Maastricht Sunshine!

As promised, this is a quick summery of my week. Nothing special really happened, other than school. I had my first presentation on Friday for my Consumer Behavior class, and we present for the entire 2 hour class period! (We even went a tad over! Didn't see that coming...) Felt a LOT better after that was over. Our group presents one more time in two weeks...at least now we know it's not too bad! Management Accounting is my other class, and is a bit of a tough one for me. I'm going to need to take a lot more time studying for that class - as a lot of it is over my head. I miss having lectures to explain things...but I guess I'll have to adapt and learn to teach myself for the semester. It'll be a good challenge I think!

We were lucky enough to have some great weather this week...and only a bit of rain. Walking to class was actually pleasant and I usually ended up with my scarf off and coat unbuttoned. I probably look ridiculous to the Dutch, but when it's 45 degrees I get warm walking with a winter coat!

On that note, this Saturday Carolyn and I headed out to walk around downtown Maastricht. The sun was out which meant we had just fleeces on and of course, our shades! (First time ALL trip!) We did a little shopping and of course, pastry eating. The pastry of choice this time is called Oliebollen. It's a deep fried pastry with a pudding-like filling in the middle. We had our first one during Carnaval, and as soon as we spotted the sign, Carolyn and I looked at each other and laughed. Of course we'll have one!! It's nice when others are on the same pastry wavelength. :)

We enjoyed the view by the river and soaked up as many rays as we could. Hungry we wandered home. I made my Mom's potato salad last night - which was DELICIOUS! I must say, I've tried a few recipes since arriving, and this was the one that turned out the best. Thanks Mom!

Getting into the Olympic and hockey spirit as I watched Miracle, Mighty Ducks and even Cool Runnings within the last few days, in anticipation for tonight's BIG GAME! We'll be watching with Carolyn and our other Canadian friend James (from the Paris trip) and it should be fun! WOOHOO!!! Go U-S-A! (Sporting my new USA Olympic shirt on the left!)

That's about all from me for this week...mainly was catching up with school and then getting in a lot of me-time after the trip. No idea what the next trip will be, but I'll keep you posted! It'll probably be a 2-day trip to somewhere close, like Brussels, Liege or even Cologne. We'll have to see what happens! :)

Budapest, Vienna & Prague's Top Ten Fun Facts

Alrighty - so I wanted to save some of the funny tidbits for the Top Ten...hopefully you'll enjoy!

1) Changing currency is harder than you think. Not only are we now FINALLY used to thinking in euros (though we always convert back to the American dollar) but now we had to think in forints (Budapest) and in korunas (Prague...and yes, like the beer.) Forints are hard to calculate in your mind because 1 euro = 270 forints. When making large purchases you're handing over thousand forint bills. I was freaking out the first time, calculating and then recalculating...as I've never paid for dinner let alone ANYTHING with a thousand bill. We never got used to it and were very excited about Vienna, where we could again use our euros! But, in Prague we had korunas, which were a bit easier to work with - 4 euros was about equal to 100 korunas. Easier on the brain to calculate. BUT - in all, we were so excited whenever we could use our euros, not only was it easier, but cheaper as the money exchange places really didn't have the best rates. At all.

2) Lofts are the best way to go! As you read and saw in pictures - Budapest had the coolest loft ever. No idea why, but you feel like a little kid who won the bet for getting to sleep in the best spot at the top. There weren't any guard railings, so I was EXTRA careful as my bed was on the side of the railings. Thank goodness I'm not a roller. We would have had a problem. Carolyn is - so we made sure I was by the railing. Took one for the team! Vienna also had a cool loft - and was the coziest little nook I've ever slept in. We had little curtains to pull to hide us from below, and even the rest of the loft. Theresia and I shared one little part of the loft, and we both slept better than EVER! As did Carolyn over on her side. If Prague had a loft option - we would have taken it. Hands down. Lofts = a good time. Picture shows a view from my bed from the loft in Vienna.

