Thanks, Top Gear!

I confess I hadn't heard about Seasick Steve until I saw an episode of the famous BBC program where Jeremy Clarkson interviewed him. He was the star guest who drove the cheap car but for me it was more interesting to learn about this great musician. (As a scuba diver who travel or ride often by a boat I have stories about seasickness, so his name sounded familiar...)

Working On a Dream

Simply fantastic...

2012

Fish out of water

To fish or not to fish: that is the question. Sometimes as a I diver I think about my eating habits. I read a lot about destructive fishing methods and whenever I order seafood in a restaurant I feel guilty. On the other hand I like fish food...

I remember some dive trips in Egypt where the local crew caught fish: a tuna or a grouper. They chose an environment friendly way of fishing with a single hook, they had the fish and didn't destroy the coral reefs as the bottom trawlers. My first fresh tuna steak on a Egyptian boat was a stunning experience, I ate only canned tuna before which was in a totally different league. Later I tasted fresh groupers and cuttlefish too and seeing how it was caught made the dinner more delicious.

Anyway I can't resist seafood in restaurants. In Hungary certainly I prefer local freshwater food, I know a great place not far from Budapest where they make only trout. The owner, a friend of us is a really nice guy and his roasted trout is awesome! In some restaurants I like to taste Hungarian style fisherman's soup called "halászlé" from catfish.

Whenever I travel to abroad I like to try new foods. There are place where simply do it better: in Madeira we always had delicious meals. They make my absolute favorite fish soup in that small island but the swordfish steaks with banana (filetes de espada com banana) is a special dish too. I like the Canary Islands' fish soup (caldo de pescado) which I had in several places around the archipelago. In Graciosa island we had the daily menu in a small restaurant in the harbor with tasty fish soup and a glass of awful wine. I usually prefer beer or water, the local wines' quality can be a positive or more likely negative surprise. I avoid those frustrating experiences by choosing a pint of lager...

I do the same in Croatia where I tasted many fish food. One of the "classics" is the stuffed cuttlefish (punjene lignje), but they make it differently in every restaurant. It's exciting to cut it and see if there's cheese, ham, rice or something else inside the cuttlefish.

Sadly you rarely know if you have local fresh fish or imported one. When the crew catch you know it's really fresh but there were another memorable moments during our trips. We had a flat tire in Tenerife in a small fishing village. We decided to have a meal and in the restaurant there was a huge fridge with the fresh local fish: we chose one and they made it in the roast in the opened kitchen. It helped to forget our car problems very soon! This year we spent a wonderful week in a liveaboard boat in Croatia. On the last day I saw the captain as he cleaned some fish near the boat. He revealed his fisherman father caught them in the morning and the cook made one of my best Croatian meals.

Many nice moments, many good food... I hope someday they'll use sustainable fishing methods everywhere in the world and I'll have the chance to see fish under water and on my plate as well.

Friday night party

A thousand and up

I noticed the number of visits reached 1000 recently. I know it's a very small leap for mankind in 3 months... But it's exactly 1000 more visits than a non-existent blog has. I feel the progress and I like it. I regularly use to check the statistics and I'm happy to see visits from distant countries.

So I try to do my best. I rely on the patience and forgiveness of my readers who encounter my English. I learn from every single entry, I try to make as less mistake as I can. In Hungarian I'd be able to write a short blog entry in 15 minutes but in English it takes much more time. Even so I enjoy blogging. I write about my favorite hobby, scuba diving, I can share experiences, adventures, thoughts. I hope there are visitors who find interesting videos, nice photos here or get some information about destinations or wrecks. I encourage everybody to comment: I need feedback about my mistakes and I'd happy to read your thoughts about my entries, adventures or blog design.

Thanks for joining me on this virtual trip to the underwater world!

Night Boat to Cairo

Let's be optimistic...

Cairo blues

The Tahrir Square, again.

A year ago all the news channels of the world showed exciting pictures: the revolutions of the Arab world could change the life in Northern Africa and in the Middle East. First the Tunisian president fell, later the Egyptian president resigned, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi is dead. There are fights in Yemen, Bahrein and Syria.

For me the greatest surprise was the anger which resulted Egypt's Hosni Mubarak resignation. He ruled his country for decades and we, who visit Egypt regularly, saw his portraits everywhere. In this moment it's hard to decide if he was a cruel dictator or a president who worked for his country's peace and prosperity. As a traveler I appreciated his efforts to maintain peace with Israel and let the tourists visit many of the country's above and under water wonders.

For us it was a cheap world class destination but I confess I didn't think too much about its government. I don't like to talk about politics even in my home country, why should I discuss those affairs in a foreign place where I just dive and relax? But the local people did. And somehow they were able to change the situation. Sadly they aren't happy now, because they aren't satisfied with the new military councils plans. The general elections come but nobody knows if they will postpone presidential elections or not. Those people on the Tahrir Square don't want to see another dictator in the country. The news channels show pictures of fights from Cairo again and I don't know what will happen there in a week, a month, a year...

I think we can't really understand this country which has so long history from the ancient pharaohs. Egypt is a huge country but majority of the land is desert. Imagine an England where only the greater London area is inhabited! Too much people live in the Valley of Nile and many of them poor. They don't feel they are benefiting of the millions of foreigners who arrive to their country and spend a lot of money. They want changes. But nobody knows how to change to keep the income from the tourism and give more of that to the people.

We who traveled there regularly are worrying and waiting. I understand the Egyptians but wouldn't be happy to lose a favorite destination because of emerging aggression and impatience. Sadly I can't do anything. The Egyptian people had to decide and I respect their choice. I wish a better future for them, for the country and for us as well.

Autumn

 

A walk along the riverside of the Danube (Budapest)

Tangerine Dream

This German band released dozens of albums since its 1967 formation. The Tangerine Dream is the band which wrote many well known songs which later appeared in ads, movies, documentaries but only the minority of the people knew who is the performer. In this entry I collected some of  theirclassical and/or sea related works.

Waves

I don't know who would buy a DVD with sounds of waves but it seems really relaxing...

Vangelis

When I wrote about musics for diving I mostly meant those songs which we use to hear often in underwater documentaries. OK, there aren't the same ones in all of these but there are some typical popular styles. I think everything changed when many musicians started using synthesizers in the '70s. As in every kind of music there were some people who simply wrote better songs. The greek Vangelis is one of the most important artists of the pop music and I remember when I heard his masterpieces everywhere. There was the soundtrack of the Chariots of Fire and 1492 - Conquest of Paradise for example. I collected here some of his sea related songs I really like.

Are there any musics for diving?

I know there isn't any answer of my question. However there are musics which makes me remember of my dive adventures, because filmmakers use them in their documentaries, or their mood is inspiring me. I try to embed some of my favorites from time to time, but this first music is here only because of its title: Dive in Your Life. Hope you like it!

NFL time

Ok, the football isn't connected to the diving at all (although I'm sure there must be scuba diving NFL stars) but I have to share I'm happy to watch the new season's games. (Go Patriots!) It seems everyone changes, a few years ago I didn't care too much about American football but since I can watch the games in the TV here in Hungary I started to learn and love it. Life is not only about diving and it's good to know there are many other things which make the boring days better. Thanks NFL!

And now I'm going back to the TV and open another beer...