Thursday, 30 April 2015
Bratislava
Bratislava is very small - we met an Irish family on our first night and have bumped into them several times. It was obvious on our arrival how prosperous the city is but the wealth is concentrated here and apparently the countryside is quite poor.
We have taken advantage of the cheap prices at the Slovakian National Theatre and have enjoyed two great evenings. We went to La Boheme and it was an extremely simple set with no scenery just a few props but an absorbing performance and I got emotional at the end even though I knew what was going to happen. Last night we saw Swan Lake and the lead female was as light as air - marvellous.
This morning we caught a local bus out to Devin castle and wandered around for free as all of the gates were open because of an orienteering competition. We are having a siesta at the moment and later will cross the river to go to a Spring Festival and see the city from another angle.
Tomorrow we are taking the hydrofoil along the Danube to our next stop, Vienna.
We have taken advantage of the cheap prices at the Slovakian National Theatre and have enjoyed two great evenings. We went to La Boheme and it was an extremely simple set with no scenery just a few props but an absorbing performance and I got emotional at the end even though I knew what was going to happen. Last night we saw Swan Lake and the lead female was as light as air - marvellous.
This morning we caught a local bus out to Devin castle and wandered around for free as all of the gates were open because of an orienteering competition. We are having a siesta at the moment and later will cross the river to go to a Spring Festival and see the city from another angle.
Tomorrow we are taking the hydrofoil along the Danube to our next stop, Vienna.
Journey to Bratislava
We had some fun trying to find the right bus stop for our pre - booked journey to Bratislava. It was raining for the first time in a week and, after a 30 minute walk to the bus station we went round in circles. Helpful people kept directing us to the bus station but people in there said we needed the street. Finally, and with just enough time to spend our last few Huf, we found the bus.
For £6.50 each it was a surprisingly posh bus; free tea and coffee, comfy seats and our own touch screen showing films and TV shows in English. We went straight through the border into Slovakia with no checks.
It was still raining when we arrived but it wasn't far to walk to our accommodation in the Old Town.
For £6.50 each it was a surprisingly posh bus; free tea and coffee, comfy seats and our own touch screen showing films and TV shows in English. We went straight through the border into Slovakia with no checks.
It was still raining when we arrived but it wasn't far to walk to our accommodation in the Old Town.
Monday, 27 April 2015
Yesterday we went to the botanical gardens - luckily it cost less than £2.50 to get in as the whole place was in dire need of weeding and some tlc. The afternoon was spent walking round Obuda which is the oldest part of the city and has some roman ruins. Today we climbed Gellert Hill for yet another view of the city. We ate lunch back on Castle hill in a park and were fortunate enough catch a performance by a youth orchestra from Italy.
As we passed the President's Palace the guards were lined up even though it wasn't time for changing the guards. We hung around and a car turned up with a police escort. A woman and several staff alighted and the woman had to walk down the red carpet inspecting the guard. Turns out it was the Portuguese ambassador - probably coming for lunch!
We have had amazing weather for the week and have thoroughly enjoyed walking the length and breadth (and height) of the city.
As we passed the President's Palace the guards were lined up even though it wasn't time for changing the guards. We hung around and a car turned up with a police escort. A woman and several staff alighted and the woman had to walk down the red carpet inspecting the guard. Turns out it was the Portuguese ambassador - probably coming for lunch!
We have had amazing weather for the week and have thoroughly enjoyed walking the length and breadth (and height) of the city.
Tomorrow we catch a bus into Slovakia, a 3.5 hour ride to the capital Bratislava.
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
On Thursday we took the ferry (brill public transport system here) to Margaret Island and walked it's length looking at the (few) sights. As this took less time than anticipated we went on to walk around Varosliget park.
