SofaWolves

171 – Eating our way round Zagreb

You know that health kick I started…well today it got triumphantly sidelined 🤣 We hunted down some of the best food Zagreb has to offer and combined it with two wonderful museums.

As a side note, last night I managed to convince myself to go for a run. I’ve had a bad relationship with exercise for the last 4-6 weeks and struggled to motivate myself. So as a new approach: no pressure, no sport watch, aim for a mile, any further a bonus…

It worked, I likely did a couple of miles and found some amazing graffiti.

In pursuit of more art, our morning walk was to the Art Park behind the cathedral. There were some great examples but the best part for us were the many dogs running free. Our three joined in and Ernest had the best time running manic with an 8 month old puppy.

We dropped the pups home and then went back to the Upper Town via a delicious cafe called Vis a Vis which has plenty of vegan cake choices. I’ve no idea why there is laundry at the top of the hill.

Two must see museums are the Naive Art museum which is only small but has some lovely examples of Croatian artists. The second is an absolute gem – The Museum of Broken Relationships. It is poignant, beautiful and the only museum where I’ve read every single exhibit. The random objects each have their personal stories, and though it was very busy with visitors, it was a joy to visit.

For lunch we went to Tkalcica, which is the best street for food and bars. We decided to try a Croatian delicacy Strukli, a dough with various fillings either sweet or savory. I had pumpkin pesto while Mark had red pepper. It’s a great option for vegetarians, and reminded us of lasagne.

By the time we finished eating, the Dolac food market had finished and sadly the mushroom museum was closed all weekend. We spent some time back with the pups then Mark got pizza pangs, so we headed to a lovely restaurant called Basta. Its very atmospheric with great pizza, puddings and local beer/wine options.

I was so full, there was no chance of an evening run, I fell asleep in my clothes 🤣

170 – A glimpse of the quiet Varazdin and Zagreb streets

We hadn’t realised that today is All Saints Day (a Christian holiday celebration for those who have passed into heaven), and thus everywhere is closed, bar a few cafes. This made it especially lovely to visit Varazdin Cemetery, and until I asked a local if there was a special service going on, we were confused why it was so busy.

Locals were bringing large bouquets, lanterns and the street was closed off by police. We have commented before that the eastern European countries take such pride and care over their cemeteries. The graves were immaculate and beautifully adorned.

We then had a walk around the town looking at the churches, castle, and few shops. The angel museum was closed but looked charming from the outside, and we found a recipe for the local delicacy Klipič if anyone fancies trying it.

Zagreb

Our next stop, Zagreb, is a favourite with friends and others in the motorhome community. The roads were so quiet that we needn’t have paid the toll (€5.76 for a 30min stretch of road).

Knowing it would largely be closed we lucked out with free parking and just had a nice potter around the upper town – choosing the stairs over the funicular and marveling at Palača Grlečić-Jelačić decorated roof. We also stumbled upon some of the cities graffiti (much more to find!) and an old air raid tunnel from WW2 called Gric, which was used for raves in the 90s and now hosts functions.

The lower town had plenty of sculptures and impressive architecture, and if you have eagle eyes you can spot the planetary solar system spaced out appropriately around the city. The more distant planets require a bus drive into the suburbs.

Planets found so far – Earth, Mars and Mercury, and the poor sun is heavily scrawled on.

Our highlight was the interactive 80s museum. It’s a house and you can live in it – enjoy the polyester by dressing up, master the rubik’s cube and play on the many computer games.

I’m looking forward to more exploring and museums tomorrow. This evening I’m already huddled in bed…thinking of the exercise I’ve yet to do 🙈

169 – Long drives, beautiful lakes and the lure of Croatia

From the comfort of my bed I could look straight through the sunroof to a cracking view of the TV tower. At only 5 degrees I was tempted to stay snuggled up in bed and I doubt the pups would have minded.

However Markles is a restless soul and doesn’t believe in duvet days, so we decided to drive over to Lake Balaton. We took a longer windy route. Autumn is such a wonderful time of year for such a drive, I just love the colours.

After almost 3 hours it was great to stretch our legs and walk around Szépkilátó park which has lovely views of the lake. The area is geared up for tourists with plenty of restaurants, supermarkets and campsites, a totally different set up to the cities and smaller towns we have otherwise visited.

We then drove up to Festetics Viewing Tower for a 360 degree view, before heading to Aldi for a stock up and a glimpse of Festetics Palace in the dusk.

It seems crazy that in Finland we were driving and sightseeing at 9pm at night as it was so light. Now it’s dark by 4:30pm and it feels so much later. It sort of cuts the day short…I need to get up and out earlier to make the most of the day.

