Travelled it into town on a bendy bus / tram and began by having a bit of a wander round this lovely little city on the river Salzach. (This information courtesy of Corinne, a fellow passenger who has a degree in geography, though actually she Googled it.) The majority of the town is set either side of the river, but towering above it, at the top of a high, vertical cliff, is a 10th century castle. If you're fit and uneffected by the 30 something degree heat Juli and I are struggling with, you can walk up. Alternatively, you can stump up the eleven Euros and take the fenicular up and down. Guess which we did.
After lunch (Grillwurst - basically a hot dog, but much nicer) a further mooch around and a spot of internetting, we took the bus back to the campsite, whilst keeping a weather eye on the darkening skies. We just had time to help put up the truck's huge canvas awning - requires all available hands to rig it - over the busy cook group before the heavens opened. It heaved down to the extent that we seriously considered looking around for a male and female of each kind of animal. Dinner was eaten standing up in a tight group under the tarpaulin to the sounds of water cascading over the sides. Mercifully all our tents came through the storm largely intact and largely unbreached. Eventually, the waters receeded and a dash to the bar for hot chocolate was accomplished.
The following morning, after an early breakfast, we set off on the long drive to the Austria/Hungary border, a quick stop at Tesco to change money (yes, you read that correctly, 'Tesco') and onwards to our campsite - an old tram station - just outside Budapest with wi-fi.
That night, after we'd turned in, there was yet another humungous summer storm with lightning so bright it hurt your eyes, even through the fabric of the tent. Yet again our tent (as yet un-named) proved its worth. Special mention in dispatches for Juli who I woke up when I heard the first rumbles of thunder and forced outside to rescue our drying laundry before the rain came. Well, she had more clothes on than me.
This morning - day 6 - we took the short ride into Budapest. The bus took us across the Danube (didn't have to look that one up) to the 'Pest' side, but we got off and walked straight back over to the Buda side and got some great pictures of the amazing Hungarian Parliament building, which looks more like a palace. After wandering along the river a way, we turned up a side road, up some steps and into what we thought was a church, but turned out to be a passage and more steps, which lead up to... 'Wow!' We'd stumbled upon the cathedral church of St. Stephen, which stands above the city and looks like it's just been finished, the stone is so clean, and has an amazing and colourful tiled roof. Near the cathedral, was a small bar with great views across the city, where we listened to a violin, string base and dulcimer trio playing jazz versions of Hungarian folk tunes.
Wandering further, we passed the president's residence, where they were changing the guard, and which stand convieniently just next to the fenicular (another city, another fenicular). This time, we chose to walk down, past drifts of mud, brought down by the torrential rain the night before. That brought us out at the famous Chain Bridge, which we crossed back to the 'Pest' side, and walk back along the river in front of the parliament building. By the time we got passed it, we were hot and hungry, so bought things for a picnic lunch from a small supermarket, where the kind woman that served us helpfully sliced enough sausage to fill a roll and washed some tomatoes for us. After our picnic lunch in a shady park next to the parliament building, watching dogs play, we strolled back to the end of the first bridge and caught the bus back to camp.
Tomorrow, we have another long drive-day that ends at our next bush camp somewhere in Romania; the day after that, we arrive at another proper camp site near Bukarest via Dracula's castle! Hope I remembered to pack a cross and some holy water.
TTFN - N
After lunch (Grillwurst - basically a hot dog, but much nicer) a further mooch around and a spot of internetting, we took the bus back to the campsite, whilst keeping a weather eye on the darkening skies. We just had time to help put up the truck's huge canvas awning - requires all available hands to rig it - over the busy cook group before the heavens opened. It heaved down to the extent that we seriously considered looking around for a male and female of each kind of animal. Dinner was eaten standing up in a tight group under the tarpaulin to the sounds of water cascading over the sides. Mercifully all our tents came through the storm largely intact and largely unbreached. Eventually, the waters receeded and a dash to the bar for hot chocolate was accomplished.
The following morning, after an early breakfast, we set off on the long drive to the Austria/Hungary border, a quick stop at Tesco to change money (yes, you read that correctly, 'Tesco') and onwards to our campsite - an old tram station - just outside Budapest with wi-fi.
That night, after we'd turned in, there was yet another humungous summer storm with lightning so bright it hurt your eyes, even through the fabric of the tent. Yet again our tent (as yet un-named) proved its worth. Special mention in dispatches for Juli who I woke up when I heard the first rumbles of thunder and forced outside to rescue our drying laundry before the rain came. Well, she had more clothes on than me.
This morning - day 6 - we took the short ride into Budapest. The bus took us across the Danube (didn't have to look that one up) to the 'Pest' side, but we got off and walked straight back over to the Buda side and got some great pictures of the amazing Hungarian Parliament building, which looks more like a palace. After wandering along the river a way, we turned up a side road, up some steps and into what we thought was a church, but turned out to be a passage and more steps, which lead up to... 'Wow!' We'd stumbled upon the cathedral church of St. Stephen, which stands above the city and looks like it's just been finished, the stone is so clean, and has an amazing and colourful tiled roof. Near the cathedral, was a small bar with great views across the city, where we listened to a violin, string base and dulcimer trio playing jazz versions of Hungarian folk tunes.
Wandering further, we passed the president's residence, where they were changing the guard, and which stand convieniently just next to the fenicular (another city, another fenicular). This time, we chose to walk down, past drifts of mud, brought down by the torrential rain the night before. That brought us out at the famous Chain Bridge, which we crossed back to the 'Pest' side, and walk back along the river in front of the parliament building. By the time we got passed it, we were hot and hungry, so bought things for a picnic lunch from a small supermarket, where the kind woman that served us helpfully sliced enough sausage to fill a roll and washed some tomatoes for us. After our picnic lunch in a shady park next to the parliament building, watching dogs play, we strolled back to the end of the first bridge and caught the bus back to camp.
Tomorrow, we have another long drive-day that ends at our next bush camp somewhere in Romania; the day after that, we arrive at another proper camp site near Bukarest via Dracula's castle! Hope I remembered to pack a cross and some holy water.
TTFN - N
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks