A short trip to Kospallag

We made an impulsive decision to spend the weekend in a forest hotel in Northern Hungary where we had been planning to go in mid-May.

Our friend Tsvete, however, decided that now would be as good time as ever to get away from the city. This was all part of her cunning plan not to buy a hypothetical weekend house worth a hypothetical 20,000 euro (minimum) but invest the money in travel instead.

So, thanks to her enthusiasm and booking skills, we set off to Szent Orban Erdei Hotel (literally, the forest hotel of Saint Orban).

The hotel is made of wood so you have this nice, mountain-hut kind of feeling. It is actually situated on the top of a hill in what passes as a mountain (by Hungarian standards), surrounded by forest (thus the name). It is just the hotel and the woods--the nearest village is a few kilometers downhill.

We went for a walk and ran into Jesus. These kinds of religious displays are rare in Hungary but perhaps it has something to do with Saint Orban, who gave the name to the hotel (I admit I have no idea who Saint Orban was).

A horse was grazing on a field across from the hotel where we were hanging around watching Ruslan and Lia slide on something that I don't know how to name in English, or in any other language.

The device in question and Ruslan, ever the adventurer.

The wind did not prevent us from enjoying our lunch outside...

...but the inside pool proved to be the major attraction. Here is Andrej, wrapped up in a towel looking like a Roman senator. You can see the impatience in his eyes--bring on the pool!

Solishta

This will be mainly a picture post. This is Solishta, a village in Rhodopi Mountain. My friend Zlatka's family has a house there and I have visited this village for almost 20 years. This time we returned there in winter time to celebrate the New Year.

Turlata (photo: Mariana Zhechkova)

Rosehip (photo: Mariana Zhechkova)

Zlatka's house (photo: Mariana Zhechkova)

The whole group without Richard and Desi. (photo: Richard Coupland)

View of Solishta (photo: Mariana Zhechkova)

(photo: Mariana Zhechkova)

Travels with Kapuscinski

One of the really nice things about our regular winter pilgrimage to Lazarevats (Serbia) and Sliven (Bulgaria) this year was Jelica reading to me ‘Travels with Herodotus’ by Richard Kapuscinski while I was driving. Sometimes these long drives can be just a bit boring (10h. from Lazarevats to Sliven) but we found the cure this time – reading. Well, it is easy to listen and not that easy to read but Jelica did it so well. Dziekuje (thanks in Polish). To whoever doesn’t know Richard Kapuscinski is a famous Polish journalist writing mostly about his travels. This is only the second book I (we) were reading after the Shadow of the Sun which Nathalie happily possesses now.

There is a funny story about all that. I found out about Kapucsinski thanks to a Spanish friend of mine – Mar Roman – whom I met in Kenya. Mar is happily married to an Indian now but the Shadow of the Sun is about Africa. Actually ‘Travels with Herodotus’ is partly about India. My copy of the Shadow of the Sun is with Nathalie whom I met in Budapest but Nathalie is currently in Kenya where I first discovered about Kapuscinski. It’s a crazy world.

But let me mention just a couple of words about Kapuscinski. I really recommend him to anybody who likes travelling and to anybody who finds it hard to travel to poor, run down countries like most of the African countries he depicts in the Shadow of the Sun. He simply shows how it is possible to find beauty, friendship and love even in the most wretched and dictatorial places. He proves how it is possible to turn on the ‘good filters’, of course properly analyzing all that the ‘bad filters’ filter out.

View of the seafront in Lamu, Kenya

Local girl in Lamu

Caravan of Metal Camels

On 20th of December we set sails south on our regular Christmas pilgrimage to Serbia and Bulgaria. We always know and humbly accept that we are a part of a mass exodus of gastarbeiters (including ourselves) from the west to the south but we always hope that somehow we would not be a part of the main wave.

This time it didn't look that bad and at one point Jelica even said 'There is not a living soul on the road'. I didn't quite agree as there were quite many Austrian, German, Swiss, Italian and Swedish cars swishing by, passengers' faces a bit darker than the average Swiss or Austrian's.

What was our surprise then when we got to the border and we realised that there are about 5 km of cars waiting in line to cross the border. We quickly calculated that this would be 6-8 hours of waiting which is a terrifying thing with two kids in the back, one banana and two oranges.

Then I somehow felt compelled to use my diplomatic registration, semi diplomatic status whatever. Sometimes I feel ashamed for that but I somehow managed to get away with 50 min. altogether, something that would have taken many hours otherwise.

But my post was not about that. It was about all those many thousands of people - like us at the moment - who spend their lives travelling back and forth from Zurich to Kraguevac, from Munich to Pristina, from Lucerne to Pozarevac, from Salzburg to Adana and many of them from Wien to everywhere. We sometimes unfairly call them the Viennese Turks or the Turkish Viennese.

Observing all those migrating people would make an excellent sociological research. I wonder if someone did his PhD studying these people's lives, travels, families, the cars they are using, their links with families back in the countries, the financial streams from west to south and the admiration streams from east to west.

I remember these people (or more precisely the Turkish part of them who were crossing Bulgaria) even in the 80s when they were still driving old black Mercedeses full of veiled women and several kids. It seemed to me then that they had some strange, distorted lives.

