The start of our adventure.

Well folks, here it is, the post you've all been waiting for! Maybe! Maybe you didn't care but also didn't have anything better to do today! Either way THIS post I'm posting is here!

And we're off!

So last Saturday Vanda and I said our final goodbyes to our flatmate and my family, packed up the last few bags of our life, realised we had packed too much and had to unpack a few things, repacked and THEN finally got on our still yet to be named Triumph Bonneville T120 and set off. We have been planning ("planning") this trip for a couple of months with a relatively open route between London, UK and Debrecen, Hungary.

"But Rupert, how has the trip gone so far?"

A little Sausage and a big bike.

I'm glad you asked hypothetical avid reader, it started in a relatively scary fashion with the coastal winds of the English Channel blowing us every which way but loose on our trip to Folkstone. We took the Eurotunnel at around 2:30pm, and managed to get our own compartment (probably because our bike looks miraculously unstable). If you are considering a trip to mainland Europe at any point soon I would highly recommend using the Eurotunnel train, before we knew it we were already in the subjectively beautiful Hauts-de-France. The wind decided it wasn't done with us and threw us from lane to lane for the rest of the day until we hit Bruges, which was our stop for the night. We had a wonderful Belgian meal and beer in the main square to celebrate our first successful day on the road and headed to bed, excited to see the city the next day.

"Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in F*@king Bruges"

Bruges is an interesting place, there is no doubt. But it is interesting in the way a toddlers first word is interesting. At first it is a little miracle, an exquisite experience that changes your perception of life's very meaning. But soon the novelty fades and you realise this word is all you'll hear for a little longer than you anticipated. Basically go see Bruges for a day or so. Any longer and you may go crazy.

Our next destination was Amsterdam. But on the way we decided to stop at the bizarre town of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle Hertog, a small Belgian enclave in The Netherlands. The town is split by such odd borders that they have had to draw dotted lines across the entire town. This has caused a number of funny situations, such as a house having two addresses, a shop having to have two separate tills and house numbers reverting half way down the street. At one point me and Vanda were in different countries 5 times in a minute, a new record for distance in our relationship.

The logistical nightmare of Baarle Nassau

So after a spot of lunch and a coffee on the Belgian side of the border (before paying in The Netherlands) we moved onto the Dutch Capital. We decided to stay at a location named Campsterdam on the north side of the river Amstel where we rented a vintage camper that opened onto the river. This was a beautiful location and in high summer I would definitely recommend a stay here, unfortunately for us the weather didn't hold at night (along with the power) and we ended up freezing on our first night there. Amsterdam is a mixed bag. I have been many times before but this was a first for Vanda. Surprisingly she was a little disappointed. I think we all build up ideas of places before we experience them, or even after we experience them, and we both felt a little let down by the Amsterdam we saw. It is a beautiful and vibrant city sadly let down by its in-your-face tourist trapping and brightly lit debauchery. That being said we also met up with some Italian friends of ours from London and had a great time relaxing by the canal with them, so I believe it is the city you make it to be, definitely a place you have to see.

Bikes, Check. Canals, Check. Wonky Buildings, Check.

Vintage campers allow for instagram like goldmines

After Amsterdam, we decided to visit an old friend of Vanda's in a town in north Holland named 'Lelystad', interestingly this town didn't exist before 1967, when it was built on land reclaimed from the North Sea. Even more interestingly we decided to take a northern route there, which required crossing the North Sea to get there. Anyone who finds themselves in Holland on a Motorcycle absolutely has to drive the Houtribdijk road. Pictures can't do justice to how magnificent the open road is with the sea on both sides.

Chilling in the sea...kind of.

After Lelystad we stopped off at Utrecht before the longest journey so far down to Maastricht to stay with a friend of ours. Maastricht is another town that you have to see if you can, a small student town with mixed German/Dutch architecture and an all-round friendly feel. Our next trip today sees us leaving The Netherlands for Germany and the start of our great European crossing. As soon as I get a chance again I will update you all on where we have ended up. But for now, ta-ra!

Puffer

Our Pre-Wedding Trip to Prague.

Sitting in a London flat with the windows open is one of my 'very English' little delights.

Like having Barbecues on people's roofs, it represents the warm breeze of spring replacing the sharp snap of winter. It conjures images of experienced ocean men gliding across the Thames after an age at sea. You can hear the sirens of the metropolitan police service, singing their crescendo in the distance, probably on the way to save the good people of London from peril, more likely on their way to profile innocent people based on their differences.

Oh London, how you will be missed.

In contrast to the wonderfully warm weather we are now experiencing in the big smoke, Prague was somewhat colder than we could have anticipated, but nevertheless more beautiful than we could have imagined.

Instax photos are a great way to show that you have been places and found novelty pissing statues.

Now although if one can one shouldn't need a reason to travel to the city of a hundred spires, we did have a reason. Glorious bureaucracy. Paperwork is the basis of all civilisation and however much we would like to romanticise the great achievements of Men and Women, without stacks of dotted lines and scribbled signatures it would all have been for nought.

