Category: europe

Christmas Time in Budapest: Tracing Family Roots Alongside Food and Wine

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn europe, Hungary1 Comment

A blog post that focuses mainly on the food and wines my cousin Luke and I had on our mid-December trip to Budapest, Hungary!

I had been to Budapest twice before way back in 2007 and 2008 before you could get a direct flight there from the north-west of England (I’d connected in Prague and Zurich). I had enjoyed the cultural experience of seeing where my heritage came from but I must admit that I did not find the city easily navigable and it was hard to seek out places and activities without Smart Phones with Google Maps and taxi apps (Budapest now uses Bolt rather than Uber as of 2023).

In June this year, our grandad János passed away just before he turned 93 after a long and illustrious life. He was born in 1930 and raised on Csepel Sziget (Island), an area just north of Budapest but still within the capital city borders, neither on Buda nor Pest.

His passing this summer reignited curiosity and a thirst for knowledge in us all so it made total sense for my cousin Luke and I to head over at the start of our Christmas holidays. But would it be too cold? This was a main concern. Would it look pretty when the trees are bare? Would there be enough to see to do?

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On the Rock: One Day in Gibraltar

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn europeLeave a comment

“The lights of Gibraltar poured out of the sky like a heap of diamonds on the flat dark sea.”

– Laurie Lee ‘A Rose for Winter‘

I first glimpsed ‘The Rock’ from the industrial shores of Algeciras, a looming expanse that I initially mistook for Africa (my sense of direction is awful).

Perched between Spain and North Africa yet British by nationality, it is an intriguing and highly contentious place that I was eager to see. You can enter Gibraltar by car or by walking across its airfield.

We drove to La Línea, the Spanish town closest to the British border of Gibraltar. We parked up at a roadside and began to walk towards the passport control. First one to exit Spain, second one to enter British overseas territory.

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Porto: The Unsung Portuguese Gem

On By Laura Ferries WriterIn europe, portugal4 Comments

Porto is a blend of chilled, happy days and charged, wild nights. It feels very, very safe and the people are amongst the friendliest of any city I’ve ever visited. 

This is the first travel article I’ve done for my own blog on a place other than Andalusia but I feel it’s now a natural progression to cover more of the world. I’ve noticed that over the past few years, I’ve travelled a fair amount around my home continent of Europe (my last long-haul trip was back in 2015 to Las Vegas).

The beauty of Europe is how the culture, climate, language and history is so varied and you can be in a completely different place after only a 2-3 hour flight!

My cousin works with a Portuguese woman who had long been recommending for him to visit Porto as she knew he had visited the Algarve around five times. When he suggested Porto to me, I had no visual impression of what it was like, I had never seen photos of the place.

The only thing I knew was that it has a football team and is sometimes referred to as Oporto.

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