Day 31 Back home

I had a spare hour before leaving for the airport this morning so took the opportunity to walk around the Buda castle area. Although I have visited Budapest a number of times I seem to have missed this area. That was a mistake as the hill has many beautiful historical buildings, attractive streets and great views down to the Danube and the Parliament buildings on the opposite bank, and up to the hills I crossed a month ago when I arrived.
Then it was off to the airport and crushes of people to get onto the EasyJet flight back to the UK (how come EasyJet flights are always full?). Then long queues at Passport control at Gatwick with everyone checking their phones, sending texts and checking Facebook, beneath signs saying no phones and no cameras. The delay meant I just missed a train home, a reluctant ticket machine finally defeating me, but the kind man at the ticket office got me a cheap deal on the next train (one single from Gatwick to Reading and another from Reading to Cardiff was the trick). What he did not tell me was that there was massive disruption to train services from Reading caused by a signal failure, Hungarian trains seemed good by comparison.

I hope to continue my walk along the Alfoldi Kektura and the E4 Long distance path in September. First I need to investigate whether I can expect to make the trip without being harassed as I was yesterday, by what I presume were a vigilante group.

Matthias Church in Buda Castle area