• Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

    Cat Bohannon

    There is a choice we make when we use the word ‘mankind’ when we should be using humankind, or even better, humanity. ‘Eve’ is a good reminder, and the sub-heading – How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution – is exactly what the book is about. Cat Bohannon gives us a lot of insights into the pivotal role of the female body in the evolutionary story, in a sweeping and provocative narrative that questions the ‘male bias’ in science and medicine at large, and offers the story of human evolution as told through the female body.

    The book is structured chronologically across 200 million years, and drives the story through the story of specific body parts, processes, and mechanisms. ‘Eve traces the evolution of women’s bodies, from tits to toes, and how that evolution shapes our lives today.’ In that process, we get insights on why women live longer, why they menstruate, are female brains different, and the very interesting question of whether sexism is useful for evolution.

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  • Szentendre

    The original plan for a day trip from Budapest was Eger, but thankfully D did her research and replaced that with Szentendre. The little town is a melting pot of several different cultures, almost like a mini version of Budapest itself, and that makes it quite perfect for almost every taste – churches, museums, cobblestone streets, varied cuisines, galleries, picturesque Danube river views and so on.

    How to get to Szentendre

    And all you need to do is take a < 1 hour train ride, on that cutesy HEV thing below from Batthyány tér, which happened to be a short walk from our hotel. No changing trains, but you essentially get two tickets for it – one for the city limits which you validate by punching it in the machine inside the train, and the other for the ticket checker (yes, this person exists) for the portion outside the city limits. The ticket machine at the road level makes all this a breeze.

    Batthyány tér train to Szentendre
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  • Budapest

    We had heard many good things about Budapest from friends who had been there, and it didn’t disappoint at all. We flew from Warsaw to Budapest, the flight time was like going from Bangalore to Kerala!

    Where to stay in Budapest

    Buda side for a laid-back ambience, and Pest side for more vibrance. We preferred the former, and thus back in the arms of the Radisson Group in Park Plaza. A bit of checkin time snootiness and a membership flex later, we were in our Danube-facing room.

    Park Plaza Budapest

    …which we chose over the Castle View on the other side of the hotel

    Buda Castle
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  • Warsaw

    Warsaw happened only because the second reason to visit Poland was most easily accessible from here. Well, Gdansk more so, but we didn’t fancy a seaside town in winter and the logistics were easier. Wroclaw to Warsaw is a 4 hr + journey by train.

    Where to stay in Warsaw

    For a change, we stayed at an Accor hotel. The best thing about the Mercure Warszawa Centrum is that it is located very near to the central railway station, and a mall, which turned out to be very useful, because the sole of D’s winter shoe departed!

    Mercure Warszawa Centrum Warsaw
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  • Wroclaw

    Krakow to Wroclaw is just over three hours by train. You must absolutely book your tickets in advance. You get about 5 minutes to find your wagon on the platform, but barring that little adventure, the ride was smooth, passing by white landscapes and small towns.

    Where to stay in Wroclaw

    The stay was at Radisson Blu again. This one was older than the one in Krakow, and the staff were a little less helpful. It is a 10 minute walk from the Main Square.

    Radisson Blu, Wroclaw
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