power, and also a few shelves of groceries.
The food is good, wholesome; soups, burritos, wraps, quiches, and a good selection of cakes. I had an excellent spinach and tempeh quiche, plus almond latte and lime cheesecake.
The Sweet Secret of Raw
Cakes! Not strictly vegan cos they sweeten some things with honey. But all raw, all pretty expensive, and all amazing. I asked the waiter for her favourite and she directed me towards something smooth and creamy with two layers of different chocolate base, and a vanilla-bean pod filled cream layer. It was gooood. I also had a chai latte, which she cautioned me was 'spicy not sweet'. It was.
Comfy seats, but not loads. Wifi and power!
MoMo
A very small place, with vegan cakes and serious coffee. Only a couple of seats which were occupied when I got there, so I took coffee and cake to go. A chocolate fruit cake, and a big slice at that.
Vegan's
In a convenient tourist location, close to the Castle. Has a lot of veganised traditional Czech food, so I was determined to max out on that. I ate a three course meal which was far too much food (half size of each course would have been perfect) and I didn't eat dinner that day. Three courses plus tea was 24EUR :o But it was great.
The starter stood out from HappyCow reviews, and sounded light, and involved tempeh: bruschetta. It was a plateful though, much bigger than expected, and really delicious.
I had stuffed cabbage for the main. It was rich and filling and delicious. And so was dessert - traditional dumplings. They were filled with prunes and covered in a sticky jam sauce. So heavy. I could hardly move.
Also a nice space with upstairs and downstairs seating.