Day 1 in Budapest

A cool and slow start to the day, just the type of day you need whilst on holidays.  Put the washing on, it’s some sort of alien contraption which is like an upright front loader with all the disadvantages of both and none of the advantages of either.  Needless to say we left the washing machine to sort itself out and went out on the town.

Despite all our previous experiences and all the sensible advice we give ourselves and others….we decided to do the Hop On, Hop Off bus tour around Budapest.  Before any libel criticism arises, we only did it because some of the spots we want to visit are up some huge hills, parking is horrendously expensive and parking is impossible to find near above mentioned spots.  Paying for a Hop On, Hop Off bus was always the cheaper option.  Not sure if anyone has experienced this mode of transport.  If not – get yourself a park somewhere in a car park and sit and look around for a couple of hours – you get the idea.  We got on at 10.30 for a 2 hour trip.  We got off at 1pm, half way around the route and could have walked the rest of the route in half the time it took for the bus, stuck in traffic, to drive.  At one stage the driver, obviously a local, decided to take a short cut.  We ended up in some residential area; we were on the top open area and nearly got killed by several overhanging branches which were not on the itinerary!!!  After getting lost a couple of times, perhaps we were almost in Vienna, we had to get off and find our own way around.

Luckily during our trip a market area was identified.  After alighting from our laborious transport we made a bee line for said market.  Beautiful spot, it had been a market since the early 1900s.  I was lucky enough to find a bottle of the local, historic and traditional vino, called Bulls Blood.  I bought a bottle, I’m sure it will take pride of place in Franks’ cellar, it will be a real surprise for him I’m sure?

From there we walked the mall of about 2 kilometres.  I walked home and met Pam at a previously negotiated landmark.  I did my best to geographically embarrass Pam, she didn’t take the bait and we met up about 20 minutes after our agreed time.  Pam had only done about half the mall, and as if by chance a miracle occurred, there was a pub right next door to H&M, I said a little prayer to the grog dog and went in and had a little shopping experience myself.  Thanking frog for small mercies…or something, another beer please!!!

As mentioned yesterday, a dinner cruise was in the wind.  We made ourselves available at 7.15pm.  It has been a stinking hot day today (34 predicted, probably up to 38), it has been a little overcast, there was a storm last night, but it looked pretty good tonight.  I bought dinner.  Pam chose the soft and smooth hotdog roll, leavened by processes using naturally occurring sourdough microbes.  The accompanying cylindrical meat product was a carefully selected ground beef combination with added herbs and spices to accentuate the rural aroma which was only accentuated by the addition of traditional red sauce derived from local tomatoes.  To complement this course she chose a fine white wine, local produced and aged in the Hungarian wine fields.  Vernon had a hotdog with mustard sauce and a local rough red.

Our one hour dinner cruise got underway one hour late.  Not to worry, about 20 minutes in a thunderstorm (reliably predicted by the Queenslanders) rolled over the hill and struck the river cruise.  Everyone abandoned the top deck, Pam pulled out the umbrella, I moved ever so slightly away from Pams lightening rod.  The Captain had no spine and turned around, docking 30 minutes after he cast off.  We were a bit bemused but understood his reluctance to continue once the lightening started striking bridges and boats around us.  We decided to abandon ship once it docked and walked/ran through the storm to get home, very wet but still alive.  Pam was grateful for my assistance and guidance.

We arrived home and looked out on our alleged ‘city views’, which consisted of two crumbling buildings in serious need of repair.  Ironically these buildings have a new tenant – an all night nightclub/strip club!!!  We are so looking forward to a good nights sleep. 

As always Pam had the last word…. “I know you write the blog but, why, why, why, just once, can’t you just have a blog that reads – “Had an uneventful day, here are some photos.””

What would be the fun in that?

Mind those branches!!!

Chain Bridge

From below

and above

and beside

Tunnel under the castle

Workplace-place health and Safety Edition - man on a decaying concrete ledge seven storeys high using one hand as a safety backup as he repairs an air conditioner.

Castle in a hill

Art Gallery and Museum

Biggest Synagogue in Europe

The Catholic Cathedral

The selfie

Pam and the belly.  The restaurant behind is spraying mist to cool the customers.  the local authorities have also set up a few remote misters in the main town squares because of the current heat wave.

Another fountain

The shopping mall - they love their colourful tiles in these parts.

Inside the mall - full of food and craft.

Shopping time

Night cruise

Gourmet

Pam protecting herself from lightening. Amazing that only 2 minutes ago this deck was standing room only - a little lightening never hurt me....says Pam.....

Our view this morning 1

Our view this morning 2

Our view tonight - time to boogie!!!