Well... The drive from Ljubljana to Budapest was 5 hours. Lots of snow and windy roads. We arrived in Budapest, the largest city of our journey, around 11:30 at night. The city sprawls out so much from its center that it really reminded me of driving into a city in the U.S. like Atlanta. Knowing nothing about the city or where we would be staying made driving around such a bustling city on a Friday night quite the daunting task. We drove around until we found a hotel that looked decent and crossed our fingers that there would be room for us. What wonderful planning!! The beautiful sights of Budapest had to wait around for us for a day, because my lazy butt didn't get out of bed and leave my room until dinner time the next day! Kristy and I ventured out into the cold that next night to a restaurant recommended by the hotel. Budapest, unlike Ljubljana, is far more complex in its infrastructure, so what should have been a 5 minute walk turned into a 30 minute expedition on the tundra. (I don't know if I have mentioned...it was really cold.) The following day, despite being horribly sore from..something...Kristy and I toured the city with a wonderful local tour guide. So much history and some amazing buildings. Take a look at the photos.. (they'll be up soon.) .. they'll be that last you see. Turns out those aches and pains were the beginnings of the worst flu/virus/bacteria/funk I have ever had in my life. Kristy was able to drive us to Vienna, Austria where I was able to sample some Austrian medical care. Four days in a hotel room in Vienna, a drive to the Prague airport and a flight to London prepared me for two nights of more flu in London before a flight home to Raleigh. Sounds like a great way to end a vacation, huh? All's well that starts well.. and at least the vacation started off beautifully. It took a nasty sick bug to get me to stop working and moving around some, I guess.

Back in the US now, of course. No pictures of my sick bed. Sorry.

;)

c