fushmush

Read about our adventures in Barcleona at fushmush.net.

Visit the ticket office early in the morning (8.30am) if you want tickets for the guided tour. We arrived at 10am one morning and were told that all the tickets for the tours that day were sold out.

They only let people in one at a time to buy tickets so if you get there early you can avoid waiting in a queue to buy the tickets.

You’ll need your passport to buy a ticket for the tour.

And the tour is only half an hour long so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth jumping through all these hoops to go on the tour.

We took a guided tour out to the park with Absolute Walking Tours. Our guide was very knowledgeable and hewas a young adult in the 80s so he had first hand experience. He told us the history of specific statues as well as explaining what was like under the Communist regime. The Hungarians have a unique sense of humour. Our guide shared some of the common jokes that were often told about Communism, Lenin and Stalin.

I can see how some people would mark this as Not Worth Visiting. Without the guided tour I definitely would think a visit to the park was not worthwhile. With the guided tour it provided an interesting perspective on Communism in Hungary.

We did lots of walking while in Budapest so a relaxing soak in the hot baths was the perfect end to a busy day.

I really liked the outdoor pool.

There was also a lovely indoor pool in a room with sunny yellow tiles. The natural sunlight in this room was enhanced by the decor and it was a delightful place to “chill” in.

If you sit outside, watch out for the very bold, little birds who will try and steal a piece of your cake at every opportunity. My cake was delivered to our table while I was using the restroom. While my husband’s attention was occupied one of these tiny birds hopped onto the table and stole a significant chunk from the corner of my cake. Daring little creature!

Stick around for the waves in the main outdoor pool. They have a wave generator that runs once an hour. It was lots of fun jumping and trying to surf the waves… in a swimming pool.

When we were there the waves were running at 5 past the hour every hour.

The markets cover a huge area. On a Sunday there are 6 different markets open for business; selling crafts, clothing and antiques. Such a huge area and it was still full of people. It’s spring and London is crawling with tourists. A sunny day also encourages Londoners to head out and enjoy the weather. The narrow market paths were jam-packed and difficult to navigate. You couldn’t really stop to look at market wares properly as you’d hold up the queue of people behind you. Like most of my shopping outings in London, the crowd spoiled my browsing enjoyment. I’m obviously not equipped to live in a city of 8 million people.

My favourite part of the day was lunch. There were a number of food stalls and a variety of cuisines to choose from. Natalie recommended the arepa rellena, a Venezuelan / Colombian specialty. An arepa is a flat pancake of cornmeal, which is grilled, baked or fried. An arepa rellena is an arepa which has been split in half and filled with cheese and deli meats. Our arepa rellenas were fried and we choose to fill them with cheese, shredded beef and plantain. They were delicious. We topped off our meal with dorayaki, Japanese pancakes. We had two dorayaki, a custard filled and a red-bean filled pancake. To think we started our meal in South America and finished it in Asia.

‘Cause everyone’s your friend in New York City
And everything looks beautiful when you’re young and pretty
The streets are paved with diamonds and there’s just so much to see
But the best thing about New York City is you and me

Statue of Liberty, Staten Island Ferry, Co-op City, Katzs and Tiffany
Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, The Empire State where Dylan lived
Coney Island and Times Square, Rockefeller Center
Wish I was there

Totally touristy and terribly tacky but it has to be done. I actually had to elbow my way through a small crowd to have a go.

The “Platform” is not actually on a platform as King’s Cross Station does not have a platform between tracks 9 and 10. The sign and the luggage cart (bolted to the wall) are on the outside wall of the building containing tracks 9 and 10.

Located on the South bank of the Thames next to Southwark Cathedral, the Borough Market is the place to go for all your fresh produce needs. It’s also a great place to pick up that extra something special you can’t find in your local Morrisons.

Although it was crowded and a tad expensive, the market was well-worth a visit. We’ll definitely be back, if only for more olives and dolmades. I think I might take a proposed dinner plan next time so as to guide my Borough wanderings.

See all our photos at fushmush.net.