Wednesday 29 June
We left Croatia after a fantastic time exploring the coasts and inland areas. We will have so many memories of Croatia, the most beautiful butterflies, gorgeous coastlines and swimming spots, crazy drivers, workmen drinking beer at 9.00am(!) and then proceeding to wire up something...., little three wheeler delivery trucks, smokers smoking inside restaurants where it is air conditioned so if you want non smokey air you have to sit outside (there are a lot of smokers in Croatia), workmen wearing bib type dungarees everywhere even though it's 30 degrees, lovely young peop!e so helpful, lots of tall and strong looking guys and gals, lovely little mariners, great roadng systems and all the lovely people that helped us along the way, fantastic p!ace with the most fantastic language and street/place names to wrap your tongue around but time to move on.
We were headed for Budapest and when we looked at 10.5hrs vs 5hrs driving we chose to go the toll roads for the first time. We have loved the little backroads through the villages but .....time to experience the motorway toll system.
Great trip to Budapest, easy border crossing and 130k speed limit on the motorways. We thought Croatian's drove fast but man oh man Hungarians were flying past us and it looked 130k was the minium they would go.
We found our hotel in Buda and hit the path to the castle ....wow, incredible views over to Pest and all the gorgeous historic buildings.
We left Croatia after a fantastic time exploring the coasts and inland areas. We will have so many memories of Croatia, the most beautiful butterflies, gorgeous coastlines and swimming spots, crazy drivers, workmen drinking beer at 9.00am(!) and then proceeding to wire up something...., little three wheeler delivery trucks, smokers smoking inside restaurants where it is air conditioned so if you want non smokey air you have to sit outside (there are a lot of smokers in Croatia), workmen wearing bib type dungarees everywhere even though it's 30 degrees, lovely young peop!e so helpful, lots of tall and strong looking guys and gals, lovely little mariners, great roadng systems and all the lovely people that helped us along the way, fantastic p!ace with the most fantastic language and street/place names to wrap your tongue around but time to move on.
We were headed for Budapest and when we looked at 10.5hrs vs 5hrs driving we chose to go the toll roads for the first time. We have loved the little backroads through the villages but .....time to experience the motorway toll system.
Great trip to Budapest, easy border crossing and 130k speed limit on the motorways. We thought Croatian's drove fast but man oh man Hungarians were flying past us and it looked 130k was the minium they would go.
We found our hotel in Buda and hit the path to the castle ....wow, incredible views over to Pest and all the gorgeous historic buildings.
At the top of castle hill is the Romanesque Fisherman's Bastion with 7 turrets (seven Magyar tribes came here in 896) that look down to the Danube and over to Pest. The sculptures within the portico are stunning.
The statue of St Stephen, Hungary's first King is impressive with detailed marble panels on each face of the plinth telling a story.
The Church of Mathias is equally stunning, built in 1015 and later destroyed but rebuilt in the 15th century. There was so much to 'ooh and aah' over and more sculpture than you can shake a stick at, quite an experience and all the better for the castle area being totally pedestrianised so you could wander about quite peacefully.
Having been awed by the sights we found a suitable spot for a quiet drinks and a bite to eat, appropriate blend of Austro-Hungarian deco. The food was divine, a fair price and a great way to end the day. (Hungarian Goulash soup, wild mushroom soup with basil oil, local chicken breast with cheese and nut sauce and marinated plum and vension stew, delicious flavours and great white Hungarian wine )
A lovely stroll back down the hill to our apartment and rest, happy Hungary tired👍.
Fantastic iron shop signs and as for the sculpture......hold on to your hats folks...
This sculpture of a regal couple was outside the castle walls, all a!one and in the quiet dappled shade, intriguing.
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