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Trip to Transylvania

Trip to Transylvania

Published on 24 October 2025

It was to leave Bucharest again, but not quite Romania! This day was actually mostly about getting from the capital to a tiny village in Transylvania, where we were appropriately welcomed for the Transylvania Halloween Hash 2025!

After one more breakfast at my hotel, packing, and checking out, I had time for one more coffee, at Black Habit, before boarding my train to Braşov. 

To get from Braşov to Șimon we used a Bolt taxi, that conveniently dropped us off at Mama Cozonacilor, the centre of operations for the Transylvania Halloween Hash 2025. My home for the weekend would in fact be an eight minute walk from there, in hotel Casa Albă. 

And remember where the bar crawl started, Hop Hooligans? They actually sponsored the event, and their beer Crowd Control is available on draught throughout the weekend! 

FIRST time in Budapest!

FIRST time in Budapest!

Published on 19 October 2025

Five years after I originally planned my trip, I was finally there: Budapest! Run with the local hashers, drink the local beers, enjoy the local delicacies: lots of fun ahead!

Everything had to wait a little bit, though, because my rather dusty sleeper train arrived over twenty minutes late. On top of that, due to my accommodation downgrade, I hadn’t had the opportunity to change into my running kilt, so I had to sort that out first. Once that was taken care of, and I left my bag at the hotel, it was time for coffee and breakfast at Dorado. 

From there I headed to Nyugati railway station, since the hash run would actually start outside of Budapest, in Piliscsaba, a 38 minutes train ride away. 

Over there, I joined the Budapest H3 for Trail 1853 – The Jenga Farewell Run! The Jenga part referred to a recently torn down wooden viewpoint tower, on top of a hill. To get there, the hare picked the steepest way up, so even though we were only two kilometres from the start at that point, the beer stop there was very welcome!

After the run I could finally check into my ibis Budapest City hotel for a much needed shower and a change. 

As the restaurant I picked for dinner turned out to be closed, I had something to eat with my beers at FIRST Craft Beer. While tasty, it was not particularly Hungarian, something I’ll have to make up for tomorrow. 

Then it was finally time for a visit to Mad Scientist’s Madhouse. Finally, because it was one of the first breweries on my to-visit-in-Budapest list, although this actually isn’t the same taproom they had back then. 

Last call was at the Hops Beer Bar: small—just seven beers on tap—but cosy and definitely worth a visit. 

Good beers, good food, good company, and good times: after a rocky start, a perfect end of my first day in Budapest!

An Isle and an Inn

An Isle and an Inn

Published on 30 June 2025

Last full day of my trip, but I was not about to slow down! On this Monday’s schedule: a visit to the Isle of Bute, and my last run in Scotland for a while…

After breakfast at Social Bite—I really appreciate what they are doing for the less fortunate—I still had time for a coffee at Riverhill Coffee Bar, before catching my ScotRail train in Glasgow Central. 

I had to get to get onto a ferry in Wemyss Bay, but its train station actually was an attraction in itself! 

The CalMac ferry brought me from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute. It was quite windy on deck, so some people might have seen more of me than I intended! The risks of wearing a kilt…

The Bute Museum is a cute little museum, but you don’t need much more than half an hour to see everything. That meant I had to some time left to visit Bonnie Bling, a jewellery maker also serving coffee from the local Isle of Bute Coffee roasters. 

After that Rothesay Castle finally reopened after its lunch break. Once again I was confronted with Norwegian king Hakon… In the courtyard they were even flying the Norwegian flag, alongside the Saltire and the Buteshire flag! 

After escaping from the prison pit, I headed to the Bute Yard. It’s a magnificent space, but a bit empty on a Monday afternoon, and no food vendors. Luckily the bar of the Bute Brew Co. was open, so I enjoyed a couple of their beers. 

After returning to the mainland, I skipped a train and take some time to have fish & chips from Macari’s, a place that was highly recommended to me. No place to eat in inside, but luckily the seagulls left me in piece while I enjoyed my food sitting on a bench outside. 

Back in Glasgow I had just enough time to get changed in the hotel, and take the beloved subway—finally, because they were on strike when I wanted to use it earlier—to Inn Deep. 

