The mighty Danube

I was out and about before the others, headed down to the city centre which I remembered from my previous visit in May, wandered around quite happily, snapping away left, right and centre, and then crossed the Chain Bridge to Buda and took the funicular up the hill on which the Royal Palace is built.

The weather continued to be wonderfully kind (it remained bright and dry for our entire stay -- though some of the weekend nights turned rather chilly). Budapest is one of those city's which is relatively easy to find your way around because of being built on a river. The Danube forms the backbone of the city, acts as a wonderfully convenient feature to help strangers get their bearings, separates the twin cities of Buda and Pest, and is a bustling focus for non-stop activity.

It was quite windy as I crossed the Chain Bridge to the Buda side, and got windier as the afternoon went by. I stopped for what was meant to be a quick bite toe at but turned into an extended meal because the service was so slow, after which I crossed back again and met the others for a bit of a further wander. Carl and I decided to go to a local restaurant for a bite to eat later on but a combination of tiredness and hung-overness meant that we couldn't actually finish our food. The rest of the night was quiet and restrained, and bed beckoned much earlier than usual.

It isn't all that long ago that I would have been able to continue partying for days on end. Perhaps it's time to finally admit that I'm not as young as I used to be.