Today we headed up Buda hill to look around the old town and palace. Sadly we had got used to nice weather but today bucked the trend and the rain came down. Armed with umbrellas and waterproofs we trudged off up the hill. Our walking enthusiasm was slightly dented by the rain although statue posing was still alive and strong for some. At the top of the hill is the Matyas church which was nice to wonder around (at the least dry!). Inside we found a stone that the guide claimed was the oldest stone work in Budapest still in it's original location, which seemed a little confusing as it sat on top of a stone pilar which must surely A) have been erected before this stone was placed on it and B) still be in it's original location it the stone it holds up was - this seemly beating the top stone to the first prize in this competition.
On top of Buda hill are some caves to be investigated. They turned out to be a little strange to say the least. Given the amount of history associated with these caves we expected some vaguely educational experience, but instead were exposed to the imaginations of some truely weird artists how were apparently trying to encourage people to delve within themselves. So for isnstance one wall had a rock donkey emerging from it, with a man hanging on the back, this was summed up by Matt with the comment 'a whole lot of donkey loving' - so I'm not sure if this was the journey of self discovery the artist had in mind.
The rain helped the move towards an earlyish lunch and went in search of a RG recommendation. After a bit of searching and squelching we found it and either it liked the shrouded look or it was closed (-3 for the RG?). Tramping back up the hill a little we dived into an Italian resturant which had taken our fancy on the way past earlier. The food was good and the beer better. As we were getting into our afternoon drinking Sarah and Eleanor went for a walk around the sights, taking advantage of the slow down in the pace of the rain. Meawhile Dean was showing us how not to pour beer and after much was made of this (possibly by myself) I sadly followed suit. Once our merry band was re-united we headed home to watch some snooker and drink some more beer.