Eastern europe day 4

Day 4 is a day of travel. It's a 3 to 4 hour ride to Slovakia. At this point, we've quietly crossed over into Slovenia. The scenery consist of small sleepy towns and lots of small quaint houses dotted across the distant hills. Quite lovely. :-)

Eastern europe day 3

Lily and I decided to be adventurous after we got back to the hotel. We decided to walk across the road to the bridge near our hotel and try and take in some of the night scenery. We had seen some photos of the Chain Bridge at night and thought that it looked really beautiful at night so we thought we would check it out. In the end getting to the bridge proved more complicated than we expected, it wasn't a simple matter of crossing the road. Also, since the bridge we're on isn't exactly the most popular of bridges it didn't offer that spectacular a view at night nor was the bridge that well lit. Still, it was well worth the trouble since it was still a nice enough view and I enjoyed the experience. By the time we were done and back in the hotel it was 945 and we were pooped. So it was a quick shower and off to bed. Day 4 would be a day of travel as we make our way to Krakow, Poland via Slovakia. Off to rest now. Lights out. :-)

Eastern europe day 3

Lily and I decided to be adventurous after we got back to the hotel. We decided to walk across the road to the bridge near our hotel and try and take in some of the night scenery. We had seen some photos of the Chain Bridge at night and thought that it looked really beautiful at night so we thought we would check it out. In the end getting to the bridge proved more complicated than we expected, it wasn't a simple matter of crossing the road. Also, since the bridge we're on isn't exactly the most popular of bridges it didn't offer that spectacular a view at night nor was the bridge that well lit. Still, it was well worth the trouble since it was still a nice enough view and I enjoyed the experience. By the time we were done and back in the hotel it was 945 and we were pooped. So it was a quick shower and off to bed. Day 4 would be a day of travel as we make our way to Krakow, Poland via Slovakia. Off to rest now. Lights out. :-)

Eastern europe day 3

For dinner, we had a 3 course Hungarian meal. We had beef goulash, pork chops with rice & side salad and desert. The food was quite salty. They even put salt in the rice. Yucks. The desert was ok though. The highlight of the dinner was definitely not the food, it was the folk dance performance. There was singing and dancing and was really quite nice. The dinner lasted quite sometime cuz of the performance. It was about 915pm by the time we reached the hotel... Kinda tired.

Eastern europe day 3

I really like Budapest so far. It's a very walkable city and the walk along both sides of the banks of the River Danube is really quite pretty. We were blessed with some lovely weather for most of our walk. The sun was out, yet it wasn't particularly warm. It feels like Spring time in the city even though summer is already quickly approaching. We walked across the Elizabeth Bridge and walked along the bank towards the Chain Bridge, at least i think that's what it's called. We then crossed the Chain Bridge to make our way back to the St's Stephen's Basillica to try and catch a glimpse of the mummified hand of one of the king's. I think maybe it's King Stephen but i'm not sure, will need to check. Unfortunately, it began to rain and we had to brisk walk to the basillica where we were still unable to see the mummified hand cuz they closed the room off. After that it really began to pour and we were stuck in the basillica for a while. Finally, after the rain subsided slightly, we left the basillica and tried to make our way back to vaci street where our bus was parked. Lucky for us, we meet up with two of our tour mates at the Anna cafe. They bought me a cup of coffee cuz lily and I had not changed any of our euro to hungarian currency. After getting warmed up by a nice hot cup of latte, lily and I and my two tour mates went our separate ways. They to shop more and us to look for the good desert place that the guide told us about. After some trouble, a kind customer who understood English helped us purchase 2 cones for 1.10 euro. Not bad too. Then it's off to the bus and a Hungarian dinner after. :-)

Eastern europe day 3

As we were travelling by bus through the city to get to Vaci Street, our next destination, i spied lots of cycling paths throughout the city. Later when lily and I walked Buda to Pest and back again, that became even more apparent. I really like that about Budapest and I really like it that pedestrains and cyclists seem quite happy to share the pathways even when there doesn't seem to be a designated cycling path. I wish Singapore could have these kinds of cycling paths and wish that singaporeans could be more gracious and generous.

Eastern europe day 3

After visiting the Fisherman's Bastian, we went for lunch. Like last night, it was chinese cusine again, so I was a little disappointed. I wanted to eat more authentic local food but for that, i would have to wait for dinner. After lunch, which was actually quite decent compared to last night, we proceeded to the banks of the River Danube for our cruise. I really enjoyed the cruise. We got to see seven of the nine bridges that link the Buda side to the Pest side of the city. We also got a nice view of the many beautiful buildings in the city. Very cool. :-) after this, it's free and easy time. We got about 4 1/2 hours to explore the city or go shopping. My friend and I decided to walk the city, shopping isn't quite our thing.