Day 44 - Monday 13th June 2005

Easy trip out of Zagreb and a nice drive through very pretty countryside to the border with Hungary.  After crossing border our trip slowed considerably, highway system much less modern than in Croatia.  Driving through a forest we spotted several young comely wenches waving to truck drivers from the side of the road.  At first I thought they were waiting for buses, but finely came to conclusion that they were probably ladies of negotiable virtue.  As we crested the Buda hill on the way into Budapest we spotted the Marriott hotel.  We crossed the river not 200 metres from the hotel and took an hour of negotiating back streets to finally arrive at it.  We settled in to our room, which has a beautiful view of the Danube and the Buda hills, and went for a walk around the city.  We had a quick lunch then took a cruise down the Danube.  It was delightful, we stopped at Margaret Island for an hour and walked among the trees, ruins and sculptures while the guide provided some great detail.  We stopped at a several hundred year old giant Plane tree, which was one of only a very few trees that survived a massive Danube flood that ripped out most of the trees on the island and shredded the few remaining with ice. We caught the boat back to our hotel and changed for dinner.  Walked up and down the riverfront listening to a variety of Hungarian musicians serenading diners.  We had dinner, a delicious Hungarian Veal Stew, on the hotel terrace.  Lovely night view from our terrace.