At the begining of last week, I had to drop of some clients in Budapest Hungary, and based on my experience in the short time I was there (1.5 days), I decided to write here a few of my impressions.
First thing that you have to do, is actually exit Romania. For this we chose to cross the border at Valea lui Mihai in Satu Mare county. On the Romanian side I could not really tell if we were heading towards the border or if it was just a dirt country road for a few kilometers, but a bit further up I noticed they were actually redoing the road, this explaining the poor condition of the.

We reached the border quite easilly and after a brief check of our documents in about 3 minutes we were in Hungary, heading towards Debrecen.

Understanding your way around in Hungary is not hard at all, but they do seem to have a bit of shortage pointing towards the right way. One example is in Budapest where we saw a sign leading us to the highway, only once and briefly and we missed it, and than there was no sign for km, and we had to turn back.

The highways are very nicely mantained, with parkings and gas stations every 20 or so kilometers. Driving in Hungary was quite relaxing, despite what the guide book said, with the drivers being impatient and agressive.

After about 2 hours on the highway, we reached Budapest. I was nicely surprised at the beauty of this capital, with its lovely buildings and lively streets. Except a few streets and a bridge that were under construction, everything was just amazing. The people turned out to be quite friendly and helpful as well. One thing to explore is the Central Market. This is one crazy lovely place.

We left the car parked in the shade on some street on the Pesta part of Budapest, and started walking along the Danube river, taking photos of about everything that came into my sight. Unfortunately I was quite tired so I didn’t have enough power to wait until evening to take more photos of this stunishing city, but here are some of the photos I took, just to give you an insight.

Time is always a problem when I travel, this being one of those trips when I wished I could have stayed a few more days to explore everything. If you are into photography like I am, this is close to heaven.

After a few more shots of the Chain bridge we crossed to the Buda side of Budapest, and took the funicular, built since 1870, up to the Royal Castle. Here we walked around through the old city, until we reached to the Fishermans Bastion, which unfortunately is under restoration. Though, the wonderful view over the Peste side, with the Parliament Palace, was worth it going up there.

One thing we did have some trouble with in Hungary, was finding an exchange office, and understanding the restaurants. Most places we passed through, we could not tell which was a restaurant, because we do not know any hungarian. Unfortunately for us, we had to be limited to McDonalds and Burger King, which definitely would not be our first choices when it comes to food.

The next morning we drove to Hortobagy National Park, and enjoyed a bit of this flat land area with the Tisza river and its channels. We walked for about 10 km in the search of Cranes, which started their migration.

What I did notice at this park is how well organized they are.

Our next and final stop in Hungary was Beckesaba, right before the border. Here we stopped to eat, and since again, we had trouble with the language, the famous yellow M helped us. We also looked at the parking pay point for quite a while, pressing all the buttons until it released the parking ticket.

We crossed into Romania, without anyone asking us anything this time, not even checking our ID’s.

Well I hope you enjoyed this short visit into Hungary.

I have been spending quite a bit of time in the Retezat Mountains lately, or better said close to them. It was about time for me to explore more than the outskirts of the forests of the Retezat National Park (had 2 attempts in winter, but had to give up due to the amount of snow), so today me and Cosmin, left bravely towards Rotunda cabin and drove until the end of the forestry road at Gura Bucurei, with our destination…Bucura lake.

Bucura lake is a very beautiful glacier lake, the biggest in Romania, situated at 2040 meters altitude at the base of Peleaga peak.

Do not let yourself fooled by the marking towards the lake saying 1.5 - 2 hours walking time…probably that time is for people who are very fit, and used to hiking :)…

With shame I admit it probably took me about 3.5-4 hours to get to the Bucura lake, but in my defense, we did make quite a few stops on the way.

The route to the lake is quite charming, passing through the Pelegii meadow, especially once the forest finishes and you reach about 2000 meter altitude. You will climb some rocks, cross some rivers, enjoy the horses grazing (I am not sure if this is very unusual but one of the colts had blue eyes)…and of course enjoy the amazing mountains which surround you with their peaks.

The weather up there can be quite moody, so you should bring something warmer with you even if down it is warm or even hot.

As I got closer, I could enjoy the view over Lia lake, than as Bucura lake showed her self in the cradle of the mountains with the tiny tents as igloos protected by small stone fences on its shore, on the left you could also admire Ana lake.

After wandering a bit more around to some smaller ponds which formed a bog, we decided it was about time to start going back down, mostly because I was frozen…yes, you guessed it…I did not bring anything warmer than my shirt.

By the time we reached the road it was 8 pm, so we stopped at Rotunda cabin for dinner, which was quite nice, than continued our road back to Nucsoara, the departing point of the day.

