Two Days in Budapest

I wanted to start and finish the novel A Girl on a Train during our long train ride from Prague but I failed to take into account the rhythmic and lullabyic (I think I made up that word) nature of riding a train. In other words, I kept dozing off.

We arrived in Budapest late on Saturday night. Our taxi ride from the train station to the hotel took us by remarkable buildings, lit up and beautiful. We couldn't wait to explore the city in the daytime!

Our first adventure in Budapest was a bus/boat tour along the Danube river. We should have done a little more research before booking this tour, however, as we didn't realize this meant a tour of the ENTIRE river from Budapest to the border with Slovakia!

We traveled through the Hungarian countryside, finally arriving at the Center of the Catholic Church in Esztergom. Our first view of the basilica and surrounding buildings was from the Slovakian side of the Danube.

We then traveled back across the river to tour the basilica. As it was Sunday, Mass was in progress. This was no ordinary Mass, however. It was also First Communion and the local Cardinal was in the house!

Being respectful, I didn't take any photos inside. You'll have to trust me when I tell you it was gorgeous.

We also toured the exterior and this white marble statue of Stephen being crowned king of Hungary. It was really cool.  

After the visit to the basilica, we reboarded the bus and continued on our merry way. Next, we enjoyed lunch at a picturesque mountain retreat and then headed to an "artist's village" to do some shopping and pick up the boat back to Budapest.

Our hour long boat ride back to Budapest was tranquil and I spotted some cute homes along the river .... possible future vacation spots or a place to retire??

Upon our return, we did some more sightseeing before dinner. After dinner, Shelley was unfortunately stricken with a mysterious sickness. As I had sampled her dinner, we were reasonably sure it wasn't the food.  Abbey and I were convinced it was because she and she alone had ventured into the Christmas store in the artist village. 

Monday, Abbey and I callously abandoned Shelley in the hotel room and visited the baths at Gellért, the most beautiful baths in Budapest. Built in the early 1920s, the baths were of the Art Deco style. 

We soaked in each of the spas, and ten minutes in the 90 degree Celsius sauna was all I could take before plunging into the cold water tank.

This bath also featured a large outdoor pool with an artificial wave machine. I had some fun pretending I was bodysurfing in the ocean. A return trip to Budapest to check out the other baths will be necessary. 

At the end of the day, we boarded our overnight train to Munich and settled into our private sleeping compartment. It's not as fancy as it sounds.

Stay tuned for the next exciting update: Three days in Munich!

Prague Blogue

Our time in Prague has come to a close, but here is the recap for all of my faithful readers (if there are any).

After being reunited with Abbey on Thursday morning, the three of us headed out to do some quick sightseeing as Abbey still had class to attend in the afternoon.

Abbey gave us a primer on how to use public transportation and we hit the metro.

We visited Old Town ...

 ...  and checked out the Charles Bridge, one of the many bridges crossing the Vltava river.

After sending Abbey off to class, Shelley and I toured Prague Castle. History, cathedral, blah, blah, blah. 

In need of refreshments after walking 22,237 steps, Shelley and I visited a neighborhood pub for a quick pint.

Later that evening, we took Abbey and two of her friends to dinner at Cafe Slavia, a local mainstay where writers used to meet and discuss the hot topics of the day.  After dinner, Shelley and I headed back to our hotel and Abbey and her friends set off in a quest to see the sunrise from the Charles Bridge.  According to a reliable source, mission accomplished.

On Friday, Shelley and I took a day trip to France!

Just kidding, we visited the Petrin Tower, a mini replica of the Eiffel Tower and a great place to get a panoramic view of Prague.  I wish we could claim that we climbed the 299 steps to the top, but we were lazy and took the elevator instead (hey, did you see how many steps we took on Thursday? Cut us some slack!).

After enjoying the view from the tower, Shelley and I did some more wandering about and then parked ourselves in Republic Square to people watch and have a snack. I enjoyed a traditional pastry of my people (Bohemians). I can't remember what it's called, although it sounds something like turtleneck.

Our last adventure in Prague was a traditional folklore dinner tour.  Our small group included 2 Danes, 3 Welsh guys and a German couple.  The boys from Wales looked like the only other people in the room under the age of 50 (hey, we're close but we're not there yet!), so we sat with them.  The evening included dinner, traditional dancing (don't get me started on the creepy puppet ménage-a-trois) and this guy, who squirted wine with amazing accuracy from carafes he carried in/on his arms:

After unlimited refills of wine and beer, Shelley and I became quite good mates with the Welsh blokes.  They taught us some new drinking games (God Save the Queen and Penguin) and when the tour bus broke down on the way back, we ended up hanging out at a pub until I outdrank them and they had to go crawling back to their hotel.  Please note: Penguin is not a real game anywhere but Wales. If you try to play it in Prague, the waiters will yell at you.

