trip - Martijn.be

Budapest by Day

Published on 20 October 2025

After catching up on some sleep, it was time to properly discover Budapest: visit a museum, do some sightseeing, and finally eat something local!

First things first: breakfast and coffee at the London Coffee Society. The Hangover 2. 0—think breakfast burrito meets shakshuka—certainly was enough to get me started!

And that start involved some climbing, all the way up to the castle, to visit the Budapest History Museum.

Coffee at the heavily goat themed Zërgë, and then some proper sightseeing, in daylight, this time.

Then it was finally time to eat something typically Hungarian: lángos. I headed to the Hunyadi Square market hall, because there is supposed to be a food stand there serving pretty authentic lángos, according to some Hungarian vloggers, but when I got there, it was closed due to renovation works! Luckily—while having a coffee at Cube Coffee Bar—my new Budapest friend suggested an alternative, so thanks to her I was able to tick off one of my Hungarian food boxes at Gozsdu Lángos Bizstro.

With this greasy snack in my stomach, I was ready for some beer. Of course I drank (at) Onlygoodbeer, or Csak a Jó Sör as it’s called in Hungarian.

Beer Point turned out to be a weird mix of craft and macro beer, so I didn’t stay for long. HOPAHOLIC on the other hand had a great selection, and as it turned out, I had stumbled upon a tap takeover by Metalhead, a Bulgarian brewery.

Then I was ready to tick of another box on my Hungarian food bingo, but the restaurant I picked turned out to be a daytime affair, and already closed at five! So instead, I had a quesadilla dinner—and beer of course—at Beer Brothers.

The last stops of the evening were the Gravity Brewing brewery and taproom—an awesome space, with a great view on the shiny brewing installation—and MONYO Tap House.

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 dropped off my bag at my hotel, it was time for coffee and breakfast, at Dorado.

Arrival of the Kálmán Imre sleeper train in Budapest Keleti

From there I headed to Nyugati railway station, since the hash run would start in Piliscsaba , a 38 minutes ride from the centre.

Over there, I joined the Budapest H3 for their 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, the beer stop there was very welcome!

My train to the run ready to leave Budapest Nyugati train station

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 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.

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

In my Pride Kilt in Amsterdam…

In my Pride Kilt in Amsterdam…

Published on 2 August 2025

The annual Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade was about to set sail, so I put on my Pride of LGBT tartan kilt, and headed to Amsterdam, to run the Amsterdam Hash House Harriers’ “Gay for a Day” trail again, and of course watch the parade!

Back in breeks…

Back in breeks…

Published on 1 July 2025

Reached this post by just scrolling through my blog? 
If you want to read about this trip from start to finish, instead of in reverse order, click here!

All good things come to an end, and so did this trip… I rolled up my kilt again—the Eurostar metal detectors don’t like its buckles and pin—and for the first time in two weeks, I was back in breeks again.

After an early breakfast in the hotel I successfully finished the packing puzzle: even with an extra T-shirt, pyjama bottoms, silly kilt towel, eight new items of haberdashery—of which six for others—and a bottle of whisky, I was able to zip up my bag quite smoothly!

After chilling in the Avanti West Coast Lounge of Glasgow Central for a bit, the staff announced our train was waiting for us at platform two.

Five minutes after boarding I already had my first cup of tea, and I would be well catered to for the whole 4.5 hour trip to London Euston.

After arrival I quickly went to the lounge in Euston, mainly to use the toilet—too many people queuing to go on the train—and enjoy the air-conditioning for a bit. Apparently outwith Scotland, there’s some kind of heatwave!

On to BrewDog Camden then, mainly just because it’s BrewDog Camden, and of course to try some more beers.

Before heading to St Pancras International, I managed to squeeze in a new place for dinner: Beer + Burger. Don’t know why I postponed it for this long, since the beer selection is impressive! And the burger was tasty…

Then there was only the slightly delayed Eurostar, taking me back to Brussels and thus marking the end of this trip…

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.