Having visited the Basilica I went down into the garage to rent a bike. Rental charges are based on blocks of time. The cheapest was 4 hours but I wanted 10 hours which was the next price. I'd expected to bike for about six hours.I had to leave a 5000Ft ($25) deposit with my drivers licence as ID. The rental fee of 2500 Ft ($12) would be paid when I return based on the number of hours. I'd pay $7 to rent a bike in Korea and had paid $15 in Taiwan so the price was...

This is my last full weekend in Budapest so I wanted to take a break from my course and go biking. Budapest is very bike friendly but I couldn't figure out where to rent bikes. Searching online I found several bike rentals near the Basilica on the other side of the river.I emailed one who said I didn't need a reservation for Saturday but I still wanted to go early. I decided to walk all the way rather than take the metro as it can be done in half an hour and isn'...

One of the places I'd wanted to visit was Statue Park (which is now called Momento Park). At the end of communism when they tore down all the statues of Stalin and Lenin they ended up making a rather unique collection of communist art propaganda which is now housed in an outdoor museum.Outside the metro station where I live I'd seen a Turkish donar place with quranic writing and an arab looking man working there so I assumed this one was halal. Kebab shops have s...

Last Sunday I was downtown and wanted to take the tram back as it goes all the way home. For some reason all the ticket vending machines in the city don't work and the tram doesn't take cash fare.I decided to start walking as all I had to do was follow the tram line. It passes over Margit Bridge close to where I am staying. In the middle of Margit Bridge is Margaret Island which is a giant city park in the middle of the Danube.It would be nice to visit if I had a...

A unique feature of the Buda castle district is its underground cave system. These have been used for centuries to hide or to store food and other items. They can be explored in several places.The Royal Palace has its own system and further in the castle district is the labyrinth which is a more extensive system. I explored the labyrinth in 2007 and it was also in one of the seasons of The Amazing Race.Nearby I saw signs to another use for the cave system. Remark...