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Thought the day may go badly when it began with an incident in the toilet in Stalag 11 (our campsite) in Bratislava. I went to pull the door closed and the handle and all the other door handle bits fell off. Now I was locked in the toilet. I shouted for my wife to help but, as per normal, she was too busy putting on her make up to hear my cries for help. Fortunately, I was able to reach under the toilet door and grab the spindle thing and escape to freedom.
Once again used non-motorway roads to Hungary. Recommended! On the way down we stopped to restock our dwindling provisions (well beer anyway). Slovakia and Hungary have been invaded by TESCOs and it only seemed right to stop and buy our goods here (Club Card points). Well, "Every Little Helps"!
Hungary is really nice and quite a contrast to Slovakia. Budapest itself is a great city but after the contained centres of Prague & Bratislava the large city of Budapest took us by surprise. You could not walk everywhere; you had to take public transport. The Hungarians are a noticeably polite people. They would always stop to allow you to cross the road, and young people would always offer their seats to older citizens (although not me).
Bus drivers in Budapest require special mention. The first day we caught the bus into town, when we got on the bus the driver allowed 6 teenagers to sit in the drivers seat, start the engine, open and close the doors (incessantly) and rev the engine until it nearly exploded. The second day we caught the bus we arrived to find the bus driver fast asleep in his cabin (see photo evidence).
It came as a surprise to find shopping arcades underground in the city. On the intersection of roads, where there was a public underpass, you would find 20 or 30 shops, punctuated by a stream of young hookers - "Just keep walking and stop looking" Jacqui informed me.
Still sunny and warm here although the weather is due to change dramatically on Friday with rain for a couple of days, but mostly a drop in temperature of around 10-12 degrees C.
Day 2 in Budapest started early with a trip to the Spa baths. There were all types of saunas, steam rooms and thermal pools all at different temperatures. After a couple of hours we felt the cleanest we had been since we left the UK.
Spent the rest of the day sight seeing. We wisely purchased a travel ticket and used the public transport system as much as possible. Budapest is a large city and, unlike Prague or Bratislava, it is very tiring to walk the city.
Staying at our campsite for dinner tonight in their restaurant. Jacqui wants some authentic Hungarian Goulash before she leaves the country.
Tomorrow off to Zagreb.
Nick & jax x
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