Zayn Malik's Face and the Humble Lángos Stand

When last we left our heroine (I use the term loosely as I have no real heroic qualities), she was debating the merits of going out to enjoy her last night in Budapest. She did not do that. She is switching back to the first person now. But I did stay in and hang out with very nice hostel guests...

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Arms Race; Legs Fail

I started off my day yesterday with a trip to the Central Market Hall for gift shopping. I am terrible at gift shopping, and so it was overwhelming and upsetting. The thing is, I really do love and care about the people in my life, but I'm bad at remembering what they like (and, importantly, what...

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Creative Skin Diseases from Strangers

Budapest! Budapest Keleti station. I've been staring at a blank screen for a while, because I hardly know where to start in writing about Budapest. It's incredible. It's both familiar and like nowhere I've ever been. I don't feel like I have any sort of handle on it yet. In Vienna, for example,...

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Bratislava II: The Weekendening

Content note: discussion of rape culture. I decided to stay another night in Bratislava so I could at least spend a full day there and not arrive in Budapest in the dark. The hostel I'd stayed in was booked up for Friday night, so I couldn't extend my stay. "We're expecting a big British group," she...

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The Climbing of Poles and the Kindness of Strangers

Yesterday morning dawned sunny and cold, and I headed out early to visit Schönbrunn Palace. Well, the outside. I'm not actually super interested in palaces, and nothing can ever really top the time Emily and I missed the audio guides at Hampton Court and so instead took ourselves on an entirely made...

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Giant Rocks and Lettuce Bombs

Depending on how much you like me and/or Vienna, you may be pleased to know that after my initial cold, lonely and sad day, I (a) wore my jacket, (b) made new friends and (c) saw a whole lot of cool things, and now I like Vienna a whole lot more. Somewhere palatial.  If you don't like me and/or...

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I Don't Know About You, but I'm Feeling... 26?

And we're off! With Taylor Swift in my ears and my trusty £2 travel scarf around my neck. (Trustworthiness of other items of clothing yet to be established.) Hello from blurry Vienna!  First off, can I please just say how impressed I am with my packing skills? My usual backpack is (probably?)...

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Whisked Away by Whims

I sidle back in.  You glance up. But you're cool. You're chilled. You don't make it weird. It's been over a year since we last saw each other. So much has happened in that time. Am I the same person? Are you? You wonder whether those questions even have meaning in a world where memory is constructed...

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