Tres cappucinos por favor!

I had the pleasant opportunity to charge my batteries on a week and a half holiday. Then again, usually my holidays are not all that quiet and relaxing as I like to hit off as soon as I slam the byro door. This time I choose to explore Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. Obviously, the time being so scarce, one can only see a few things in each place. But never mind that, I am more a “wonderer discoverer” than a devoted tourist exhausted ticking off sights one after another. What this means is that I do not necessarily need to see a single monument, museum or fancy building. I like to walk on the streets and simply absorb the vibes of that particular place. Live & enjoy the moment there and then, observe the people on their daily dealings, become part of the flow and what not. Therefore my favourite holiday spot is easy to find in practically everywhere… All I need is a good café (or whatever joint that has something to attract me in). I was travelling with Marta and Djura, my two colleagues from Infosys and every day we made sure that there is enough time for coffees.

As I passed quite a few borders, saw quite many places and even visited some sights, it makes no sense to try to capture the moments on this posting. I will upload photos in here. Just some words about the journey. I started in Budapest, where I met Pepez and Dora again after some years I suppose (needless to say…but felt like only yesterday). They were so kind to let me stay in their flat. Thanks!! The purpose of my visit to beautiful Budapest was not just to see the city, even if it is always lovely to return there. I decided in the spring that as I now live so close I should visit the Sziget festival. Experiencing it a few times before, it has definitely set the standard high of how a massive party should look like. But, yea my feelings after going there this year remain twofold. On the other hand it was fantastic to go there again (and also to meet Jarmo, an old friend from those times!) But then again, I sure could notice the presence of those years gained in the meanwhile. I am definitely older and more tired than I was 6 years ago. Also the festival had grown and one could hardly hear any Hungarian spoken among the crowds of all the international guests flooding in. Was in the end quite overwhelming. Hence, it was finally somewhat a relief to jump on the train and continue to the Croatian seaside. We had not planned this part that well, so we decided on the spot to go to Pula, which is located in the peak of the Istrian peninsula. We stayed in an ok hostel directly by the beach and did not see much effort of lifting our limbs from there during those two days.

The Slovenian capital Ljubljana really made an impression on us. I mean, if you have the chance, visit it! So beautiful and cosy. Slovenia is an interesting little country very much resembling its neighbouring Italy and Austria than its former comrades on the eastern side. And the country has it all: little bit of Mediterranean sea side as well as mountains as the Alps are stretching in from the North. Typically for a small country, all the people seem to know at least two languages (the other of them being mostly English) I was shocked by the lady in the post office who with clear English asked if she could help me somehow. I mean, that would not happen here in Brno, ever.



Travelling always awakens the appetite to go further. It can be bit of a downer to finally start heading home after the journey. I am already planning the next holidays. Too bad there is a thing called work preventing me from going on...

Culturally yours

Many people who actually managed to drag themselves outside Europe, you now... willing to express REAL cultural differences, are keeping far more interesting blogs about their strange encounters. I however keep noticing similarities and would like to take a moment to report on those. Maybe I've mentioned some of them before already, but hey! "repetition is the mother of learning". Firstly Czech (and okay also Slovak) people are totally fanatic about ice hockey. This is one of the rare Central/Eastern European hockey countries. Well there might be a team from like Ukraine in the world championships, but these are always just among the appeticers for the real games during the final week of the tournament. Czech and Slovak teams, or usually at least one of them, go to the final six. Relating to ice hockey, I was told that the Czech ice hockey dudes usually date the beauty queen chicks, something which also is an interesting similarity (there are a lot of these "Miss this and that" contests here, again another common feature).

Another very common interest between the Finns and the Czechs is (aber natuerlich!) beer. Finns just don't know how to make it, whereas the Czechs seem to master the art perfectly. This is unfortunately also noticed by my belly as well... (It is growing… damn!)

Czechs are real outdoor people. Virtually almost everyone owns a tent and other sort of camping gear. In the city there are always many people who look like they are either coming or going to some outdoor activity. There are many very nice hiking routes, and what is striking to me is that one can quite easily hike from a village to another in just a few minutes. In a vast land like Finland, it is hardly possible. Hiking routes are also excellent for biking. The locals seem to love it. Where I am used to using a bike as a cheap and healthy means of transport, here you actually take the bike (+ your nice professional looking biking outfit) and perform an activity called biking in the nature. Back home, you already are in the nature and just bike along without any fancy gear. Anyway, the love for nature and outdoor activities is common for us, never mind the little differences in environment and habits.