April 23rd

Day 10 - Tuesday 23th April  
Tuesday was an early start for us as we had a 9am train to catch which was taking us to Budapest. It was a 6hr trip, with a change in Vienna. No problems getting away, except the van taxi we had booked for the 4 of us didn’t turn up, but a small Subaru did, which couldn’t take all 4 of us obviously. That was soon fixed when a Rav4 sized Scoda turned up. It was a squeeze to get 4 people and 4 BIG bags in the back, but we got to the station without any bags exploding when we opened the boot.
We had booked first class, and when we got aboard, we were glad we did as we were in the end of the carriage, and there were only 8 seats and room for two wheelchairs. The 4hr trip to Vienna was good. We had lots of laughs with the other passengers, and our food was even delivered to our table. Getting aboard the second train was a debacle! There was only room for large bags in the middle of the carriage, and overhead racks for the rest. The debacle was made worse when people were pushing onto the carriage, and then finding they were on the wrong end for their seat. Of course that forced people with bags to fight their way down the single middle corridor, against people coming the other way in the same predicament. Even though it was another first class carriage, it was no where near as good as the first one….first world problems!! We all survive and pulled into Budapest on time.
We were about to all get into the same taxi for the trip into the old town. It was about a 20min ride, and considering our hotels were just near each other, it worked out well. It had been  raining the day we arrived, and as we drove down the main road through town we were comparing it to Prague, and we were disappointed., especially considering we would be in Budapest for 4 nights.
Wendy booked our room and it was called Budapest Luxury Apartments. We were looking for the entry for ages, and finally found the front entrance, and we were surprised. The entry was only a door width, and it was covered with advertising for Thai Massages!! We had some instructions for how to get in (keypads, etc), but we couldn’t get in. Eventually an Asian lady came out of the front door so we asked her if she knew where our apartment was. She had never heard of it but she called the owner and eventually we worked it out. We were on the second floor, above the massage parlour!   
We only walked around town for a while that evening as we were a bit worn out from our trecking in Prague.

April 22nd

Day 9 - Monday 22nd April  

In the morning, we signed up for a tour of some underground bunkers that were created to protect 5000 of the population from a possible atomic bomb drop. Our guide, Caroline, firstly led us to a couple spots in town where significant events, including the national security building which at one time the KGB headquarters. At the time, Prague was under siege from communism, so protests were a common occurrence.

We had to catch a tram, as a group, across town to the actual entrance to the bunker. From the tram stop, we crossed over a few roads, walked a bit more, then up a small hill, and came to a padlocked door where 2 concrete walls converged.

The 'Secret' Door of the bunker

Our guide revealed a large bunch of keys and proceeded to unlock the padlock to the door. She warned us of the 84 steps down a circular steel stairway. Pete said he would be alright (he has a steel knee, and had recent surgery on the other knee), so we headed down, but unfortunately the stair lights were not working, so we had to use our phones for the entire staircase. We all survived the ordeal, and when the we got to the base, we were in a lit, thick concrete-lined corridor, and we followed it around a bit, past lots of ammunition and weapon boxes stacked up against the walls.

Some were open to show the large shells inside – I assume they have been de-activated - and came to a short corridor with 6 or so toilet stalls (some for men, some for women). They were useable, so some of our group used them, while the rest of us continued on into another room where there were a bunch of old cinema-like stairs, so we sat down while Caroline gave us more info on what it was all about.

Pete checking out the start of the bunker tunnel

Ammunitions stored in the bunker

We continued on through the tunnels and came across the filtration rooms, medical rooms and eventually came across a long room with all the walls lined with display cabinets filled with different types of gas marks, clothing, documents, photos and maps. We sat down and Caroline explained a bit more of the reality, or maybe practicality, of what would happen in a real nuclear strike. He has been doing these tours for 3 years, and in that time, she worked out what was true and what was fantasy. Basically, the shelter would never work. Caroline and her friends did some calculations and measurements and informed us that the small hill we walked up before the front door, was so many feet about the road surface, and the 84 steps we walked down to the tunnels, actually meant that we were no more than 4” (100mm) below the road! Also, she showed us some significant cracks in the wall which allowed water to enter, when it rains, not to mention in some parts of the corridor, you could hear overhead cars going past!! So, basically, the bunker creation was more like propaganda in that the population believes they will be safe in an invasion.
The tour was very well worth doing as it gave me a better idea of what was happening. We really have no idea of how Europe was suffering. We, in Australia, are quite naive.
We had booked a night cruise on the river for tonight, so we chuffed off to the wharf and boarded the cruise. Obviously, things looks different at night, and the way they used lighting, really made the old buildings stand out. It was well worth the money.