We will be off on what is becoming an annual break to Budapest. We have done it a couple of times this time of year and it’s always excellent.
the thermal baths are outstanding
the above are further enhanced by freezing outdoor temps, open air thermal baths when it’s 1 degree outside are great fun. Last year it snowed while we were submerged in 40 degree water, it’s quite surreal.
great ruin bars,
sturdy and hearty food
superb markets, architecture, attractions and sights.
it’s so cheap! We booked four nights in a four star hotel, with breakfasts and including flights, the whole trip cost £400 for two people!
I used to go quite a lot, late 80s and liked it but winters and the snow were challenging. I recall driving an empty van along & having it rotate a full 360 degrees (fortunately on a quiet road) on well packed snow. But in Summer the city was lovely despite being expensive. Must try to go again although really fancy a Norwegian driving holiday.
I went for a few days this week as I haven’t been for many years and had fond memories of the place.* I love the gothic architecture, rooms with high ceilings and large sash windows, and how looking north and east you see the sea, and south the hills. People are very friendly (ok coming from London it’s a low bar…) and cultured. Having a nosy look through peoples’ windows on my perambulations, it’s interesting how many rooms in peoples’ houses have large bookcases full of books. I also recall people being really into their music. This time, I discovered Dean Village and the surrounding area which I’m sure is well known but was new to me - it was very whimsical. I’ll try and upload some photos but some of the shots looked like the front cover of a fantasy-themed novel. Tall spired churches and viaducts appearing through gaps in the trees, etc.
Mid-Review Turnaround
However, much as I love visiting, I definitely wouldn’t want to live there. The architecture, nice as it is, is pretty dark at the best of times - I’d be pretty depressed during the long dark winters. I also harbour a suspicion that the reason so many people (at least that I’ve encountered) are into reading and music so much is because it’s pretty crap going out for a lot of the year, so they’ve found ways to entertain themselves indoors. A brief search of Games Workshop stores in the UK shows a large number in Scotland - they’re more densely populated there than anywhere else.
It was also interesting that in walking around the city, things get pretty dull almost immediately outside the square mile of the center of the city. Walking both to Leith and Murrayfield proved pretty grim experiences. I’d happily visit again and again, but as a place to live, it left me feeling slightly cold.
Before you all jeer at what an ignoramous I am, the above is just from two days of walking around, so I admit there’s much I probably missed.
*A drunken house party where a really fit Swedish bioscience PhD girl promised to bite my lip while riding me and smear my blood on her cheeks like some kind of erotic warpaint may have played a role in this. For the life of me I can’t remember how I managed to bottle this.
Yeah, it was actually quite warm in the sun until the wind blew and then it suddenly turned icy. I guess being on the edge of the North Sea and all…
Does that include the area around Moray Place - Lynedoch Place? I passed through on my way to Dean Village and it was the private gardens adjoining the river behind those houses that I accidentally walked through where I was commenting that it felt fantasy-setting like.
That was a nice area, felt a bit like the Hampstead/Belsize Park equivalent part of town. I presume most people around there are in the local asset management business scene?