As it happened we realised today was our last day with a valid vignette so I decided to drive on into Croatia and we have arrived in Varaždin. A town chosen for its funky looking handicrafts museum. We have also been advised at the fuel station to visit the beautiful cemetery – not something we would usually do, but it seems apt for Halloween.

As yet I’ve done no research on Croatia other than knowing Zagreb is a must, so that’s my evening sorted – Any recommendations gladly received.

It seems unlikely we will get any trick or treaters knocking on our van door. However I did love this gorgeous treat, sent by my bestie Gail. My mystical unicorn goddog Merlin, so cute! Sadly no pictures of mine dressed up, can’t be trusted not to eat their costumes 🤣

168 – Baby wild boar and spectacular ceramics!

Quite often the highlight of our day is something completely unplanned and just a wonderful surprise.

This morning we had a knock on our door at 7am, and a couple of builders asked if we could shuffle so they could park their work vans for a job opposite. We happily obliged (its illegal to wild camp in Hungary so we shouldn’t have really been there, but the campsites are closed now, so we try and park discreetly).

I drove us 10 minutes down the road to Gemenc National Forest and we took the pups for a walk along the muddy Porboly Lassi trail. I spotted a few green boars sprayed onto the trees and just took it as a warning they were around- Mark had glimpsed one by the roadside last night.

Then we rounded a corner and to our surprise saw a fence, which we guessed was for deer…until we saw a couple of wild boars come running over. They were really inquisitive and not at all perturbed by our dogs who were desperate to meet them. Then 6 little babies came out from the under growth! They were so adorable. It was a handful holding the dogs back so we didn’t stay long but what an amazing start to the day – my first wild boar 🐗 (p.s. please be careful boar can attack dogs in the wild).

Riding the high, we made coffee and drove on to Pecs. From my research it was clear a lot of the attractions focused around the Zsolney ceramics family. I confess I wasn’t familiar with them, though I really should have been, their work is magnificent!

We visited the Zsolney Culture Quarter and Mausoleum, both of which were breathtaking. If they could add tiles and ceramics they had, even the chimneys were decorated. Plus the bright array of colours certainly brightened up what was a rather wet and overcast day.

They had created a large number of different glazes and techniques such as beehive, tiger glaze and the beautiful iridescent shades. And been inspired by all manners of different cultures and styles over the years.

To honour such a creative family every person who worked in the factory helped design and create the families Mausoleum which sits atop a hill overlooking the factory and city. It’s a wonderful resting place and the attention to detail is second to none.

Wandering into the city itself we visited the main Széchenyi Square. The classic architecture frames a central mosque, and there is another example of zsolney’s work in the water fountain.

Although there is another Zsolney museum, we decided to go to the Victor Vasarely Museum, whose optical illusion artworks are a bit different from the usual art exhibitions. My personal favourite was a textile piece by Clare Vasarely.

The cathedral has a beautiful set of ivy gates with a peace dove, and nearby are three distinct sculptures – Romeo on a balcony, a set of organ pipes and Propatria 1941-45 WW2 memorial. The latter was opposite a dog shop so we popped in and bought the pups some antlers for xmas…though we might have to give them early as they are arguing over the last remaining nyla bone

Despite the fact that flab has bust out of my only pair of jeans, I couldn’t resist the delectable cakes on offer at LYR vegan cafe. Surely my slice of cranberry cake counts as a fruit portion?

To round off our day we drove up the cities steepest hill to see TV tower which looked rather eerie in the fog. Hopefully it will be a bright clear day tomorrow and we can climb to the top for some glorious city views.

167 – Embracing the drizzle in Szeged

Despite a deep clean and half a bottle of febreeze my sofabed still smells funky. The dogs seem to forget then catch a whiff of the puke patch and deep sniff it again. Its literally the only thing I can’t chuck in the washing machine so I will have another go at deep cleaning it and hope for the best.

To help improve the smell, Ernest bumped and spilt both my morning tea and coffee over me and the sofa bed. My reflexes are slow in the morning, and he has no concept of personal space…not that there is such a thing living in a campervan 🤣

On the plus it got me out of bed quickly, and meant I was driving by 8am, so we had a full day exploring the lovely University town of Szeged.

Heroes Gate & the Musical Church

It’s been a cold drizzly day and the dogs each have different reactions to the rain. Jasper couldn’t care less, Mabels belly gets drenched and she would rather hibernate until spring, and Ernest begs to go out then realises its wet and tries to dart back indoors. So they sort of enjoyed a plod around the beautiful Hero’s Gate, Musical Church and Fogadalmi Templom but were happier snuggled up in the van, leaving us to further wander in the rain.

