Bratislava is only 50 km's from Vienna which makes them closest Capital cities in Europe and as such their history's are very much intertwinded.  Often both cities have had the same Ruler, whether that be the Romans, Turks or Hapsburgs and you can easily see the similarities in the Architecture and sculptures and claims to fame, you know, things like Mozart played here, Sisi stayed here in her favourite holiday Castle, our Danube is pretty blue aswell.  Bratislave for us was just a one day stopover and we really only did it because it was so close but nevertheless it is worth seeing, but only just.  Once again the stand out was the 'Castleonthehillinthemiddleoftheoldtown' (phew, that's a long word) but what made this different was that it has been completely rebuilt after WWI, WWII and neglect and therefore, although looking impressive, really wasn't to me (although it did command a good view over the City). It's not what I want to see from an old former defensive structure.  Just up river is the Devin Castle which is in a state of disrepair and a perfect setting on the rivers bank and on top of a rock.  But we didn't get there.  Bratislava's not bad but it's not Vienna.

Budapest, the capital of Hungary, only another 2H30 drive along the Danube, is however on a par with Vienna and some would say better as it uses the Danube as a part of the cityscape, an intergral member of the city rather than a useful source as it is in Vienna.  On the right bank is Buda.  Surprising the left bank is Pest.  Put them together and .. you see where I'm going here.  One of the many things that this combined city has is hot springs, 123 of them, and it is ingrained into the psyche of the Budapestians (that's what they might be called?) to have their relaxing weekly spa's.  Some spa's even claim to have healing properties which adds to the influx of Tourists.  When in Rome I suppose.  Audrey and I went to the St Lukas Spa, Buda side just north of the Buda Castle, and immediately felt like we were in a hospital.  The smell, the twisty turny passageways and the lack of signs pointing to where we had to go had us walking in circles for the first 10 minutes.  Finding the thermals baths eventually, we settled in to soak in the theraputicness of it all.  All I got was an overwhelming smell of sulphur.  From what I can understand is that the Spa's are very similar.  You have a hot one, a warm one and a cool one.  There is also a steam room and a sauna.  It was the people that went there that caught my antention though, 2 types: Tourists and old, retired people.

The combined banks of the Danube in Budapest is UNESCO listed and it's easy to see why.  During the day time is one thing, but at night it goes to another level.  It is beautiful lit up, the Parliment building, the second largest after Westminister in London looks radient, the Buda Castle and the whole hill complex in general is a feast for the camera.  Even the way the bridges are lit adds to the scene.  Earlier we did the walking tours of both Buda and Pest to hear about these places from an enthusiastic local which is always fun.  The first guy was Lasko, a former dairy farmer, who just liked to talk about 'his' Budapest.  He took us around the Castle area, showing us places that in the history of Budapest and Hungary were extremely important.  On more than one occasion he made a wise crack that the places he was showing us was probably more important to him than to us, but that's what I liked, a real locals perpective of the town, not what someone wrote generally about on Wiki.  At one location, a destroyed church, was a temporary exhibition showing before, during and after photo's of locations on Buda hill with reference to the fierce battles in WWII.  Very hard to imagine life during that time.  The other guide was Eva.  Her 2 hour tour was well and truely into the 4 hour before Audrey and I decide to pull the pin and go and see other things.  She really loved Pest.  The Pest side is where all the action happens.  This is where you will find the shopping streets, shopping malls and shopping centers.  It has Andrassy Avenue, Budapest's answer to Paris's Champs-Elysees, leading all the way to Heroes Square, Budapest's answer to Paris's Arc-de-Trimoph.  I hope that they don't build something that resembles an Eiffel Tower or thay may have to change their name to Budaparis!!

Our last night we went to see a show about Hungarian Folk Dancing and a Dinner Cruise and it was very good, highly recommend that if you go to Budapest you should go and see it.