Szervusz!

Just got back from Budapest, a present from my friends for my 40th birthday, and what a city it is too. It has that Central European charm that Prague had before the stag nights starting to appear on every street corner. It's quite a big city and, because the two halves are seperated by the Danube, you'd be well advised to make yourself familiar with the tram and Metro services unless you want to spend hours walking for miles and miles.

Not that that is too unpleasant as Budapest is a very picturesque city, especially if you a fan of traditional architecture. Anyone expecting brutalist post-communist buildings all over the place will be very surprised to find many beautiful, well-preserved buildings. Especially noteworthy are St Stephens Basilica and the Parliament Building, and the views across the city from the Castle Walls area are spectacular.

The people were very friendly and we found that most people in the hotels, cafes, bars and restaurants spoke good enough English for us to get away without having to attempt to wrap our tongues around too many Hungarian phrases. The food was excellent, although we tended to eat in the more upmarket places. This meant the food was not far off UK prices but I was assured that good cheap restaurants were very easy to find. I know it's a bit of a cliche but the Goulash was amazing. I could have eaten it for every meal.

Visontlatasra