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Wednesday 8th August (Budapest)
An early start today for my trip to Budapest. A fairly
shot journey, at just over 3 hours. Again I'm glad I
treated myself to First Class, as the train is so full
of back packers that it's standing room only in 2nd. I
have since discovered that there is a large festival in
Budapest this week, akin to Glastonbury, and they're all
going to it.
As we got closer to Budapest, some people from tourist
information came down the train asking if anybody needed
any help or advice. I have discovered that they do a
free bus to my hotel, so that saved me the taxi fare.
At first sight Budapest seems a bit unkempt, and
suffering from decades of communist neglect. A lot of
the rendering on the walls of buildings is falling off
with no attempt being made to repair it. That said there
is some new building going on, and the official public
buildings seem in a good stat of repair.
My hotel is a conversion of a former hospital, and
although not new, is quite tidy. It caters both for
backpackers and "normal" people, which makes the room
"rules" slightly amusing. "In the interest of hygiene
sheets must be used. Sleeping bags are not permitted"!
Having not been able to change my money, I asked at the
hotel to be pointed to a cash machine. The excursions
I've booked cover most of my meals here, so I only
needed about £30 for incidentals. I realised the mistake
I'd made when I saw the receptionists face as I counted
the money at her desk. "That's more than I make in a
month" says she! A quick call to my bank in the UK
confirmed that I'd just withdrawn £409! Still it'll save
me withdrawing money in Turkey.
My trip tonight is a wine tasting and Hungarian food
sampling. We started with a trip to a private wine
cellar for samples of traditional Hungarian wines. The
food element was spread over two restaurants with a bit
of a talk about how the food is prepared. There were
only 3 of us on the trip (and 2 of those turned up on
spec), so we got to know one another quite well. The
wine sampling was not a slurp and spit do. Oh no! it was
a full glass and then on to the next one.
I expect you thunk I was drink, but I wasn't, I was
simply relaxed. (as a newt some would say.)
And the food was OK too.
Thursday 9th August (Budapest)
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Visegrad |
This was another
long day. A 10 hour trip to the Danube bend.
(Where there's a bend in the river, dummy!)
We started with a trip to the Caprice diamond
factory. Then on to Visegrad, the former royal
residence of the original kings of Hungary. The
castle dates back to the 4th Century when it was
at the edge of the Roman empire. It was used as
a royal residence till 1323 when it was captured
by the Ottomans and fell into neglect over the
next 150 years.
On to Esztergom, the centre the Roman Catholic
church in Hungary. This was the royal palace and
church of the Cardinal of all Hungary, possibly
the most famous one being Cardinal Mindzenty. He
was made a cardinal in 1945, arrested later that
year and charged with treason. He was released
in 1946, but again arrested, this time being
sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1956 he was
released after the revolution, but when the
Russians invaded, he fled to the American
embassy where he was granted political asylum.
He spent 17 years there before the government
allowed him to leave, and he spent the rest of
his life in exile. He died in 1975, and his
remains were eventually returned to Esztergom.
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Eszergom Cathedral |
Eszergom interior |
From there it was on to Szentendre. This is a
baroque artists' village on the banks of
the Danube. Very pretty, but it obviously relies
on tourism, a bit like Rye in Sussex or Haworth
in Yorkshire.
Have had a problem with my camera all day. I
forgot to charge up the battery last night, and
it's threatening to pack up on me. By only
turning it on long enough to take a single
picture. Hopefully it will last the day if the
battery can rest long enough between photos.
On to the boat for the trip back to Budapest.
What is it with the UK and Health and Safety?
The gangway to the boat was rickety to say the
least, but whereas the UK authorities would have
closed it down, the attitude here is "So there's
a hole. Make sure you don't put your foot down
it!"
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Szentendre |
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Szentendre |
Second disaster of the day was my 3 day metro
pass. It's at my hotel and I'm not! I have 170
Forins to pay for a ticket that costs 180. I
attempted to pay at the counter with a 10,000
note. The lady at the ticket counter didn't even
answer me, she just grunted. I expect that she
was specially trained to deal with troublesome
foreigners! I did think of risking it without a
ticket (After all I do have one!) However the
fact that there were ticket inspectors checking
everybody put me off. That and the fact that the
penalty for travelling without a ticket is 10
years in the local Gulag. I asked at the nearby
currency exchange if they could break up my
10,000 note, but she was reluctant to lose her
change. However she took pity on me and gave me
10 Forins (about 1.5p) to make up my 180.
Went for a meal at a local Hungarian restaurant
this evening. Nice meal. Steak with a sauce of
chicken liver, roast potatoes and salad. With a
beer it came to 2,400 thingies (about £4)
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