TRAVEL: Budapest

If my trip to Barcelona last year was defined by the value Catalonians place on their art, then visiting Budapest showed how Hungary can exemplify the best of grandeur and grassroots, and seamlessly integrate both into daily life. With pubs in the middle of ruined buildings a block across from the gilt and splendour of the most beautiful cafe in the world, although its recovery from the past is slow it feels like nothing can stop Budapest flowering for long.

I spent four days and four nights just soaking the place up; it's my first visit to central Europe and it has a very different vibe from the Mediterranean. Though I found that really difficult to get used to initially, I pretty quickly fell in love - Budapest has the extensive and detailed history that is characteristic of the area, and I split my days learning about it in the day then visiting the ruin bars in the evening.

Depressing as it was to return to the real world and wake up to news of a Brexit, I'm really keen to try the rest of the Hapsburg triumverate soon (regardless of whether I'm going to need a visa or not).


Has anyone else been away recently? What's happening in everyone's lives? I've been sleeping enough for three after graduating and moving out and finishing work all in the one week, but I want to know what everyone else is doing!

     

Barcelona: Four Days and Four Nights

Sun, sangria, and so much art. On exiting the airport, I was immediately accosted by the most Spanish of smells: drains. Yet it wasn't detracting - Barcelona is a city that sits balanced between decay and vitality, with the numbing heat made bearable by the cold saltiness of its seafood. Nowhere is this more perfectly found in the mordernisme buildings of Antoni Gaudi, where bones and living forms are used equally, and the underlying geometry of nature's undulating shapes revealed. Even as a long time lover of brutalism and bauhaus, I cried whilst visiting Casa Batlló it was so lovely.

Of course, there was some time spent drinking silly cocktails on the beach and trawling overpriced tourist shops, but I was touched by just how much the Catalonians cared about their art and civic spaces; graffiti and sculpture were treasured side by side, and I listened and danced to a live jazz concert on the roof of the world heritage site La Pedrera. You can see more of my photos from this brief break on my Instagram (where I also post lots of things that don't make it to the blog), and maybe again in future if I manage to make it back.

Have you visited another city recently? What's your opinions on art in public spaces? Let me know below.

Fiona C.