3) Packing your bag for the way there should be focused on keeping it light. Not only if you have to put your purse inside your bag like we did, but because you may buy things that take up space on the way home. I actually was impressed with how light I packed - as my parents would tell you I love to bring along everything and the kitchen sink normally. BUT, not light enough. On the way home on the plane - I was wearing two tank tops, two shirts, my fleece, my biggest scarf and my pea coat...and leggings with jeans on top. I still barely had enough space and I was pretty uncomfortable and large looking on the plane. Haha - noted for next time, must bring EVEN less.

4)Helmets are extremely necessary when caving. The people in front of me and behind me could hear the loud CLANG of my helmet on the roof of the cave REPEATEDLY followed by some appropriate choice words from me. I would just start laughing eventually because I hit my head so much. And NO ONE ELSE DID! What the heck was my problem, I have no idea. But it was pretty entertaining to hear CLANGS every three minutes and me shouting at myself loudly afterward. Haha...providing humor to all.

5) Coffee is never served in a huge mug. Or even a normal sized mug for that matter. It's like each restaurant wants to compete to see who can have the smallest cup. I could have brought the cups from my old tea set at home and they would have fit right in. I must admit, the coffee is pretty potent, so it doesn't need a huge mug, but it still made me chuckle when I'd get my coffee. We also noticed, the more chocolate mixed with the coffee - the mug got bigger. (Fine by me!!) See picture, where we each got something different. Hot chocolate for me (the BIG one), a coffee and chocolate mix for Carolyn (the middle one) and a coffee for Theresia (the baby one).

6) Train conductors are not happy people. If they can yell at you for ANYTHING, they will. Do not anger them. At all! We discovered this on the way to Bratislava as we had our feet resting on the edges of the chairs in front of us. Where NO ONE was sitting. The train conductor came over and asked if we were sick and needed a doctor. Confused we of course said no. He then started yelling to sit up straight blah blah blah. I felt like I was being lectured for punching someone. We both were silent for a bit (sitting up straight as possible) before we started to giggle. To make matters worse, most people on the train heard him, and the majority of these people understand English. Not helping the 'stupid American' image with that one. Noted - shoes are not to be put on the seats. Not acceptable.

7) Food is just as cool if not cooler than walking around and seeing the sites of the city! But, I'm sure you already gathered that from my previous posts describing in detail my meals and pastries. I tried to take pictures of my meals as much as possible, and of course of as many pastries as possible. I feel like QUITE the expert on pastries at this point. If the pastry has chocolate, it'll be better. If it's frosted in something, it'll be better. If there is some sort of filling, it'll be better. If the filling is also chocolate then you're in for one heck of a pastry. And finally, powdered sugar on top does look nice, but doesn't add much to the taste, and just ends up all over your clothes. Below are some of the pastries/cakes from the trip!


8) Hershey doesn't exist in Europe. What does, is Milka. Milka bars come in a variety of delicious flavors and are a snack of choice when a pastry isn't possible. Our go-to flavor is chocolate and hazelnuts, and it's the perfect size to split btwn three people. We had more Milka bars on this trip than I dare admit, but since we all LIKE them, why not?!?! I may have to take a few for when I come back to see what you all think. You would like that right?? :)

9)Ear plugs ARE a good idea. We dealt with a fair share of snorers this trip as well as people who were banging around at 4 AM when they got back from a night out. Carolyn DID have ear plugs and rarely heard any of these noises. Theresia and I could describe them for you in DETAIL. My favorite was when someone dropped the lid to a metal trash can in our room in Budapest at approximately 4:18 AM. That was a lovely sound to jolt awake to. So fun. I had my iPod on blast a couple of time to block out the noise, but the iPod juice had to be rationed, as I don't have a wall plug-in to charge it. ANYWAY - ear plugs for next time will be a worthwhile investment.

10) You know when we are all infants, we cry when we're hungry and when we need to go the bathroom. Well, not much changes when you're old. No tears, but mood swings DEFINITELY. I am guilty of this, ha, as my fellow travelers will note. When one of us would start to be snippy, it meant they either need food or the bathroom 90% of the time. Mood swings through-out the day truly followed how often we ate, plus, as you eat you're usually sitting down - so it's a foot-resting time as well. Either way, found that to be hilarious, especially with myself. Cranky until fed. And I think I'm okay with that. I DO like to eat, remember?

