une semaine fabuleuse en images

Je reviens d'une semaine de vacances fabuleuse dans le Sud de la France.  Quelques images pour vous dessiner ce qui m'a traversé l'esprit pendant ces derniers jours:  

Petit rappel de qui est le boss.

Groupe trip-hop/hip-hop/électro marseillais qui vient de changer ma vie musicale avec leurs volumes I et II.

Rouler.

Film réalisé par Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko !) en 2006 avec The Rock, Justin Timberlake, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Wallace Shawn, et d'autres.  Une film complètement fou sur une sorte de fin du monde.

La Cale Sèche à Toulouse: bar à rhum qui ne déçoit pas.

Petit session de fraises bio des champs à coté de Nîmes.  Confiture délicieuse.

Mami à 81 ans!  Allez, repas surprise.

En haut du Pic St. Loup.  Righteous.

La prochaine fois qui je serai à Montpellier avec la famille sera dans une année.  Ciao, bises.

"streets," skinny dirt paths, and charming staircases

Buda Buda Buda.  Pest Pest Pest.

 Very first thoughts: Oh my gahhh! We're in Hungary!  This is Budapest!  Ahhhhh.  How does this country work?  We are here but we have no forint.  This people look so Hungarian.  Where is an ATM?  How do we get metro tickets? Ahhhhh.

Cue us walking in circles until I finally got the guts to ask an official-looking-woman where the "bankomat" was --- scary, scary, scary.

When we got to the Goat Hostel, we were greeted in the staircase by Steve - the most extraordinary man I've ever met.  He and his broken English led us into what would be our dwelling for the remainder of the trip - the warmest homiest non-home in all of Europe - hardwood floors, couches, giganto windows, slightly off-taste curtains, a view on a happening Hungarian street, coffee machine - it was all there.

It was rather late by the time we arrived, so we had a super cool restaurant picked out from our guidebook that we planned on chowing down at.  Our hostel was on the Pest side, and the dining locale was on the Buda side, so we had to cross over the Danube, which was a.w.e.s.o.m.e.  I just love bridges, being over big quantities of water, watching the liquid crash into the strong pillars, it's just great - and even greater at night.  Budapest has a lot of famous bridges - Liberty Bridge {right right next to our hostel}, Elizabeth Bridge, and Chain bridge.  I think these bridges are why, out of all three capitals of the Hapsburg Triumvirute, Budapest reminded me most of Paris.  We crossed the sparkly Chain Bridge on our hunt for the restaurant.

{photo credit to Christopher Servidio}

At this point, through our experiences in Prague and Vienna, I had assumed the role of navigator, à la Christopher Columbus, with a map of the city always just a zipper away.  Usually I did my job like a pro, getting us from sight to sight in no time, but Budapest didn't want me to get promoted too quickly.  Under my guidance, we climbed to the top of Buda, we walked around the Castle district, made our way down "streets," skinny dirt paths, and charming staircases.  After about an hour and a half of circling and confusion, my failure was officially declared.  Surrounded by a slight gray cloud of shame, we made our way back down the hill, settling on a cute place right by our hostel, approximately 20 meters from where we had first started.  fail.  However, the food was yummy, and it was a great precursor to a wonderful night's sleep.

Every one of my days in Budapest started off with the most perfect cup of coffee - like whoa.  Our hostel offers free breakfast and whoever is on guard at the time -- we were privy to three different people during our stay (including extraordinary Steve) -- makes you the most delicious coffee ever.  I don't know if it was the even-betterlooking-than-starbucks-steamed milk that topped it off or the charming glass mugs it was served in, but wow - just wow.

Walking to the top of Buda - this time in daylight and with fewer furrowed brows, skin taking in the sunshine - was probably my favorite part of our entire Eastern European trip.  As a resident of Paris, I miss hiking and mountains and leaves and dirt :: and the walk to the Liberation Monument that sits atop Gellért Hill offered it all.  By the time we got all the way up, we were hot - a phenomenon that started atop that hill, and unfortunately, ended there as well.  After a magnificent pause of admiration and rest, our adventures continued.

We went to the National Gallery, atop Buda hill number two (via elevator shh), located in a part of Buda Castle.  The simplistic exhibits allowed us to take in lots and lots of Hungarian art - from medieval to contemporary.  I really loved the secessionist art.  Unfortunately I lost the names I had noted down of the artists that intrigued me.  But that's okay, I'll just go back.  {side note: I also must go back because this visit of Budapest didn't include a trip to the baths, I know, the concept is heretical, I don't even want to talk about it}.

We hardly ever took the metro - walking was just so pleasant, with the sun shining and all.  However, some of our walking was not so sunny -- enter the Buda Castle Labyrinth.  Advertised as a children's attraction, we couldn't help but hope it was perfect for us.  I don't really know what I was expecting from it, but when I actually entered the underground edifice of never-ending paths, dirt, and dripping water, I kind of freaked out.  Demanding that I be held by Isa on my left and Chris on my right {to keep me from the Labyrinth monsters} at all times, I'm proud, and surprised, to say I made it out alive.

Dinner took place at the Kaltenberg, or rather, the Kaltenberg Bavarian Royal Restaurant.  This former tabacco factory is now an etterem that brews its own beers, has charming vaulted medieval ceilings, offers half-off dishes on the weekend !!, and provides musical happiness with a live-band trio that simply lights up the night.  After a delicious meal we headed over to Szimpla, an alternative bar full with a painfully hip crowd and delicious pints.

