Belting through the streets of pest in a mini bus, two wheels on pavements, weaving from lane to lane through traffic, flying down side streets like “Gene Hunt” in his Cortina, then driving out over the Elizabeth Bridge and getting my first view of the Danube.
Beautiful. Lots of bridges and the river wider than the Thames by about a third and fast flowing. Not at all blue looking buy what the hell. The hill on the Buda side of the river covered with trees, the canopy broken by the Citadel, The Castle, the Fisherman’s bastion and other old churches.
The bullet holes and blast damage in the stone walls of the bar opposite the hotel.
All the black and white pictures on the walls of the rock bar we found down the road – scenes from the Budapest streets from the 30’s and early 40’s.
The rich food liberally spiced with Paprika, the little dumplings and the chilli dips.
The dark beer (yum) the Palinka (hic!) the Unicum (yaargh!)
The trolley cars.
The girl at the Roman archaeological site.
The horrible German style toilets in the hotel that meant your “waste” landed on a shelf above the water level and then had to be flushed towards the water at the front of the pan. Thomas Crapper got it right first time! The shelf thing is in no way a good idea - unless you shit lilacs or have no sense of smell.
The nighttime views down by the river.
God it was fun.
