The curve of the Danube cuts through Budapest, dividing ancient "Buda" to the east and "Pest" to the west. United in 1873 to create Budapest the contrast of each bank could not be more evident. On the east bank hilly terrain emphasises the Buda Castle district, containing the majority of Budapest's medieval remnants. The sun beamed off the thousands of tiles on the roof of the neo-gothic Matyas temple in a cacophony of colours blaring down at those tempted to walk by. A local was making his trade on the side walk with a walnut under the cup routine, taking most tourist's for a dollar or two. I couldn't help it... after watching for a couple of minutes I decided to have a crack. One from one and I was satisfied that his trick on the eye wasn't rocket science - maybe it was and I got lucky - I'll never know. Varhegy or castle hill provides a magnificent view of the Pest side of the Danube including the Parliament building....
Running along the west bank of the Danube, Darrin and I ducked under a gate to continue our scenic surroundings. Whistles blared and armed guards appeared from nowhere! Fortunately they saw that running shorts don't offer too many places to conceal a weapon and they were happy just to whistle rather than "shoot to kill" until we got the hell out of there... so much for the scenic route!
After walking through the caves on the Buda side we also checked out Szobor Park (statue park), home to past commemorations to communist leaders, socialist ideals and soviet liberators. This paled into insignificance once compared to "Heroes square" in the Pest district. Construction commenced in 1896 to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of Magyar (Hungarian's call themselves Magyars and speak Magyar - not Hungarian!) conquest of the Carpathian Basin. At the front of the impressive monument a stone cenotaph dedicated "to the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence". Archangel Gabriel and St. Stephen rest atop with the 7 magyar chieftains who led the people into the Carpathian Basin at the base. It looks amazing and the activity surrounding it was for an annual horserace which circles the square. If there was a bookie there he evaded me!.. Probably a good thing.
After visiting Varosliget (city park) and Matyas temple it was time to sample the local cuisine and find a place that picked up the Manchester United/Barcelona champions league final. The night ended with cheap Roset wine (tasted great)... and the thud of my head on the pillow. My alarm sounded early and it was up to listen to the "derby" - Daz's west coast eagles against my mighty blue boys. By half time it was over and Daz was left with no response, picking up the pieces alone in his west coast guernsey! Bad luck mate!
We arrived in Lake Balaton to pouring rain, "don't worry about it the hostel directions have it about 300 meters down the road"... more like 2 kilometers. Warmed up we found a local restaurant. "Drinks?", sure! I ordered the Raddler and Daz the Diesel - we liked the names. After a couple of these sweet beers we realised that we were drinking beer mixed with lemonade or shandy.
Steph, Daz and I walked along the massive expanse of water that is Lake Balaton until the unmistakable sound of live music caught our attention. Fortune would have it that Lake Balaton had come alive for the weekend! Bands, live acts and dances on stage would keep us entertained for the afternoon and the sun shone brightly. It doesn't surprise me that it is a popular holiday destination for Magyars given the country is bordered by land. Water sports would have to wait until Summer but it was a perfect day.
On route back to the hostel I introduced Daz to the infamous snorkel (Breezer with a straw so that you can scull it...) which is always a good idea at the time. A quick change, a few games of table-tennis and we headed back to the festival to check out the salsa dancing. I didn't understand what the guy on the door was saying, maybe it was a packed house (or the snorkels) but the gist of it was no salsa dancing for the 3 of us. We got over it immediately and headed for the main act down the road.
The local nightclub hosted international DJ Eric Prydz, best known for "Call on me", none of us recall if he even played it. The place was out of control and we tried our best to communicate with the local Magyars. We got discounted entry as Australian Under 23 Soccer players - probably not the best argument given he could easily have asked where our teammates were... but it worked all the same. Thankyou language barrier!