After Vanda and I decided on Prague as our preferred city for the wedding, I got in contact with a very old friend from my school days, who just so happened to have lived in the ancient Bohemian capital at one point AND got married there himself. He was unbelievably helpful with explaining how the process went for him and what to expect. Social media, in ways that might seem obvious to some, has a way of painting people's lives in bright colours, illuminating the desirable aspects and masking the hard or delicate realities of life. So even though Prague still holds all the romance and intrigue a city of such rich history, it was always going to require work.

I am not entirely sure how other countries operate their marriage laws and am well aware that we have the advantage of both being EU citizens (for now at least), but I will give you a quick run through of what was required:

This friend who had lived in Prague, gave us the details of a Czech wedding coordinator, named Ladka, who specialises in organising English language weddings in the Czech Republic. After contacting Ladka and confirming the personal details and finances that would entail, we had to collect a number of documents for the Czech authorities. The most important of which was both of our Birth Certificates and Certificates of No Impediment. The first is obvious I suppose, after all Czechia would hardly be expected to find the details of a British and Hungarian citizen that don't live in the country and they obviously need to make sure that they aren't signing off on a sham wedding for any reasons beyond their borders. A Certificate of No Impediment however is a little more confusing; it is a statement of declaration from your government confirming that you are not in fact already married.

Various Kafkaesque imagery to set the tone of the next paragraph.

So here is where the fun begins: For Vanda to get said document, she had to collect it from Hungary, as from this year, no embassy can issue the document on the governments behalf. This was a large part of the reason we were in Hungary last month. For me, it was a little bit trickier. The British Government, this time played by my local registry office, needed a months notice to produce the document for me, OK fine you understand this surely? and a month isn't too much of a pain. BUT the British document expires three months from the date of issue. So the earliest I could have had this document was February 11th, I was in Hungary for February so decided to order it on the 1st February to pick it up on the 2nd March when I was back in London. But two problems that I was previously unaware of arose:

1.) British Documents require what is known as an Apostille Stamp for documents to be legal outside the UK, this requires the document to be sent to the UK and Commonwealth legislation office for the stamp. This can take anywhere up to ten days before they even send it back to you.

2.) The document had to be in the hands of the Czech authorities on an office working day at least one month before the wedding, in this case 8th March.

As you might have deduced, this posed a problem. So after a mild panic about whether the wedding can even happen, I found out that companies that are registered in the UK can do a same day Apostille stamp service. If you Google Apostille stamp, you will find a lot of different companies and law firms who will stamp your documents for you with this service for a price of around £170*. I decided to use Edward Young Notary Public London (www.notarypublicinlondon.com) and highly recommend their services. In the end, by no small miracle, the day after we returned to London I managed to collect the document, get it stamped and have it in hand by 1:30pm. After all of this we were hardly going to trust our documents to a courier service, so decided there was nothing for it but to travel to Prague and deliver the documents ourselves.

Vanda doing Prague things, including the gentle rubbing of a Bishop.

We saw the wedding venue (it is going to be pretty special, will explain in another post), sampled the local food and of course beer, explored the hills and endless streets and squares with their Gothic towers and Baroque facades, and last but certainly not least, had the famous Trdelník. Now I will probably go on about this surgery explosion to the senses in other posts under another name, Kürtőskalács,  as they are in fact Hungarian in origin and I am well versed in their digestion. However the Czechs have decided to stuff them with ice cream and Nutella...So I just had to give it a bash. FYI It is delicious and will make you feel like Adam after biting that apple that one time.

I borrowed a Trdlník picture from imgur but the melting Hot Chocolate is definitely us, to my shame.

 
All in all the trip was fantastic. It was 0 °C and it rained in the evenings so it was hard to spend too much time outside, and I would suggest having a plan for the day before you leave your hotel as there are many tourist traps throughout the city, but if you are keen on exploring a place without maps, we managed to find a couple of amazing cafes off the beaten track. Finally the Kafka Museum is a must for any fans, as it is genuinely one of the best curated Museums we have ever visited and really brings the feeling of his writing to life.

Prague Prague Prague

Maybe Kafka put it best when he said 'Prague never lets you go… this dear little mother has sharp claws' and although one shouldn't need a reason, we certainly have one to come back!

If you are interested in a Prague wedding, you can find Ladka and her company here: www.weddinginprague.eu She really is great!

Puffer

Hand-made wedding decorations: Cake Stand

The Sauce has been frantically busy with designing and organising our second wedding out of a proposed four.

Let me explain. Our plan to have a small actual wedding and then celebrate in our respective countries morphed beautifully and monstrously into actually organising multiple weddings so that everyone can experience the joy of our special day(s). So for better or for worse we are getting married a few times. And to make matters even better, the Second wedding, the Hungarian one, is two days after our actual wedding.

You may be interested to know that Hungarians take weddings particularly seriously, even more so then us Brits. And Vanda, bless her crazy little mind, decided to hand-make the decorations, in order to keep our costs down and also add a personal touch to the second most wonderful day of our lives. And I, Puffer, decided to watch and photograph (amateurishly) her ideas and share them with the world. Lucky you, world.

So first up: Cake Stands!

