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St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest – Hungary

St. Stephen’s Basilica (Szent István-bazilika), Budapest – Hungary.

Happy birthday dear Melbourne…

…Happy birthday to you!

The 30th of August is Melbourne Day, and today Melbourne was 175 years old.

- Melbourne Day Birthday Cake -

Although Melbourne Day is an official day, it’s not an official holiday, so it’s not celebrated with gusto. Most people don’t know about it actually. If you were to pick a true Melbourne Day it would probably be Melbourne Cup day. It’s the horse race that stops the nation, and we get a day off for that one.

- Melbourne Day Flags and St Pauls Cathedral -

There were various celebrations on around the city, and the one thing I wanted to see was the replica of the Tall Ship Enterprize. Well it’s not very tall, but it is still special. This was the ship that brought European settlers on the northern bank of the Yarra River on the 30th of August, 1835.

- Enterprize at Melbourne Docklands –

While free admission to the Enterprize was excellent, the freebie of the day award would surely go to the Melbourne Day Coffee Cups, a useful and oh so appropriate Melbourne themed giveaway.

- Melbourne Day Coffee Cups -

Introducing the Nomadic Notes Travel Newsletter!

Nomadic Notes now features a travel newsletter delivered by email subscription.

I have decided to introduce an email newsletter as another subscription method, as not everyone uses RSS.

The newsletter is a weekly roundup of posts on the site, as well as news on other travel sites that I am working on.

In addition to the weekly site summary, the newsletter features extras not available online, including:

- Real time personal updates of where I am and news of what I am up to.

- Giveaways and notices of other travel freebies which will be announced exclusively on the email newsletter.

So please sign up and join my community. Don’t worry, your email will not be given to any other list nor will I bombard you with emails.

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On the beach, Sozopol – Bulgaria

The beach at Sozopol is accessable from the historic old town.

On the trail of artists and architects in Germany

From Budapest I took a flight to Weeze in the West of Germany. It worked out much cheaper to do this than to fly directly to Amsterdam, which was my next stop. Flying to Weeze kept my remarkable run of visits to Germany intact, and it also gave me a chance to visit a building of an architect I admire.

Weeze was a cold-war era RAF base which has since been converted into a commercial airport, of the variety as favoured by low cost airlines. Good old Ryanair call Weeze “Dusseldorf”, even though it is 70 km’s away. I flew to Weeze for its proximity to the Netherlands. Before continuing onto Amsterdam though, I took a detour to nearby Essen.

My shuttle bus from the airport was supposed to take me to Essen, but due to roadworks on the freeway we were dropped off at Duisburg. Rather than going straight through on the local train I had a wander around town. Afterall when I am ever going to be in Duisburg again?

Duisburg is in the industrial Ruhr region so I wasn’t expecting much. Walking around the city I stumbled upon an artist I have seen before in my travels, Niki de Saint Phalle.

This lively installation – Lifesaver – is by de Saint Phalle and her husband Jean Tingeuly.

In my travels around Europe over the last 10 years I have come to notice several artists that reoccur in different cities. de Saint Phalle is one of those artists. She has an instantly recognizable style and I have seen her work in Zurich, Paris, Luxembourg and now Duisburg. Maybe I have seen her work elsewhere, before I was aware of who she was.

Tinguely also has a style of his own that can be spotted as a Tinguely a mile away. His specialty was mechanical sculpture, and he often collaborated with his wife. If you have been to Paris then you may recognize their work from the Stravinsky Fountain at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

In Essen I had come to see a building by Austrian painter and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser. His work is prominent in his home city of Vienna, where there are three buildings which have been remodelled in his style.

Hundertwasserhaus Essen is tucked away in a suburban park and it is a Ronald McDonald House. The building is classic Hundertwasser, with a onion domed tower, bright colours and the structure blending into the surrounding environment.

I seem to have a thing for architects with an artistic background, such as Hundertwasser, as I am also drawn to the likes of Bruno Weber and Antoni Gaudi. If any of their works are near to where I am visiting, I will go on the architectural pilgrimage to see their work.

