In the Homeland- Budapest, Hungary!

We got into Budapest later at night and took a taxi from the train station to our hotel. We got really lucky and picked a hotel right in the city center- it was close to everything! Our first night we spent some time on the computers then crashed.

Our first day in Budapest, we were so tired we didn't feel like figuring out a map so we paid for one of the hop on-hop off busses. We started the tour at Josef Nador square. The tour then took us to Erzebet Square and Andrassy St (the main boulevard in Budapest, with shops, the Opera House, high end designers, and old villas), leading into Heroes' Square. We got of at Heroes' Square to explore the area.

Heroes' Square- featuring statues of famous Hungarian leaders!

Vajdahunyad castle in the City Park behind Heroes' Square. Sadly it was under renovation!

The natural medicinal thermal baths in the park

We got back on the bus after exploring a bit and rode past Astoria, the Chain Bridge, and the Funicular to the Castle District. We got off there to explore all the sites around the Castle. Located here is Fisherman's bastion, Matthias Church, and the Buda Castle. The view from up there was amazing! We walked past Matthais Church to the bastion, but decided to save the Castle for another day. 

The view from Fisherman's Bastion. The white building across the river on the left is Parliament

The Szabo Marzipan Museum!!!!! So bizarre- just two rooms filled with marzipan sculptures of mostly Disney movies

Marzipan Harry Potter!

We rode the bus over to Citadel- the highest point in the city- and back around to Josef Nador square to our hotel. That night we met up with Anna- someone Viveca interned with at the Guggenheim this summer who lives in Budapest- who showed us around a bit and gave lots of helpful advice on what to see!

The next day we went to the Great Market Hall to do some browsing. If anyone's been to the West Side Market in Cleveland, it reminded me a lot of that! The ground floor was all fruits, vegetables, and meat while the basement had pickles, game, and fish. The first floor was devoted entirely to souvenirs! We had a good time walking through and picking out gifts for people back home.

Me outside the market!

After the market, we walked over to the St. Stephen's Basilica to look inside. It was really beautiful- especially inside. We then decided to walk down Andrassy for a bit to see some of the stores and houses. Afterwards, we headed over to Parliament for a quick peek. On our way over we saw Angelina Jolie filming her new movie! Very cool. We also noticed something neat on our map - Bihary street! Of course, we had to walk over to get a picture. Afterwards we passed by the Imre Nagy statue bridge, devoted to the revolutionary hero.

The Basilica

Inside the Basilica

Bihari/Bihary street! Spelled differently on the map.

Me outside Parliament 

Nagy Imre Bridge

Our third and final day we spent walking around the castle grounds. The castle is really beautiful and has both old and new parts. Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon to add- so keep an eye out!

We had a really great time in Budapest and were able to sample a LOT of Hungarian cuisine. I've found a newfound love of paprika paste and chicken paprikash, Kürtöskalács (Hungarian funnel cakes), and strudel! I'm very excited to be able to go back next spring. 


Well that's all for now, hopefully I'll have some more pictures soon to add to these posts! Fall break was exciting, long, and fun! I went to Dublin and Cork this past weekend... updates on that soon but for now- I'm out! 

Czeching out Prague for a Few Days...

Pardon the pun in the title! We took the late flight to Prague and just went to our hotel. After a cab ride going about 120mph (no exaggeration) we got to the Green Lobster- a really cute hotel right in Old Prague (Stare Mesto) by St. Nicholas church and the Prague Castle. We immediately fell asleep after a long day!

Our first day in Prague we just decided to go exploring (after a failed attempt at going to the Prague year-round bobsled). We walked around old Prague with the intentions of getting to New Prague to see the National Museum, Wenceslas Square, Old Town Square, and all the other sites.

View over the Vltava River by our hotel

Franz Kafka Museum!

They're big into three things in Prague: garnets, crystal, and marionettes. 

A house in Old Town Square where Franz Kafka lived

The famous Prague Astronomical Clock!

The National Museum (a very strange place...)

As seen on TV store in Prague! Would've been perfect for Christmas, dad!

Old Town Square market- we just missed the big Christmas market, though! :(

That night we met up with Rachel for dinner at a Mexican restaurant near her dorm. It was really delicious!

