I am glad to report that I had no issues geting out of the UK or into Hungary - woohoo!

The plane seemed full with stag party attendees, distinguished by their all in one pink morph suit and PVC nurses uniforms, which made me feel like this was definitely going to be a bit different to my backpacking experiences!

We had a quick transfer into Budapest and then had to wait half an hour to meet the guy to get the keys to the apartment .

We are staying along Vaci Utca, which the guide book refers to as the heart and soul of the city. Basically it's the pedestrian street which runs from South to North. I have to admit that it was a pretty good find, the 1000 Tea Cafe (look it up?) is directly below our balcony/entrance and we have a washing machine (although this would obviously have been more useful towards the end of the trip!).


We were very keen to venture straight out in search of the opera house and tickets for tomorrows evening performance. After that whilst I was busy photographing a man playing tunes on glasses filled with water (he was actually quite good - honest!), Cat got acosted by a tout and we ended up booking a boat trip up the Danube.

Whilst trekking the 2 miles (a small oversight and now sore feet!) to the boat, later that evening, Cat decides to confess to not actually knowing whether it was a guided boat tour, or infact, what exactly we had signed up for! Bless her - despite actually geting boat sick, I was so keen to take a boat trip so, she probably just wanted to make sure we didn't miss out! It was actually quite nice with drinks included, although perhaps we should have gone for the dinner option (but had already eaten) and maybe even a smaller boat a bit nearer. However it was a pleasant trip and with amazing views of the river bank and the parliament building - the 2 mile walk back was the only negative!


The main part of the city sits on the 'Pest' side of the river Danube and seems more pedestrianised, with subways under the main roads and no car access at all in some places. However on the 'Buda' side I noticed he roads seem a litle busier and cars race up and down making it almost impossible to cross.

Walking along the river, the pedestrian side of the pavement vitually intertwines with the cycle lane and it can get a bit hairy if you forget where you are walking and a bike comes tearing past. Perhaps other parts, that we didn't walk (!), are not like this - but definitely worth being prepared.

We have lots of choices for tomorrows excursions ... but for now I need to have a nice cuppa tea and rest my weary feet!