Hungarian Parliament at sunset

Parliament at sunset, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We had a fabulous time in Budapest. One of those holidays where you eat far too much, walk everywhere and sleep like a log.

I didn't expect it to be so beautiful and I certainly didn't expect a fine, clear Sunday. The weather forecast said light rain on Saturday and Sunday and heavy rain on Monday, so good weather was an unexpected joy.

We were pretty wrecked when we arrived late on Saturday morning. Jules had fallen asleep on the tube on the way home from work drinks the night before so we didn't get a great deal of sleep before the alarm went at 5 am. So we spent Saturday afternoon in the Gellert thermal baths - and unwound.

Culturally, the baths were very different to Western swimming pools. In the women's hot pools, the young slim women wore bikinis and the older, obese women nothing at all. And the lovely thing was - they weren't ashamed of their bulk. One woman thought nothing of raising her bottom in the air to massage it under the hot jets spurting out from one wall - a sight to behold and maybe one you only need to see once! Anyway, it was very relaxing.

We came out of the baths and had a very late lunch before visiting the Christmas market for a mulled wine. I collapsed on the bed and snored, and then we went out again for dinner. Which was also lovely.

Sunday was spectacularly sunny and we walked up Castle Hill, enjoying the view and wandering around on the top. We went in to the National Gallery for an hour or two, but it was really too nice a day so we spent most of it outdoors. The one mistake was not enough of a gap between lunch and dinner - when the mains arrived at dinner we just couldn't do justice to them. But that may have been the fault of the coffee and cake before lunch - the city is famous for its coffee houses, after all. (And we only visited two, in total!)

Monday brought the promised heavy rain so we visited St Stephen's basilica (complete with hand of St Stephen - urrgh!) and went shopping. And had some more cake - to pass the time, like.

And today we're back to the real world with a bump - Jules's contract is not being extended past 4 January. Still, that will give him time to play with our visitors, won't it? And master the art of the slow-cooked pheasant!