Fork in the Road

 Lake Balaton  10 am: we grabbed our bags and ran down the stairs to the street.  Within a few minutes Tom and Erika came cruising around the corner.  We jumped in and began to drive out of Budapest. Suddenly Tom’s cell rang.  On the phone was Bill, the owner of the land rover we were driving.  As a post wedding gift to Tom and Erika, he had loaned them his car for the trip back to London.  “Um, I just realized that I’m not quite sure that the auto insurance will cover Croatia", he said.  "I think it is best that you come to where I am so we can sort this out”.  Oooops!  This could be a major glitch which none of us had thought of.  Tom reset his satnav and we headed over to the Train Museum where Bill was waiting.  Once there, the issue was quickly resolved with a phone call to the insurance agent and a faxed copy of the paperwork.  No problem!   Within a short time we were back on the road.  We drove for about ...

Up the hill to Fisherman's Bastian We woke up early and ready for breakfast. The rest of the family was going to be leaving today and we wanted to see everyone before they left. After breakfast, we hugged and kissed everyone as they departed to their destinations. Jane was sad that this part of our journey was coming to an end. The next leg of our trip, however, was going to be an adventure. We did not have any set plans on how we were going to get back to London, so this was going to be interesting.  The protest  First we have to back track a little...  We had purchased a one way ticket to Budapest because we were intending to sight-see our way back to London. A couple of weeks ago, w hile visiting Tom and Erika in Oxford, they let us know that they were driving back from Budapest after the wedding. They kindly invited us to tag along with them through Vienna, Prague and Germany. However, we did not want to impose on them after their wedding, so we left this op...

Andrassy Avenue Today we were all moving a little slower. After an incredible time at Tom and Erika's wedding last night, we all needed some R&R. Around 11:00 am, a large group of Jane’s family decided to head over to the Szechenyi Baths. Granny went in a cab, others via the metro, and we decided to walk. We both felt that it had been a while since we had taken a good long stretch of our legs. Floating art  We walked through the Oktogon, turned down Andrassy Avenue, and headed towards Heroes Square. W e walked behind Heroes Square and through City Park. The park is locally called Varosliget and was the world’s first public park. As we walked through the park, we encountered a festival. There were tons of food vendors, stalls selling hand crafts, and a Tibetan folk band.  We crossed a bridge over a lake and almost got sidetracked. In the winter, this lake freezes becoming the largest outdoor skating rink in Eastern Europe. During the warm months people cruise up and ...

The Royal Waiting Room (picture by Dad) Waking up this morning was not easy. Luis got up to have breakfast while Jane stayed in bed for a bit longer rest. The plan was to attend a Bus Tour with the whole wedding contingent. After getting ready, we decided it would be best to skip the bus tour and give ourselves a day of doing nothing. As we seldom stay out very late, we were feeling the effects of the previous night celebrations. We needed to catch up on rest. Today was Tom and Erika's wedding and we wanted to feel and look our best for the event. We rested and got ready for what was to be a fabulous event. Passengers board the train Around 5:00 pm, we made our way over to Budapest Nyugati palyaudvar (or the Budapest Western Train Station). The impressive Iron structure was built in the late 1800's by the Eiffel company. The station was completed 12 years before construction began on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The guests gathered at the Royal Waiting Room. This room wa...

The metro We woke up and walked down the street to find some coffee before starting our day.  When we returned to the hotel, Jane's parents (Joy and Bill) were ready to go exploring. Our first stop was to visit one of the most traditional Hungarian sights - the Thermal Baths.  We walked along the streets passing through the Octogon where we walked down the steps to the budapest metro.  Known as the Budapesti Metro, this underground system was built in 1896.  It is the second oldest system after the London Underground.  It is now listed as a world heritage site.  Hungarian Circus The rail cars are very small and unique looking.  The three lines are designated by number and color and cover the central portion of Pest.  Only the number three line crosses the Danube to the Buda side.  Before we boarded we had to figure out the purchase of tickets. This process is still done manually.  At first...