Abbey said goodbye to her friends and checked out of the dorm on Saturday morning.  Before heading to the train station, we found some time for one last stroll around the city.  We toured Wenceslas Square and had lunch at Cafe Louvre, where, as a parting gift from Prague, Abbey may have gotten food poisoning.  So ended our stay in Prague.

Amster-DAMN! On the hunt for a Dutch letter

Shelley and I had a long layover in Amsterdam so we decided to get out of the airport and see some sights. After an hour of dashing through the airport trying to find customs and a place to store our carry-on luggage, we boarded a sprinter train and headed into the city. Upon arrival, we jumped on a boat and took a canal tour.  After seeing the sites from the water, we set out on a hunt for the elusive Dutch letter.

Little did we know, such a pastry does not exist in or around the central train station. We looked in every bake shop, coffee shop and supermarket, but alas, no Dutch letters. Never fear, though, I made do with warm apple strudel and a cup of coffee.  A delightful way to cap off a whirlwind tour of central Amsterdam. Next stop, Prague!

.

Watch out, Abbey, here we come!

Shelley and I are hanging out in the airport lounge prior to boarding the first leg of our trip to Prague. We thought maybe, just maybe, a cocktail would help us sleep on the way. If not, it was worth a shot! Cheers to us, we're on vacation!

Gearing up for a return to Europe!

While I certainly have travelled (internationally, even!) over the past four years, I haven't taken the time to keep the travel blog updated.  I plan to do better, and there is no better time to start than with Europe 2015!

Shelley's daughter Abbey is spending the semester studying in Prague.  As I'm always up for a trip, I jumped at the chance to go "pick up" Abbey and take the long way home.

So, in just over two weeks, my best bud Shelley and I will be heading to Prague (with an 8-hour layover in Amsterdam).  From Prague, the three of us will be visiting Budapest, Munich, Lucerne, and Zurich, with some possible detours along the way (Salzburg, Vienna, Dresden anyone?).

Now is the time to bookmark this blog again (if you are so inclined).  Stay tuned for more exciting (remember, exciting is a relative term) highlights of our adventures!

Top Attractions, Sights & Activities

Teresa’s Top Ten:

10) Tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral - London
9) Tower of London guided tour - London
8) Sunset - Florence
7) Hiking cliff to Red Beach - Santorini
6) Sunset/foo-foo drinks - Mykonos
5) Boat ride to Murano/Burano - Venice
4) Cruise on the Thames - London
3) Promenade along the banks of the Tiber River - Rome
2) Sunset cruise - Santorini
1) Donkey ride - Santorini

TJ's Top Seventeen (in no particular order):

Mass/Communion at St. Peter’s Basilica – Rome
5K Friday run over the bridges – Florence
Navigating streets – Venice
Mass/Communion – Florence
Food on plane ride home
Tour of St. Mark’s – Venice
Boat ride to Murano/Burano – Venice
Cruise on the Thames – London
Tower of London guided tour – London
Pubs – London
Sunset cruise – Santorini
Sunset – Florence
Turkish gyros/hot sauce – Florence
Day trip to Paris
Beaches – Mykonos & Santorini
The Duomo/Bell Tower climb - Florence
Driving the ATV/Quad - Santorini

Thanks for travelling with us ... this concludes this edition of t-n-t's excellent adventure!

Ciao and good night!

The End is Near

It's our last morning on holiday. We have about 2 hours before our taxi takes us to the station to pick up the train which will take us to the airport (it is so complicated to get anywhere when you don't have friends and family to drive you around!!).

Yesterday we took a day trip to Paris. Although we would have preferred to just trudge around on our own, we did choose the escorted tour since we only had 10 hours in Paris (not counting travel time). Our driver (now we're talkin'), picked us up at 5:15 am and delivered us to the train station to catch the Eurostar train to Paris. After a zippy ride through the English/French countryside, we arrived in Paris around 10:45 and were met by our guide/escort Michel.

The tour group was herded onto the "deluxe motorcoach" and we got a non-hop-on/non-hop-off tour of some of the major sights of Paris. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tour, where we had "queue-jumping" tickets so we went to the head of the line and soon rode the lift to the second floor. The view was amazing but we've "been there, done that" so many times on this trip that we soon headed down the stairs (538) so TJ could take some pictures of the area (300+ pictures :).

After the rest of the group assembled, we took a river cruise on the Seine. It was a different perspective of the city - one I'd not done before. I really enjoyed the ride, even though it was chilly.

After the boat trip, we spent 2.5 hours running around the Louvre, lost and confused (sound familiar, Shelley?). We did see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo as well as the extensive Egyptian collection. We would have preferred to visit the Musee d'Orsay, but our limited time did not permit.

After the Louvre, it was time to head back to the train station for our trip back to the UK. It was a quick trip, but we got to see the highlights of Paris, and TJ has an idea of what he would like to see on his next European holiday.

Now it's time to pack up our stuff and head home. It's been a wonderful trip but I am ready to sleep in my own bed and to eat regular food again.

I hope to post my top ten list later, so look for one more installment of TnT's Excellent Adventure!!

Ciao!