Beautiful Budapest Part I

After an amazing week in Croatia, we left the country behind and caught a train from Zagreb to Budapest in Hungary.  We had decided that in Budapest we would spend 2 nights in a quiet hostel and get all of our sightseeing out of the way, and then spend 2 nights in one of the famed party hostels (we settled on Retox Party Hostel).  We arrived at our first hostel, and I immediately managed to break my top bunk.  Clearly I’d put on a few kilos, because one of the bed slats snapped in half when I climbed into my bunk.  Clever Milena.

That evening, we went for a walk by the Danube on the Pest side of Budapest, and what a beautiful sunset it was.  After going for a bit of a walk and working up some hunger, I used Happy Cow to find us a nice vegetarian restaurant.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that eastern Europe isn’t vego friendly.  We walked past so many vegetarian restaurants in Budapest, purely by chance, and were absolutely spoilt for choice.  On our first evening we decided on Govinda’s, a lovely, little Indian restaurant serving up traditional Indian fare as well as some vegetarian takes on local dishes. Yum.  Even after one evening there, I had fallen in love with the beautiful city of Budapest and it was fast becoming evident that 4 nights there just wasn’t enough time to really see everything.

The photos from Govinda’s are annoyingly of pretty awful quality, but that is just because it’s dimly lit and iphone cameras are bad at dealing with that sort of lighting.  So excuse the bad quality photos, but the food was delicious!

The beautiful views we had from our train on the way.  Aren't the sunflowers just stunning?

Gorgeous sunset in Pest.

I didn't know this at the time, but these shoe sculptures are actually a monument to the Jews who lost their lives during World War II.  This memorial place is so simple, yet so effective.

The last one is one of my favourite pictures from today's post! The park had a sign that seemed to quite clearly state no dogs were allowed (my Hungarian is not that great), and it looked like there was a gathering of dog owners and trainers there when we strolled past.  There were at least 30 or 40 dogs all running around this park having an absolute ball.  It was so cute that I made Chewy sit down and watch them with me for a good 15 minutes!

 

These are the unassuming stairs down to Govinda's.

 

A happy chappy at the prospect of a big feed!

 

Pay Govinda's a visit when you're next in Budapest, and I promise you you won't be disappointed!

New Design for Tie-Dye Cheetahs

So I finally got around to getting a new logo thanks to the lovely Chewy who designed it for me.  If you ever have any graphic design needs you should contact him.  His company is called Creature Itch and there is no job too big or small. 

I absolutely love the new header (more new design-y things coming soon), what are your thoughts? 

A Lovely & Sunny Day in Zagreb, Croatia

To be honest, I didn't know much about Zagreb at all before I visited.  Thankfully, the Croatian tourism board really has their act together and provides you with a great map of the city and a set walking tour so you can see all the sites.  So after walking for a solid 45 minutes to the city center from our hostel, the first stop off was some food and drink.  A much harder find than you would think, given it was a Sunday and everything was shut.  That made for some great sightseeing though, as there were also hardly any people around.

Zagreb was a beautiful city, and really surprised me with some great architecture, lovely parks, and great dining (drinking) opportunities.

 

What a healthy and nutritious lunch we had.  I'm pretty sure they don't sell curly fries in Perth, so the novelty factor that these had made them all the more exciting.  Don't judge.

 

Of course we stopped off for some ciders and beer (in Chewy's case) along the way, in this town square.  It was sunny, with a gentle breeze, and we were surrounded by beautiful, old churches and lots of plantlife.  A great time was had by all, and we ended up staying here for a couple of hours.

 

Colourful bins anyone?

 

This amazing looking church was high on our list of things to see as soon as we saw the spire from a distance.  Unfortunately I was 'inappropriately' dressed to enter it, and so this picture from the outside will do.  Upon trying to get in, an old gentleman at the door promptly stopped me and shooed me outside.  And I was wearing this.

 

And why not end this post with a giant, human sized egg?

Lakes & More Lakes in Plitvice National Park, Croatia

After missing out on going to see the Plitvice Lakes national park last year on a trip to Croatia, I wasn't going to miss out on it a second year.  And it was well worth the visit.  We decided to do it as a day trip from Zagreb (accommodation was cheaper that way) and after being picked up at the horribly early time of 9am from our hostel, we made our way a couple of hundred kilometres south to Plitvice.  

There really isn't much I can tell you about the place that photos won't do a much better job of showing.  There are a lot of absolutely stunning lakes, the water is unnaturally blue and clear, and the whole national park is just gorgeous.  There are several different walks you can do, but due to time constraints we had to do a walk that was timed as being 3 to 4 hours long, rather than the longest walk which is 6 to 8 hours long.  I don't know why, you must crawl to do it that slowly.  Honestly, we took our time, took heaps of photos, and still made it in about 2.5 hours.  So if you go, I would highly recommend doing the longest walk, although walk 'F" which we did, is beautiful too.

Enjoy the photos!

 

If you visit Croatia, definitely pay Plitvice a visit.  It's pretty cheap (remember your student card if you're still at uni for a decent discount), easy to get to, and definitely one of the most beautiful national parks I've ever been to.

All the beautiful photos in this post were taken by Chewy, aka Master Photographer of Landscapes.  Unfortunately I can't take any credit for the gorgeous shots (except the one I took of him). 

Floaty Skirts & Cropped Tops

Whilst in Zagreb, I decided to indulge in a little photographic work for the next outfit post.  They're a bit few and far between at the moment, as backpacking for 10 months and having lots of nice clothing aren't two things that generally go hand in hand.  But anyway, I managed to throw together a very simple little something.

My absolutely favourite skirt at the moment is a floaty number from Urban Outfitters.  It's comfy and lovely, and perfect for summer.  Thanks to a massive online shopping spree, I found a great little acid wash crop top too, and luckily the two work quite nicely together.  The crop top is also from Urban Outfitters, as is my bag.  Yes, I have a bit of a love affair going on with Urban Outfitters, but they haven't yet made it to Australia, and you always want what you can't have.  My sandals are just a simple pair from H&M, perfect for more or less any occasion.  Speaking of H&M, has anyone seen the stunning pictures of Doutzen Kroes in their latest summer campaign? Jaw dropping.

Thankfully Zagreb is full of some beautiful, quiet little corners so here are some photos (a post about Zagreb is currently in the works).

 

Serious.

Not so serious.