9hrs on a train, that's the only way to describe the first part of our day today. We managed to be the only people in a 6 person cabin which made the journey alot more comfortable, allowing us to stretch right out with our feet up as we read, slept and watched the world go by. The Ljubljana-Budapest route isn't a major one which is why you don't need a reservation and the older trains run it, in fact it's more of a regional service for Hungary that just happens to begin in Slovenia. It didn't really start filling up until we got to within a couple of hours of Budapest as loved ones were farewelled on the platforms after their weekends in the countryside.
There was one really unfortunate aspect of the trip, NO FOOD CART! We had assumed that a scheduled 9hr train would have something and so we didn't take anything on board with us, every train so far has food in some form. We figure that because most passengers don't join until the later stations they don't feel the need to have one. Admittedly when we boarded the train in Ljubljana it only had 3 carriages, by the time we arrived in Budapest it had grown to 6 to cater for those returning to town after the weekend.
We had arranged to be picked up at the station by the apartments owner, Csaba, who offers a shuttle service for his guests. On arrival however we received a text from him to say that the bridges were closed due to protests in the city and we'd have to take the metro. A second text urged us to "please take care of yourselves as there has been some fighting in the streets", after experiencing the protests in Rome and reading about the ones in Melbourne we assumed it was all about the same thing. Grateful for the warning we headed into the metro for the short 5 stops to Astoria station, the apartment building was only a 5min walk from there. The streets were quiet in this part of town.
WOW, the room was great, fighting for the top place so far. We booked a "Private Double" which turned out to be a complete apartment including a fully equipped kitchen, laundry (free washing machine), 2 toilets, bath, 2 showers, lounge and a mezzanine floor for the bedroom and ensuite. All this would cost us a mere €70 in total for 2 nights in the heart of the city. Entry is though a security coded main door which opens to a big courtyard with apartments surrounding it. Csaba owns a few in the block which he operates as a hostel with a big dorm, small dorm and a couple of privates.
Immediately we felt like we were simply old friends looking after a mates apartment, such is the ease with which Csaba makes you feel welcome. Nothing fancy, just good, honest, old fashioned hospitality. The kind you get when someone has personal pride in their business.
Before heading out we researched the protests so we knew what we might run into, they were in fact quite different from the others of late. October 23 is a significant day for the people here as it is the anniversary of the 1956 uprising against the Government and it's Soviet imposed policies. It had started as a student protest but quickly grew as thousands joined the march towards Parliament to demand reform. Upon leaving a radio building where they tried to broadcast their demands, they were fired upon by the state police and violence erupted.

With this history in our minds we headed out for the evening, thankfully by now the streets were clean and quiet so we felt completely safe. We had dinner at "Bali Cafe" round the corner and once we full of chicken & grilled veggies we headed to the river, stopping on the way to get dessert. A strange type of spiral donut that unravels to about half a meter in length if you let it, ours dusted with cinnamon was delicious!

From the "White Bridge" we turned right and made our way along the river towards Parliament, taking in the statues along the way. These bronze statues scattered along the esplanade include; a girl on the railing and a women trying to get a ball off her dog, a breath of fresh air for us after so many military & medieval statues so far on the trip.
Across the river the glow of the Castle and Church stand out against the night sky, appearing almost ghostly in the cold fog surrounding them, they are on the agenda for a closer look in the morning. Budapest at night is a truly impressive sight to see. We reached Parliament a short time later and were in awe. We have seen palaces that don't match the elegance of this building, seeing it at night with all the lighting just adds to it. A rear wall is currently under scaffolding but even that looks good as it's an old fashioned timber scaffold, certainly the most beautiful scaffold we've seen on the trip so far. Really, given the amount of them around Europe we think it's time for scaffolds to be included in the guide books as tourist sites in their own right.....

On our way back we came across a memorial to Jewish victims of WW1. Sixty pairs of shoes, sculptured in iron, are attached to the stone embankment of the river to commemorate the victims who were lined up and shot into the Danube river by the Arrow Cross Militiamen from 1944-45. On a cold, foggy night like tonight it makes for a powerfully moving sight.