Cesky Krumlov... to Budapest and Sopron

Hi Everyone! Thanks for your patience and sorry for the delay (especially you Mum Judy - we know you check every day!!). Internet access is not always easy. Afraid this instalment will be a big one!! Want to take this opportunity to thank our friends Brad and Ben for lending us their baby laptop - thanks so much - it's fabulous! If only the internet access was as convenient everywhere!!

Tuesday 16th

Said goodbye to Cesky Krumlov and set off on a ‘driving day’ to Budapest. Our sat nav took us on a wonderful journey which included a blend of tiny minor roads through snow covered Czech villages and some major roads which helped us to make up some time. Before long we crossed the border into Austria, which meant a new currency was required to purchase a ‘vignette’- a pre-paid sticker for the windscreen that allows travel on the motorways.

Cut across the top of Austria, sat nav has a distinct dislike for major roads, but we saw some great countryside and Phil had a driving break to run through the snow – pity it was in a non pedestrian ski slope – but Louise said I could do it!!

Phil - naughtily running through the snow in the 'No pedestrians!' area!!

Finally we entered Hungary – another currency, another ‘vignette’ and new road signs to conquer – at least Hungarian road signs have more vowels than those in the Czech Republic – Louise has truly become the queen of road sign languages!!

Arrived in Budapest just as it was getting dark. Depended on our trusty sat nav to take us through the peak hour traffic and right to the door of our hotel – another Art’otel (this one dedicated to the work of artist Donald Sultan) – on the banks of the Danube, on the ‘Buda’ side of the river. The view from our room was awesome. We looked straight across to ‘Pest’, including the Parliament building (apparently modeled on London’s Westminster), the dome and spires of St Istvan Basilica and the beautiful Chain Bridge.















View of the Chain Bridge and the Danube from our room... noice...

Spent the evening wandering across the vast Danube via the Chain Bridge to explore the “Pest’ area. The city lights were breathtaking. As we explored the city streets, we stumbled across – you guessed it – a Christmas market! Of course we had to dive in. It may seem as though we’re addicted to these festive gatherings – and to an extent we are – but we’ve found that they’re a great way to mix with the local people, admire traditional arts and crafts and sample the local food. Every single one is different. On this occasion, we got to watch (and Louise couldn’t resist joining in with) some traditional Hungarian dancing (by the way - people were invited to join in - she didn't make a complete fool of herself!! Phil wants to add 'mostly children, though'....!). The market settings are always beautiful, too – typically in a town square surrounded by beautiful architecture. We hope you’re proud of the fact that we didn’t attempt to drive through this one!!

Wednesday 17th

Had a wonderful day exploring Budapest. This is one place we’d love to spend more time. Focused our morning on the ‘Buda’ area. Caught the funicular up a steep hill to check out ‘Varhegy’ (Castle Hill) and the ‘Kiralyi Palota’ (Royal Palace) which is massive – and very beautiful. It houses the Hungarian National Gallery which we explored at length. We saw some fabulous Hungarian art ranging from the early medieval period to the present time. The pieces we found particularly amazing were wood carvings (essentially items from churches including statues and altar screens) from the 14th Century. The fact that these have survived – beautifully preserved – all this time is astounding.




















Louise outside the Hungarian National Gallery

View to 'Pest' from the Royal Palace area

Continued to enjoy the area around the castle including the beautiful Matthias Church, the Fisherman’s Bastion and lovely streets and buildings in general.

Phil at the Fisherman's Bastion

Spent the rest of the day in ‘Pest’. Mastered yet another Metro system to make our way out to Heroe’s Square to see a magnificent monument. Wandered some more to see the Hungarian State Opera House and the Basilica – absolutely amazing buildings.















Heroe's Square

Had a fabulous meal in a great restaurant we just stumbled across. Enjoyed the company of our host Andrea, whose family has owned the restaurant for 70 years – beautiful food and great atmosphere – a must for anyone visiting Budapest.

Thursday 18th

Keeping Budapest as our base, we headed off for a drive in the Hungarian countryside – hugging the Danube to visit an area known as the Danube Bend. There are a few charming villages along the way - we chose to spend time in Szentendre and Esztergom.

Szentendre, which used to be an artists’ colony, has a beautiful old town square and lots of little shops, galleries and cafes. We spent a lovely couple of hours exploring this beautiful village – particularly enjoyed the local pottery (and had to buy some!!).

Szentendre - Louise after a visit to a potter's gallery!

Esztergom was another delight. It has Hungary’s largest church – Esztergom Basilica. It’s also right across the river from Slovakia! We resisted the urge to drive across the bridge and ‘collect a country’ (but we did take photos!)!!

Esztergom - you can just see see the dome of the Basilica in the mist

Friday 19th

Tore ourselves away from Budapest. It’s a fascinating city. Louise loved it when she visited 18 years ago, but - with a little more time to explore this time – she loved it even more. This city definitely goes on the ‘must return’ list.

Headed off across the Hungarian countryside again to our next destination – Sopron. Once again, the sat nav took us on some minor roads so we got to see lots of smaller towns and villages.

Sopron is a beautiful Hungarian walled town with a Gothic centre. We resisted the urge to drive through the tiny town centre (and – yes – the Christmas market), parked the car and walked the cobbled streets to find our hotel. Although the area inside the city wall is tiny, it’s a maze of streets and alleys. We knew we wouldn’t be able to navigate our way to the hotel without a map (which we didn’t have), so we took the sat nav for a walk with us! Imagine this... two people wandering the deserted laneways... a distant churchbell rings... the only other sound you can hear is our footsteps on the cobble stones and then suddently a robotic voice says very loudly 'in 50 meters turn right'. Where was the volume switch for the sat nav??? We couldn't find it so had to muffle her under Phil’s scarf - very classy! She got us there, though – a beautiful old building built in the 1500s.















Sopron town square Christmas market by day...















...and by night... Where's that mulled wine stall??

Spent the afternoon and evening exploring Sopron (including the Christmas market – in the old town square) and ended up in a great basement restaurant enjoying the company of some locals. We all managed to overcome the language barrier to have a really fun time. Turned down the invitation to go to a concert with them – we’ve got another driving day tomorrow – bound for Salzburg.