28 July 2009

Hungary - 23rd to 27th of July 2009

Bit of a last minute decision, but we figured it would be criminal to go all of 2009 without going to an F1 race, so off we went to Budapest for a long weekend.

We arrived very late Thursday night, so straight to sleep, but we were up early Friday morning for our one and only day in Budapest itself. First up, across the Danube from Pest (where we were staying) to Buda, and up to the Budapest Castle. Unfortunately most of the castle was closed off for a special F1 event which we weren't interested in (i.e. it cost too much) but we still got the great views back over the river and towards central Budapest.
With the main sight done, and it being way too hot for Budapest's other main attractions - its baths, the rest of the day was spent walking around in the heat (it was well over 30 degC) and taking in the city.
After all that walking around (did I mention it was 30 degC plus?) we definitely deserved a drink, and we just happened to stumble across an outdoor bar in one of the parks. Perfect time for a pint!
Saturday and Sunday were both spent at the track, about a 30 minute bus ride (with a 30 minute walk tacked on the end) from central Budapest. We only had general admission tickets (again Waz being tight) so we spent Saturday morning (practice) wandering around the GA areas, and found the best spot for qualifying on Saturday afternoon, and the race on Sunday afternoon. Saturday afternoon in particular was roasting, and with no shelter we were glad we had our Ferrari hats and ample sunscreen, unlike a lot a very red Polish people around us!

06 July 2009

Canal Boating - 3rd to 5th of July 2009

Another Friay afternoon off, this time venturing about an hour north of London to Leighton Buzzard to pick up our Canal Boat. Met up with Crew members Caz, Glenn, and Nic and Candice, and got a bit of a lesson on how to fire up the beast and get through a Lock before getting under way about 4pm on Friday evening. We parked up at a pub about 8 for a pub dinner on the canal, before a few hands of cards back on the boat.

Saturday we cruised north through Milton Keynes, and up to a series of seven locks which we decided werent worth going through (so stopped for a pint of cider beside instead!). So we did a u-turn and headed back south to a different pub for dinner and more cards. We carried on south on Sunday, back to Leighton Buzzard via another pub for the wimbledon final. Amazing weekend, very relaxing, very peaceful, an just got fun with a good group of friends/family.