World Cup Progress

So the World Cup is over half done, sadly it’s counting down to it’s end, but with the promise of the best games to come. Argentina look the side to beat: they are excellent. In fact I have to agree with Stuart Pearce, ex-England & wonderful Manchester City manager, who said that he’s seen the eventual winners in "this mob".

As usual as it is to decry England’s poor form & constant injuries, it’s almost as traditional to assess the TV coverage & commentators on BBC & ITV so here’s my run-down:

Best is David Pleat as co-commentator on ITV; he’s erudite & concise, just what he should be. Worst is Mick McCarthy on the BBC with long rambling interjections about nothing in particular & with apparently not much relevance to the game, made after seemingly every comment of the lead commentator. It’s a shame as he seems like a nice fella but I wish he’d shut-up & let the pictures do the talking, as Pleat does & when he talks he’s got something to say.

Other than Pleat & Pearce on ITV their coverage has been mostly rubbish & cheap-looking as usual, most annoying is their constant obsession with England. Every game there’s some report or other about England or an English player or how this team might meet England or when this team last met England. I’m English & it bores me senseless so it must be even more infuriating if you’re not.

The BBC has been Ok; Gary Lineker is a bit too laid back & irreverent. Sometimes it feels as though you’ve stumbled upon Big Football Brother where the lads are getting together in the locker room to re-live japes from their playing days. Fortunately Martin O’Neill is on-hand to talk some sense no matter who he’s talking it to! Also good value is Marcel Desailly who is apparently a rare thing: a great football player who can also talk lucidly & intelligently in a language which is not his first. Desailly also looks suitably bemused by O’Neill especially when O’Neill said "I don’t care how many World Cup medals you’ve won, Ghana were poor", or words to that affect.

World Cup Kick-Off!

No sooner has the blog started than it faces a probable 3 week hiatus for the World Cup which kicks off tomorrow! A gruelling schedule of at least 2 games a day for 3 weeks follows, with a dedicated watcher like me intent on seeing at least some of all of the games that are on when I’m not at work (the 5pm & 8pm kick-offs). If I wasn’t planning various holidays later in the year I’d take time off work to watch them ALL (yes I am that sad) but instead I will start a disciplined regime of a 6am wake-up, 8am til 430pm in the office, followed by a quick tube dash home for the 5pm games - wish me luck! Enjoy the football: it’s what TV screens are for! Come on England!

Budapest, 28-31/05/2006

Hello, welcome to the blog & I’ll get straight on with it by posting about a bank holiday trip to Budapest.

It’s been over a week now since the trip & finally I squeeze a blog entry out. It was a really enjoyable trip with the place defying easy description so I’ll defer to Steve Fallon from the lonely planet’s guide: "Budapest remains - & will always stay - Hungarian: exotic, sometimes inscrutable, often passionate, with it’s feet firmly planted in Europe but with a glance every now & then eastward to the spawning grounds of it’s people". Well said; it’s a beguiling place. In parts it reminded me of Paris (because of the river) & I compared it to Prague as that’s the only other ex-Communist city I’ve visited. Prague though is much more commercial & much more compact than Budapest which is split between its Buda & Pest sides. I found Budapest’s communist past to be more evident & if anything I found the place more interesting because of it.

Unfortunately the first day was a wet Sunday so although the river-side view was impressive, the Castle Hill area we visited felt a bit bleak, but then most places do when it’s pissing down all day Sunday. The day finished in a tasty & stylish way though with a visit to Mokka restaurant. According to the guidebook it’s nominally French, but most of the dishes seemed to be "fusion" & delicious they were too, can’t recommend the place highly enough; the only potential draw-back being that it was mainly full of Brits and Americans - but don’t let that put you off!

On the 2nd day a trip to the Statue Park beckoned, which involved riding the public transport to the outskirts & hopping on another bus for a 15 minute ride out of the city. Once there the statues were as impressive as promised but the guidebook was essential to understanding what they were all about. Whoever decided to save the statues & preserve them there for prosterity definitely deserves an Order of Lenin though!
A wander around Margaret Island was next, apparently one of the most romantic places in the city & so it proved to be with nightingales singing in the trees &, if you take an innocent short-cut through the bushes, couples getting to grips with what nature gave them in the undergrowth - oops sorry!

The best was saved for last with a visit to Gellert Baths to "take the waters" in it’s thermal pools. It was a bit confusing & even intimidating at first with a wealth of options & everyone apparently knowing what they’re doing apart from this dumb tourist, but after finding a cabin & the guy to lock it, the pools were amazing & especially the steam room at 50 C. After bathing I went for a massage back near the cabins, after again finding the cabin-guy & paying the burly but friendly masseuse separately. A massage is a must & not because you have to lay there naked (which you have to be), but because having one, for me, epitomised the saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans"!

A quick note on the accomodation, Hotel Rila, which was more hostel than hotel, so it was occasionally a little noisy but it was very clean, friendly & with a good breakfast as well as being close to the excellent Metro.
And that brings me to some final some transport tips:
An easy way to get to & from Budapest’s Ferihegy airport is to get a return on the Airport Minibus booked in the airport arrivals hall. It gives you a door-to-door service for Forints3900, about a tenner. All you have to remember is to phone them 24 hours before you leave so they come & get you.
Secondly, get a travel-pass (I got a 3 day one) which covers you on all Budapest’s public transport. Don’t travel without a ticket as inspectors frequently jump on for spot-checks & I wouldn’t fancy having to negotiate the fine you get with them.
Finally always call a cab, or get the restaurant/hotel to do it, don’t hail them on the street.

So there’s the inaugural blog entry, hopefully I can keep it up!