We plonked ourselves down in the grass to eat lunch by what should have been a lake but it was empty. Some cars and a lorry drew up on a little road nearby and 2 groups of people gathered; a group of portly men in suits and bow ties and a group of men and women in their twenties. There was a lot of debate and we watched with interest. The men then started opening boots and out came instruments, then the youngsters climbed in the lorry and emerged dressed in traditional costumes. Aha - some entertainment. Whilst they were faffing around we popped to check out the local spa bath for later this week. When we returned I was gutted to see the group packing up - we had only been gone 15 mins max, surely they hadn't only performed for a short time after all the preparation?
Luckily they were just regrouping in another area and the dancers were changing costumes (showgirls?) so we hung around to watch. However it turned out that that they were filming a movie rather than performing for the public. There was recorded music playing and they had to mime on each take.
Afterwards we walked through the city to see the Opera House, St Stephens church and the Parliament. In Kossoth Square outside Parliament there was an exhibition about the dreadful events on October 1956 during the uprisings. Another sobering history lesson really well told.
There is a Spring Festival on in Budapest at the moment and we ended up at the folk music and food festival area.
We had a false start to our day on Friday with our tram disrupted due to roadworks and the bus we had planned to take to the Buda hills had been discontinued. We re-thought our plans and took a tram up to join the Children's Railway which took us to the lookout point at the highest point in the hills, then we took the chairlift back down and a bus back. So it turned out to be a great day with super views once we had sorted our new route. The children do run the railway under adult supervision.
We plonked ourselves down in the grass to eat lunch by what should have been a lake but it was empty. Some cars and a lorry drew up on a little road nearby and 2 groups of people gathered; a group of portly men in suits and bow ties and a group of men and women in their twenties. There was a lot of debate and we watched with interest. The men then started opening boots and out came instruments, then the youngsters climbed in the lorry and emerged dressed in traditional costumes. Aha - some entertainment. Whilst they were faffing around we popped to check out the local spa bath for later this week. When we returned I was gutted to see the group packing up - we had only been gone 15 mins max, surely they hadn't only performed for a short time after all the preparation?
Luckily they were just regrouping in another area and the dancers were changing costumes (showgirls?) so we hung around to watch. However it turned out that that they were filming a movie rather than performing for the public. There was recorded music playing and they had to mime on each take.
Afterwards we walked through the city to see the Opera House, St Stephens church and the Parliament. In Kossoth Square outside Parliament there was an exhibition about the dreadful events on October 1956 during the uprisings. Another sobering history lesson really well told.
There is a Spring Festival on in Budapest at the moment and we ended up at the folk music and food festival area.
We had a false start to our day on Friday with our tram disrupted due to roadworks and the bus we had planned to take to the Buda hills had been discontinued. We re-thought our plans and took a tram up to join the Children's Railway which took us to the lookout point at the highest point in the hills, then we took the chairlift back down and a bus back. So it turned out to be a great day with super views once we had sorted our new route. The children do run the railway under adult supervision.
We returned to the food festival and I had a delicious elderflower cider.
Today we caught an intercity train which took us on a 50 minute ride out to Visegrad which is on the bend of the Danube. We hiked up to the castle for lovely views of the river and surrounding countryside.
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Budapest arrival and first day
Our journey here went very smoothly considering we travelled by car, train, plane, bus, metro and tram. We managed to find our accommodation (a basic studio apartment) easily and shopped at a nearby Lidl having fun trying to decipher the labels and getting used to the currency (1 huf to 0. 0027p)!
Today was a beautiful, warm day with blue skies and the city looked wonderful. We spent a good few hours in the Castle Hill region then caught a ferry south down the Danube and a tram back. Later we spent a sobering couple of hours at the Terror Museum which graphically depicts Hungary's domination by the Nazis followed by the Soviets and the atrocities suffered by the people.
Today was a beautiful, warm day with blue skies and the city looked wonderful. We spent a good few hours in the Castle Hill region then caught a ferry south down the Danube and a tram back. Later we spent a sobering couple of hours at the Terror Museum which graphically depicts Hungary's domination by the Nazis followed by the Soviets and the atrocities suffered by the people.
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