Subscribe to the AirAsia newsletter for cheap flights in Asia

If you travel in Asia, or plan to, then may I suggest subscribing to the Airasia Newsletter. AirAsia are the largest low cost airline in Asia and they often have some amazing sales.

An example of an AirAsia promotional email.

Since I have been subscribed to the newsletter I have picked up some ridiculous bargains, such as:

Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne for 234 MYR ($75 USD)
Kuala Lumpur to Delhi for 60 MYR ($19 USD)

The flight to Delhi was free plus tax, and $10 of that was for checking a bag.

AirAsia fly all over Southeast Asia, China and India as well as Australia and the UK, so there are plenty of travel options. Even if I am not travelling to Asia for some time, it just makes me happy getting offers to go to places like Padang, Penang and Phnom Penh.

Old Anchor, Nessebar – Bulgaria

Old Anchor, Nessebar – Bulgaria

Apartment hostels in Budapest

I travel to Budapest at least once a year for business. Every time I come back I wonder if it is as good as I remember it to be, and it always is. It is one of my favourite cities in Europe.

Budapest is sometimes called the Paris of the East. I prefer to call Paris the Budapest of the West.

The apartment facades that line the streets of Budapest are like a shabby version of Paris.

When I’m booking a place to stay I like to pick places that are apartment rentals or hostels in apartments. Not only is it the cheapest option, but it gives you a glimpse of what these grand apartments look like from the inside.

The hostel I stayed at was on one of the main streets and well worn from the outside. Once you enter the building though there is a large light filled courtyard with all the apartment entrances looking down.

Cathedral of the Holy Assumption, Varna – Bulgaria

Taxi’s lined up outside the Cathedral of the Holy Assumption, Varna – Bulgaria.

Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast

The Black sea Coast of Bulgaria has been a budget holiday favourite for decades. First with the countries behind the Iron Curtain, and now with the countries from the cold north. Along this stretch of coast is a good cross section of Europe with styling urban cities, cheapo package holiday resorts, old fishing villages and ancient ruins.

Varna

I arrived in Varna with the intention of moving on after a day and ended up spending a few days here. It is a good sized city with stately old buildings that are a bit run down. Varna is a port city that is close to the beach, so it has a part work,part play feel to it. Varna is a candidate city for the European Capital of Culture in 2019, so you may hear more about it in the future.

Varna’s Drama Theatre

Market – Varna

Most people who fly to Varna are coming for the beach resorts. There are two popular resorts nearby called Golden Sands and Sunny Beach. I have seen those names many times in British travel agent windows, so I knew that they were going to be package holiday beaches, but I wanted to check it out for myself.

I was intending to go to Golden Sands but it was a cold and drizzly day – not a good beach day – so I opted to spend my day hiding from the rain in cafes instead.

Espresso Time – Varna.

Sunny Beach

With a name like Sunny Beach it has to be dodgy, but I kind of liked it actually. Sunny Beach is all resort hotels and seaside tackiness, but it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. As an Australian I find European beach resorts fascinating. I mean look at this beach!

Sunny Beach – Bulgaria

There is not a spare piece of beach for all the umbrellas. The sand itself is very good quality, but I don’t come to Europe for the beaches. I come for the old towns.

Nessebar
Next to Sunny Beach is Nessebar. You can walk right along Sunny Beach until you get to a peninsula where Nessebar is situated. This old fishing town is a World Heritage listed site and is filled with old ruins and lovely cobbled side streets. The crowds are quite scary when you first arrive, but as you wander deeper into the town the crowds thin out.

Christ Pantocrator Church – Nessebar

Burgas

South of Sunny Beach and Nessebar is the port city of Burgas. There is another airport here with low cost flights around Europe, and it is also a handy place to base yourself for visiting villages along the coast.

Along the main shopping street of Burgas.

Sozopol

South of Burgas is the ancient town of Sozopol, which like Nessebar is filled with old ruins and winding little streets. It is also surrounded by some decent beaches that aren’t as crowded as the resort towns.

Looking to the beach at Sozopol.

Getting to the Black Sea Coast

Low cost airlines and European charter flights fly to Varna and Burgas. Trains are also a good option, with both cities being connected to Sofia.

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