Welcome to Budapest

Tony Wheeler, Lonely Planet’s cofounder said: “All you’ve got to do it’s decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” That’s what I did. I was living in Manchester and I decided to book my flight to Budapest with Ryan Air  without thinking twice, that was my second trip on my own. Such a good experience and I would redo it over and over again.

Budapest is a romantic city, it can capture your attention with its architecture, its complex history, its hospitable dwellers and, last but not least, its food.

A paradise for explorers, in Budapest you have plenty of things to do and see, do not overlook the Royal Palace, Parliament, and Heroes’ Square. Try to get lost in the city, that’s the perfect way to smell out  the beauties scattered around the city itself. End up the day spoiling yourself  with a beer and live music in a Ruin bar (bars that have arisen from abandoned building) with a charming atmosphere that you’ll never find elsewhere.

So go go go to Budapest!  

Széchenyi Chain Bridge

Széchenyi Chain Bridge

Danube River 

Matthias Church

Fisherman's bastion 

Parliament 

Soviet Army Memorial and US Embassy 

Heroes' Square

Basilica of Saint Stephen

Thermal Baths 

Ruin Bar

Delicacies from Budapest

If you decide to travel to Hungary you have to learn to like meat because Hungarians are big carnivores, but generally speaking the food is excellent and it's a pleasure for the sight too. In addition, with a recent lightened up, the dining scene offers dishes with less calories. So go ahead with meat, stews, soups, dumplings and so on. Here some pics I took roaming around Budapest.

Backpack girl went to China!

Backpack girl goes to Cuba!!!!

Eating in India

Indian cuisine embraces a wide variety of regional cuisine, each one is an explosion of flavors.

Eating in India in a completely different culinary experience in comparison with Indian food eaten out of its borders. Everything is strong, full of colors and spices, a burst in your mouth, but if it’s your first time in India you’ll need to get used with it, afterwards you’ll end up loving it!

Food is religion in India, you should respect some basic rules once you get over there in order to respect the dwellers and their culture, so remember to use the right hand while eating because the left hand is believed  unclean and impure. You won’t eat beef because the cow is considered sacred by Hindus.

As many food are best enjoyed without any cutlery, Indians tend to eat without any fork or knife, but if you don’t fancy it every restaurant is provided with cutlery.  

In India with Karni

It’s twilight, you’re sitting on a small shaky boat sliding along mother Ganga, staring at a colorful and gorgeous sky surrounded by holy chants and prayers. It’s just another morning in Varanasi. This is only one of the thousand faces of India.

India it’s like your first love, you can hate it or love it at first sight, but afterword it seizes you, it can make you feel sad, cross, speechless or incredibly happy, amused, or astonished, it makes you laugh until crying. Once you meet India you’ll never forget it.

India it is humble and such a show off at the same time, it’s as strong as a rock, lively, full of colors, smells, creativity, it’s definably a place to be.

At that time I travelled to India with a local travel agency called India Karni, I came across him by chance browsing on the internet, I mailed him and Karni organized me a great trip.

Once I arrived everything was perfect and well organized. I visited several cities over there such as Delhi, Agra, Jaipur,  Khajuraho, Varanasi and in all of them I've had very good and careful drivers, one of them, Shankar, has a special place in my heart because of his kindness and constant smile upon his face.

I highly recommend Karni and I will consider him for my possible future trip to India.

If you want to get in touch with him, you have to look at his web site (www.indiakarni.it-www.indiakarni.com) and mail him! In addiction, for Italian travelers, he speaks a good Italian like some of his driver.

Biting the big apple

In the city that never sleeps making  a choice about where to eat it’s a big deal, because of the plenty of restaurants spread all over the city, whether if you are looking for a fancy restaurant or just street food/fast food. 

You can find out about NY’s soul tasting and choosing from its mammoth variety of food, as the city is vibrant, teeming with life, full of colors and flavors, likewise it is its food: cosmopolitan, a melting pot of flavors that it can surprise you every time and at every bite.