Zagreb & Budapest
A slightly tedious 6.5 hour train journey from Ljubljana took us to Zagreb, though we had the pleasure of 3 ticket inspections, 2 custom checks and 2 passport checks to help while away the time. It meant that we got our 1st passport stamp - though why it was Croatian when we were leaving the country I'm not too sure. We also had our own compartment for the first time in our trip which, according to David, is what proper train travel is all about.
Our well organised hostel had painted yellow footsteps from the station to the tram and then from the tram to the door which made getting to it nice and easy. The hostel itself had a lovely little garden area with a swing seat where we proceeded to spend a happy couple of hours on the Internet before eventually tearing ourselves away as we only had a short time in the city.
We're now getting quite adept at following maps and making up walking tours - the trouble with the Zagreb map was that although important buildings were marked, they weren't labelled which led to some interesting guessing. All very pretty though and a good meal with a litre of tasty Croatian wine (a relief from the beer) rounded off the evening nicely.
The next day a relatively short 2.5 hour train journey found us in Budapest (made up of 2 distinct parts Buda and Pest). We had booked a room in an apartment for 3 nights and were looking forward to being in the same place for a bit - despite being on the 4th floor of an old residential building with a broken lift.
On Thursday we headed straight to the Thermal Baths and spent a large portion of the day there. The building itself was an impressive sight and it was home to 9 pools in total, some indoors and some out, with varying temperatures - David spent much of the time questioning the signposted temperature of the pools against the temperature on his new gadgety watch (which he doesn't quite know how to work yet).
The pools and the environs provided a great atmosphere for relaxation made all the better by the glorious weather. It also gave us our first taste of Goulash.
Feeling very relaxed we headed to the Terror Museum based in the previous home of the much feared Communist Secret Police and before that Hitler's puppet version of the same . The museum told the story of the Secret Police from the Hungarian Arrow Movement in the 2nd World War to the Communist Party up till the late 80s. A good history lesson for both of us, much of it was chilling but as you left the building there was a room of photographs naming and shaming the 'victimizers' with their birth and where applicable death dates as many are still alive. This showed just how recent some of these things were. We were relaxed no more!
Friday saw us heading out of town to Memento Park where many of the communist statues are now located. This is basically some waste ground on the very edge of the city. The statues have been kept presumably as a reminder (see above) but are very much kept out of the way. The sheer size of many of them is pretty imposing with some being surprisingly familiar. The best was definitely the Boots of Stalin which was all that remained of the statue after the students tore it down in the 1950s. Later we went across the river to Buda and up Castle Hill for some good views across the city.
Tomorrow Bratislava!
David's abridged version:
A wiseish man said to me once that he loves Switzerland because everything works. My suggestion to him is not to come to Budapest eg. buses, Internet, ticket machines, politeness, supermarkets, light bulbs, showerheads, lifts, tumble driers, remote controls, fridges………………………………....................

Further uses of duct tape (nb these were not tips from the terror museum!)
1) Holding shower heads onto walls when there is no hook
2) Fastening washing lines to walls
3) Mending ticket folders to protect interrail tickets
4) Fix blind on ancient Eastern European train