Summer 2010
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Pre Trip
Sat 10th July 10
Just completed the last bag pack (to everyones releif no doubt) and we have now raised just under £6500 through everyones efforts towards the cost of the trip. Just 16 days left until we fly!
The T-Shirts have arrived, the passports and EHICs should be completed this weekend, all trip details have been finalised and booked currency is currently on order.
BIG meeting on monday night at the hut 8pm for all parents, Scouts and leaders travelling.
Tue 13th July 10
Meeting started off ok until the shirts came out!!!!
Well it looked like they had all been shrunk in the wash, we struggled to get 2 each and we were still short for some people, the kids took all the adult shirts and left us with a pile of dolls shirts!
We now need to get some leader shirts and hopefully Alan Morris is going to pull a rabbit out of the hats for us!!!
Mon 26th July 10
All through customs OK, all kids very exited, eating loads of sweets ready for the quiet plane ride! think we will need a tranquiliser gun! Just found out there will be a 3hr delay just to help things along!!!!!
hi, this is Maddy, we're sat in the airport. We are all really bored and have been messing around in the shops to pass the time. now we are just sat around in the seating area, the boys are stuffing chips down their necks and Christie and Genna are playing ludo. we have just found out that its another hour and twentyfive minutes till the gates open. Bye bye, i'm gonna try some shoes on now.
Got on the plane at 17:45 UK time and arrived at 21:45 local time, got taxies from airport as they were so cheap! and it looked like the public transport was closing down by that time.
Arrived at the hostel, all the kids are hypo! rooms are ok, lots of space. After settling in very quickly we headed out to find some food at 23:45, needless to say there was a McDonalds just around the corner, they kicked us out at about 00:30 so Carl took us on a midnight hike to see the Iron Bridge, Hit the sack at 2am, some unlucky soles are up very early to do the breakfast shopping!
Will update some pics when i get a chance!
Tue 27th July 10
Started our tour of Budapest at 10am after a continental breakfast! Headed over the chain bridge and up the funicular railway, to the Royal Palace, visited various places of interest in the old 'Buda' town. Headed down the Labyrinth, a colllection of very strange underground art? very confusing! Stopped for lunch at the Palace then headed off to the Cog Wheel Railway leading onto the Childrens Railway. Walked up to the Elizabeth Lookout Tower and then took the chair lift back down to Budapest, evening meal in a local restaurant. Kids in bed for 9pm!!!!!! all shattered.
Wed 28th July 10 (BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JACK, HIT THE TEENS NOW!!!!)
Up early for another continental breakfast! Each morning we have been going to the local Tesco to get lots of fresh bread, fruit, ham etc. Arrived at Heroes Square to catch the coach at 10am for Aquarena swimming complex only to find out that the coach went to a different swimming place and we couldnt get to our original destination! With a very brief meeting we then decided to swap Wed for Thu and rethink Thu as we were at the correct location for the Circus and a Theme park! All had a great time at the park then moved on to the circus, all the acts were very good but the lions looked a bit sad and bored! In the evening we headed to Pizza Hut to celebrate Jacks birthday, all back to the Hostel were we crashed out for the night!
Thu 29th July 10
Off swimming today, we decided to get the coach to the other swimming complex at Aquaworld, when we arrived we realised we had made a good choice, very nice hotel complex with lots of slides and things to entertain the kids, they were all having a diving competitions and racing on the slides as they had timers on them to show you how fast you are going, we all had a great time and well earned rest. Stayed at the complex for our tea and then went to see a laser show, most of the kids fell asleep in the first 10 seconds, then all back to the hostel for the last evening at Budapest. All the kids are having a great time except for a few minor injuries here and there, seem to be getting them to sleep OK so far!
Fri 30th July 10
Got up and packed for the journey to Csobanka, after some serious room cleaning they allowed us to leave with our deposit, as usual all the clothes had to be matched up to their respective owners! Jack not feeling very well this morning, set off to catch the trian and Jack managed to clear his stomach in one of the bins (very considerate of him) 5 mins later he is eating junk and has been fine since! Just arrived at our new hostel and they are still cleaning up from the last lot so we are all just waiting for our rooms, some leaders have gone to investigate the local shops, the explorers are gambling with Tic-Tacs! All settled in now, went out for a meal this evening to sample the local goulash, this went down a storm.
Sat 31st July 10
Met some locals on site and managed to organise someone to do facepainting for all of us, very entertaining, just a relaxing day on site investigating the haunted house on site!!! lots of pictures to follow!
Sun 1st Aug 10
Up early for climbing and horse riding, split into 2 groups, short walk to local rockface with the climbing instructers, all of us managed to get some exellent climbing in with some of the Scouts turning out to be mountain goats! Other group went to the riding stables on the next field. Changed over half way through the day. We have had a go at making our own version of goulash this evening (Neil insisting that its main ingedients are garlic and onions!, i dont think so!), this was cooked on a big pot on the open fire, as the goulash was cooking we had a very competitive game of football with our fellow campers!
Mon 2nd Aug 10
Visit to Visegrad today, caught a few buses and trains to find ourselves on the Danube Bend, very hot, must be in the mid 30s today!!!! found a small cafe at the bottom of the hill and dosed ourselves up with sugary drinks and liquids ready for the march up the hill to the castle, managed to climb the steep path up to the top to the castle and bob sled run, children dont seem the slightest bit interested in the history but straight on to the tracks! All of us had a great time as you can see from the photos, great tracks with very little regards for health and safety! Lots more drinks and ice creams then set off down the hill again, special picture request for Heather, one of Jake and Genna smiling!
Caught the bus back to Szentendre and managed to find a Chinese Restaurant so we opted for the 'All you can eat' menu, and did they eat! not to mention the endless supply of Coke! so we peeled the kids off the roof and headed home! Quite alot of mosquito bites springing up but no malaria yet! Late night tonight as we are having a chilled day tomorrow.
Tue 3rd Aug 10
Last day on site, chilled out day, mixed bag of weather, there are now about 100 people on site, the kitchen facilities are proving very challenging with 1 cooker and limited utensils! Jamie and Christie were picked up this evening by Bob and Jane on their tour of Europe. We managed to organise another 3 way football match against the Hungarians and the Germans, this surprisingly ended in each team winning a match! Things got a little heated this evening with some of the visiting travellers but this alll calmed down and we had a pleasant end to the evening.
Wed 4th Aug 10
Pretty univentful day, packed up and left the hostel at Csobanka, leaving it cleaner than when we found it! Handed some t-shirts out to some of our new friends, caught the bus, then train back to Budapest where we stopped for refreshments at riverside cafe overlooking the Danube and Parliament building on the other side. From here we marched down to the Iron Bridge and caught the train back to the airport, all the kids now getting excited about getting home! Arrived back in the UK at 08.50pm with all the parents to greet us, lots of thanks from the children and parents was very welcomed.
See you all next term!!!!!