Alright, I'm in Budapest.

The train journey was awful, got here and had no accomodation but landed on my feet massively. There's a music festival here in the next couple of days and loads of good bands are playing. The plan is to jump the fence and camp there for a bit. Need to buy a tent first though. Bennito moonio, if you're not busy this weekend, come over! MAssive attack, Lamb, Goldfrapp all playing for our pleasure. Anna and those, Make sure you book ahead, Budapest is packed! Overflowing with people and not any rooms at the inn.

Just before we start. The links in this blog are all for pictures, as I've still not got a camera, so they're just lifted off the web as before. So just click and they'll pop up unless you're on a clockwork computer, in which case you'll click and then wait three days.

Evenin' all. My time in Brno has come to an end just as soon as it started really. Got to keep moving though. When I first got here I thought it was proper dive. It was chucking it down with rain, the station's a bombsite and the hostel is massive, characterless and largely empty. With the rain pouring down I just looked around the city for a bit and went to bed.

Day two proved a lot better. I had to revise my idea of Brno being a hole. It's actually a top place. Far less touristy than Prague and a lot cheaper to boot. I walked up to the castle in the morning. Lovely place, apart from the fact it used to be prison circa the 18th century. People got chained up in there for life. This dude looks like he's been there far too long. Honestly though, it was eerie as, with no natural light and long low cells, packed to the brim with unfortunates. Then the Nazis grabbed it and used it in the war and there's some remnants of their occupation.

Outside was much more cheery. From the tower you could see a 360 degree view of the Brno. Couldn't help noticing the power station slap bang in the centre, hmmmm! Just as I was starting back down the bloody bell rang and I nearly nose dived down the spiral staircase but kept my cool (sort of).

To appreciate the interior you don't have to be an architect. To appreciate the museum you have to speak Czech. Still they were showing a loop of the first bit of Gladiator (Romans kicking the Teutons arses) so that was entertaining.

Today was an early start (half 5) to get to some caves out of town. An Oz couple were getting an early train too and they'd been the day before and told me what see and which train to get. The caves were class. Firstly a walk through all the Stalactites and mites, opening out into the Macocha Abyss . More mites and tites, then a boat ride down the subterranean river. For the geologists amongst us these caves are part of the Moravian Karst. I'd tell you more but of course the guided tour was in Czech. The Abyss was even more spectacular from above after the hike up to it through dense green forest, with trees filtering the sunlight into shafts.

On the wayback I got try out my new Czech phrase.... Je to vlak do Brno... (is this train going to Brno) it was and now I'm back. Bumped into a lad (kev) that I met in Prague, just before I left, on my way to write this. Turns out he's in the same hostel as me (told you it was big!) so we're off out for a few beers tonight.

Other than that, Phil - I think I'm going to have to go to Venice to get a cheaper flight home. It's not far from Croatia so I might see you there for a beer or two!

For those of you posting messages (mum) you have worked it out right but no need to post them twice. Also, my phone is
on the blink, i.e. the battery's run out and I can't find a converter for my charger anywhere! Not to worry though. As you can tell, internet access is not a problem.

I'm off to Brno tomorrow on the train. Slightly apprehensive about it due to not speaking Czech but never mind. It's only three and a half hours away! Just been for a Thai foot massage for half an hour, as my feet have been killing me. It was rather painful but well worth it. The stumps feel very refreshed now. The lady doing the massage kept talking in Thai which I couldn't understand. Her and her mate seemed to be having a good old chuckle. Haha, no doubt taking the piss out of me. And no I'm not paranoid. My proof is that at the end of it I said thanks in Thai. She looked somewhat embarassed, then laughed and ran at me as if to hit me. When I let her know that I couldn't speak Thai at all she looked suspiciously relieved. Anyway, all good fun. I'm off to Tesco now and then to chill at my dorm for a bit. Ciao.

Last night was most uneventful. I was absolutely knackered so I just went to bed. The day was good though. Went to the market and wandered round that. Haha, right next to it was the red light district. Consisting of one bar, one shop, and one brothel. Not quite Amsterdam. Then walked up to Stromovka, a big park to the north of the city. It turned out to be quite a hike and the weather was still scorching. Got caught short aswell and there is a severe shortage of public loos here. Had to hold on until I got back to the centre. The loo at a McDonalds would have to suffice but managed to make a bit of a prick of myself. By the time I'd got there I was so desperate I chucked my change all over the floor instead of giving to the 'nice' lady at the door, who just sneered and said something in Czech. There was a massive thunderstorm in the afternoon aswell which was actually needed. It cleared the air a bit and cooled the soaring temperature. Had to take refuge in a Cafe which turned out to be really rather quaint.

This morning was mainly devoted to trying to get myself a place to sleep tonight. I think I'll be booking ahead in future. Much more sensible. After trying to find a place miles away and failing miserably I eventually found one about 40 seconds away from my original dorm. Don't know what I'll be up to tomorrow, possibly a proper look at the castle or maybe a day trip out of the centre. Don't know. But the day after that I'll be orf to Brno on the train. I now know about 5 Czech words. If I was here for a year perhaps I'd be able to pass myself off as a halfwit.

Begun to formulate a plan now. I'm going to spend another three nights in Prague I think. Just to make sure nothing is missed. After that I think I'll go to Brno. The second largest city in the Czech Republic. After a few nights there I'll probably go to Bratislava. Not sure what's there as I still have to acquire a guide book. I'm making my way down to Croatia and from there I'll have to lie on a beach for a while. After that, maybe home? Maybe a bit of Western Europe? I don't know. But anyway, I'll write again soon.