We were picked up at our hotel for a sightseeing tour of the city this morning, which was interesting in itself as the roads at the front and back of the hotel are being remade, as are many of the streets around. They are also building an underground carpark nearby, which has been ongoing for a long time much to the dismay of the locals. On this tour we met some people who were on the train from Prague and are also staying at this hotel, Americans of course, haven't met many Aussies yet.
The tour took us around the city and stopped at Heroes square then over the river to the Buda side where the royal castle is situated on top of the hill. This castle and its surrounding buildings were ruined during the Second World War and have been totally rebuilt. Including the beautiful Mattthias church, it brings home to us the effects that war has on any community on either side of the conflict.
When the tour finished we walked along the river and to our pleasure the MS Amabella was docked, just sitting there waiting for us to board tomorrow. The dock is just a couple of blocks from the hotel so it is in easy walking distance.
Back to the hotel for a rest and then we ventured out again and walked over the Elizabeth Bridge and along Vaci street which is a street adjacent to where we are. This is a shopping/tourist trap street but a lively one. The people promoting their eating places just about drag you in to their establishment, but we are really cool and ignore the ones we don't want. We did eat there and continued wandering after dinner. Some of those flogging their eating places are ladies dressed in national costumes and are very colorful.
The currency here is Forints and one Aust. Dollar is worth about 220 Forints, so the price tags are huge and is a bit of a shock when you pay 500 Forints for two icecreams.
I thought the traffic was bad last night when we arrived, but I don't think it makes any difference what time of the day or week, it's still very hectic. The cars are larger here than they were in Italy.
No rain today but it was overcast most of the time. The locals say this is the worst Spring they have had for 35 years and can't wait for some warm weather as they have had a long cold winter. One of the lakes we went past today freezes in winter and is used for ice skating....too cold for us.
An interesting day for us and the start tomorrow of a new chapter in our trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment