budapest

well the car made it to Budapest and i spent the past few days wandering around the delightfully city, the neogothic architecture is quit stunning and the Gellert bathes in Buda sat beneath the citadel and on the other side liberty bridge spanning the Danube from Pest make for a great way to spend an afternoon, relaxing and soaking up the Art Nouveau building while the aches from the previous day, spent crawling and squeezing through the labyrinth of the palvolgzi caves in the hill above Buda were washed away.

Budapest is a remarkable place with so much to do its impossible to know where to begin, just wandering the streets and the markets you can see the rich and varied history of Budapest, from the old three-level market hall in Pest up along the shopping precincts, past the Basilica and the synagogue with the memorials to the Holocaust and then to the Parliament building built just over 100 years ago and based on the British Parliament building, its white gothic form adorned by 88 statues of military leader, princes and rulers. sat on the banks of the Danube with yet another tribute to the holocaust, a line of boots along the bank of the river looking down to the chain bridge, which also has connections with London, being designed by William Tierney Clark who designed the Marlow bridge over the Thames which was complete some 17 years earlier.

Then there is the State Opera House sat just around the corner from the Music Academy which quite appropriately had the subtle tones from a piano drifting out through an open window.
Founded by Frank Liszt it has a great statue of him above the door as though he is inspecting his students as they walk in.
Also of cause the national museum, in typically neo classic architecture with its eight corinthian columns supporting a frieze and a large pediment with the figure of Pannonia sat holding a shield bearing the Hungarian coat of arms. even though the weather was overcast and it drizzled a bit it was delightful to wander the streets snapping a few photos and sampling the food.

I have now left Budapest with a group of Australians and headed up to Bratislava for a couple of days before heading over to the high tatras Tonight is one the guys birthdays so am about to head out for food and the obvious drinks that will follow. will post the pictures when i get to a pc that isn't quite so antiquated as the Siemens senic 600 which it struggling to keep pace with surfing the web.