So we've now visited five new capitals. All have exceeded our expectations. Not that we had low expectations. It's just that each has turned out to be way more livable, walkable, and generally pleasant than we had dared to hope.

Following are a few comparative notes (offered with due humility because we were not long enough anywhere to say anything really authoritative).

Across the board we've appreciated the courtesy of motorists. Jay-walking is out in all these countries, and providing you respect that, you'll find yourself treated very amiably by those in cars.

All these capitals also have impressive public transport systems.


We couldn't help noticing, in all five countries, that the dogs are really well behaved... In the British Isles I'm for ever fending off animals whose owners seem to think it's absolutely fine for their pooches to jump all over me with their dirty, trouser-shredding feet, and get very stroppy when I reveal myself to be less than thrilled by this. But in this part of the world, dogs seem to be trained to not be bothersome.

Everywhere the cafe scene is alive and well. The coffee is great, and we've especially appreciated the pastry-making skills of eastern and central Europe. In this region, if you're going to have a carby treat (and travelling does mean there will be many of those...), definitely make it pastry. We've not had a single dud, and each country has its own specialities.

Cafe standouts: In Sofia, it has to be Ma Baker, where we cheered ourselves up after a fruitless search for books; then there's Work's Coffee Shop, the tiny place in Bucharest with the fine Panamanian coffee; in Budapest its hard to pick among MTRM Roast (the homey, arty place with the wonderful Jewish pastries), Ohana, (the one with the delicious raspberry pinwheels), and Csengery Reggelizo es Kavezo (where we sheltered from the wind on our way to the station); in Bratislava, I'd have to go for the zany Cafe Grao (memorable not just for its excellent coffee and pastries but also for its shiny pink toilets); and definitely worth mentioning in Ljubljana is Kavarna Leonard (where two lattes and two generously proportioned croissants cost just EUR 6.20...)


Notwithstanding the vast range of local baked goods, pizza is absolutely ubiquitous across this region... I don't know why.

In each country, we've enjoyed trying wines made from grape varieties that never seem to make it beyond their borders, and thus we've never remotely heard of.



I would say Bucharest is the most affordable of the five capitals (although this is a very subjective view).

Bucharest is also best for toilets... No, no apologies. This is an important issue for the traveller... Sometimes they're those eco-things, which are a bit repellent visually, but don't actually smell, and are otherwise fine. Popular here, too (and also present in Sofia, but less easy to find), are those capsule toilets (the ones that shut you in, and allow you 15 minutes to do what you've got to do). These terrify me. I'm always afraid that: a) the door will open automatically halfway through the performance; or b) it won't open again, ever.

Ljubljana is also pretty good for public facilities, although the ones by the bridge give a whole new meaning to the term "dark tourism" (Nigel had a memorable experience with a bunch of guys from a Korean tour group who were using their mobile phone torches to illuminate the procedure...).



I don't know how these cities look in the summer, but Budapest and Ljubljana were already giving off signals that crowds might be a problem in the months to come.

Budapest, I would say, has the greatest acreage of handsome facades. All five cities are picturesque, but Budapest somehow does picturesque over a wider area, and you can imagine months of walking here. Faces look down from the buildings; atlantes strain to hold up their loads; stone curlicues and tendrils and vines loop across the structures' faces... There were way more subjects to photograph than we had time to capture.



Bratislava's old town is very compact. You can walk across it pretty quickly. But don't stick to the old town. The modern bit across the river is really interesting too. Bratislava also has by far the highest density of nuns of the five...



Ljubljana is unique among the five for its situation within a ring of mountains (snow-capped at this time of year). It has wonderful carillons and church bells. It's also perceptibly a city of cyclists. And -- we got caught out here -- supermarkets are shut on Sundays... Ljubljana's old town is also petite and easily traversed (this is the only one of the capitals that is too small for trams or trolleybuses). And -- putting it in a league of its own -- Ljubljana has struklji...

It's probably obvious from everything I've said, but I'd very happily visit any of these capitals again.