Hungary - Budapest

I stayed a night in Krakow (which I had already visited last year) to catch a train onwards in the morning. I then had to change in a random town, which involved a couple of hours of free time waiting for the connection. This turned out to be quite an experience, as upon arrival I realised I actually had no idea at all which country the station was in.

Maybe this town was actually in the Twilight Zone

Due to its location, it could have been any of 3, and I literally had to ask someone once there, "Excuse me, which country am I in?"/ I was met by an understandably confused expression, but thankfully they answered that I was in the Czech Republic. After a couple of hours of looking at not very much at all, I jumped on the train to Hungary.

If only the weather had stayed like this

I made the mistake of underestimating the size of the city and, ignoring the metro, tried to walk from the station to my hostel, which eventually took about 30 minutes. Once there it was already quite late so I didn't do any sightseeing and instead went out on the town with other backpackers.

At the foot of the royal palace

The next day I headed out across the river, which separates the two sides of the city, the west is known as Buda and the east as, you guessed it...Pest. Unfortunately the walkway on the rather ornate southern bridge was boarded up so I was unable to get a good view of the river front.

Looking North from the hill

So instead, I climbed a big lookout hill, giving a great view of the city. By now it was roasting hot, the beginning of the big summer heatwave, the brunt of which I would thankfully miss, which saw temperatures reach 45C.

There are still reminders of the revolution scattered around

I then took the funicular up the second hill to visit the walled Royal Palace area, almost a city within a city, containing government offices and various official places. Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit the Parliament on the other side of the river, it looks absolutely beautiful and would be well worth a look.

The waterfront at dusk

The (free) military museum at the top of the hill features a great exhibit on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which saw the people rise up against their Communist oppressors and its subsequent defeat at the hands of a Soviet invasion. There really is a lot of history in Budapest and my time was not enough to explore it a deeply, but I think I still got a good feel of the place. After a day of sightseeing, it was time to go. Following a nightmare of queuing at the chaotic main train station, I jumped on a train back north. Next stop, Bratislava!