European Bloc Party

  31 December 2024 An so it is upon us - the last day of 2024 and last day of this trip. I am closing out the year as I started it, being somewhere away from home. I suppose I should have expected it but bus travel really isn't conducive for sleeping, especially for a side sleeper and I probably snatched an hour and a half at best and then half an hour here and there after that. Having said all that, the trip has cost less than £30, which saves the price of a hotel room and frees up more time for actually holidaying instead of wasting a day travelling. Think about it!! As it is only 06:00, I decide to hang around the bus station for a while, snatch a few more zeds, have some breakfast and keep warm. This results in staying in the bus terminus until 09:30 but I do feel more human by this time. I eventually summon the courage to go out into the Sub-Zero temperatures and make my way into town dropping my luggage off at a local hostel for just €4 for the day. Free from the weight on m...

  30 December 2024 Kitti has advised me of a luggage storage facility not too far from the apartment which will save me lugging my backpack around Budapest all day. I take the full time to 10:00 to get myself ready to check out and then hit the streets for Budapest for the last day. Plan for the day is to visit the Basilica (eventually) and also Margaret Island (Magrit-Sziget) which I am told is very nice. Before I leave I book my Basilica tickets from Get Your Guide app, then I am out the door. First of all I have to leave my bag. The luggage storage place is a bit tricky to find and I end up practically having to climb through some scaffolding to find it and it seems I'm the only customer. I hope they have a lot more. I'd hate to think a service like that would be missed out, especially. I see so many people dragging suitcases around around Budapest in here and enjoy yourself. Now I am free of luggage. Decide it's time for breakfast. I find the very pleasant RedN' caf...

  29 December 2024 The late finish to last night and the beers consumed mean that I don't wake as early as usual. After a few attempts, I finally get up around 10:30 and spend the next half hour trying to book a ticket for the thermal baths and fail miserably. It is a lot of effort and cost just to have a warm bath, so I think I'll give it a miss this time, and save that for another visit when I'm better prepared. After a session of yoga, checking out the metro route for tomorrow and working out on a plan for today, I finally get out the door at 12:00. First stop is Vajdahunyad Castle, A bracing 3 km stroll. The thermometer is struggling to get over freezing again so I'm glad it wrapped up well with long johns and Arctic socks. I pause on routes to enter the opera house where they are showing The nuts cracker. There is a fair amount of activity and I get the impression that there is going to be some sort of teaser show in the lobby. After a short time it becomes clear t...

28 December 2024 The bunk has been surprisingly comfy and my old man bladder has been surprisingly well behaved. I have slept well and am ready to take on Hungary's capital city. I find out that my bunk mates are a Spanish speaking family, but possibly South American rather than from the motherland. Greetings and interactions are pleasant but non-verbal. We are all too busy working out how to get ourselves together in a 2 metre square cell!! We all eventually manage this task without any embarrassment and are all good to go when the train rolls into town a mere 3 minutes late. Nyugati Train Station My first thought is for breakfast but it seems nothing opens too early here on a Saturday, not even Maccies. So I decide on a stroll along the Danube. En route to the river, I pass a Turkish restaurant that has an amusing name suggesting it might be a Turkish version of Hooters. This thought makes me chuckle and keeps me amused fot longer than it should!   Turkish Hooters Even before I r...