Hungarian Cuisine

We opted to go out for lunch to Lotus restaurant and had one the best meals of our whole trip! It was vegan take on traditional Hungarian cuisine. The stew and dumplings was not what we were expecting but was so juicy, and their version of rice pudding is more solid and floats on a berry compote. It might look a bit odd but was simply divine. I highly recommend.

Our own walking tour

The city itself is perfect for ambling around as it’s not too big and the key sights are all in walking distance. There are lots of bonus sculptures, architectural treasures, churches and a magnificent synagogue. Both the museum and Fogadalmi Templom are closed for restoration at the moment but from research look well worth a visit. Our only snag was a parking ticket…we had paid but parked in the wrong section 🙈

As the rain was forecast to stay we decided to drive on towards Peks (dont do as I did and put Pacs in the sat nav…its not the same place! Fortunately I realised before we drove off).

Baja Bedtime

We stopped part way in Baja. I popped into the Spar to get bread and while eyeing up the pastries the top button on my new and only jeans broke off…seems flab has been enjoying himself too much. Roll on another health kick…after I’ve finished half a scrumptious loaf and some delicious chocolate chai pudding (I’vegot the recipe if you want).

We are currently wild camping in a little hidden area, having taken a wrong turn and decided here was fine. It was dark by 4:30pm and driving at night in the van is not fun especially with no street lights, and being forced to reverse when you can hardly see (Mark went out to guide me but was dressed all in black, so he was just another shadow I had to try and avoid).

With long evenings I’m looking forward to more daft podcasts. Currently enjoying the free Audible bedtime stories for adults that are very odd and dark humoured. For my nerdy side we have been binge listening to BBC Inside Science and the funny Curious cases of Rutherford and Fry. I might spice it up with a dinosaurs for adults podcast I’ve found, and I got 18 points on Popmaster – a personal record 🤣

With those, two books, two courses and my Duolingo addiction…plus a poor ukulele I’ve so far ignored, I wonder why I ever had a TV (though I do wish I could watch the new Attenborough series).

166 – Cave Spa and beehive rocks

Starting your week, waking up next to two huge piles of dog puke is pretty grim…and also an illustration of my epic deep sleeping skills. Mabel stole some food yesterday so we are guessing it was her, but she seemed happier as the day went on. Big thanks to the hubby for clearing it up!

To counter that gross start, I had a morning of pampering planned. Obviously you can’t go to Hungary and not visit a thermal spa. My hubby doesn’t do spa’s and I’m not a fan of busy tourist traps so instead of visiting one of the numerous famous spas in Budapest, I drove to the large industrial town of MisKolc to visit Miskolctapolca Cave Bath.

Here there are a series of natural caves with different lights and thermal pools, a long treatments list and sauna complex. It sounded great. The thing to consider however is what you expect from your spa experience. I was hoping for a long quiet relax, swim in warm pools, saunas and steam rooms and maybe even a massage.

The reality was a busy, family spa with children jumping of the rocks, shouting, screaming, lots of posing for photos (seriously who takes their phone into a spa?), lukewarm water, basic amenities, several saunas out of order, and from the long list of treatments only a massage was available. I actually found it rather stressful, but the massage was good and appreciated. Mark had his opinion confirmed that spas are overrated and found his massage painful 🙈 I think I’ve been spoilt in Berlin’s luxury spas, so need to do better research in future. (photo from google web link…add many more people).

Still it was an experience and it’s good to try these things. The next item on my to do list was the nearby bobsleigh club. Sadly though it was raining so it wasn’t possible to go and play. I will have to search out another one. Conceding that the weather is turning colder, I’ve finally accepted we aren’t going to Romania and need to start heading west towards Spain. And so we will have to visit eastern Hungary another time, especiallythe intriguing cemetery at Szatmarcseke.

We drove back towards Eger to a lovely town of Szomolyai to visit the beehive stones (kaptárkövek) and the amazing cave houses at Noszvaj barlanglakások.

This evening we are driving late towards the university town of Szeged in southern Hungary and very close to the Serbian border. I don’t think its possible for the pups to enter Serbia easily so will have to skip that country.

165 – Quickest tour in town

Compared to Budapests 30+ minute bus/tram ride into the city, the smaller towns are so much easier in a motorhome. We had parked overnight 2 minutes walk from the centre of Eger, near a lovely park which was perfect for our morning dog walk.

