On the Banks of the Danube

Last weekend, my colleague, Betsy, and I scored some cheap tickets to Budapest (I love Germanwings!). The city is absolutely lovely and even despite the freezing weather, snow and ice, I had a great time! Budapest (and I supposed Hungary in general) is one of those intersting places which almost sits on the boarder between Western Europe and the old communist block.

While the city has a very romantic, European feel (the palace that overlooks the Danube river, the Parliment building - built to rival the British Parliament), you can still see the damage done by so many years of being "stuck in the middle". One of the most intersting things for me was the "Terror Museum", a museum that details life in Hungary during both the Nazi and the Soviet occupations. In fact, both regimes had their Hungarian HQ in this very building.

Apart from our history lesson, we also had a chance to walk around the city (we must have covered about 20km in one day!), ate our fill of Hungarian food including goulash, Lagos (like a savoury donut/pancake with sour cream and cheese) and yummy desserts. We also tried a little of the local liquor which really stops you in your tracks (I think it has something to do with the cold weather) and of course a few drops of the local brew (which went down well with a live band and a packed bar!)

After exhausting ourselves on the Saturday, spent a few hours in the Turkish baths which was much appreciated both for my feet and for the heat (when it is minus 5 degrees amd snowing outside, 34 degree water is very very nice!). Definately recommend to spend a few days here and I certainly intend to come back in the summer time!