Day 155, 6 December 2012. Budapest - Hungary. For today at least there are more Santas per capita than anywhere else in the world it seems. We're not sure what the collective noun for a group of santas is.... a sleigh of santas? but we've come across a few - including a cycling group raising money for charity which included a santa on a penny farthing bicycle. This morning we had a bus tour of Budapest as part of our river cruise package and met some of our f...

Day 154, 5 December 2012, After our 4 hour walking tour it was a wonder we had any energy left to drop into the Hungarian State Opera House on the way to the hotel. We picked up a couple of last minute tickets to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet performed by the Hungarian State Ballet - wow! (http://www.opera.hu/en/A_diotoro/201212051800/cselekmeny) This is the synopsis and also check out the gallery. Pictured above is the scene of the Snowflakes. Neither Jam...

Day 154, 5 December 2012. Budapest, Free Walking Tour of Buda. And Pest. (http://www.triptobudapest.hu/). After croissants and coffee at the hotel we headed out to Vorosmarty Square (site of the main Christmas Market in Budapest). We met up with today's walking tour company and learned about Hungary's rather chequered past. They make jokes about it now, but seriously, never go gambling with a Hungarian - they have chosen the wrong side in both world wars and ...

Day 153, 4 December 2012, Budapest, Hungary. Wow! Been a brilliant day (and definitely a long one). Great flight out of Luton on WizzAir - just 2 hours 10 minutes to Budapest. We arrived. Bags arrived. Really - what more could you ask for. The drive from the airport was interesting because Budapest looked very, shall we say, Eastern European. A gray, cloudy day, dilapidated buildings, cold looking people in the streets. Once into the city centre however t...