Monument to the Deported - both from WWII but also the Soviet and Communist regimes

This monument is on the edge of the main park in the town and is pretty striking not only due to its physical size but also the detail on the peoples'faces and the inclusion of the child vs. the very rough detail applied to their clothing

Slovakia's Euro-Disney square

In the centre of Komarno, is a rather an odd piece of townplanning which is supposed to reflect various buildings styles from around the EU - to mark Slovakia ascension to the organisation. interspersed with the buildings are statues of famous people from the region - both Hungarians and Slovaks

Confirmed - Komarno in Slovakia is nicer than its namesake in Hungary

After our abortive attempt to visit this split town on our mammoth bike ride, Katy and I were able to revisit the north western part of the country and took the opportunity to cross in Slovakia, as you and can confirm that Komarno (north) is more interesting than Komarno (south) - although it is all relative.

The town has that very typical confused frontier edge to it with signs in both Hungarian and Slovak - not a surprise as it was Hungarian until 1920 but there have been some major efforts to make it into a Slovakian town since then - street names are more slovak than hungarian but then there is a Hungarian language university in the town, next to the very ramshackle old fort on the outskirts so it is all rather confusing.

The fort and the town were one of the focal points of the 1848-9 War of Independence against the Austrians and it was one of the last bastions of resistance to fall to the victorious Austrians at the end of the war - in retaliation, the Austrians pretty much destroyed the majority of the town.

Following the 1938 invasion of Czechslovakia, the town was part of the land passed back to Hungary as a reward for their support for the Germans, and then switched hands again after the defeat of the Axis in 1945 - all very confusing.

Now it has a rather industrial feel to it as a result of the ship building yards on the banks of the river, although they looked like they have not had much call for building for a good while.

Nemzi Vagta (the National Gallop) in Heroes Square

The other weekend saw the 3rd running of the Nemzeti Vagta, or National Gallop, horse races in the surrounds of Heroes Square - sand was laid down as a circular track around the square and then the finals of the horse racing.

By all accounts, over 200 towns took part in the selection process in several regional gallops to then choose the top couple of horse to then go through to the national event with a prize fund of 30 million HUF (about 100,000 Euros) as well as shiny sabre and national stardom.

There were not only races for adults, but also Junior Hussars (under 15), traps and also a cart oulling competition whilst the surrounds were full of tourism stands for all the villages involved, complete with relevant regional costumes and food from all round the regions. All competitors and support staff were dressed in tradiitonal Hussar uniforms as it is all part of the attempt to keep traditionas alive and well in the country

all in all, a wonderful day's entertainment in the sun - even if we didn't really understand what was going on as it was all in magyar!

Where's Noah when you need him?

Just as we thought the summer had arrived, we have had the most incredible flooding in Budapest, with the lower Rakpart road completely covered to a level of about 3m above normal and it threatening to breach the walls by the upper road at some points which would have been disasterous for some who live on the riverbank.

It has led to some novel photo ops, such as pedestrian crossings for Catfish, parking meters for frogs, stop signs in the middle of the river, no overtaking signs for the river traffic and traffic lights for the odd pleasure boat which have certainly livened up life in the city (and created absolute gridlock) and a chance to paddle in the river - and yes it is cold!

Oddly enough - the businesses affected the most seem to have been the boats wwhich are floating restaurants and the ferry companies (I hope they managed to clear out the computers and turn off the electrics)

As the tramtracks have also been flooded in parts, it has also allowed us to recreate scenes more akin to depression era southern states with desolate railway tracks being walked by the destitute in the hope of a lift on the iron horse.

mercifully, the waters have now dropped and life is back to normal in the city although some of the damage in the cities close to the Slovak and Austrian borders will take a long longer to resolve