Hungary, Austria and England

On my last night in Budapest, I came across an artist, wearing a captain's hat, who was selling his work near the Mátyás Church. He reminded my of Edi, the loud-talking, fast-moving, bunker-renter from Dubrovnik, so I stopped to have a look. He went by the name of "Kovacs-Z" and whether he was crazy or a genius or both, I felt compelled to make a purchase. I am now the proud owner of a signed Kovacs-Z original (not the one in the picture below. I'm not sure why he chose to hold up that picture?)

I headed back to Graz, Austria, for the weekend. Sophie and I jumped in the car and made our way to the "out of a fairy tale" Riegersburg Castle. So far, Austria has the market cornered on Castles. Afterwards, we made a dash for the Zotter Chocolate Factory. Chocolate fountains, chocolate bars, chocolate drinks... it was a chocolaty paradise!

Before I flew back to Dublin, I stopped over in London for a few days (because I can't get enough of that little town). What did I see? One million individually sculpted and painted porcelain sunflower seeds, classic paintings from van Gogh, da Vinci and Monet (amongst others), the international meridian and, the home of the Crown Jewels.

Back to Dublin. Back to work.