Budapest, Hungary

Yes, it's true, I'm finally back! And it's time for my trip update. :) I am going to do a different post for each city....so the first one is Budapest!!

I arrived at 9am on Saturday, and had a few hours before anyone else got there....so I set out to see the town. I walked down this amazing street and ran into this Rynek which means Market and I think they just call it Market Central or something like that. There is produce, meat, cheese and bread on the ground floor and souvenirs and cafes on the upper level. It was soooo amazing and so much to take in!

Shiloh arrived around 1pm...but Caroline and Christy did not b/c they missed their connection in London. :( So after a little nap, we indulged in a delicious dinner at....Burger King! Shiloh had been in Frankfurt for 3 weeks so in her words, she was ready for a little American food--no more bratwurst! :)

Caroline and Christy arrived around 6pm....and one of the greatest things about traveling w/3 other people is having 4 cameras on hand so I didn't have to worry about catching every little thing on film....so you will see gaps in my photos b/c others were taking the pics. :) So the next pic is the next day.....

We toured the Parliament building--and saw Hungary's crown jewels (which Christy was particularly fascinated with! :)

And we went to mass at St. Istavan's cathedral (amazing choir!). And then climbed to the top for an amazing view of Buda and Pest! Here's me and Shiloh in a self-portrait (prepare youself for lots of these b/c they are my favorite!! :)


Then we went to some amazing places in Buda (Matthais church, yummy cafe for lunch and the Budapest castle). Then we walked back to the hotel across the Chain Bridge. This picture wasn't nearly as posed as it looks--they were all just walking ahead of me and I told them to turn around and smile.

Then we headed off to the train station to catch our night train to Prague. Here we are, in the freezing cold, watching the board and waiting for our gate to be announced....

Aahhh the comfort of our Couchette! We had the luxury of 6 bunks for only 4 people! :)


Caroline looking very cozy and sleepy in her sleeping bag.

Me after my exhausting climb to the top bunk....which by-the-way was waaaaay less comfortable than the middle and lowers (unfortunately I didn't realize that until after a sleepless night).



Well at least someone is happy! This is Christy....obviously before we got fined 50 Euro each for not validating our Eurail passes correctly! Which was awful...but it was better than being kicked off the train in Nowheresville, Slovakia at 4am!