[Hydrofoils travel along the Danube between Budapest and Vienna. We didn't get one.]

Torrential rain. Check-out time is 9am, so we leave early. We decide to try and get a hydrofoil to Vienna, as it's supposed to be a very scenic journey, although expensive. Unfortunately not only is the ticket office closed all weekend, but if we could go we'd have to be at customs in two hours. We decide to get the train. As we leave the boat station, a car drives past and chucks a sheet of water over both of us. Were it not so cold it might have been funny. Feeling sorry for ourselves, and as it stops raining, we decide to go to the City Park.

[The top of St. Stephen's Basilica.]

We pass St. Stephen's Basilica on the way, impressive, but we're bored with cathedrals, castles and churches. Budapest is another one of those cities with a wonderful Underground system, i.e. 3 lines, which covers most stuff and is simple to navigate. We're getting very good at using public transport in random languages now.

The entrance to the park has Heroes' Square, an impressive monument to Hungarian bods. The park itself is enormous. We walk around the lake, past the zoo and an amusement park. I insist on looking for the big wheel I've read about with supposedly good views. We can't find

[A castle in the National Park in Budapest.]

it and this later transpires to be because I'd read ahead and it was actually in Vienna. We walk across a bridge to the island, which has a castle on it. It's quite pretty, but in some places the park is tacky and worn down. We wonder whether the motives for building it under a Communist Government have had a consequence. We hire a pedalo and spend half an hour arguing where to pedal to. It was a mistake to get something dual-controlled.

We decide to have lunch before getting the 5pm train. We go to a veggie restaurant. It isn't brilliant but has some funky fish chasing each other in a tank (not to be consumed, I hope). It's the first time I've seen Iain with a menu and stuck for anything to eat. Nice situation reversal for a change.

We take a long walk back to the hostel and pick up our bags. Iain wants to spod (again). There's a problem at reception as we're hanging around. Some American girl shouting at the nice reception bloke to leave her alone. The half dozen people in the foyer with us turn around and we sit silently watching. Said girl shouts and swears about how long she's stayed, and how the bloke is wrong. Her friend joins in the abuse, and they stomp off not paying. The reception bloke comes over looking upset and flustered. He apparently saw one of the girls throwing luggage out of a window, and confronted them. Her behaviour incensed all witnesses and embarrassed the Americans. Everyone suggests calling the police, but with American Immigration having to get involved, it would get too complicated. Since passports are photocopied, rather than taken, they can leave the country.

We go to the train station, to get the Orient Express. I am expecting a luxury old steam train - Iain is more realistic. It's still good quality though. I strike up a conversation with the bloke opposite, when at the border we realise he is French. This is useful, as we get an update on the news. We arrive in Vienna at 8.30pm, and it's getting dark. By the time we navigate around currency exchange and local transport, it's 10pm. We check in at the reserved place and sleep after showering.

Overall, I wasn't particularly impressed with Budapest. It's embracing Western ideas with frightening speed, which isn't necessarily an improvement. The city is fairly picturesque, but I think one would find it easy to see it all in one day. It has more of a hurried atmosphere, more so than Bucharest or Sofia, but the people we encounter are generally friendly.

We arrive in Vienna with the usual currency crisis. Since it's getting late, we head towards the hostel, via the tram. Unfortunately the guidebook directions are wrong, as one of the tram stops appears to have been renamed. We overcome this problem, eventually, and arrive in our University accommodation.