Caught the 6:15 train to Zagreb this morning, it was on four and half hours travel time but I had a 2 hour wait at Gyekenyes which is basically a small town near the border and nothing to do for two hours.

Finally got to Zagreb and booked into the hostel. Went for a walk around town and then got some stuff done in planning the rest of the trip. While I was walking around I noticed there were loads of police around and next thing I know there was Hilary Clinton.

It is All Saint Day today (nothing to do with Halloween), so i went out to the cemetery tonight to check it out. The whole place is lit with candles and there are hundreds of people walking around the cemetery.

Tomorrow is a public holiday here so I am thinking of taking the bus to a national park about two and a half hours away.

I only have one day in Pecs and I made the most of it and I would be struggling to find another day of things to do. But this is a beautiful place and would be absolutely pumping in the summer. It is such an nice town and they have done such a great job of maintaining the history. I started early with a walk up to one of the hills that border the town and then back to town for breakfast. After breakfast I went to the main historical area where the ancient Turkish wall still stands. They have some amazing UNESCO protected christian ruins. Discover under existing buildings they have created underground chambers to view the ruins, truly the best way I have ever seen sites protected. Wandering through a fantastically painted church and through the gardens was truly an enjoyable day. I love the little streets of old buildings, it is real joy to just walk around. Off to Zagreb early in the morning.

Got up early to find it snowing, not enough for it not to melt on impact with the ground but it is the first snow for the trip. Got a train to Pecs and and had a bit of a wonder around for the afternoon, will have a big day tomorrow before my next train trip to Zagreb the following morning.

Last day in Budapest today, after a wet morning the rain stopped and I managed to tick of the last couple of things I wanted to get done. Firstly Memento Park - The answer to the question what do you do with all the communist statues when you are no longer communist? Dump them in a paddock outside of town, realise it is becoming a tourist attraction and build a park around it. It is pretty cool, but a lot of the locals have never been to it. Then back into town to go to City Park, just hadn't had a chance to get up there to check it out. It was pretty cold today and I think it is the sign of things to come. They are talking snow this week, it is definitely getting cold enough. I have a nice reasonable flight at 10am in the morning, so there is not big rush with only a 10 minute tram ride to the train station. Then off to Pecs for a couple of days, which is on the way to Croatia

Saturday, my day of rest when traveling. I have a good sleep in and then went to the shops to get a couple of things I needed for the trip. Went into town and had some traditional goulash for dinner, a couple of drinks at a bar and now a nice relaxing night at the hostel. I have one more day in Budapest and there a couple of more things I would like to do. The forecast if for rain, so hopefully it not too bad a day. The thermals have already come out as of yesterday and they are predicting snow for Monday, a bit earlier than I was hoping. If it does it will mean within a week I have gone from walking around in a t-shirt to freezing conditions

Another slow day in Budapest, went to the markets for lunch and then walked through the city for a while and then hooked up with the free tour on Communism in Budapest. It was a really interesting tour, run by a woman around my age who lived through the massive changes that have occurred over the last 25 years. Then it was off to do more of the same as last night, this time with no Tequila shots. Went back to the same bar to catch up with some people from the previous night. One of them lives in Istanbul and needed to get his tips on places to stay there.

Budapest is becoming one of those cities which are hard to leave, there is so much to see but it seems you can walk around all day and achieve nothing. Yesterday I went into town wandered around the markets and then to find a designer shop I had heard about. Five hours later and a very big lunch I had actually got nothing done. I then went for a walk around the Jewish quarter looking for all the Ruin Bars, these are bars set up in old abandoned buildings. There is the favorite which I have already post photos (and more from last night), but I found a couple more that a group of us investigated later in the night. So I ended up doing a free tour on the Jewish quarter which was very interesting, but it ended up in Szimplakert Ruin Bar (which is apparently ranked as Lonely Planets third best bar in the world) and then the long night and morning began. After a while we went off to another ruin bar for Tacos, stop off at another one call Lokal and then ended back at the original spot. After many beers, gold Tequila (with cinnamon and orange instead of salt and lemon - awesome) and a hooker (water pipe) it was time to try and get home before daylight. After a long journey I found my way home on the night buses and had a much needed sleep.

Did a free walking tour around Budapest today, got a fee extra photos of myself for once since I met up with a Brazilian girl call Evy last night who came along as well. It is so much easier getting photos without having to ask complete strangers. So we started the tour in the pest side getting shown around and ended up at Castle Hill again (there yesterday) and then over to the church on the same hill which have a really cool roof. It is currently being restored so I didn't bother going in (can always refer to the 15 year old photos of the inside). We then went down to the Opera House and then to House of Terror which I could not get into yesterday due to the crowds. This is the secret police head quarters, originally used by the Nazis and then by the communists to interrogate and then execute dissidents. Evy went off to opera and I head to the designer shops (local artists) to find some cool t-shirts to bring home with me. At the rate I am going getting through this place I will not be leaving until at least after the weekend. I have also heard of a big dance party happening on one of the islands all weekend, so might need to check that out.

