BUS TO BUDAPEST

Sunshine abounds this morning and as we travel to Budapest in our private minibus the view of the mountains in the clear air are spectacular.  We have a few warm days to look forward to.  And we do look forward to them.

Budapest is a change over for us. One of our group, T, is going on with us to Dubrovnik but the rest are going their separate ways. Our leader, Dave, will also leave and Rob and I will set off from  here with new companions.

In the meantime we roll along, stopping for a break here, a restaurant that bears a striking resemblance to a hunting lodge.  There is a huge fireplace in the middle inside, all the furniture and fittings are made from the same timber as the walls -  and that includes the menu spines - with walls laden with hunting gear and trophies.  The coffee is dreadful,  but the teabag just fine.

The longest part of the trip is in Budapest itself, city traffic slows us down. By now we are a little keen to get our backsides off the no longer padded seats of the bus, but spirits still high.  Very fast turnaround on arrival, dump our bags and Dave takes us to a very cool place to eat. My word they make good food over here, that is not just today but everywhere we have been so far. I hope that keeps up.

I am not a huge fan of ice cream lately, but when it looks like this it is very appealing.  This is a chilli chocolate, raspberry and salty caramel delight.  I enjoyed every morsel.  The shop is renowned and the queue must stretch a long way in the height of summer as it was stretching outside the shop today.  Well worth the wait.

First impressions of Budapest .. clean, busy, shabby chic, noisy - that was mainly due to a protest at a city intersection against the banks foreclosing on loans that people can no longer afford to pay rendering them homeless.

After another wonderful meal we decide to go and have a look at a "ruins" bar, one of the first in the city.  This is where a vacant crumbly building has been taken over, decorated and lit haphazardly, and set up as a bar, part outdoor part in.