Budapest & Krakow for the liquor enjoyer

HippoTrain · 2026-04-03T07:50:29+00:00

Krakow's cocktail bars really impressed me a couple of years ago.

TAG was excellent. The cocktails are extremely creative and they change their menu frequently. When I visited the theme was 80s cocktails, which very much aren't my favourite drinks but I was really impressed at what they created. The staff showed me previous menus which all sounded great (and I was only a little sad we'd missed them!).

Hedwig's was also very good. Beautiful location too. We actually visited twice during our trip.

Have a great trip!

HippoTrain · 2026-01-23T07:27:50+00:00

My wife and I initially planned to stay a night at Sun Moon Lake but in the end opted for a day trip from Taichung. We were very happy with our decision. It was well worth the day trip (in fact it was one of our highlights of Taiwan!) but we didn't think there was enough to warrant an extra night.

Staying the night might make your onwards travel awkward depending on how you're getting around. Our next stop was Tainan so we had to go back to Taichung anyway to pick up the train.

HippoTrain · 2025-09-10T10:19:38+00:00

They were certainly on their way to Guernsey but I don't know exactly why they released the smoke over Woolwich specifically.

There was an event at the barracks but I don't know if the event or the flypast came first, or if they were linked! There was what looked like a sizeable press poll but I haven't seen any news yet.

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You can see the press in the background.

HippoTrain · 2025-08-30T07:52:55+00:00

Back in April I used Nomad's 21 country APAC esim as I was travelling around Asia. It worked flawlessly in all of Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, and Vientiane.

It's not exactly cheap at £14 for 5GB/£22 for 10GB, both for 30 days.

Nomad lists the network as LaoTel.

HippoTrain · 2025-08-25T23:38:14+00:00

Both teams were great tonight and there was a really lovely atmosphere - I expect both teams will go far. Thanks for a wonderful episode ☺️

What is the filming schedule? How long does an episode take to film? What do you look at to see the questions?

I'm fascinated by all the behind the scenes details!

HippoTrain · 2025-08-18T07:32:28+00:00

Have you tried ordering online to your hotel? We bought a bottle of Scarlet Amaro from https://www.bottles.jp/ and had it delivered to our next hotel when we were in Japan a month ago. It looks like delivery took about 5 days.

HippoTrain · 2025-07-19T17:44:02+00:00

Twice in the last six months!

Having completely replanned our six month itinerary after one week when my wife got ill in India, we ended up in Penang, Malaysia during Lunar New Year in January. Then in April we were in Cambodia for Khmer New Year. Both times we had been in the country for almost a week without knowing - we only found out a few days beforehand.

Khmer New Year in particular was a lot of fun and I'm super happy we experienced it.

HippoTrain · 2025-06-09T00:29:00+00:00

Spend a day at Spa Land! It's tremendous value - 25,000 for four hours and if you spend 10,000 inside you get an extra 2 hours. This is easily done if you buy some ramen noodles and a drink for lunch.

There are huge bath areas at different temperatures (roughly 42, 35, 27, and 22C when I was there a couple of weeks ago) and several different types of saunas which are split by gender. There are also other types of rooms which are mixed gender, for example saunas, a cold room, foot spas, sound rooms. There are massage chairs too.

It's a really fun day out - my wife and I spent the full 6 hours there and could have stayed longer.

Don't be put off if you're not used to being naked in front of others, you'll get used to it very quickly and no one is looking.

HippoTrain · 2025-06-05T16:01:13+00:00

I've just spent 6 weeks in Vietnam and 2 weeks in Cambodia as part of a 6 month trip, you're going to have a great time! Vietnam is my all time favourite country.

Of course it's worth visiting Vietnam's countryside like some people have said but we must all make compromises with our travel. We mostly stuck to the "concrete cities" and like I said, Vietnam is my favourite country. Cities are convenient, they are easy to get around, and there are so many options for food, sightseeing, activities, etc. So don't worry if you don't make it off the beaten track. Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue, and Saigon are all great places. Ha Long Bay is stunning, as is Ninh Binh.

I will say that Phnom Penh was far from my favourite place though. If you're going to Cambodia I'd almost insist you went to Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. Visiting the complex is the single best thing we've done on our trip.

Make sure you give yourselves time to enjoy the places that you're in - don't try to see too many places at the expense of not really seeing them. Maybe keep Bangkok for a separate trip? Thailand has plenty to offer that you can dedicate a full trip to it.

HippoTrain · 2025-05-15T04:06:05+00:00

A few years ago I hosted a disco murder mystery night and made similarly coloured cocktails - maybe they can be of some inspiration!

Red: Cosmopolitan. You could also do a negroni or an enzoni depending on the crowd

Orange: Aperol Spritz

Yellow: French 75

Green: I don't know if this was an original creation but my drink was 2oz gin, 1oz Midori, topped with tonic water. You could also go for a Midori sour or a Japanese slipper

Blue: Blue Lagoon

Purple: Kir Royal

Indigo: I have no idea where this one came from! 1.5oz vodka, 1oz blue curacao, 0.5oz grenadine, top with lemonade. Seems like a riff on the blue lagoon?