Did not start too early today, I am finally getting a long sleep rather than the four or five hours I have been living on. It is a public holiday today which turn out to be a good thing for a tourist, turns out all the entry frees were waived. I caught a tram to the castle and then walked up the hill, I could have taken the easy way, but walking is such a better way to see the view. Made it up top just in time to see the changing of guards, they put on a pretty impressive show. I then walked around the castle and got free access to the Art Gallery and the Museum. Being a public holiday to celebrate the revolution it appears it is the national day of protest. There was a large group protesting at the bottom of the castle against the government, pretty much about how they are running the country (I got this information from a local). I walked down the hill and followed the masses across the bridge and into the city. We then parted ways and I then ran into another group of protesters, I did not need to be told by anyone what these guys are were talking about, you could just tell by how they were dressed. Once I got back to hostel they confirmed that they were fascists\Nationalist and apparently stir up a lot of trouble. I then went through a walk through the street and found some food and a great bar called zsimplakert.

There was also march going down the road near the river, it is the celebration of the 1959 revolution - against who I am not sure (will have to read up on the history). They we hand out flag with a hole in the middle, I guess that was removing the part of the flag that had a symbol of who they defeated.

Flight to Hungary today - had to get up early to get out to Stansted Airport for an 8:30 flight. Turned out to be pretty ease - train from Kings Cross to Liverpool Street, then an express train out to Stansted. Turns out I wasted my time buying a ticket on th express, no one was there to check the ticket, so I just walked onto the train and was not checked during the trip either. Have heard some horror stories about Ryanair, but it all went very smoothly. I think it helped that I decided to pay 10 pound for an exit row, this gave me priority boarding, extra leg room and no one next too me on the plane. Turns out it is first in best dressed when it comes to getting a seat on the plane, so I don't think I would have enjoyed having to do that. I was wondering why people had queued up so early and seemed to be running to the back stairs of the plane when we were boarding. After checking into the hostel, I walked up to the Liberty monument which has great views of the city. I then walked into the city to find some diner and got a tram back out to the hostel.

Went for drive with Matt, Andrea and little Liam to Haption Court. We parked in Bushy Park and then walked around the ground of Henry VIII castle and along the Thames. We then went had a nice Sunday roast at the Kings Arms Hotel which is just outside the grounds near the Lions Gate entrance. Then it was time to say the final farewell, hopefully only for a few months when I will get to repay the hospitality. Train back to Kings Cross and a night at the hostel before an early flight to Budapest.

A trip out to Guilford today to see Matt's home town. A nice pub lunch and then a walk down the river. A bit of a quiet day, but it is the weekend, I can't go hard every day. Nice home made curry and beer for dinner.

Took the train from Surbiton to the city today and headed to St Paul's Cathedral, taking the 530 steps to the top of the dome. Then headed back to Covent Gardens for lunch. It has been part of the plan to find a nice restaurant in each city - today it was Jamie Olivers Union Jack's. After a nice lunch it was off to Oxford Circus for a bit of shopping, got myself a new hat for my travels.

Headed off to the British museum to see what has been plundered of the centuries. The building holding it all is very impressive in itself. I can see why they don't want to give back all that was taken from the Parthenon, there would be a huge room empty if they did. Seeing the Egyptian collection was inspiring and can't wait to see it all for real in a couple of months. Then walked down to Trafalgar Square to the National Gallery, really did not know most of the work except "Sunflowers". Just went for a walk and ended up in Convent Garden Markets which I will be revisiting today for lunch. Met up with Matt and went out to his place to stay a couple of night.

Not two hectic a day yesterday, went through Westminster Abbey - for the price you would think that you would be able to take photos. Then went over the road to the war rooms, the bunker used by Churchill. Then caught up with an old friend from my original backpacking days, Cimarron. We reminisced about the good old days - the good times on Little Shastered Farm picking cherries and apples.

After a good night sleep, I hit the road early again today. Got the train to the Tower of London and spent the morning there before walking over Tower Bridge. Then down the river to The Borough for some lunch, found a great food market there that has some great lunch choices. May have to go back tomorrow to try the pork spit rolls. After lunch went through the Tate Modern Gallery for a bit of culture, there is some pretty amazing stuff there, but the most interesting thing was in the turbine hall (a massive room) where there must of been about 100 people carry out this bazaar piece of performing art where they just run around after each out for about an hour. It was quite amusing just to sit there and watch it all going on around me.

Got a bit carried away today and now I am feeling pretty stuff, I get a few hours relax time and then need to go out and catch up with Matt for some drinks. While I waited to check in I caught a train to Piccadilly Circus, walked down to Trafalgar Square, then down to Buckingham Palace. Then down to Westminster and a spin on the wheel. Walked down the Thames and made it as far as London Bridge before catching the train back to Kings Cross. I was going to try and make it all the way to Tower Bridge, but I just never had the energy. Hope I get my second wind before 5:30 drinks.

After a long flight I am finally in London. The flight was great, got plenty of sleep but at the wrong time of the flight, have been up since about 2am UK time. It was a quick run through customs, quickly worked out how to buy an oyster card and am having a couple of coffees in the hostel before starting to go for a walk around the city. Can't check in until 2pm this afternoon, so need to fill in the day.

1 hour stay over in Singapore, got my hands on some cheap duty free and hanging out in the first class lounge waiting for the flight to board. Strange thing, apparently if you are flying business you don't go to the business lounge - who would have thought.

After a hectic day I am now at the airport, only 10 minutes to go and I will be boarding the long flight to London. Only mistake I have done so far today is make myself a Bloody Mary and put way too much Tabasco. Well the flight is boarding now, it is all getting too real. Can't wait to see my seat.