We got picked up from the InterContinental in Budapest by a lovely man named Levant, who was born in Romania, but now lives about 30 kms from Budapest CBD. His English was very impressive and he admitted he wasn't sure about that as he is self taught. He also speaks Hungarian, Romanian, French, some Spanish and a little Italian. As you do! The central train station was about 10 minutes from the hotel although due to road works it took a little longer. When I...

We went on an included tour through Vienna this morning. Vienna is surrounded by a massive ring road which used to be the city wall. The city is well laid out and we heard some great stories from our guide. Went through St Stephens and understand a little more of the process of cleaning these great big cathedrals. With time the stone work outside gets quite dark. I had remarked a couple of days earlier that it looked like it needed a good scrub! Well apparen...