Vienna and Budapest

Vienna : The sound of bells ringing every 15mins followed us from Italy through to Vienna. In Vienna we used the met train system to get around the town but on the first afternoon we set off on the ring tram which circles the centre of town to get an idea of where we were. Later we took a stroll around the Belvedere Palace gardens. Even though we were tired we went off to a Mozart concert that night at the Musikverein where the musicians dressed in costume- beautiful music. We strolled around the Museum Quartier, Hofburg Palace and also tracked down Beethoven and Strauss' houses.(so they say they are) The highlight was the Schonbrunn Palace where we spent a couple of hours strolling around the grounds, we didn't go in as the palaces are starting to all be the same inside(did peep through the window though). I was happy enough to be in the courtyard where Andre Rieu performed and listening to a band from Lancaster while horse drawn carriages went back and forth across the courtyard.

Budapest Hungary saw us start off with a $30 fine for using the wrong ticket and pathetic directions to our hotel. A lovely African man helped us out and even carried the suitcase up the stairs to put us in the right direction assuring us that he was not scamming us, he also told us that it is quite common in Budapest with the tickets as the staff at the stations work on a commission basis for the number of people they catch.(No mercy shown to us, but I didn't give in easily) He gave us his card in case we had any more problems and went on his way.

Communication problem at the station was that I thought they said catch the 406 tram but they said 4 or 6 tram and then when we got going on the tram we got off and went to a street with a similar name in the other direction. (sometimes the spelling is different) After three lovely people helping us out we managed to get there.

We decided to chill out for the three days and took the hop on/off bus around the major sites, as the temp of Budapest was around 34 -36c. We also went for a cruise on the Danube and then went swimming in one of the many pools of different temps at the Szechenyi Baths.

On our last day we walked down to St.Stephen's Basilica and the House of Terror, which is a museum and once the headquarters of the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party,(1944 Hungarian Nazis)and then the communist terror organisations between 1945 and 1956.( Soviet occupation) The museum commemorates the victims of terror and is a momento to remind us of the dreadful acts of dictatorships Listening to the survivors stories was very moving and again I came out drying my eyes. Throughout our travels in Austria and Germany we have had many tour guides point out the damage done by the wars and the rebuilding that has taken place.

Things we have found quite different.:

Mercedes being used as taxis, restaurants underground. Banks down narrow passageways, no cars in the centre of some towns, smoking alive and well, many homeless people asking for money and having to pay to go to the toilet all the time. (all adds up if it's a hot day and you need to drink) Cyclists not wearing helmets.

Jen from Gym: we have seen plenty of your little cars around, they are quite the norm over here.

Hope you are all coping with the chilly weather while we are sweating it out.

Will add pics soon and little blog on Innsbruck, Vienna and Munich

Love

C & J