Budapest...26th June

The drive in to Budapest, from the six lanes reducing to two, brings you into directly into the heart of Buda.. 

I'm always hopeful that traffic moves slowly in cities so that I can acquaint myself with the way each country and city deals with traffic flow management and changes in lane protocols. When 'Julie' says turn left.. its not always clear if you can.. I concentrate on making sure everyone around me knows what I think I may be doing.. The GB sticker on the back of the car helps but there is nothing like indicating as if your life depends on this....

But the traffic was fine.. calm compared with Krakow or Bratislava... happy.... just keep away from the trams coming towards you along the centre of the road..

As I reach the Danube, the whole visa of Pest appears, it is just magical.. one of the best vistas of any city.. as well as the bridges crossing the river..

Crossing the Danube and driving through Pest is an amazing experience. Being a joint capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with Vienna, the city has a mix of the last vestiges of the Hapsburg Empire knitted with smatterings of post second world war communism and the new Hungary.

Driving up along the Andrassy Utca, designed and planned to mimic the Champs Elysee to my hotel, I realised that I was going to be along way from the centre.. slightly put out by this (my stay this time is only a night although for the first time on my journey, I intend to re-visit a city after Beograd). I was told by the receptionist that there is a metro station close to take me into the centre..

The hotel is in the embassy quarter (more about the hotel later..), the Korean embassy is opposite. Quiet, tree lined streets are all beautiful in the 35 degree heat but I wanted to be in the centre... time is short...

Images of undergrounds are of crowded, hot and sweaty systems like the London underground or Rome.. but this one.. it is a perfectly preserved miniature railway that happens to run underground. It is only a short line, perhaps 10 or 11 stops, with stations all close together. There is no connection between north and south lines other than crossing the road above. A simple stair down to platforms that can only be 25 metres long. A cut and cover construction, it is a simple design and wonderful to take a ride on..

The entrance/exit to the metro for the up line on Andrassy Street

The full length of the platform

The end of the line in the centre.. The train crosses the track and starts back up the line...

The route map...

It is like someones' personal tube line...

Reached the centre in 6 minutes..  and walked to the river edge...

 I walked on, along the river to the Parliament building...

But at 5.30pm with the sun still shining and the temperature at 35, I decided to sit under the awnings of a cafe and watch the trams go past until the heat cooled enough to travel back to the hotel...

Hopefully in a couple of days time, after visiting Beograd, I will spend a lot more time in Budapest...