What a lovely hotel we stayed. The tour is split into people who wanted first class accommodation and the rest of us. Five people have gone for 1st class. The place we stayed in could not be faulted so much so that we did not want to ask the others too much about theirs in case they thought they were losing out. On the bus by 0815 we left for the ancient Olympic venue. It was raining heavily with lightening when we left which did not bode for our mainly outdoor...

Early breakfast then down the road to another hotel where we were picked up for our tour. On to a big tour bus with about 20 people we set off to another spot where we met 3 other tour buses and everyone got off to get back on to the appropriate bus for their respective tours. A bit chaotic but we eventually ended up with a group of people comprising 4 French women, a French Canadian couple, 2 Australian couples, 3 Americans and us. The tour is in French and Engl...

Today we left Budapest for Athens. David and Lesley are staying on for one more day before heading for Prague by train. We have had a really good time together and, while we will keep in touch during our respective travels, we will catch up again next year in Sydney. Arrived at the airport a bit too early and had to wait around to check in our bags before going through. It seems odd not having to go through immigration but it sure speeds things up. We flew with...

Today we went over to the Buda side to the area we were partially shown around on the tour from our ship the day we arrived. The weather was much better than on the previous visit and we had a look at places we had not visited. These places were the old Royal Palace (which is now called the Budapest National Gallery) and the "Hospital in the Rock". But first we stopped in to one of the Ruined Pubs for lunch; Koleves Kert (Stone Soup Garden). The pub did not look...

Better weather today and set off to do a bit more exploring. Firstly we went to a nearby highly recommended restaurant to make a booking for tomorrow night then to do a bit of shopping - shoelaces and stuff. Nearby we came upon the Academy of Music which had an interesting facade and statues. It was closed but looked interesting inside. Might try to get in later. A popular game over here is for a group of people (minimum of 2) to be locked in a room and have to...