12:10 pm at the Aniesi Pond in Bistrita Nasaud county. Cosmin is unbelievably on a raft on this pond with one his biology friends.

Now what in the world are we doing here. We are here to collect and observe the Epitheca bimaculata dragonfly, this being the only place in Romania where it has been observed.

This pond is quite a nice place, with the exception of all the mud I had to walk through in my sandals. The place is surrounded by the Rodnei Mountains, and to get here we crossed the railway and a bridge over the Somes River, than followed a path to the left.

Next stop is the Turda Gorges, which means another place marked in my “1001 Natural wonders to see before I die”.

This was our last full day from my Irish adventure. Breakfast at the Castlenock Hotel was wonderful as usual, and made us ready to head out even if the weather did not look promising at all.
Today we were planning to take the ferry to the Ireland’s Eye Island, to observe the sea birds. Well this in the end turned out to be unsuccessful since the ferry seems to operate only in the busy days, so it is best to check with them if they run the day you want to visit
We walked for about one hour on the east peer of the Howth Harbour, and after that had a short walk on the cliff path trail.

Slowly it started to rain, so we returned to the car with the thought of visiting Newgrange megalithic tomb, another place in my “1001 historic places to see before I die”.
After a lot of trouble we took to find the right road leading to Newgrange due to some construction, the personnel at Newgrange sent us somewhere else for the tickets, meaning some few km out of our way. We gave up the idea and just headed back to Dublin on a heavy rain. Quite disappointing to be there and not be able to visit, unless you took a bus from another place.
No visit in Dublin without some shopping and dinner in the Temple Bar area.
We bought again quite a few books and were amazed at the size of the stores. Dinner was at Quays Bar Restaurant, a very nice and lively restaurant/pub.
Along with more rain, we went back to the hotel to take care of our luggage and get ready for our flight back home the following day.
In the end…I believe I am starting to fall in love with the ever green Ireland.

Today we are heading back to Dublin, to complete our trip with a few more stops here and there around the capital of Ireland.
We decided to spend the night to the Ring Farmouse B&B, which was built on the place of a former castle. An aerial view shows it being in the middle of a circle, quite neat. The host was nice and friendly, and the place looked wonderful with all the family photos on the walls, making you feel like at home.

The first stop of the day was the Birr Demesne Castle. The weather was quite dark, so I was doubting at first that it would be a good visit. It turned out to be a very charming castle with a lot of interesting things to see. The castle itself is private, but the gardens, Ireland’s historic science center and the World’s Famous Great Telescope are open to visits…

While we were there some sort of event was taking place, and all these wonderful epoque cars started pulling in one by one.

The Camcor river passing through the gardens gave the place a mystic look.

We made a very short stop in Roscrea to see the castle and some of the heritage. No over stops until we reached Dublin.
Of course had to do a bit of shopping, and mostly we had to buy an extra suitcase for all the books Cosmin bought. Ok I admit it, I bought quite a few as well.
After two more visits in the bookstores we checked in at the hotel, and had dinner at the Vineyard Restaurant in Blanchardstown. If you want to spend your time in a nice intimate but yet lively restaurant with great service, but medium prices, do not bypass this wonderful Bar & Restaurant.

You can find this place at: The Vineyard, Main Street, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15; phone: 01 821 3109

Today we will start to return slowly to Dublin, of course with a few stops on the way.

The Ashbrook Lodge turned out to be nice, even if we had to share the bathroom with my friend Gerry. The host was nice and she talked so fast that I had a tough time understanding her.

On the way we stopped at the Turoe Stone, but there was little to see since for its protection the stone is in a closed shed with 2 little windows. The pet farm also located there seems a fun place to take your children.

Another place marked from the “1001 historic places to see before you die” is Clonmacnoise. It holds some of the High Celtic crosses, temples and a cathedral. A very interesting view of the Round Tower with the river Shannon in the background.

After a stop at the Mongam Bog where I could see the turf harvesting machine doing its job and a small bog train, we choose to visit the Portumna Castle.

This stop is one of the nicest we had in this trip. Surprisingly there were not many tourists, considering the beauty of the place. The garden looked perfectly restored to its past glory, while the Kitchen Garden impresses with its plant variety and vegetables.

The castle is still ongoing restoration but panels show you the impressive steps taken to bring it to its present form. My recommendation…if you are in the area, please take the time to visit this wonderful place.

Our stop for the day was Birr where we checked in at “The Ring” B&B, built on the site of a former castle.

We had a very nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant, in downtown…

Tomorrow…Dublin awaits.