But....I still often get amazed that now I am in a very similar situation.:-)

Albania

I just spent four days in Albania and it was a really positive experience. First, the team was great as I was there with my colleagues and friends Ellen and Christelle and also Andras Kis who is a great guy indeed. It was really quite different experience from staying a week in Copenhagen alone and working 12 hours a day.

Then it was great discovering that Tirana is changing for the better indeed. I first visited the country in the spring of 2006, then in January 2007 and the city has always looked to me as the only city in Europe messier than Sofia. I am not sure about that any more: the roads in Tirana are nice now, the sidewalks are wide and free from parked cars, it is relatively clean.

And the city is really lively. We were there on Friday night and it was packed with young partying people.

The other great thing about this trip is that I went out of the city for the first time - in Kruja and Berat. Kruja is an interesting place not far from Tirana but it was dark and we didn't see much, just some stars and a landing plane. Otherwise, it was the birthplace of Skanderbey and a capital of the country in the 14th century.

Then we visited Berat which resembles Plovdiv I think with its old Ottoman style houses. The weather was great and we just spent several hours there walking around, drinking coffee and watching the hens and cats walk around. We were about the only tourists there give or take a few. We thought that it would be cool to be able to turn into a hen. Andras chose dolphin and a bird. We thought it would be cool to be able to change into a bird and fly away during a boring workshop. The only problem would come if you jump through the window having been transformed into a dolphin.

We also visited the ethnographical museum in Berat where the small dark room where women stayed when men had guests became the highlight of the visit. Our Swedish and Dutch friends really appreciated that and said that they would like to introduce this model in their countries.:-)

Up, up and almost in Romania

This summer we ventured further north than ever before on the Bulgarian coast and stayed for a week in the Russalka resort (north of Balchik and Kavarna, close to Romanian border). Although I remain a staunch fan of the Adriatic and pretty sceptical to whatever Black Sea has to offer, I have to admit that I actually liked Russalka a lot, primarily because it is so green and the sea is clear (and clean) and beautiful.

In fact, now that I've seen quite a few places on the Black Sea coast, my vote definitely goes to the north over the south. Through luck or wisdom, the north managed to avoid over-construction, and the natural beauty has been preserved. You get this feeling of space that you absolutely don't have (anymore) any place south of Varna. I hope they manage to preserve it as it is, although Ruslan thinks it is just a matter of time before they ruin it, too. Let's hope they learn from their own mistakes, since the results of chaotic, unbridled building are already hurting tourism big time.

And speaking of north, I have now seen the last remaining corner of Bulgaria that I hadn't visited before--the northwest. We decided to experiment this time and rather than travel through Sofia and on to Serbia we took the road going from Veliko Tarnovo through Mezdra, Vraca, Montana and Kula. This was the closest I ever came to Vidin but there was no time to stop and see it. I know it is not famous for its sightseeing attractions, but it reminds me of my friend Vlado, who used to live there before moving to New York (via Blagoevgrad). I would have liked to see the place he grew up.

Instead, we had to stop in the village of Dimkovo because we were getting pretty hungry and hadn't passed a single restaurant in miles. We had lunch in a zakusvalnya (small restaurant) on the central square, the kind of place which has plastic tables and chairs and probably questionable hygienic practice in the kitchen. The prices were unbelievable: 1.5 lev (70 euro cents) for a soup, 2.5 lev (1.25 euro cents) for a meal and the food was actually tasty. If you ever pass through the village of Dimkovo and you're starving, might be worth a stop--if not for the food, at least for the feeling that you've traveled back in time and landed in the '80s.

Weekend in Slovakia

We spent a lovely weekend in Slovakia, in the hilly region close to the quite unremarkable town of Nova Bana. The fresh mountain air did wonders to my (otherwise nonexistant) appetite, so I ate enormous quantities of Slovak food which would, under any other circumstances, leave me completely cold. I mean, there is only so much fried and breaded meat you can have in two days even if you are not exactly a veggie fan.

But it was great to see Laura, Claudiu and Mara again, in a little bit different settings. The kids had great fun playing with the goat outside of the panzio--a great entertainer, the little fellow, and for free, too.

I am waiting for Claudiu to post more photos from the trip so that I can steal them; in the meantime, a picture of sleepy Mara and just-kind-of-standing-there Andrej.

Luxemburg

I spent the whole Saturday with Dana and Radu in Luxembourg. It’s funny it made me think of a winter evening at least four years ago when I was in Buacharest and we went out to a bar. That’s when I met Radu in fact.

The trip from Brussels to Luxembourg was quite pleasant. The two-storey train was full of students going back home for the weekend. Most of them descended in all those towns along the line, Namur being the biggest. I remembered my student years when I used to make a very similar trip from Sofia to Sliven with the 4 pm express. This trip could be such fun depending on the company. It could be long and boring of course.

The Belgium train was clean fast and comfortable, a real pleasure. However, I was thinking that some of the early 1990s Bulgarian trains fun was rooted in the compartment system. Several friends could occupy a compartment and create great atmosphere for four hours. This wouldn’t be possible in the modern types of trains which incite you to quietly discuss things.

