Budapest

After crossing the border to Hungary we arrive in Budapest on a grey Saturday afternoon. We set off across the Danube and up into the hills to take in the view – but its an overcast city. As we wander around there's an international triathlon going on but we don't spot Tim, Clare, Rob or Andrew taking part.
In Parliament Square there's still a monument to those who died on 25 October 1956 as part of the uprising.
The hostel isn't one of the best and we are welcomed by spatters of blood on the stairwell. Our room is quirky with the two single beds numbered 1 and 2 with corresponding numbers on each side of the wardrobe. There's also interestingly abstract prints on the wall which appear to be hung to the wrong way up, so we move them around slightly before we leave and they remain the wrong way around, (but at least different to when we arrived).
Both of the restaurants we eat in during our stay have an interesting take on service, and the Mexican the two of us choose on our last night sees a waiter without a notepad and a terrible memory. A couple on a nearby table order a side of fries that they chase a couple of times, then cancel, only for them to turn up a few minutes later. Back on our table, Helen's food turns up with no plate or cutlery so we chase and eventually turns up together with a side of french fries (we didn't order). Then Davids food is chased and turns up without a side order of refried beans. The bean order is chased only to turn up as fries to be sent back and finally some cold refried beans sit on the table. Spamalot is in town, only a few hundred metres from the Mexican restaurant – the waiter's obviously modeled his skills on Monty Python.
There are hot baths in the City Park, just beyond Hero's Square and we spend a few hours soaking up the sun whilst in the water – although 20 minutes of this is spent with us both wandering around inside the pool looking for each other as we didn't agree a meeting place and were both sent in separate directions when leaving the changing area. It's interesting to see folks smoking cigarettes and drinking beer whilst at the pool. There are pools of differing temperatures and sizes both inside and out, some with whirlpools that have quite a torrent. There's also steam and sauna rooms so there's plenty to keep us occupied, as well as the people watching – although heavy petting in the pool doesn't appear to have been banned just yet (which is a shame).
Wandering around the area near the hostel, there's clearly a lot of homeless people in the city, some sleeping in doorways, many going through the bins and it gives a realistic and sad edge to the place.
On our way to the border we are faced with a particularly stern faced Hungarian border control guard who comes on the bus and walks off with Matt, Alan (USA) and Jaime's (Australia) passports. The welcome on the Serbian side is slightly more welcoming, but also takes some considerable time as Dennis our driver collects everyones passport to the border guards for checking.
pictures from day 7 and 8