We spent two full days here, the first was in Buda, the part of the city east of the River Danube, where we climbed up Castle Hill to see the old town at the top and then back down that hill to climb another hill up to the Citadel, fantastic views of the city but unfortunately it was a wee bit foggy. On another day it would be amazing I%u02C7m sure. We then headed across to Pest, the other half of the city and by far (in our humble opinions) the better one. We visited the House of Terror, which sounds like some kind of a circus ghost ride but is actually a very brilliantly put together museum covering the years of terror in Hungary caused by WWII and Communist rule. It was a fantastic insight into the lives of both the persecuted and the victimisers and it made a huge difference to us learning more of the history behind the country we were travelling through at the time.

Budapest is a fantastic city to go for a thermal bath, well, the whole country is really but there are two very famous baths here, one in Buda and one of course, in Pest. The Gellert Furdo, the photo that accompnies this blog, is a brilliantly mosaic tiled construction, you almost feel like the old Romans in their baths....where s my toga? We spent a couple of hours here, between the 34 degree bath, the 38 degree bath, the plunge pool (dread to think the temp) and the steam room. We felt positively youthful, not due to the refreshing mineral waters but rather that we were among the youngest there, most people seem to come for rheumatism, arthritis or to ogle other bathers. Average age: 70. Average weight: 150kg.

The other baths in Pest are quite different, again the building has a great deal to do with the ambience but this one was part of a park full of cupulas as far as the eye could see. We passed a huge ice-rink full of skaters, obviously the thing to do on a Saturday night here and if Daniel hadn t been so against it I would have been on there, but its no fun skating on your own, or having noone to look a first-class prat with. One minute we´re watching ice skating in the freezing cold and the next we´re at the baths which are, refreshingly, outside! 7 degrees in a bikini is no fun, but it´s definitely more bearable when you have a 38 degree bath waiting for you. There were bubble jets, current pools, steam rooms, etc. Again we managed to while away a couple of hours here. I dont know how long most people stay but you get a refund if you leave before 4 hours and an even bigger one if you leave within 2, do people spend entire days here I wonder.... there is always the lure of the massage too, but this didn t quite fit in the travellers budget. Note to self: another visit will have to be made in the near future with Ma and other massage-loving girls in tow.

On the Sunday morning after leaving our campsite we headed to the Statue Park where all the Liberation and Propaganda statues have been laid to rest. Quite an eye-opener, especially after our trip to the Terror House the day before.

Budapest is pretty chilly in the winter and I reckon a summer trip would be tops, Pest really has a great vibe and there is lots to do but also many a tourist. We had fun here.