Cake Stands...oohhhh ahhhhh!

These delightful cake stands are super easy to make and add a really nice vintage, retro and other blogging keyword feel to your reception.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED:

• Fruit boxes/ Display Crates
• White Acrylic Paint
• White Glossy Spray Paint
• Jute Ribbon
• Glue Gun
• Extra: Twine for added decoration to the legs.

You can find these boxes just about anywhere that there is a market or fruit/vegetables are sold, here is an example of some on our road (we would suggest getting them from shops rather than the street, for hygiene's sake!).

Look for Boxes like this, only with a bit less London road all over them.

After cleaning off the debris and splinters (would suggest some soft sandpaper for a really nice surface finish), Vanda painted the box with a simple white acrylic paint. After the first coat she waited ten minutes before going over it again.

The first coat, and magical appearing Yorkie.

Once it dried, the wood was still a little dull in colour. So Vanda took the box outside and coated it in a layer of shiny white spray paint to give it a glossy look.

Consider spray painting outside, so as to not paint any inquisitive Yorkies.

At this point the box was looking pretty wedding-y but needed some finishing touches. We managed to find and pick up something I would later find out is called Jute Ribbon which adds a lovely countryside feel to anything you wrap in it.

Pay no heed to the terrible lighting of these shots, the Jute Ribbon is what matters!

For the finishing touch, Vanda made a bow out of the jute ribbon to mask the area that glued the ribbon together and 'wrap it up nicely' so to speak. Once the bow was ready, she used a glue gun to stick the ribbon together, and attach the bow to it.

Make a bow, stick a bow, have a beautiful cake tray. Sorted.

Et Voilà! You have a very simple and stylish cake stand for all the sugary treats you will feed to your ravenous guests. If you'd like a little bit of extra decoration, you can wrap some twine around the legs of your box.

Twiney Winey Leggys

But there you go. Simple eh? And not just for weddings either, I imagine they would fit nicely at a summer barbecue or a summer barbecue themed Bar Mitzvah. More easy decorations coming right up, but for now, Hope you're all having a grand weekend!

Puffer

A short introduction from the Puffer

Why hello there.

After the last, somewhat cryptic, post we figured it as about time to get this show on the road! So lets start with introductions; my name is Rupert, and I am one half of what we are calling Puffer and Sauce, try not to think too hard about the names, they are not as complicated as you might think and their meaning will disappoint you. My other half in more ways than one, Vanda, is the Sauce in this pair. As I write this post we are just over a month away from getting married with all the laughs and joy* that comes with preparing for one of the happiest moments in a persons life**.

To quickly summerise how this all began, we met in London by chance just over a year and a half ago and after a series of coincidences and choices we ended up living together. After a happy year of this we decided between us that we would like to take the next step and were engaged on the 13th September. Here comes the fun part. Vanda is Hungarian, she hails from Debrecen on the Hungarian border with Romania. I am a native Londoner from Battersea, South London. For all intents and purposes this isn't a problem. We live in modern times and the ideas of nationality and nation-states are not a concern in our lives (despite what 51.9% of British voters might have you believe). But it does pose an issue in regards to organising a wedding, with two sets of family and friends who don't speak each others languages and live roughly 2000km away from each other. So after some careful consideration and lots of wondering how the hell we don't piss off literally everyone, we decided on a very small private wedding, with just a handful of friends as witnesses, in a separate  country, to be followed by a series of celebrations in Hungary and the UK. We chose Prague in the Czech Republic (or Czechia for ease-sake, but i have a feeling that won't catch on) for its relative distance to both our countries and its stunning beauty. This comes with its own set of predicaments but these will be discussed on a later post.

The wedding is the first chapter of what we hope will be a year of adventures as we set off from our flat in East London to explore what Europe has to offer us. We are in Debrecen for a few more days before we fly back to London to close the last doors (for now) on our life there. When we are done and have said our goodbyes, we will be setting off, on a Triumph Bonneville T120 Motorcycle (that is yet to be officially named) on the first leg of our journey, from London to Debrecen via the Germanic and Low countries. On the way we are hoping to see and do local things, meet local people and, as I am a shocking chef, learn to cook local foods across Europe. In-between these trips we will be focusing on learning all the things we wanted to but a hectic London lifestyle didn't allow such as language, music and craft while also attempting, some may say fruitlessly, to work out and live healthier lifestyles. Along the way we will be documenting as much of this as we can here, and on our Instagram page [@pufferandsauce]. So feel free to follow us on this journey and we hope to enthral you on our tales of wonder and adventure***.

Puffer.


*There are few laughs and very little is to be enjoyed about organising a wedding, it is hell incarnate.

**People experience happiness differently. For some a wedding isn't something that would remotely make them happy. For others, sharpening a pencil might have the desired effect I'm trying to portray. Sadly this blog doesn't covered sharpened pencils. If that is your preferred path to happiness might I suggest a look at https://woodclinched.com/ as a source for all your lead or carbon-based desires.

***Please keep following us, my life choices require validation.

Us, looking like we didn't spend a week in Morocco sharing a toilet basin.

170 days to go!