Final entry

So I am back in the UK and recovering slowly! The Concert at St Steven's Basilica was amazing. Organ music is so evocative and they finished with the always crowd pleasing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor (otherwise know as the Phantom of the Opera organ music). There was also a tenor who was strangely dressed like Frenec (Franz) Liszt.

After this we were hustled into taxis and dropped off in Buda for the Diner cruise (althought this involved waiting around for 30 minutes and then walking for 10). The cruise was ok. It was nice to be on the river and we had lovely views but the food was tempered for 'foreign' plates; I had eaten better elsewhere. Still we were dropped off on the Pest side and I walked back to my apartment and finally spotting the famous Gresham Palace gates!

The next day I headed out for breakfast to the California coffee company and sat facing the Basilica. It was nice for an hour to just sit and watch people. I went back to the apartment gathered my things and set off for the Metro which helpfully had an escalator and then straight to the terminus and on to a bus to the airport. All very smooth but I got there too early to check in an while having a cup of tea there was a security alert (a test rather then a really one as it only took 20 minutes) but as there was no alarm it was very confusing for those use who didn't speak Hungarian! Anyway having checked in my bag (I remembered to keep the weight down this time) and went and had lunch before deciding to spend my final few coins on water. That is when I discovered the massive mark up that the airport had put in it's duty free. At Stansted it had been 20p extra for water but at Budapest it was double it's normal price! I went without and headed for my gate only to find we had to go though passport control. This was annoying as we had already checked in and then had to rush to our gate but no worries the flight was late so they kept us in a big holding pen while waited the half an hour for the plane to arrive. The flight was fine and I got out in record time. So I will post any pictures I have not put up already on facebook soon. Koszonom!

Day Four

So today I was busy! having discovered how the metro worked and having a better understanding of how to get about I really went for it. First I worked to Andrassy Ut for the post office and to get breakfast before setting off on the metro to Heroes Square which was vast and awe inspiring but I particularly wanted to go the Museum of Fine art however it is closed until 2018! (Should of checked on the internet) anyway I headed off the Vajdahunyad Castle which is a Succession (Victorian) construction to show the different types of Architecture in Hungary. I took photographs of Szechenyi Baths and then headed back to the metro and Franz Liszt's House. You will be pleased to know Olivia that he really did have giant hands!

I then hopped back on to the metro and went to the Opera house but as their tours were later I decided to come back so headed to the Great Synagogue which was beautiful and a surprising happy place. They were focused on the future and not on what happened during the war which was nice. Lovely memorial garden and statues. I went back to the Opera House for the tour and it really is amazing. Beautiful and it would be a lovely treat to have got see a performance but never mind I got to see inside. So tonight I am off to hear an Organ Concert at St Steven's Basilica and then on to my dinner cruise. I won't have time to log in again before a get back so I will talk to you all soon! Also ringing endorsement of Piz Buin 1 Day long factor 30 sunscreen. It really has kept me safe and I only have a little redness on my shoulders because of the wave pool at the Gellert Baths! If I have inspired you to visit Budapest then check out the amazing apartment I stayed in! Authentic and central. Just great. The team were very helpful.

Day three or "How do Hungarians send post?"

First an update on Day two: I forgot to mention going to the Labyrinth. Like all good palaces Buda had a secret underground tunnel network designed to get everyone out in the event of a siege. Anyway it has been used over the years for lots of different reasons but the one they emphasised was that Dracula was kept down there for 14 years. I think I forgot about it because to be frank despite the section that was labelled all about Dracula having eerie music and smoke (lots of it) hey was just so plastic heads on a spike. The rest of it was just some dark tunnels and Verdi thrown in (they had the Hungarian National Opera's Verdi costumes so they had recreated some of the scenes. Day three. I started my day confident of finding a post box or office to send my postcards. Also that I would use public transport to get to where I needed to go because Budapest, like London is actually quite split up and after my attempt to to get the Gellert baths last time was thwarted I thought I would hope on a tube this time. I had a breakfast at a too trendy coffee shop and then head to the M sign for the Metro. I got There only to find no sign of a metro! I thought maybe they mean trams and got on a bus and then a tram but later realised that they are separate things so I promised myself I would find the Metro station. First I walked up the hill to the cave Church which I am sorry to say I was little disappointed about. I was expecting ancient not pre war (although very significant to the struggle of the Hungarians under the Soviets and Nazis). It is a tad commercial now but hay Church got to make money or Fatima will be out on her arse (Fatima - Called Saint Fatima but vision of the Virgin Mary of Fatima). Then it was time for the Gellert baths. Lovely building inside and out and they have managed to update the place to suit the western style with out too much compromise. So no more naked bathing. Everyone wears a bathing suit and you only needed a cap in the indoor swimming pool which I am afraid to say was full of old people swimming slowly so I didn't stay in there long. I also ordered a massage which was lovely! I went in all the baths and the steam room but missed out the sauna because they had the 'no swimsuit touching the wood' rule. It was all nice and when I got out I was ravenous so I went for a wild boar burger at the restaurant. I then went to find the metro stop and found it under a nice landscaped bit that I just thought was greenery! So the Metro stops are vaguely near the sign but hidden for ascetic reasons? Anyway the metro was like all underground services and I got home still looking for a post office but not finding one. I went home to rest (and google post offices in Budapest) and then set off again to do a bit of shopping. I have found a few gifts but I am not a shopper and didn't want to get my map out so went either too far for the street I was aiming for or not far enough. I also have to be careful as I am already over weight luggage wise! I wanted to get people traditional gifts but they seem to be famous for gypsy style clothes and porcelain and crystal (also leather) which are very typical of this area of Europe and well I didn't think any of you would want any of that. I realise I still don't get the money here and since I seem to have a lot left and have decided to have a blow out and go to a concert at St Stephen's basilica and then for a dinner cruise tomorrow night! Tonight I went to a great little pub which is suffering because the beer festival nearby. It does It's own beer/lager and this is also were I got my Hungarian platter which is kind of what I expected to find all over the place:

I then took myself off to the Sziget Eye which is the big 'Ferris wheel' I can see from my window and took a ride. There was a beautiful view up there but it is not an old fashioned one like in Vienna. On my way back I spotted this:

Which was annoying after spending all day looking for a way to post my postcards!!!