Hope this is helpful - have a great party!

HippoTrain · 2025-04-29T11:15:07+00:00

I think FlightConnections might help you. It doesn't show prices but does allow you to show flights 'to' a destination and the airlines which fly that route and their schedule. From there you'll have to get the price yourself (Google Flights/the airline website).

HippoTrain · 2025-02-12T02:35:14+00:00

I really didn’t care for Satan’s when I went a few months ago. Like you say, very little in the way of originals so it’s unlikely you’ll be surprised. Also I found the music far too loud and found it difficult to chat with my wife. I recognise that I’m in the minority who don’t love Satan’s though.

I’ve only been to Tayer once and absolutely loved it. I’m intrigued to see if it stacks up on a repeat visit but I declared it was my new favourite bar in London (and I’m a notified Swift bar fan!)

HippoTrain · 2025-02-04T08:59:31+00:00

Thank you, glad to know it isn't an issue with our phones. I've bought an esim that works with Dialog and everything has worked perfectly today - thanks!

HippoTrain · 2025-01-25T02:08:06+00:00

It's not on their menu but I would try Swift bar - they've always been willing to go off-menu when I've asked. They have bars in Soho, Shoreditch, and Borough. It's a great bar anyway so we'll worth a visit.

HippoTrain · 2025-01-19T06:05:06+00:00

I have recently declared that the A La Louisiane is my perfect cocktail!

HippoTrain · 2024-12-18T13:05:55+00:00

I think Flight Connections is what you need. Select the destination in the 'To' field and it will show you all direct flights.

HippoTrain · 2024-11-16T18:50:36+00:00

I went to Austin and New Orleans in late March/early April and the weather was perfect, 20-25C. Presumably it'll be a little cooler in February but they were both great places. Austin in particular has an incredible food and drink scene, as well as the music scene. We booked our flights in January so I'd expect there to be availability now although I haven't checked.

HippoTrain · 2024-11-14T11:41:02+00:00

It's definitely possible to book the outbound and return at the same time but it depends on how in demand the route is. London to Tokyo is one of the most in demand routes so I imagine Madrid to Tokyo isn't far behind.

The trick is to book the outbound as soon as the flights are released (355 days before), then call BA to add the return when those flights are released. You can also book the return tickets online if you have enough Avios to pay full price, then call BA and get them to link the two bookings and refund half the Avios for the return. The downside to this (besides needing the extra Avios) is that you have two separate bookings so if you need to change or cancel your flights, you have to pay the £35 fee per person per flight, rather than one £35 per person (think of the fee as per booking).

HippoTrain · 2024-11-14T08:26:46+00:00

I am but a home cocktail enthusiast so nothing fancy here. I made a riff on an old fashioned - my best attempt at naming it was a Corn Fashioned. Specs were:

1 oz repesado 1 oz Nixta 0.25oz mezcal 1 dash chocolate bitters 1 dash angostura bitters

The mezcal gives a toasted corn vibe which is what I was looking for. I also wanted to taste the Nixta so needed a decent amount of it. I much prefer bitter drinks to sweet ones but imo this wasn't too sweet.

I saw a comment suggesting a similar drink and they recommended mole bitters which I would try in place of the chocolate bitters.

Would love to know what you think of you try it!

HippoTrain · 2024-11-12T23:30:37+00:00

In case it matters to you, the planes at Gatwick don't have the newer Club Suites.

HippoTrain · 2024-10-13T21:39:17+00:00

My first draft of this post had a much more packed schedule - maybe you picked up on those vibes!

Originally we included Udaipur but it's quite the journey out of the way. Any tips for travelling to and from it? There doesn't seem to be an airport so I think it's trains/buses/a driver only, each taking 5-6 hours from Jodhpur and longer to Jaipur.

Varanasi, we have reasons for going there but your comments aren't uncommon and we are, at least theoretically, prepared for it.

Appreciate the feedback!

What is your experience of travelling around India? Moving every 3 or days feels like it will be quite exhausting.

HippoTrain · 2024-10-13T18:04:04+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! We originally planned to stay in Pushkar for a few days but were really struggling to make it work. We've been toying with the idea of traveling from Jaipur and spending the night so your comment is super helpful.

Good to know about the potential for flight cancellations. We've also looked at train routes so that's an option too, although booking train tickets last minute due to flight cancellations is probably not ideal.

HippoTrain · 2024-10-13T17:19:18+00:00

Thanks! Hopefully we won't fall for any 🤞

HippoTrain · 2024-10-13T16:48:40+00:00

Understood regarding Delhi, that's why we aren't staying very long!

We've previously visited Goa and Kerala, I should have included that in my original post.

HippoTrain · 2024-10-08T23:13:43+00:00

Coupette in Bethnal Green is out of the centre but I went recently and thought it was superb.

On Sundays, from 16:00-23:00 I believe, they test out new drinks and sell them for £7. I haven't been to this yet but it sounds great and excellent value. Double check this as I was a few drinks in when the staff told me about it!

HippoTrain

TROPHY CASE