The bad news is we wont be going to Pecs any more. We had planned to go tomorrow for the day, but when I started looking up trains I discovered that its 3 hours from Budapest to Pecs, not the 1 and a half that I had in mind for some reason. We debated for quite a while, but in the end 3 hours there and back was just a bit much.
This morning saw us walking up the hill to the lady liberty (at least thats what I think she is) statue. A wee bit of a hike, but not so bad when you take plenty of stops to sit in the shade to take in the increasing views. The view from the top was pretty spectacular, and the statue is fantastic, Sophie is particularly taken with it. Much better than the statue of liberty she reckons. On our way back to the hostel for lunch we stopped at the dangerous store. Not quite as much damage done as I was thinking, but then again I might go back.
Post a long lunch break, we went on a mini mission to find a artist market we had been told was going on in the Jewish district. We think we found it, but it seemed like it was in the final stages so there wasn't much around. The jewish district was an interesting experience. It was full of so many abandoned, and run down buildings and was so quiet, that I got quite spooked out. After finding and leaving the market I hurried Sophie back to the main roads a bit, as I was feeling a little vulnerable. All fine though. We wound our way back to the river and sat next to it for a while enjoying the view and a bit of conversation, and m&ms. The Danube river that runs through Budapest is probably the most impressive river we've seen so far. Its easy to see why the guide yesterday said Hungarians have a bit of a thing about water. Its significantly bigger than the other rivers we've passed so far in our journeys.
Tonight for dinner we had a go at finding a traditional Hungarian meal. We tried to avoid the real tourist traps, but it was a bit difficult. We found somewhere close to home in the end, and I ordered something which claimed to be sauted chicken in Hungarian style. If the food wasn't legit, the service felt legit. A rather abrupt old man that some what organised Sophie into her ordering. One of the times you feel truely guilty about having not managed to learn even thank you in the native language. My lack of skills with foreign languages, and the tounge tripping languages we have come across recently have left us feeling rather flumexed and rude.
After dinner we decided to take the walk along the river that Martin recommended to see the lights at night. Well worth it. The palace, church and bridges were all lit up beautifully. I tried to capture it with my camera but had little success.
The one positive about not making it to Pecs is that we should be able to fill our time fairly well in Budapest. Plenty to do here.
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