GROŹNY POŻERACZ PRĘDKOŚCI - FILIP

A busy final day in Budapest for you today. We headed to the Buda side, walking along the Danube and then up to the Buda Castle area where we checked out beautiful Matthias Church (Hungarian: Mátyás-templom), the Fisherman's Bastion, and the Castle itself. Then it was out of town for a cache to finish my 4th D/T grid.

Next was a session at the fantastic Szechenyi Baths, one of the best and largest spa baths in Europe with 15 indoor baths and 3 grand outdoor pools, saunas and steam rooms. I loved the whirlpool, it was carnage in there at times. After relaxing there, we headed to the train station. 🧖‍♀️

I met up with DalbergiaRetusa who is home in Hungary but is a London cacher like me. We headed to Margitsziget (Margaret Island) in the Danube to continue this long cache she’d already started a few weeks earlier with some of my other friends GazaniaRigens and Zouavesauvage. The island is mostly covered by landscape parks, and is a popular recreational area. Its medieval ruins are reminders of its importance in the Middle Ages as a religious centre. 🌳

I’ve got a lot to do today so it was just a quick trip to nearby St Paul’s Church in Hammersmith. People wonder why I don’t rush out for Hammersmith and Chiswick First To Finds and it’s exactly for days like today. Walked past the Apollo Arena which has seen many famous musical acts in its day and was tonight hosting Ilaiyaraaja, an Indian musical all rounder regarded as one of the most prolific composers in the world. In a career spanning over forty-eight years, he has composed over 7,000 songs and provided film scores for over 1,500+ films, apart from performing in over 20,000 concerts. Find your passport. 🎼

It was yet another lovely day so I couldn’t waste it. Took the train to Chelsfield, a commuter suburb of London which used to be in Kent but Greater London subsumed it. It’s still quite rural though. Edith Nesbit (1858–1924), the children's author lived in nearby Halstead but her famous Railway Children novel is said to have been inspired by her frequent use of Chelsfield station. 🚂

I found myself with some time on my hands so I took you to visit the memorial for the Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington rail crash) in West London. The rail accident occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove when a Thames Trains-operated passenger train passed a red signal, colliding almost head-on with a First Great Western-operated passenger train. With 31 people killed and 417 injured, it was one of the worst rail accidents in British history. 💔