vegetarians are more intelligent

why am i not the least bit surprised about the conclusion of this study on intelligence and eating habits...

also kathy freston's tedx talk is a good thing to watch on this subject.
lean into it, stop being stupid and a hypocrite.

which in some ways brings me to spam, spam, spam. upon nice requests i changed the comments on blog to no word verification needed. i did so hesitantly since even with wv AND moderation there are issues with spam nastiness. but hey, who knows, maybe it'll be okey with just moderation?

over night i got +20 spam comments, and more coming in during the day. if it continues it's just not doable, neither energy- nor timewise to not have word verification, sorry about that. or well, we should totally blame the nasty spammers for wasting our time and energy.

i've set the comments to 'approve new commentators/sign in'-mode. perhaps that will work. fingers crossed. - edit a few days later; so far so good i think...

leaving comments should be easy for good people, such a pity that we have to abide to the nasty spam people's rules... i bet you they're not vegetarians!

meet drac-ulla

Carrotboy insisted we brought his new friend Drac-ulla home with us from Budapest. And who am I to say no?



Well, to be honest, despite the fact that I'm not a great fan of incense I was in deep lust after this green thing when I spotted it huffing and puffing with a bunch of other dragons at the Christmas fair. Ah, such a pretty, magical, happy market stall, wouldn't you agree?



She has had her first puff in Sweden, vanilla scented.



She has met Zigne, who was not impressed.



I will now look for a high quality incense, with a lighter scent, not so overwhelming and smokey like most tend to be. Any suggestions highly welcomed! Even if Drac-ulla doesn't have to puff all the time it is nice with a bit of it now and then. And even nicer if the scent is a pleasing one too.

The Budapest Christmas fair's markets stalls were brimming with lovely crafts and fine foods, over al much nicer stuff than you find at Swedish markets I have to say. We did get other nice things, other than Drac-ulla, more of that later. Right now I'm just very happy about the fact that my broadband seems to work again, hopefully not just for a wee while, and keep this post short.

a weekend morning start

this autumn/winter we've come to enjoy a *new* way to start the saturday (or sometimes sunday); having breakfast, reading the morning paper/doing fun work at a city cafe.

it happens far from every weekend (and it begun before the big troubles with the no broadband happened) getting up early is not my forte, but still every second weekend counts as a sort of routine, right?

window seat, soy latte, innocent smoothie and a veggie bagel, that's how i like to start my weekend morning (if i'm in the mood to get out of bed early). in the company of bobbaloos too. of course.

how do you like to start your weekend morning/s?

some red treats in budapest

looking through the budapest photos i realised there's been a lot of red things. and not just because it's christmas time. not only. i thought i'd make a cavalcade of things red in budapest, but as i still (three weeks plus now...) have no regular internet it just limits the possibilities and fun with it.

- with no cafe or friend with wifi nearby, and the phone/internet provider being as stupid as they usually are no matter what, the solution to the problem is sadly not imminent. it is such a nuisance galore, in this day and age i don't think you can call it a luxuary problem since one really does need it if one works from home amongst other matters we need computer/internet access for these days... -

but i'll give you three (plus one) red things from budapest. as a foretaste of a photo cavalcade.

one of the three nice soy lattes i had at starbucks against a backdrop of the basilica and fabulous recycled kind of christmas trees (which SO deserve a post of their very own).

a very lovely red cherry cheesecake enjoyed at a classic and posh (given the unusually high prices compared to other budapest places of food/drink) cafe.

the red, worn, torn, out of date and therefore very picturesque budapest trolley buses.

and last but not least, the pretty christmas fair logo on a cup filled with warming mulled wine on a cold, cold day with freezing winds. cheers!

carmina burana

opera is very much not my cup of cultural tea. but seeing glimpses of a very special set of 'carmina burana' featuring seven 80 years old ladies on stage telling their stories of great losses and great loves, i knew i had to see it. when it got rave revues too it was good to know we already had gotten tickets.

front row seats, practically ON stage it was a special experience (even if it wasn't the ultimate way to enjoy/see the performance). loved the music and the women's stories, very moving. wish their stories would have played an even greater part of the set. did not enjoy the theatrical opera singers (one with very badly groomed feet. yes we were that ridiculously close to stage), as i never do.

when we walked to the train after the show, in a stockholm the day after the snowstorm hit, a lonely saxophone was heard playing in the night. magical.

all and all a nice evening spent.
do you enjoy the opera?

take off and landing

from a bobbaloo point of view.

also the worst part of being greeted back home with a blizzard, chaotic traffic and hours of queueing on the roads is, according to the same bobbaloos, the appalling lack of pastry.

another winter day in budapest

walking, walking, walking. cemetery visit (more of later), eerie, scary, fascinating, beautiful. grey skies, winds, rain, snow. veggie food, pastries, a final visit to the christmas fair. übertired feet, aching muscles, still content.

three favourite snaps of today.

budapest by winter day

when i get home there'll be a proper 'random thoughts on budapest' post, but so far very lovely - except for the absolutely nasty, freeeezing winds. good vegetarian food, good drinks, fine architecture, unpretentious atmosphere and an amazing array of fabulous crafts at the christmas fair.

a bunch of favourite photos of the day, but three is a magic number.

hallo budapest

left stockholm, sweden with heaps of snow and -11C. arrived in rainy budapest, hungary in +3C.

excited bobbaloos all the way.

stumbled over a fabulous, cheap vegetarian restaurant nearby the hotel. ridiculously sized portions of great food, especially those moroccan carrots, oh my...

had a browse at the lovely christmas market, will be back for more. cake and cider at a quirky café where breakfast tomorrow will be perfect.

budapest so far. can't wait to see and explore it in daylight!

welcome december

somehow this autumn/winter is mostly a blur. to be honest most of the year has been. looking back on photos and blog is my way to remember. not the most comfortable feeling, since it's not because of terribly impawtant prosit business stuff but a health blur. i was so happy when this year finally came. i continued to embrace that feeling during three months. then came blur. with the odd glimpse of clarity, granted. but mostly, sadly not.

i will be glad when this year is over. hopefully 2013 will bring answers and overall clarity.

tomorrow it's time for the much awaited, belated birthday trip. as unluck would have it both of us still deal with a cold, not the brightest of moods for either of us but hopefully that'll change once we get there.

today there was snow, a bit of work, soy latte, errands, still no regular internet at home, downton abbey, coughing, coughing and then some more coughing. to be honest, it was a bit of a blur.