Hungarian rhapsody

I've always liked the sound of Budapest- the thought of getting on a train in the heart of Europe and ending up in say, Prague, Budapest or Vienna has always appealed to me. Ok, so it wasn't a train but Easyjet but Budapest did not disappoint me at all. I had been there, albeit very briefly, but I had not taken in the sights and sounds of what is a very atmospheric city.

On the way to our hotel, the Art'otel, we passed Ferencvaros' stadium. Hungarian football has long had its day, but Fradi, as they are known, were a big club in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Nep Stadium, scene of England's humbling in 1953, is now the Ferenc Puskas stadium.

Our first night was highlighted by a decent meal at the hotel but the next day we set in for some intensive sight-seeing. We ascended the hill to the Castle District by the funicular railway. This gave us a great view of the city, the classic River Danube and the Parliament building.

We sampled a Hungarian tradition, coffee and cake at the famous Ruszwurm cafe, a long-established coffee house. All a bit too sweet.

The castle labyrinth was spooky and very dark, but a natural crowd pleaser where kids are concerned.

Later, we walked - for miles it seemed - through the Jewish Quarter to find the Hungarian Museum of Electronic Technology which was basically a one-man show demonstrating static, amongst other things. The musuem was situated in a courtyard- there are many in Budapest - and the little man with the moustache and white coat stood there with instruments that mostly sparked- including a Van Der Graaf Generator.

The last day, we took a boat trip down the Danube and we were the first passengers ever for the tour company, earning ourselves a bottle of champagne and given there were no other passengers, a personal guide called Ferenc (as in Puskas).

Our last port of call was the House of Terror, which highlighted Hungary under the Nazis and then the communists. The reconstructed cells where political prisoners were tortured and executed was harrowing, and a reminder that Hungary has had a troubled past, like many European cities.

A good trip and Budapest is certainly somewhere I'd like to go back to.