Crossing into Hungary, we drive through endless fields of sunflowers and wheat before eventually reaching the huge and regal city of Budapest. My first impression as we walk down Andrassy Street is that it looks like Paris but cleaner. The architecture, the cafes and the shiny high end stores are alluring.

We check into the lovely Wombats hostel and score our awesome new Brissy mates Ben and Jess as roomies. After settling in, we meet the rest of our group downstairs as our driver Joe has promised us a 'surprise'.

Joe is a burly Hungarian who could be scary if he wasn't grinning all the time. He earnt the nickname the "Flying Hungarian" after he proudly told us that he is the fastest driver in Busabout, arriving 30-45 minutes early on average. I believe him too, as he flies down highways and local streets alike, and overtakes precariously around sharp bends. And yet we all feel safe - he has been doing this for 20 years. With his booming laugh and friendly catch phrases like "I kill you", he's great value.

So before he leaves us for two days to visit his family, he gathers us around a table and pulls out a bottle of traditional Hungarian fruit brandy called Pálinka. Pálinka can be made out of a variety of orchard fruits, and Joe tells us that this is a particularly fine, aged bottle. Our guide Mel shakes her head vigorously and discreetly tips hers out when it's pushed into her hands anyway. I should have taken the hint. But Joe seems so proud, we'd hate to let him down. We all take a shot and immediately regret it, tears streaming down our faces, hands pressed to mouths to curb any possible vomit. Once we regain the ability to speak, there is a collective "uuuurgh!" It's a brain cell massacre. "Thanks Joe," we cough. Yeh, thanks alot...

Then it's onto dinner where we are seated in a pretty courtyard, dine on pea soup, goulash and paprika chicken, drink cheap cocktails and listen to live piano and an impromptu operatic song performed by one of the diners.

Afterwards we grab some bottles of beer or wine and jump on a small water taxi for a 45 minute river cruise. Jess, Alyce and I have bought a traditional Hungarian wine called Tokaji to share, and in truth it's almost as horrible as the brandy shots. Turns out it's a dessert wine - its overly sweet and strong, and we make a stoic but ultimately failed effort to get through a glass. Hungarian alcohol not winning for me! However the view as we cruise along the Danube river that divides Buda and Pest more than makes up for it - Budapest by night is spectacular. The Bridges, Castle and Parliament House are lit up along the riverside, with hundreds of birds circling the spires before they settle down for the evening.

We continue the night at a funky bar for more cocktails, go on a failed adventure to an outdoor club by the river with a line that doesn't move in the half hour we are in it, and finish with early morning kebabs.

In the late morning we crawl out of bed and venture into 41 degree heat for a day touring the city on our first hop on hop off tour bus, something that has been too embarrassingly touristy for us to try thus far. As it turns out, with limited time in the city it's a pretty easy way to get around and the recorded audio guides do give some good information, though it's a little impersonal. We hop off and stroll around the Castle complex, which gives us a great view of the city. We watch the changing of the guard and get an up close glimpse of the beautiful Matthias Church with its colourful tiled roof, before strolling along the towers and walls of the Fisherman's Bastion. We drive up around the Citadel and then check out Parliament House and the Heroes Square war memorial, before the heat finally does us in after 5 hours and we head back to the hostel exhausted.

We are so tired that Mark and I bail on the optional excursion to one of Budapest's thermal baths, figuring that we will have a similar experience in Turkey. We're not the only ones to do so, but thinking back I'm a little disappointed we didn't get there as Budapest is famous for these. The city has more thermal and medicinal water springs than any other capital city in the world - 118 springs in total. We opt instead to go for an awesome oil massage before meeting back up with our tour mates for a chilled night just hanging out at the hostel, playing pool and having a few quiet beers - not a bad alternative!

After a quick stop on side of road, where Joe meets a friend to purchase some more Pálinka for a couple of the boys (crazy!) we wave goodbye to beautiful Budapest all too soon.