Luxembourg is a very strange town situated in a valley and the hills and plateaus around. It’s not very densely built so in the centre - very elusive - there are huge areas of green that allow the city to breathe. Luxembourg is plagued by striking poverty, its inhabitants still being far from the EUR 50,000 per capita GDP. Not all of these poor people can afford to change their BMWs annually or to buy a big house overlooking the valley.

Today we had a fun trip around the country, first north to a nice town by the river Sure, then east to Sure’s confluent with Mosel and then south along the Mosel. The road was on the verge of being romantic but not quite so. They say the German side is better. It was great though - driving slowly, cracking jokes and listening to Bob Dylan’s Saaarah. There were small hilly vineyards by the road and the landscape used to turn more impressive when the sun managed to pierce the clouds.

In the late afternoon we hurried back to Luxembourg to visit the European Court of Justice and the European Investment Bank where there was an open doors day. It was curious but not impressive. The architecture of those buildings depresses me a bit. It smells of inefficiency and rigidity. I hope I am wrong. The important thing is that Dana feels ok there.

I liked a lot Dana’s apartment looking at a nice quiet park. And very importantly, she has a great baby foot table. I had a steep learning curve yesterday and even managed to beat them a couple of times.

I had a great weekend with friends. I hope Radu is not angry that asked him questions about my knee. It turned out that he has operated cruciate ligaments and knows things about my cartilage problem. Sorry, Radu. Thanks for everything, Dana.

Brussels

Recently when people around me mention they are going to Brussels they emphasize how boring this city is and how very unappealing their trip would be. I don’t agree with this at all. I find Brussels a very interesting place to be.

I have been in Brussels for the last several days and I have enjoyed it a lot. First, the weather was excellent – sunny with a slight breeze. Then I followed Wiolka’s advise and I went to Mozart Hotel, a nice and very funny place, 50 m. away from La Grande Place. In this hotel everything is kind of fake Mozart style – sofas, chairs, walls but it is not irritating, strangely. And very importantly, there is a strong wi-fi signal in the lobby and this was very important to me knowing that I has important staff to send.

Yesterday, I saw an old friend of mine – Albena – who lives in Brussels with her son and her mother and works for the World Health Organisation. They live in a beautiful part of the city resembling a lot Paris. The evening was great and there was ‘supa topceta’ (a Bulgarian meatball soup) and steak with Bordeaux wine. Then, we all watched the Sarkozy-Royale debate which was absolutely captivating to me. No matter that they both have bouts of demagogy now and again, we have to admit that they are both very high quality politicians.

Today we finished earlier and I had a very long walk in the streets or so it felt to my ailing knee. What is very special about Brussels is that it is the perfect border city between two cultures. One enjoys the frenchness of the cafes and the restaurants as well as some parts of the architecture. However, this elegance is strictly controlled by the more austere Dutch air of some of the architecture and some of the churches. What is different in Brussels is that it doesn’t have an architectural coherence; it is a mixture of French and Dutch, Walloon and Flemish. On top of it, there is this huge European ‘quarter’ that gives it a third dimension.

I have to review the history lessons about the establishment of Belgium and the development of Brussels. It would be interesting to know how the Belgium nation has been formed after the creation of a new country in 1830 following the Napoleonic wars. I also remember that Belgium was often the freer and more liberal neighbour of France. I think Emile Zola spent some time here as well as Verlain and Rimbeaud. This evening I was looking for this pub where they shot at each other and Verlain slightly wounded Rimbeaud. Crazy people. What I found great tonight while wondering in the small winding streets is that there are so many houses that feel kind of really old not and are not fully renovated. They are not run down or dilapidated but they have some patina on them. With a little bit of imagination one goes back to the end of the 19th century or at least to the 1920s when my grandfather - Zaharia - used to stroll those streets for 5 years while studying at the Brussels Technical University. I would like so much to know where exactly he lived as well as other details from these times. It is such a pity that there are no traces from this period of his life: a time completely gone.

I find it also very cool that the city is completely bilingual. Everybody changes Flemish and French just like that. Street names are also in both languages. Hotel Mozart is on the street Marche au Fromage which is Kaasmarkt in Dutch (Cheese Market). In fact there are many streets that bear the names of different markets: coal market, fish market, etc.. I also saw a street called ‘Chair and Pain’ (Flesh and Bread). Isn’t it great? And La Grande Place: despite being such a touristic place it is also a beautiful old square. I read today on one of the main buildings that some of the houses were rebuild in the 19th century replacing buildings that were destroyed in the 1687 bombardment…….

Unfortunately, I could not go to any museum today. I tried to visit the Museum of Instruments following Albena’s advice but I was too late. I would also revisit again the Musee des Beaux Arts where I have been in 1995. I remember it had a great collection of Dutch paintings which I like a lot.

I had another positive experience today. I had to find another hotel as all the rooms were taken in my hotel for tonight. I saw a sign ‘Rooms’ and I entered. The price was suspiciously low. An African man gave me a key for room 22. It turned out to be an excellent spacious room under the roof looking at a beautiful square.

Pictures from Bulgaria