Another late morning start. The irish breakfast was wonderful as usual, but our host seemed quite confused: my friend received another name, and more surprising is that she did not know what was the capital of Romania. And even if she was offered the opportunity to visit Romania for a wedding, she decided on Portugal instead.
We had a walk through downtown Galway and enjoyed some interesting, or better said amazing futuristic art work. In about 10-15 minutes we saw a masterpiece being created with graffiti sprays and few pieces of old paper. You can see the result here…as I said…amazing…

Also here, after the usual entry in a bookstore, I managed to buy two heavy books, which are helping me prepare for a life of adventures: “1001 historic places to see before I die” and “1001 nature wonders to see before I die”.
This day initially was planned as a light one, but we managed to make it quite busy. First we decided to go to the Twain Island, near Oranmore, but after a lot of wrong turns we left towards Athenry. Here we visited the Priory, the Castle and the Cathedral.
By this time I noticed that Ireland has very poor and confusing road signs.
We then headed to Poulnabrone megalithic tomb, but of course with other stops on the way. The Dunguire and Newton Castles filled our historic view of Ireland and its heritage.

At Poulnabrone I was shocked and outraged to see some tourists climb up on it for some photos, regardless of the signs saying not to. We roamed around a bit more through the Burren until we decided we were hungry enough.

We had dinner at Logues Lodge in Ballyvaughn, which I can definitely say it is a charming place with good food and value.
After the wonderful dinner, we watched the sunset going down over the land and the old church in Ballyvaughn.

A long day ahead of us. After a wonderful breakfast, we said our goodbyes to our host and headed to the Doolin peer.
The boat ride to Inisheer, the smallest of the Aran Islands, was smooth and when we arrived to the island we were surprised at the beauty of the place. It was exotic: white sandy beaches, clear blue water, the stone walls separating the fields, the Plassey Wreck, a lighthouse… all made up for the magic of the place.

After walking around for about 3 hours, we had to return to the peer, where some irish representation was taking place.
Our Jack B ferry, was delayed , giving me the chance to admire the Galway Hookers, which were docking in at the small peer.

For an extra 5 euro, the ferry gave us a 20 minutes ride under the Cliffs of Moher, but despite the wonderful landscape in the end I don’t think it was such a good idea.

Got all wet from the waves, and the boat was shaking quite a bit, so I got sea sick, and did not manage to take good photos, due to the number of tourists pushing everyone for that one PS photo.
I was glad when we reached land again.

Our next stop on the list was the Burren, and on the way, we made a stop to see the Cathedral and High cross in Kilfenora.

In the Burren we spent about 4 hours walking until sunset and after drove to Gort for dinner. Chinese food this time.

Our accommodation and the final destination for the day was Ashbrook Lodge in Oranmore.

This morning we decided to be a bit more lazy than the other days, and it gave me the chance to work a bit on the at least 500 photos that I took the previous day.

Today we are heading from Tralee through Listowell and crossing with the ferry at Tarbert, over the river Shannon, to finally reach Cliffs of Moher.

On the way to the Cliffs, we made a short stop in Listowell, a charming little town, with very colored buildings. Took a few photographs of the cathedral and decided to see what was for sale in the local open market in downtown. We left from there with strawberries, which did not last that long.

Not after long we reached the big river Shannon at Tarbert where we crossed with the ferry.

The Cliffs looked just as I remembered, with the only difference that this time I could see the birds nesting. Thousands and thousands of birds, making a loud noise…it was an amazing view.

After walking for a few hours on the edge of the cliffs, we went to Doolin peer to see if our ferry booking for next day has been processed, and since it was too early for dinner, we drove to Lisdoonvarna in the search of an open restaurant.

We had a quite meal, while watching the Romania-Italy soccer game on TV. It was a tie, but Romania won more point to get to the semi final…not that I know anything about soccer.

Our accommodation was at the Bay View Farmhouse, and indeed as the name said it, the room had a view over the bay and Aran Islands.

The host was very helpful and as my friend Gerry said, the most charming we met the entire trip.

Dingle Peninsula with its astonishing landscapes is among my favorite, so this morning we head towards it.

A stop at the Inch strand is a must.

After waiting for about 2 hours in the Dingle harbour, we boarded on the Eco Tour boat of the Blasket Islands. Enjoyed a 3 hour tour around the Islands, with stops to see Fengi the dolphin, gray seals, gannets, puffins and even a shark. The most impressive in the tour is the Cathedral towers.

The boat went with a pretty good speed, enough to leave a serious trail of waves behind and splashing salty water all over its passengers.

Last stop at the Dunquin beach, watching the surfers.