The next day we had a bit of time to explore the area around our hotel before catching a train to Budapest. We went to see the Prague Castle- the largest in the world!- and the surrounding areas. The castle also sits by some picturesque vineyards with great views of the city. Our second day we saw the castle, the John Lennon wall, the Love Lock Bridge, and more of Mala Strana.

The Prague Castle

St. Vitus Cathedral, attached to the castle

Inside the cathedral 

Another view of the cathedral

View of Prague from the vineyards behind the castle

Mullet spotting in Prague! Uh oh!

John Lennon wall

Me with the love lock bridge... couples bring locks here, attach them to the bridge (usually with their initials etched in or drawn on) and then throw the keys in the river! How cute

After a long day wandering, we took the metro to the train station to catch our evening train to Budapest! We thought that a train would be a fun way to see the countryside. And, since I was reading Dracula, it put me in just the right frame of mind! However, the train was 7 hours and the food car didn't take credit cards. With what little money I had I bought a Snickers for dinner and then ate the Belgian chocolates I got mom (sorry mom!). Note to self: don't ever take a train without food or money!

Amsterdam and Belgium!

Finally- Fall break! We started off our week-long trip in Amsterdam. 

We arrived in Amsterdam early in the afternoon, got the train to the city center and then walked to our hotel. (Luckily, in all the cities we visited, hotels were the same price as hostels!) We stayed at the Eden Rembrandt Square, right off of, duh, Rembrandt Square and Amstel.

Our first day we decided to walk around and find the Anne Frank House. The Anne Frank House is right on the Prinsengracht canal, in the house the Franks hid in. They've modernized the building quite a bit, but all of the old rooms are still as they were 70 years ago. However, there is no furniture in the building, because after the Nazis came they took it all away and the owner of the house said he wanted it to remain empty. By the time we were done with the house, it was late so we went looking for dinner. Strangely, there are a lot of Argentinean restaurants in Amsterdam, so we tried one of those.

The second day we took an unexpected day trip to Ghent and Bruges. We had an extra day in Amsterdam because our flight from Amsterdam to Prague (supposed to leave in the morning) got cancelled and we were put on the later flight. So, at the last minute, we decided to get on a bus tour going to Belgium!

Our first stop was Ghent. It was a nice city, but a bit bizarre. I'm not sure if it's because it was a Sunday or not, but the whole place seemed empty! It had a very weird feeling to it. Here are some pictures from our short stop in Ghent. We mostly only had time to go on an hour long walking tour with our guide and then grab some food before we were off to Bruges.

Statue in the square

Ghent had beautiful architecture! 

Me in front of the church

After lunch we hopped back on the bus for the 30 minute ride to Bruges. In Bruges (yes- that's a movie title) we had to park the bus outside the city center and walk through an monastery and park to get there.

The bridge from the bus park to the monastery.

On the way to the monastery

The monastery

Once we walked into the city we had another short walking tour with our guide. Bruges was so beautiful, and may have been my favorite place we visited! We got separated from our guide at one point, and unfortunately missed going in the church to see the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo! However, we did get a good look at a lot of fun side streets and buildings in the city.

The Markt square

We got back to Amsterdam late that night, so not much to report there!

The next day we decided to go to the Rijksmuseum, the I Amsterdam sign, and the Van Gogh museum. The Rijksmuseum was smaller than I was expecting, but beautiful! It had mostly Dutch historical art. The Van Gogh museum was a nice surprise- much larger than I expected and with work spanning his entire career. After the museums we just spent some time walking around the neighborhoods nearby.

We found a store that sells only US and British products! I haven't seen Easy Mac in months!

The Rijksmuseum

The more modern second part of the Van Gogh Museum

Dutch donuts- oliebollen- my new obsession

The next day we walked through the Vondelpark and took a tour of the Heineken Brewery. The park was beautiful! The Heineken tour was hilarious- they really know how to make it interesting. There are a number of rooms, starting off with the history, ingredients, process, and then getting into interactive rooms, taste test rooms, and more. It was really a fun time and I recommend it to anyone who goes to Amsterdam! 

Me outside the Heineken Brewery

How the logo has changed over the years

On top of a copper!

That night we flew off to Prague! Next post coming soon...