I finally listened to Low in High School all the way through, and it was like I already knew all of the songs. It was already part of me.
I like it. Spent the Day in Bed and Girl from Tel-Aviv are my favourites, sound-wise.
I'm still sulking with Morrissey about politics though.
"Spent the day on bus" to the tune of Spent the Day in Bed
Four days in Ljubljana with Elizabeth and family (and some in-transit pics too, between Prague, Budapest and Ljubljana, variously).
OH: "my hypothetical thesis is an extension of my insanity"
What if bed time
but
all the time
In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2018/03/what-if
TFW you're so tired you're fantasising about being in bed, but also you're already in bed
The concept of a thesis as "centralisation of ideas" is not an excuse to not finish your thesis.
You know who you are.
Eating and wandering Budapest.
I'm sitting another 10 day Vipassana course this month.
I thought I'd sit another complete one, then attend my next as a server. But they're short of servers for this location, so I'll be a server this time after all. This means a little less meditation and a little more chopping vegetables. Which.. I'm greatly looking forward to.
Just mention that you are planning to travel between any two destinations in Europe within earshot of me and you will get immediate unsolicited detailed advice about all available bus routes, times and prices, and in some cases the comfort of any bus stations you might need to wait around in.
I HAVE A PROBLEM
More eating and wandering Budapest..
I dunno what's up with Twitter in firefox the past few days but it's making my fan whiirrrrr and crashes every time I click on a tweet. It's fine in Chromium.
Probably a sign I should get off twitter and do something useful anyway.
A walking tour, up the castle hill, and to the Acquinium.
I get home from a hard day of completely offline touristing and I just wanna see what happened on the internet before I go to sleep but oh no my twitter account is locked because I exhibited 'automated behaviour that may violate the twitter rules' like what I literally haven't been near a computer all day, is that the problem??
And now it wants a phone number but my phone is dead and I don't want to give them my number anyway grumble
Raining. To the Hospital in the Rock museum, the Fisherman's Bastion, and more food.
For what it's worth, Twitter restored my account after a couple of days of looping through 'help' forms. Initially I was supposed to put a phone number in to restore it, but it wouldn't accept a Bosnian number. Each time I filed a support request I'd get an automated email telling me something I already knew, which I could reply to, which triggered another automated email telling me something else I already knew. Eventually I got one that said:
Your account is now unlocked, and we're sorry for the inconvenience.
Twitter has automated systems that find and remove automated spam accounts and it looks like your account got caught up in one of these spam groups by mistake.
I couldn't figure out what twitter rule I could possibly have violated (except maybe using a VPN left a flag?) and nor did they answer my appeals for why a Bosnian phone number is considered invalid.
Over the next couple of days I'm moving webhosts. So probably not a good time to expect me to get your email.
I mostly worked and cafe-hopped, and did all the usual touristy things when Naomi came to visit. The weather of course was beautiful, right up until it was time to go outside. But we braved the rain, and walked a lot.
Along the river, and Margaret Island.
Through the city center, Parliament (supposedly designed to look like Westminster? I sort of see it, but not all the way), the German Occupation Memorial, and counter-monument to Holocaust victims.
We went to the Aquincum museum, with Roman ruins, which is not usually open in the winter or bad weather, but we went on a public holiday by chance so it was both open and free to enter.
Stuff at the top of various hills. The castle, Fisherman's Bastion, the Liberty Statue.
While I was there I went to three thermal baths. Szechenyi, the biggest one, with many indoor and outdoor pools of different temperatures. Being outdoors in the hot water surrounded by steam was awesome, but deciding to get out to go somewhere else was horrible because it was bloody cold outside. Rudas is smaller, super touristy and super expensive. We went on a Saturday afternoon on the holiday weekend and it was packed. The draw is a 'panoramic jaccuzzi pool' on the roof which was very underwhelming and not really warm enough. It snowed a tiny bit while we were up there, but really we were just cold. One evening I went to relax at the more local (therefore cheaper and less busy) Veli Bej.
