Blogs from Budapest, Central Hungary, Hungary, Europe - page 111

Hi all, Have been in Eastern Europe for the past few days, travelling everyday to a new destination so have not had any opportunity to write. After leaving Turkey we headed to Bulgaria. The hotel here was actually very nice, we were a little unsure of what to expect when we were driving past houses where the roof was collapsing but it wasn't too bad. We discovered some of the cheapest beer in Europe. We spent about 7 euro on 9 500ml beers. Very good. Went down with some of the tour group before dinner for the drinks then after dinner walked along the beach with Gina. They actually have bars on the sand. Even though it was a Tuesday night there were many people around. From there we move onto Romania where we had another ... read more

Have had a brief one night stop in Budapest after 2 nights in Lake Balaton where there was only bad weather. I did however get to sample some delicious hungarian. A lentil dish with veal stew that was so yum and hearty. At balaton we went on a big adventure to get ingrediants to make pancakes but when we got back and id made the mixture, the hotplate decided to die. So I went searching and found a bbq type thing, where with the help of the Hungarian gardener who chopped me some kindling, I made a fire. The pancakes were delicious but the pan suffered a bit in the process! Budapest is beautiful and I managed to walk and see quite alot in the brief time I was here. Really enjoyed the castle in the ... read more

Budapest is a very unique place. Surrounded by slovic countries, Hungary exists as a sort of cultural island in eastern europe. You immediately notice this when you arrive somewhere and they immediately announce. "See ya." At first I was at a loss. I had not done my homework before coming and did not even know one word in Hungarian. Bad tourist! Bad! I quickly learned that everyone wasn't trying to hurry me out of their country... but instead "see ya" is a friendly Hungarian 'hello' (spelled 'seeo.') Love it. I find being here is like playing Opposite Day when you were a kid. Except here it doesn't get old and annoying. And so I have to say I was rather charmed upon arriving, by the language, the beautiful architecture (it is called the Paris of the ... read more

The only way to get to Budapest from Krakow was to take the overnight train (11 hours in total). It only looked 6 hours on map but alas, it was not so. Knowing how grizzly I was after our last Polish train trip it was decided that we would get the overnight train with a sleeping compartment. Ha! First mistake - calling it a sleeping compartment. The only lucky thing was we didnt have to share it with two strange undesirables (I just had to share it with 1 very excitable 31 year old who was acting like a 13year old!) Being a touch on the tired side when we borded at 10.30 pm (no late nights for me during the hot weather) I thought it would be a good idea to get a few hours ... read more

Just when I was starting to love train travel it all fell apart…….but then I also entered Eastern Europe. Co-incidence? The train into Vienna was an hour late arriving (apparently the one before was over two hours late, so maybe I should be thankful)…….. but then the 2.5 hour tip took over 6 hours to complete. We sat at one station for over an hour and a half, and also went back in the direction we’d come from at one stage. Not good. Add to this an air-conditioning system that was almost non-existent (just what you expect in first class), some obvious arguing between officials at different stops, and the company of some particularly loud Americans in my carriage, and you may get a sense of what it was like. I knew I was in for ... read more