We're home from Budapest and our first, and probably last, 'express' trip. We left Friday night at 8:00pm and arrived in Budapest at 7:00am ... we spent all day Saturday in Budapest and left at 9:00pm to get home in Grafenwoehr at 6:30am on Sunday. Whew - what a trip. My main concern was Elliott and how he would be have, but he did so great ... he was actually the least of our worries. At 2.5-years-old he made it through 20+ hours on a bus and a full-day of sightseeing without having a single accident! He also slept great on the bus and didn't make a peep otherwise. I'm so proud of him.
Vic and I were the ones who we're struggling. We didn't sleep great on the bus, and then the extreme heat in Budapest made us very stinky tourists by the end of the day! I developed a gross heat rash on my legs and my feet were so swollen I couldn't even see my ankles by the time we got to the bus to go home. Not the most comfortable trip, but we made the most of it!
Budapest is a beautiful city - it reminded me of a quieter Prauge and a cleaner Paris. We started the day with a walking tour where we knocked out many of the popular sights.
Saint Stephen's Basilica ...
The currency conversion was fantastic ... as you can see by the 20,000 bill!
The boys ... this is a typical face that I get from Vic ...
Hanging with Ronald ... Reagan played a large role in ending communism, so they honored him with this statue in Freedom Square. It faces the U.S Embassy - pretty cool.
Parliament Building ...
Raising of the flag ...
Building across the street, not sure what it was, but very cool.
Our whole little group.
Looking out into the Buda side of the Danube ...
The boys ...
The girls ... I don't know what I would do without these normal ladies in my life!!
Elliott taking in the views.
Castle Hill ... and the Chain Bridge.
Chain Bridge ...
It looks like he's hanging over the edge, but I swear he wasn't going anywhere!
Walking with 'Uncle' Segura ... Elliott loves loves loves the Seguras ... mostly because Vanessa is always sneaking him cupcakes and candy!
The city had these awesome fresh water fountains all over the city ... very refreshing on such a hot day ...
Looking over to the Pest side of the city ...
More water breaks ...
Budapest Castle ...
One last view ...
After the walking tour we separated from the group to find a spot for lunch. We settled for a place right on the Danube - close to a fan. Vic ordered Hungarian Langos - basically a giant piece of fried dough covered in cheese with a garlic sauce. I ordered a club sandwich and it was amazing.
Once we felt rested we headed to find the Market Hall. This is the place to go if you're looking for traditional Hungarian goodies, spices and wine. I would have liked to spend more time here, but there was no a/c and it was too crowded to be enjoyable. Vic grabbed his stein and I grabbed a Christmas decoration ... and we headed for a nearby cafe for our 'nap time' beers. It's a vacation tradition - whenever Elliott passes out ... it's beer time.
He didn't sleep too long due to the heat, but it was enough time for a couple cold ones. We jumped in a cab and headed to the Budapest Zoo ... we love zoos, and more so love to see Elliott enjoy the animals. He had so much fun. In retrospect I wish we would have skipped the market altogether and headed to the zoo earlier in the day - it was the highlight of our trip.
Blankie made the trip to Budapest ...
They had this awesome kangaroo enclosure where you could pet baby 'roos! They were a little skeptical of Elliott, but Vic and I were able to sit down and pet a few ...
This one is hiding under the bench from Elliott ... poor thing ...
Another water break!
E loved the bear ...
These sea lions were putting on a great show for us ... except Elliott was convinced they were sharks ...
Stopping for a break at the park ...
The beginning of my gross rash and swollen ankles. I have the knobiest/boniest ankles, and as you can see ... they are pretty much gone at this point.
He could have played in this mister all day ...
Love this ...
We had to leave in order to give ourselves enough time to navigate back to the city center - we opted for the subway, which was much cheaper than the taxi.
We made a stop by Hero's Square - a huge monument, and our favorite sight of the day.
We didn't have much time to shop around for a dinner spot, so we took a seat at the first outdoor cafe we came across. We ordered a couple pizzas and tried to relax before the eleven hour bus ride home.
I never thought I would say it, but we are actually looking forward to three weeks of no travelling - we may have overdone it in July! We are going to be busy getting the house ready and planning our big trip with Vanessa, Boris and Lili during the second week of August! Right now we are planning on Prague, Austria, Italy and several stops in Germany ... so we should be plenty busy and entertained! We are so excited to show them around!
I'm waiting on some paperwork to clear, and it looks like I am going to take a flex position at Elliott's daycare ... easy hours and it will allow him to go to the daycare program - which he loves. Vic is looking into school options when we return, and utilizing his Post-9/11 GI Bill. It's free money to get his Master's, so it would be a great transitional option. Hopefully we'll hear some new on that shortly! We are finally under our 6 month mark, and I think the time will fly from here on out!