Sunday was not only our last day in Budapest, it was the last day of our fabulous winter break, of our entire Eastern European fiasco.  In celebration of this very important day, we: got lost in an authentic Hungarian flea market, swirled at Liberty Square, walked around St. Stephen's Basilica, got kicked out of Parliament, got snowed on {!??!?!?}, and, most importantly, ate a dish adorned with paprika and learned how to say cheers - "egészségére" - pronounced "agiyeh shaygadrah" (or maybe we just heard our waiter wrong, I don't know, Hungarian spelling really mystified me).

We arose early Monday morning to take our final plane back to Paris.  As I lingered in the airport, I reminisced on all of the wonderful happenings of the past 10 days, of how I could add 4 more countries to my resumé of travels, of how I knew 7 more vocab words, of how I would get to sort through 200+ pictures when I got back, but most importantly, of how friggin cool it was that I drank a good 23 pints in a little over a week - ha, just kidding, or ...?  No, it really was beautiful times.

This being my last post of what was a mind-whirling vacation, I just want to send my love to all of the Londonians, Praguians, Viennese, and Budapestians.  You guys were bomb.

Emily from Yorkshire in the north of England

And I'm back.

The past 10 days have been a whirlwind of languages, currencies, and customs.  I will recount my adventures chunk by chunk -- a city per day -- in hope of not overwhelming the senses.

So, to begin: London.

The trip to the British capital didn't go without a few flukes :: we missed our first train (but didn't have to pay for the replacement, merci to the nice eurostar agent); we had a little trouble getting our lone American past strict British passport control; and my sleepyness decided to walk through security without putting my purse on the x-ray machine, instead keeping it on my shoulder {which kind of screams "I have a big bomb in here} but thankfully the guard just giggled at my obvious mistake and gave me a smile instead of a body slam.

However, once we got to the land of the Queen, everything went swimmingly.  I fell in love with this city.  The architecture is a mismatch of several different generational trends - as was seen from my view as I stood next to the Tate Modern, a converted oil-fired power station originally built in the 50s which now stand as the (free!) Contemporary Art Museum of London.  I looked out on the Thames River, across the super sleek Millennium Footbridge, built in 2000 (duh), with St. Paul's Cathedral, dating from the 17th century, in the background.

{photo credit to Isabella Snyder}

We visited the Westminster Abbey, the Gothic Church that stands as the burial place or commemoration lieu for many British extraordinaires - Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Darwin, Newton, Jane Austen, and many many monarchs - you get the idea.  It is here that I had my audio guide revelation - audio guides, or more specifically free audio guides, are wonderful - they force you to pause and appreciate what's around you and give you fun anecdotal stories that breathe life into the places you've seen.

We also walked through St. James Park, gazed at Buckingham Palace, said hey to Big Ben, and participated in an impromptu photo shoot in a wonderfully-red Londonian telephone booth.

More important than any of the sights that blessed my eyes - was the food that blessed my taste buds.  J'adore pub food.  Sausage sandwiches, fish and chips, peas, Strongbow (British cider that we all went a little mad for) - it was beyond wonderful.

 {photo credit to Katie McCabe}

The first night was spent out on the town - I developed this thing where I would put on the most extraordinary British accent and introduce myself as "Emily, from Yorkshire, in the north of England" to far too many strangers.  Most chaps flattered me by insisting that I sounded authentic, others, not so much.  It was this night that I saw someone's credit card being stolen out of an ATM - the typical trick where one guy tells you that you dropped something and as you lean down to pick it up, his partner grabs your possession.  It was crazy actually seeing it happen, and in a rush of courage and adrenaline, I ran over to the thief - a stout middle-aged man who didn't speak English - and demanded that he give the lady, a most likely tipsy girl in her mid twenties, her card back.  I kept urging that he return it immediately as he went through his wallet, pulling out random cards, trying to prove that he had committed no crime.  After another 20 seconds or so of my demands, he ran off quickly, credit card in tow.  I guess I just don't have very good luck at ATMs.

I didn't let the money mishap ruin my night, which developed quite swelly --- from a chic cocktail bar, to the Roxy [a multi-personality club playing the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and hits from the 00s!!], landing 5 slightly intoxicated students on floor cushions in what has been named the "Love Den" - the 8 x 12 dorm room of our wonderful hostess Katie, a friend of Isa's from Santa Barbara.

The second night was just as exciting, in a drastically different way - a Lady Gaga way.  We got to the O2 arena, greeted by thousands of superbly dressed fans: hair in bows, beads, 6 inch heels, sequins, color - just magnificent.  Although our nose-bleed seats made Lady G look like a little ant, a beautiful little ant she was.  The show took its audience on a wonderful journey to the Monster Ball, with Gaga pausing every now and then for a costume change or a convo with her little monsters, her endearing name for all of her fans.  She really is a sweet person --- while I fell in love with her music through youtube and deezer, I fell in love with her person in a British arena with 50 000 other people.

Our last day in Londontown was spent on the posh Oxford Street - a big change from the cutesy market shopping on Portobello Road {in Notting Hill!} that we took part in the day before - with a final pub pause at the "Lamb and Flag," sausage and Strongbow included.

{photo credit to Chris Servidio}

A semi-stressed train ride to Gatwick brought us to the airport that would bring me to a country, language, and currency that I had never experienced before - Prague.