We're told they call Prague the Paris of the east because of the large number beautiful old buildings and the Moldau river running through the middle. The locals call it Praha and are very proud of their city. The Charles Bridge dominates the river and the city.

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and has suffered badly following 40 years of negelect during the communist period, but is gradually climbing back to its former glory. We particularly loved the narrow winding streets in the old town, and, like everyone else, loved the Charles Bridge - a gothic masterpiece. Talk about imposing gate towers. We also found the contrast between the dark, forboding gothic cathedrals and chuches contrasted nicely with the more delicate and colourful, architecture of the 17th C.

The beer in Prague is the best. The nearby town of Pilsen gave its name of course to the type of beer known throughout the world as pilsener. Now, for a very important Czech Republic statistic - it holds the record for the worlds largest beer consumption at 160 litres per person per year, including babies. Think about that.

Leaving Prague we headed south past the city of Brno (Berrrrno)with its communist era apartment blocks which provided accomodation for the workers in the commune system of farm and factory work. Looks like an enourmous high rise housing estate on steroids gone bad. Talk about a depressing looking place. We didn't stop.

We crossed the border from the Czech Republic into Slovakia, the second half of the old Czechoslavakia which was split up in the early 1990's with the end of communisism. On to the capital Bratislava, a lovely city where we unfortunately only had a lunch stop. Like Prague only smaller. It has the most beautiful main boulevarde ending at the opera house (photo) and the best network of tiny winding streets full of ornately decorated buildings from the last few hundred years.

Budapest (Budapesch to the locals) falls either side of the famous Danube River, which is very grand, but definitely not blue. There are churches, palaces, and ornate buildings (an understatement) everywhere. We stayed (unusually) at the very flash Kapinsky Cornivius hotel, right in the middle of things where it didn't matter which direction you took when you walked out the door there was some spectacular sight to behold. This is also a great town for people watching as it is the "latest thing" and is a magnet for the beautiful people who like to strut, shop and look (in that order). A wonderful place to put your feet up, enjoy a fantastic local beer and just take in the view, or go to the top of "castle hill" and look over the city from the "Fisherman's Bastion", named after the adjacent St Peters church.

The Parliament building has to be seen to be believed. All white with a dark red dome and enough spires to satisfy anyone. This view is from across the Danube and gives a good idea of its size - enormous. This building is very important to Hungarian people becuase it was here in 1956 during a peaceful demonstration against the communist regime that police simply shot into the crowd and killed 60 students. They have even marked the bullet holes in the buildings so that no one will forget. We should be thankful to live in Australia.

Words can't describe the interior - it's more like a palace than the seat of a democracy.

No visit to Budapest would be complete without cruising the Danube at night. The old palace completely dominates the skyline as I guess it once dominated the populace.

One final night photo - it was bliss to take this in, beer in hand, no crowds and just the view.