It was pretty nice and there are many things I'd like to come back for, to eat, mainly.
aka Hungry in Hungary.
So many good options, for eating in, takeaway, and vegan groceries, I almost regretted getting a flat with a kitchen. In no particular order...
Junk food and proud, a variety of burgers, not-dogs, salads, macaroni cheese and donuts. Delicious and fast, and pretty cheap, but cramped and busy.
A food truck pretty close to where I was staying. They had a ton of different burgers and I wanted to try most of them. They also have smoothies and mango lassi. It's in a little street of foodtrucks which are open late, so it's a good place to go in nice weather with omnivores; something for everyone.
Sandwiches, soups, salads and burgers. The 'chips' are thin-sliced potato, more like crisps. Nice soft burger buns, easy to eat. Soup was good too, and I had a 'cream cheese' sandwich which was kind of boring. Only two seats, so one time I went we had to stand and juggle the food because it was pouring with rain outside. Good quality food, and close to attractions.
If I ran a vegan restaurant, the kind of food I'd serve can be found at Vegacity. A vast array of pre-made stews, soups, delicious mush, fried things, salads, sushi, vegetables, brightly coloured burgers, rainbow of smoothies and an excellent cake selection. I tried to read the signs, but then just pointed at what looks good. There are two floors of seats, and wifi; I hung out here quite a lot. I should have more food photos, I don't know what happened to them.
Raw cake, breakfasts and snacks. Stopped for good coffee and a few hours working. Not a lot of space, but it wasn't busy. Would return for interesting granola.
A pizza foodtruck in the courtyard of a bar. All very hip and lively at night. And omg the pizza. Amongst the best pizza I've ever had, with an interesting selection of toppings. Sweet potato and chestnut, with vegan mozzerella added, a little combo of sweet and salty, was perfection. The mushroom one also rocked hard. I tried everything on the menu over two visits with other people. All pizzas very structurally unsound. No boxes to takeaway; eat it on the spot or risk it disintegrating in the street.
Both times a pizza was delayed because of an 'accident' (I think they ate it, who could blame them) or severely misshappen and came with an offer of a replacement? I said it was beautiful and ate it as it was. There are seats outside, but the bar (which also serves food) allows the pizza inside as well.
Was... not so great. The first time I went what I thought was well before closing time, but the kitchen was finished. When I did make it to eat I found the menu limited and the prices extortionate. The food was presented to make it seem fancy, and it tasted fine.. I had a dish with porcini mushrooms which really just hold their own and are always amazing. The desserts were miniscule. I wouldn't go again.
A good sized basement restaurant with a lot of Hungarian dishes translated to vegan. Everything I ate here was delicious, with standout goulash (not pictured) and a poppyseed pancake layer cake with a divine chocolate sauce.
Burgers and fries which really fill the junkfood hole. Single-size burgers are small portions, but the prices match, so it's a great place for a substantial snack. There are also double versions, and all come with a variety of fillings. The fries are good, and they have fresh juice instead of soda. There's plenty of space and wifi, though the interior is stark and wasn't cleaned very well when I was there.
For some reason this is the burger of the the month that lingers in my mind and I really want to eat again.
All raw cafe with pre-made dishes in the counter, and many good looking cakes. We took a mix plate between two (some of everything, and crachers) plus smoothies and cake. Definitely healthy and delicate. Some of the little scoops of stuff were so-so, some were super delicious.
Pretty pricey and I wasn't convinced they were justified. I really wanted almond cream pancakes and gnocchi, but both times I went only limited menu items were available. The chickpea omelette was passable, and they have a nice selection of raw cakes. Need to figure out what times the main menu is available though.
I walked past this place after eating at VegaCity, which looks like it just opened. Didn't get chance to go back. There's a bakery next to Tokmag called Fill Good which I wish I'd found sooner. It's only takeaway, but they have a huge range of sweet and savoury vegan baked goods. I took a bunch for my road trip, but didn't get a good photo. It was all delicious.
Last days in Budapest. To the Liberty Statue, and eating.
