Photograph by sgoralnick

If political intrigue, embassy cocktail parties, and the world of fashion do it for you, Budapest has been delivering the goods of late.

We’re talking, first off, about the Budapest Discussions, a series of expert talks sponsored by the British Embassy in Budapest in collaboration with the Dutch and Swedish Embassies and the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The most recent lively (no, really) meeting open to the public covered agriculture and rural development in the European Union, and was followed by a reception with free food and drink. Once we got through the formality of British security, we found the Embassy itself to be quite breathtaking. Naturally, we did it up.

Next up: proof that being on a budget doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the finer things in life. Top luxury women’s designer fashion group Escada, opens its flagship Budapest store to the public tomorrow, March 28, 2007, at Dorottya ul. 3. Tomorrow evening’s event includes a cocktail reception and fashion show. Be sure to get there early to nab a free gift bag.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Photograph by jenojenny

Take the 44 bus from Piazza Venezia and you’ll find the unimaginable: a slice of Rome untouched by tourists.

Monteverde Vecchio, situated on Rome’s highest peak, is almost exclusively residential. Shopping is limited to neighborhood establishments. In addition to priceless views from Janiculum Hill, Monteverde offers a snapshot of everyday Roman life.

Get off the 44 just after passing through the set of arches, and make sure to arrive hungry. Across the street, the Archi Bar serves Peroni and acceptable panini to American University of Rome students. Just around the corner on Via Carini, Pizzeria da Simone serves the best pizza al taglio in Rome.

Afterwards, walk west down one of the side streets towards shop-lined Viale di Villa Pamphili, stopping along the way in little specialty stores. From there, check out Villa Doria Pamphili, Rome’s largest public park. Villa Pamphili also has plenty to see: sculptured gardens, vine-tangled statuary, and multiple villas, including the massive Baroque Casino and an antiquities museum in Villa Vecchia.

Click the bottom left corner of this map for details.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Photograph by babschi

It seems that Knut, Berlin’s über-cute polar bear cub, is alive and well—and despite the opinion of some animal-rights activists that he should have been killed rather than humanized. Three-month-old Knut made his public debut at the Berlin Zoo last weekend to the adulation of large crowds of children and an international media feeding frenzy. The little fluffball seems to be a natural star and all the attention didn’t faze him a bit.

Good thing, because the Berlin Zoo is banking on a bonanza of visitors this summer to come see Knut in action. He will be out every day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Photograph by Monkey Hugger

Today, Swiss sorta-low-cost carrier helvetic announced that their planned weekly Zurich-Split and Geneva-Split summer flights will not be going forward. Croatia fans up and down Switzerland are no doubt crying into their spätzle.

Tied to this decision is the airline’s announcement that they’ll be ramping up service to Lamezia-Terme (Calabria) and Brindisi (Puglia) in July and August, with service from Zurich three times per week.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Photograph by stevacek

Evan Rail, the Prague Post’s former restaurant critic, issued forth a 36 Hours round-up for the New York Times this past week. Prague will start its high season on April 1, so the feature is pretty well timed. It’s the NYT, so there aren’t a ton of good Cheapos recommendations here—especially as Prague is now one of the most expensive cities in the region—but Rail does name check one of Prague’s best cheap bars, Hapu (on Orlicka street in Zizkov).

A tiny space below street level with mismatched furniture, Hapu was one of the first low-cost bars to excel at mixed drinks in Prague. Working with very little except a blender, some fruit, and courage, they make excellent concoctions beyond the typical beery fare found elsewhere. There are couches for sitting, and things can get a bit sloppy as the night progresses, but even after a few years it remains one of the city’s best nightspots.

And no one wears a lab coat at Hapu. Honest.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Photograph by Schmorpheus

Star Date: 2007

Captain’s Log: A member of the Enterprise crew has detected a replica of my commanding station in a little town called Hinckley in Leicestershire, England on planet Earth.

A single man, who goes by the name Tony Alleyne, appears to be living in a replica of the Enterprise “Bridge” remodeled from what was once a residential flat. Navigational controls, transporters, and even swivel chairs have been built to resemble our own.

