Banská Bystrica

Big driving day today, 3 countries, 3 currencies, breakfast, lunch and dinner in 3 different cities! Bags to coach at 8am, my bus buddy today was Tyler... Unfortunate for him as I was feeling a bit snotty and gross! I was equipped with tissues and cough mixture, and the plan to sleep the whole way, so it wasn't too bad.
Our first 2 hour stint flew by - I slept pretty soundly through it. A quick toilet stop on the border of Poland and Slovakia, and it was back on the coach to our lunch stop in Slovakia. The scenery through Slovakia was stunning, and we were back to using euros (rather than the Polish Zlotti).
I third wheeled with Arwen and Craig again, and we went to a small restaurant near the meeting point. I had some pasta which was a little bland, but it had chilli and garlic in it, so was a tad spicy.
We headed back to the bus for 4 more hours of driving, with a small toilet break on the border of Slovakia and Hungary.
We arrived at our Wombats hostel, found our rooms, I was sharing with Terryanne and Charlotte.
The girls wanted to quickly check out the shops, so once they left I had about an hour's nap, ready for a big night out in Budapest.
We got dolled up and headed down to meet Tamara in the lobby. We jumped onto the coach, and met our tour guide for the next couple of days. As we drove through the city, she showed us around and told us about the history of the buildings.
We finally arrived along the river Danube, where we left the coach and jumped on a dinner boat cruise.
This was an absolutely stunning way to see the city, the beautiful buildings and statues along the river at dusk.
The food was traditional Hungarian food, with goulash, and beef and chicken dishes. Wine was also included, but I could only handle one glass of champagne and one glass of white - Marnee plus wine equals bad (we later learn in Florence) so best to avoid.
After plenty of photo ops, we left the cruise, and Tamara walked us to a bar in the city, called Morrisons.
When we first arrived, everyone was watching a match of the Euro Cup, so it was a little boring for those of us not interested in sport!
The game was only on for about another 15 mins, and then the music was turned up, and the drinks started flowing.
We found one room of the bar had karaoke, so a lot of time was spent down there, I cleared the dance floor when I sang Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know - I forgot most of the tour is under 25 and don't know who Alanis is... We headed back upstairs for a boogie with the locals and eventually we all jumped into cabs and headed home.
Next door to our hostel is a pizza shop, with kebabs across the road, so once we'd all had some food, we headed to bed!Read more