The pups were in crazy playful mode, rolling and ‘fighting’ in the leaves. There were lots of carved pumpkins with little flags and an usual sculpture.

Pretending to be intellectuals we went to the Astronomical Museum and Camera Obscura…which is up 9 flights of stairs and there is no lift or cafe at the top. There is however stunning views of the city and a fun magic room with mini experiments you can play with…I’m the one that looks like Cousin It in the photos 🤣

The best bit was right at the top in the dome (on the hour and half hour), they do a little demonstration of the periscope. It’s the quickest, daftest tour of the cities sights and it’s fun to see all the cars and people zipping around oblivious to our spying.

At some point I’m going to start eating more salad and less pizza (probably tomorrow as its Monday – the sacred day of healthy eating kick starts). However today I saw a restaurant called the pizza club and I had to join – it was delicious!

Walking off the pizza

Our afternoon plan was to go for a nice long hike in the Bukka National Park which had rave reviews. I sceptically followed Google maps to a town with no greenery, then saw a brown sign proving it was there. So according to that sign and Google the national park is two rocks, next to a church and a basketball court…erm what?

Fortunately I’d done some research and knew of other walks, so 40mins later we have driven through the real national park and had a pleasant walk Szikla-forrás lake and Fátyol-vízesés. I say pleasant but I’m lying. Ernest was pulling the whole way as there were hoards of dogs and deer he wanted to say hi to, plus he tried to steal a kids burger and a babies smoothie. My arm hurts and I’m baffled how he still doesn’t know heel walking despite months of training. I think he might be deaf or only understand the word sweets…his brain being too small for things like Ernest, No, Heel, Off, Dont hump your sister etc

Honestly though, the walk itself is more like a country park with wide paved path. It’s clear most people get the little train to the lake and walk back down. It’s great for families and trainers…you look out of place in walking boots. Apologies no photos, I needed both hands to hold onto Ernest and my sanity.

This evening we are settled in for an early night, face mask on, dogs snoring, kid racers just arrived with blaring car stereo…that will be fun…ok change of plan disco night in the van whoop whoop!

164 – Salt Hills and Sheep Walking

With three pups snuggled up on the bed with me it can be very hard to get up and going in the morning. It seems we have all adapted to a slower start.

Still needs must, it was our last day in Budapest and we wanted to visit the Centre Market. As a big foodie, I love local markets and have visited as many as possible on our trip (Rotterdam has the best so far!).

This one was a huge disappointment, it was two thirds tourist tat and a few veg stalls. The tourist groups were even being guided round, and it was clear locals didn’t shop here as it was overpriced. We bought a few ingredients for dinner and made a quick exit.

Obviously every trip into town involves coffee and cake and while we considered the quirky For Sale Bar which allows you to leave your mark by hanging paper literally anywhere – it screams fire hazard to me, we ultimately plumped for Budapest Barista which had nice coffee and three vegan cake options. I had the cheesecake but wasn’t over keen…should have had the brownie.

After doing our van chores and walking the pups we were on our way to the lovely town of Eger, where a friend of ours used to live – thanks so much for the recommendation!

Eger

When you are a bit of a numpty and not very observant you might miss the main path to the famous Salt Hill and end up in a little field full of great and varied mushrooms, and ultimately end up climbing over a fence to get to the salt hill. Why take the easy road when you can go off road 🤣

The tourist ad photos of the salt hill will lead you to believe it’s pure white…its not…its evidently been photoshopped and there are now signs explaining why it doesn’t look like the pictures. The cynic in me says a true representation photo wouldn’t draw as many tourists to the adjoining thermal spa resort, but ho hum it’s still a rare sight.

Saturday night sheep walking

We arrived in the town at dusk and walked the pups up to the castle which has long views over the town and its many churches. It’s a charming place to walk around and there were still plenty of people out and about, including one chap out walking his sheep…that’s how he rolls on a Saturday night 🤣

We made dinner in the van and then went out to a lovely quiet bar called Garden. It is noticeable this is a big wine area with lots of vin yards and tours. A quick scan of the room and everyone is drinking wine, and there I am sat at the bar drinking hot chocolate…its surely to cold for wine lol. I might need to toughen up…its going to be minus degrees next week!

163 – It’s all about the dogs

They say you should do the worst things first and today I had to buckle down and do something I was dreading. As a dog groomer I have a minimum quarterly agreement with my pups that they have a bath (Mabel rolls in poo so has far more). Last time I tried to bath Ernest it was an absolute nightmare and I still have the scars to prove it…so today a new approach.