Alleyne, frequently seen dressed in clothing resembling my Starfleet uniform, appears friendly. However, he has recently announced to the British press that he intends to sell the replica of the Bridge on Ebay for $200,000. (Apparently his wife left him in 1995, around the time the main control console was completed.)

I am sending down Counselor and Empath Deanna Troi, both to assess Alleyne’s intentions and provide emotional assistance should the Earth-bound Captain Picard need it.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Photograph by World of Jeff!

The important cities in Austria and Switzerland are where the action is when it comes to the UEFA European Championship 2008. According to the UEFA Web site, groundwork for a European national-team competition began in 1956, achieving fruition in 1958 as the European Nations’ Cup, and is now known as the UEFA European Championship. Fans have until March 31 to book tickets to see their football idols live. There will be six matches in Vienna, including the finals on June 29 at the Ernst Happel Stadium. Beyond Austria’s capital, Klagenfurt, Salzburg, and Innsbruck will see some action as well. Invididuals can order a maximum of four tickets, which are on first-come-first-served basis. So hurry.

Austria will also import security manpower from neighboring Germany to ensure smooth sailing. After a violent incident that took place in Italy earlier this month—costing one life and rendering several spectators severely injured—officials are keen to keep hooliganism in check.

To quench public thirst for the upcoming event, several street football matches will transpire in Vienna, beginning next month. Plus, there will be gratis open-air kinos in several locations—this circuit includes a free kino in front of Vienna’s Rathaus on August 12—featuring films, like “Dan Wunder von Bern,” with football themes.

The Rathaus will also be the meeting point for public viewing of EM 2008. Here fans will be able to watch and cheer on their favorite football team on a huge screen.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Photograph by Jet2

Jet2 has just announced a Newcastle-Gatwick route, with one-way fares (including taxes!) starting at £26.99. Jet2’s decision to launch this route was driven by the recent abandonment of said stretch by British Airways, and the airline is operating three flights a day in both directions.

Best of all, when we tried to price the route, we came up with lots and lots of £29.99 one-way fares. This suggests to us that while the lowest fare may be limited, fares nearly as cheap are plentiful.

Note the special Newcastle-Gatwick craft above, which takes the low-cost airline strategy of assigning every last square centimeter of space to advertising to a new level. For some reason, when it comes to scrappy Jet2, we don’t quite mind…

Popularity: 3% [?]

It ain’t just Ryanair keeping fares low in and out of Ireland. AerLingus is pushing a bunch of cheap promotional fares right now out of Dublin and Cork. From Dublin: €9 fares (one-way, not including taxes, charges, and supplements) to and from Berlin, Bilbao, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, and Madrid; from Cork: €9 fares (also one-way and before taxes) to and from Madrid.

For €19, the route map broadens. From Dublin, there are one-way €19 fares to and from Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Geneva, Hamburg, Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Munich, Paris, Santiago de Compostela, Toulouse, Venice, and Warsaw. From Cork, clever Cheapos can snap up one-way fares to and from Prague and Warsaw for €19 before charges.

These fares are available through midnight in Ireland on Thursday, March 29, and they’re good for travel from April 17 through May 31. We’d expect taxes and charges to come to around an additional €40 per round-trip, and—a further caution!—we were unable just now to find the lowest promotional fare on one less-trafficked route. Still, cheap’s cheap, and at the very least this fare sale shouldn’t be ignored.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Photograph by iam4ranny

March in Hungary is a bad month for pigs. In villages all over the country, this is pig killing season. The season is marked by colorful, if bloody, rituals.

The condemned pig is brought out at sunrise and publicly slaughtered. His blood is immediately rushed away by the village women, who make the traditional pig killing festival breakfast of fried blood. Pálinka, explosively strong schnapps, is used to wash it down. The whole pig is used to make a range of homemade products, which will be enjoyed at the communal village feast later in the day, with much song and swagger.

Visitors (non-vegetarian only, natch) are welcome to take part in pig killing festivals. One way to participate is to contact the Lucullus Baráti Tarsaság, a gastronomy club devoted to “safeguarding traditions and disseminating information about traditional cuisines and habits,” via their colorful Web site.

Popularity: 2% [?]