Well, I'm now in gorgeous, hot Budapest. It's a really pretty city, and we're staying in a hostel just down the road from the markets which has been handy...

We left Vienna yesterday - this photo is actually from the Butterfly House in Vienna which was a part of the Imperial Palace.

We got to Budapest in the afternoon and spent it trying to avoid roadworks. Unsuccessfully. Eventually, we made it to the Citadella and Buda Castle, which are both in the hills.

Just a quick point - Budapest was originally three seperate cities: Buda, on the hilly side of the Danube, Pest on the flat and fertile side and Obuda, the old Roman settlement.

The photos below are from a spot called the Fishermans Bastion, which was the part of the city wall that the Fishermans Guild were responsible for. And its the only bit still looking good, so all I can say is I'm going to give Fishermen a wider berth from now on.

Below is the Pork Snitzel we had for dinner. I ate just over a half of it and 7 people managed to finish it. Then today I had a liver sausage, which was really nice. Tonight, I'm having GOULASH! (Yay, love goulash... if its what i think it is...)

Wiena (try saying it with a V and a german accent...)

Well, I now officially a backpacker sell-out because I joined my Topdeck Tour on Saturday. So far so good, everyone has been really friendly and lovely. And drunk... but apparently thats just what people do in Venice so thats ok.

We managed to get from Venice to Vienna in about 7 hours, which is pretty good, so we made it to the Shoburg (?) place, one of the homes of the Hapsburgs (a family which controlled much of Europe for 650, mainly through marriage aliances and inbreeding, hence there were some interesting rulers...). It has Europes oldest zoo and huge gardens that are filled with roses. So it was a nice break after being on the bus for so long.
Last night we went to Pratar, which is Europes oldest Amusement park. It has a ferris wheel built in 1897 (which i went on) and all the rides are owned by individual families rather than a big corporation. It was fantastic!

Today is our free day to wander around Vienna so I visited the catherdral and am off to the Hapsburgs Winter Palace... then this evening, I get to dress up and see a concert at one of the four Opera theatres in Vienna, which I`m really looking forward to- Vienna is the home of classical music for those who were unaware. There are Mozart statues everwhere and apparently they play Eine Klien Nachtmusik (which i know i spelt wrong) at the concert, so it will be just like being on tour :o)