Knowing Jasper would behave I took him to the ladies shower room and he sat like an angel while I scrubbed him in warm bubbly water using gorgeous Earthbath mango shampoo. Towel dry, doggy dressing gown on and off he trots receiving compliments for being gorgeous. Repeat with Mabel, no problem. (Don’t worry mum I left the shower room spotless)

Then screamy guts Ernest. There was no way I can hold him and keep him in the shower cubicle without a massive scene, so I roped Mark into helping and it was off to the outdoor drained yard for a very swift hosepipe bath. The kids on the campsite found it funny, but in fairness he was much better this time. I wasn’t dragged across the floor, I’m not bleeding, there was minimal screaming and he was bathed in under 5 mins so despite his propensity for weeing on himself he no longer smells of piss. Plus he looks adorable in his drying coat that is now slightly too small for him. I have a clean van, 3 clean dogs and 2 clean humans…I’m calling it a win 😄🤣

As we are being spoilt by the weather we took them straight out for a long walk to help us all dry (Mark and I had got wet washing Ernest). Within 20 minutes both Mabel and Jasper had rolled…one in sand, the other in grass. So yep, there is now sand in the van…but my typical furmum response is at least it wasn’t poo.

Mark and I then caught the tram into the city for a walk around the City Park and Margaret’s Island. At the former we were a bit confused that Google showed a large lake in front of the church and castle but its actually just concrete…we are guessing they turn in into an ice rink in winter 🤔 Also the timewheel – a huge sand timer that only needs to be turned once a year, had been boarded off as part of a building site.

So for leisurely mooching Margaret Island is definitely preferable. Also unlike a lot of city centre parks you can’t hear the traffic so much, so it really doesn’t feel like your in a big city. A huge perk for us was a dog group were working with a photographer for a project, which meant they had a gang of 15+ dogs of all shapes and sizes for us to meet and cuddle…my idea of heaven.

On the food front, it was naughty pizza and a great vegan bakery called Fill Good which sold my favourite Bratislavan pastry. They weren’t as good as the original but such a nice find!

This evening we decided to walk the pups to the pet shop as Ernest snapped his collar. He is a little muscle house, ridiculously strong and excitable. This is his 4th collar in 10 months, but I think he has largely stopped growing.

If you take a puppy into a pet shop you have to have hawk eyes in the back of your head. As I was talking to Mark about dog food, Ernest had his head in the open box of bones and so I ended up having to buy them as he’d had his shuffle chops all over them. Add to this the senior dog food and lots more training treats, and we are spending more on the dogs than on ourselves 🤣.

We go through training treats at a rate of knots as Mabel and Jasper respond to anything I ask Ernest to do, and obviously expect a reward (they are both 8 and passed their doggy exams years ago 🤣). Ernest will only sit if I have sweets; the bugger knows the command but can smell if I have sweets on me and ignores me if I dont…and they say Bulldogs are dumb! Anyone got some magical advice?

Ah I wouldn’t change them, I love my motley crew of loveable muts….especially when they are asleep, as they are now 🐶❤🐾

162 – Random Spring Clean

When you are in a beautiful city like Budapest the last thing you expect to be doing is a deep spring clean of your motorhome.

But that is what I did, despite the glorious 23 degrees outside. We had a lovely walk with the pups, then I came back and started tidying up and it just spiralled. 8 hours later the van is gleaming, every item has been removed, cleaned and repacked. You know, I think if my mum travelled quickly to see us, she’d be impressed 🤣

We have been living in our camper 6 months and I’m still tweaking where things go. Improvements this round mean more food storage space, an easily accessible dog food cupboard so we dont have to turf the pups off the sofa, and a ‘hobbies’ cupboard. I know its naff but I find it so satisfying once it’s all done, and have enjoyed binge listening to podcasts. I definitely want to do some more exploring tomorrow though.

To celebrate and help keep the kitchen clean, we went into town for dinner at Las Vegans – their burgers are great, but they had hidden cold chips under hot chips which was a shame. Their outlet at Street Food Karavan has a busier more lively atmosphere than the Vegan Garden, so you can pick what suits your mood. I should mention that next to vegan garden is a great looking restaurant called Budapest Makery, where you pick your meal and are then given the ingredients and are taught how to cook it yourselves…you eat your end result. It sounds like great fun 😊

We then went to our first ruin bar Szimpler Kert and it was a crazy feast for the eyes. Eccentric stuff everywhere, its huge, and has various rooms and bars with different vibes. Mark had to laugh as I was stood behind a group of ladies who were all being asked for ID, whereas the bouncer just waved me in and my bedtime alarm went off 🤣 #latenightgrandma