The beginning of our European travels since moving to Amsterdam started with Budapest. We have friends that were going to be there at the time we planned to start traveling so that seemed like a great place to start. We met up with Kate, Jesse and their 8 year old daughter Mara (Sam's now wife) from Wisconsin and spent several days with them. Having a kid for Sam to hang with was a real bonus if you know what I mean (what I mean is that it kept him out of our hair a little).
Details below but overall I really like Budapest. I have not met a European city I don't like, but Budapest was a manageable city with great scenery and food. Also, maybe it's a little less popular because it did not feel very crowded.
More photos from Budapest here:
June 28: Getting to Budapest involved a quick flight from Amsterdam but felt extra long with 2 screaming toddlers sitting behind us that made me want to stab my eyeballs out. Then a Bolt Taxi (similar to Uber) from the Budapest airport to our AirBnB.
June 29: The first day of touring Sam and I went with Kate, Jesse and Mara to the Gödöllő Palace which is a Hungarian palace that royalty liked to visit (more to come on Empress Sisi later in Vienna). We had some challenges with using public transportation given it was far outside the city and required transfers to non-city buses that did not accept our city passes. The Bolt Taxis came in handy as a backup option. Kate and I will always have our memory of going to multiple Hungarian banks attempting to get forints (Hungarian currency). All worth it for the experience of Sam constantly asking why euros are not used because we are in Europe, Ryan's voice in my head saying "just divide by 400!" when attempting to convert the currency to dollars and Kate ultimately being rich in forints!
The Palace was interesting and the kid's enjoyed the scavenger hunt. In the evening we did a night cruise on the Danube River which included an evening view of the Parliament. Oh, also Sam and Mara got "married" I guess. It must have been a quick ceremony and I wasn't invited.
June 30: Today we hit one the the thermal baths in Budapest - Degaly Spa. Very nice, warm pools of differing depths which worked well for the kids. Kate and I snuck away to the no-kids-allowed, warmer pool which was glorious.
July 1: Walking food tour today for the whole crew. To summarize - a lot of delicious food. After the tour we walked by the Parliament and went on the Ferris Wheel of Budapest. Ryan scored us VIP skip-the-line tickets. There was not actually a line to skip but we did get to sit in the "lounge" and drink champs. I am not sure who came up with a Ferris Wheel VIP Experience but I do thank them.
July 2: We went to another thermal bath on Margaret Island (island between the Buda and Pest sides of Budapest) so Ryan could have the experience.
July 3: We hit up the Buda side of the city today and explored the outside of the Buda Castle. Very hot today - we have become skilled at locating and moving towards shade like our life depends on it. From the kid's perspective it probably did.
Then to the Caves/Labyrinths. A bit cheesy but cooled us down, the kids enjoyed it and Ryan got a bit of history which he likes. Then some photos at the Fisherman's Bastion.
July 4: Heading to Bratislava today!
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