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We arrived in Bratislava late afternoon, our hostel was really quiet so they upgraded us from a 4 bed dorm room to a private twin for the same cost, no grumbling from us. We had a short stroll in the rain round the old part of the city before going to the big Tescos to buy groceries to make our own dinner. We thought the hostel said they had fully equiped kitchens but later discovered this meant one pan and cutlery but no utensils. We used our brownies and scouts skills and created quite a dish.
Our second day the rain had stopped so we climbed the hill to the castle for views over the city. It isn't that appealing on the eye but definitely worth a look. We did our usual trick of choosing an alternative route back to the city but were happy to discover a cool art exhibition. There isn't much to see in Bratislava, one of their most famous sites is the strange statues dotted around the city such as the man popping his head out of a man hole cover. We decided to see what Bratislava had to offer food wise but maybe chose the wrong
cafe as the woman serving us wasn't very welcoming and the food wasn't much better. J however went for the cheapo lunch deal and got a strange layered potato cake. We weren't really very sorry to be leaving Bratislava, it was worth a look and a good nights sleep in our bargain hostel.
We caught the train from Bratislava to Budapest. The sky was looking quite ominous and as we walked up our street looking for our hostel the heavens opened and we got caught in the biggest storm J and I had ever encountered. We tried to hide in a door way of a shop but the rain/hail was so heavy we still managed to get drenched. After about 5mins of a torrential downpour we finally managed to make a quick run for it and get to our hostel. The hostel was in a great location but the owner lady was pretty freaky as every time you came out of your room, bathroom or from downstairs she would be there staring at you with a crazy look on her face. It was only about 2pm when we were all settled so we made the most of the rest
of the afternoon and went for some lunch before embarking on checking out some of what Budapest had to offer. We thought that the streets near our hostel might be a bit cheaper as we were a few blocks from the central part of Budapest but we seem to have been near a main cafe strip next to all the posh shops like D&G, Channel etc. Our big thing at the mo is soup so decided to add a couple more to our list. J ordered the beef consume and I got the Creamed garlic soup. As Js arrived at the table we were shocked and bewildered by a bowl of beef, veggies and dumplings and then a gigantic teapot which contained the juice. Check out the pics!! With very full belly's we headed off towards St Stephens Basilica. It had the most amazing painted ceiling, they certainly plough lots of dosh into their religious sites. We then walked across the river and caught the cable car up to castle hill and the Royal Palace. (i do love the cheats way) We got some great views over the city but it was pretty grey and miserable. We walked back to
pest through fashion street and decided after all our walking we deserved a beer. We stumbled across a park in the city centre where it seems all the young and alternative crowd hang, drinking, smoking, dreading each others hair and skateboarding. We found a cheap but cheerful place for dinner and I tried the traditional cabbage rolls which were delicious.
The sun was actually shining and hot on our second day in Budapest so we set off early to the Citadel and Gallert HIll with the Liberty Statue, which is a gigantic statue of a lady with a palm frond proclaiming freedom throughout the city. We took even more pictures of the views over the city as the sky was actually blue and then caught the tube to City Park to the outdoor Roman thermal baths. It was so good one of the baths was 37c which was like a dream but you wouldn't stay in it too long. When our bodies started to turn into prunes we decided it was time to leave. We went out for dinner in part of the tourist district and had a pretty crappy dinner and had to pay for bread we didn't ask
for or even eat.
Our last day we headed back to City Park as the lonely planet said there is a flea market on every weekend. This wasn't true as there was no market but we did come across a heavy metal music playing dog fun run which was interesting. We headed back to our favourite Pest park and there was a music festival on something to do with joining the EU we think. Everyone was just drinking bottles of wine bought from the local shop so we decided to do just as the locals did. As soon as we opened our bottle of red we had an influx of people coming up to us asking to use our bottle opener. It was cool as we got to chat to loads of the local kids.
The next morning we caught the train to Pecs in the south of Hungry. Every body had said how amazing Pecs was, we arrived late afternoon and have to say we weren't much impressed. It was pretty but not a stitch on Cesky Krumlov, we put it down to there not being a river. Our hostel was really nice we didn't really understand when
the lady said we were the only ones we thought that she meant in our four bed dorm. But what she actually meant was in the whole hostel. She left us the keys and that was it the whole hostel, kitchen, balcony etc. was our own. We went for a spot of lunch, guess what yes more soup and again it was pretty good stuff but not served in a giant teapot. Pecs was also having a festival this one celebrating the Turkish influence, with Turkish music and belly dancers. The empty hostel thing freaked me out slightly at night, so didn't get the best nights sleep.
The next morning we caught the train to Sarajevo in Bosnia, we weren't sure what to expect.
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