There I met up with the Glasgow H3—for the third time already—to run and drink with them along the river Kelvin and beyond. 

Since I still had all my packing to do, after the last beer at Inn Deep, I then went straight back to the hotel. 

Weaver’s Cottage

Weaver’s Cottage

Published on 28 June 2025

My Saturday in Glasgow was definitely a combination of new places during the day, and some old favourites in the evening… 

As nice as a full Scottish breakfast may be, when presented with the option, I like to try something more exotic every once in a while. As it happened, nearby Thai restaurant Chaophraya very recently started serving breakfast! I ordered the Khai Krata fried eggs with Thai sausages, and was happily surprised. At first I thought the sauces were just ketchup and brown sauce, but oh boy, was I wrong: the red sauce was some kind of chili sauce, the brown one a spicy soy sauce. 

My next National Trust for Scotland destination was a bit out of town, so I had to take another Scotrail train to Milliken Park. From there it was a little bit of a walk to the Weaver’s Cottage. While they were originally linen weavers, they changed with market demands, and started weaving tartans as well, and many other things!

Back in Glasgow, I first had a stamp, a beer, and a smash burger in BrewDog Merchant City.

I then had some coffee at Off the Rails, and beer at Shilling Brewing Company. Their guest selection had definitely improved since the last time I was there!

It was about time I had some Indian food for dinner again, so hoping for a table, I went to the busy Chaakoo Bombay Café. While I hadn’t booked a table, in less than fifteen minutes they could seat me, so I could order and enjoy my Masahari, keema matar, mango chutney, and garlic naan. 

The highlight of the evening was without a doubt my visit to the Koelschip Yard. Refreshed from the outside, but still the very welcoming neighbourhood vibe on the inside. Once you’re dragged into a conversation with the regulars, you’re in it for the night. And the beer list is still banging, of course! 
Side note: In this bar where I drank Epochal beers for the first time, they haven’t got a clue what’s going on with them either! 

On my way back to the hotel, I made a last stop at The Pot Still for a wee dram. Truly a night well spent!

Glasgow!

Glasgow!

Published on 27 June 2025

Time to change hotels for the last time this trip! I’m even staying a bit longer than usual in my last city: a full four nights. It’s Glasgow, after all, and I need time to revisit my old favourites, and some new places of course! 

Before leaving Edinburgh—my booked train would only depart around noon—I enjoyed a breakfast at the apparently very popular Greenwoods café, and had the Carbonara Benedict. 

A last coffee at Lowdown, and I was ready to finish packing, check-out of my hotel, and head to the Edinburgh Waverley. There a ScotRail train would take me to Glasgow Queen Street. 

I dropped off bag at the hotel, and headed back out again for a coffee at Spitfire Roasters. A double espresso, because when you drink it at the source, you should get it as pure as possible!
I also dropped by at Mr Ben, but unfortunately I didn’t find a vintage sporran to my liking…

I hopped on a First Bus to get to the House for an Art Lover. So, while this house is indeed based on early 20th century drawings by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it was only built in 1989! It was nice to see his designs finally come to life this way.

Then it was finally time to check in to my hotel and home for the next four nights: Premier Inn Glasgow City Centre Buchanan Galleries. 

After relaxing and recharging for a bit, I walked to the Epochal Barrel-Fermented Ales brewery, somewhere in an industrial estate. All shutters were closed though, and there was no sign of life, even though the taproom was supposed to be open…

After hanging around for a bit—maybe they were just late?—I gave up and walked on to the Rail Yard Food Market. After finally finding it, I couldn’t believe my eyes how small it was: three vendors, one of which just served coffee! The other options were pizza or baked potatoes, so I went for the latter. 

Sufficiently fed, I could then finally start drinking! First stop was the Grunting Growler. It’s actually a bottle shop, but with an excellent selection of beers on draught as well. 

Considering the area, it isn’t hard to guess my next destination: BrewDog Glasgow! I found myself a spot at the bar, and enjoyed some lovely beers there. In case you were keeping score: I now drank 123 beers at that bar, the most of all foreign bars I’ve ever been!