Wednesday 25th June: (Video footage still to be uploaded) - Spent the day sightseeing along the Danube River heading north along the Pest side of the riverbank before crossing Margaret Bridge to Buda and coming back through the Old Town, Royal Palace and then up Gellert Hill. Cooled off in the famous Gellert Spas followed by a massage! [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 24th June: (Video footage still to be uploaded) - Caught the 4.56am train from the Croation capital - Zagreb to Budapest. Checked into the Astoria Hotel as I found a bargain on Wotif.com so 4 star luxuary for 3 nights will be nice. Went to a highly recommended Hungarian restuarant for dinner before heading to a couple of bars in downtown Budapest - Hmmmmmmm. [View Full Entry]

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It's been a long trip and just when I think that I'd rather be back in my own bed is when I have a truly unique experience. I arrived in Budapest and went out to dinner with my friend Andras (who I met through the COSU project). Andras claims to be an expert in the "underground" places around Budapest. I told him that "above ground and tourist friendly" were more my thing, but he thought I needed the real local experience. So, off we went winding around streets and through lost courtyards, finally arriving in the courtyard of an abandoned building. [View Full Entry]

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"I wanna know..Have you Ever seen the rain.." As our train pulled away from Bratislava we made our way to Budapest, It was the words of Rod Stewert's song that echoed through my head....and I truely began to wonder of that very same question looking out across the beautiful landscape, Have you ever seen the rain?....At that moment it all seemed so perfect..The sun beamed in through the window and I began to look forward to another Glorious city... Budapest, It surprised me to be honest but i don't really know how to explain that..I guess it was nothing like what [View Full Entry]

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Buda and Pest The overnight train to Hungary from Romania ended up being dull and uneventful, despite the immediate claustrophobia and repeated warnings from the train guy about using a belt to tie the bunk ladder to the inside of our door to keep us safe after passing through customs, of course. How were we supposed to stay safe during the first four hours? Oy vey! Our arrival in Budapest was marked by a trip to McDonald´s. Yes, ladies and gents, I finally went into an american fast food chain while on this journey. Having not needed or wanted one during [View Full Entry]

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Nna gyerekek! Elindult! KALAND JATEK ES KOCKAZAT 6 heten at Igor es Zsombor ma elindult a 17.45ös Ishter Expresszel Bukarestbe hogy onnan rövid varosnezes utan tovabbinduljon Bizanc majd kelet fele. Uticel: Peking. Felszereles: vonatjegy Sztambulig. Repjegy a visszautra Pekingböl julius 27ere. merülöforralo (Zsombor hozza, de hogy mi a francnak...) Indulaskor ket kockaval dobtunk a szerencsepontokert, az eleteröert es a FUN es ADVENTURE pontok nullarol indulnak. Zsuzsi hozott pogacsat meg burkiflit a vonathoz, igy jovair [View Full Entry]

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Greetings from Buda or was it Pest??? Our visit to Budapest was a bit of a whirlwind we had a day and a half to visit all the main sights. We arrived late and found our way to the wonderful Alfa hostel. We were later than we thought as we changed time zones, now we are 8 hours behind Melbourne. As Budapest is divided in half by a river, one side is named 'Buda' and the other side 'Pest'. Our hostel was situated on the Pest side of the river. Joseph the hostel manager asked us to pay in Euros, which [View Full Entry]

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Wonderful cities of Buda and Pest. Full of history with Renaissance and Gothic buildings. We have had an excellent time exploring this great place just don't mention the walking - we have never stopped! We have seen castles, bridges and huge churches. The underground Labyrinth which is over half a million years old was a really freaky experience. The thermal baths were a wonderfully relaxing experience.Inside there were baths with temps of 28, 31 and 38 degrees! At the Zoo we saw animals we have never heard of and get close enough to touch some. It will be sad to leave [View Full Entry]

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Photos of Budapest. [View Full Entry]

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Today Joyce, Sylvia, and I took a trip to Budapest with Sylvia's dad. It is about a 4 hour drive from Roznava to Budapest, although Roznava is in southern Slovakia and very close to the Hungarian border. Many times throughout history this region of Slovakia has belonged to Hungary and so culturally, there is a great deal of overlap between Hungarian and Slovak. As an example, Sylvia's father is Hungarian and is very knowledgeable about Hungarian history, particularly about Budapest. He was a very nice tour guide and driver for the day (he was also once a race car driver). We [View Full Entry]

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