Well friends, that's all the fun tid bits from our big trip. There are always things to learn - things to remember to pack next time or that you DON'T really need. Always things to remember about planes vs. trains vs. the metro. Always things to remember about hostels. And biggest thing learned from the trip, which is actually...

11) Always give your parental units a detailed schedule of your entire trip. Including train rides, plane rides etc. with exact times. That way, when there is a HUGE train crash, they will know you were not involved. Also - make sure your phone works internationally so when the above happens, you can contact them. I had one of those completed and one not...so for next time...must make sure both things are covered. Always good.

I will write either another later today or tmrw to catch up in total with a summery of the last week and this weekend for you all. Then I'm no longer behind. FINALLY!

Sending love from to Holland to everyone back home!

Sunshine at last...in Prague!

My apologies that this post is so delayed...but I finally have time to sit down and relive the last city of the big trip for you all!

Our train left Vienna very early in the morning...and we were up before 7 to pack/shower and hit the road. (Not my favorite thing...but traveling motivates one to get up!) We took a short metro ride to our train station, and then climbed aboard the train for the 4 hour+ train ride to Prague! I was excited to see more compartments like on our last train, and we all munched on some goodies we picked up at the train station for breakfast. Soon, we all were trying to nap...when Theresia made a discovery! We could pull all the seats down to create beds! WIN! We woke ourselves up enough to resituate ourselves and then we were OUT on our much more comfortable seats! :) We had a very COLD compartment though, so we all had our scarves and coats either on or being used blankets...and eventually had enough and relocated to a different compartment. The trip passed quickly as we slept for almost the entire trip, ha, and then munched on the rest of our snacks until we reached Prague.

We were a little worried about finding our hostel in Prague, as there were LOTS of directions...but we soon figured out it was simpler than we originally anticipated. We took the metro on two different lines, then walked two blocks and we were there! This hostel looked and felt more like a hotel than a hostel, and we had our own suite of three beds, a mini kitchen and most importantly - our own bathroom! After a week of being affected by others' sleeping routines, it was nice to have our own room. We also had the luxury of leaving our stuff out in our room instead of having to repack it and lock it up every day. THAT was nice! We unloaded our stuff and hit the streets!


The sun was shining!! We hadn't seen sun the whole trip, let alone since arriving in Europe. This was perhaps the third sunny day I have experienced since arriving on the continent, and the other days had only a few hours of it. Needless to say, we all were in a great mood and wanted to take as many pictures as possible to capture the sunlight!! We walked along the Vltava river toward Old Town - the place where most of the big sites were. We caught our first glimpse of Prague castle and St. Vitus cathedral, which truly took our breath away! We took pictures from far away....then as we got closer...then from the middle of the Charles Bridge! Haha...we took TOO many, but we couldn't help it as the sun made it look gorgeous, on top of the obvious beauty of the structure itself. After satisfying our picture taking needs, we headed into the heart of Old Town in search of the Astronomical Clock we had heard so much about.

We needed some lunch at this point and the smell of a shop selling kabobs (their word or perhaps another term for schwarmas) caught out eye. It was delicious and the guys working there were pretty entertaining as well. We downed our lunch and headed out in search of the Clock...

Prague is pretty small, so it didn't take long until we were in eye sight of the Astronomical Clock tower and the square that surrounds it. We luckily arrived right before the top of the hour and got to witness the small windows opening above the clock face and seeing the figures that rotated past. A trumpet player leaned out at the top of the tower as well and played a little tune. It wasn't until then that we noticed we could go to TOP of this tower! So...we did! We climbed up the ramps inside...which were a bit easier than stairs, but still made your calves ache! The view at the top was worth it - as you could see across all of Prague. We took pictures on every side...and took even more of Prague Castle! (Hey...it was a good shot! And one can't have too many pictures, right?!?)


After...we grabbed some hot wine to warm up, as the sunshine had disappeared and the chill was creeping in. The hot wine was delicious!!! Theresia told us that she and her mom make homemade hot wine at home...I think she should pass along the recipe! :)

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through the town, checking out some of the stores and shops until we ended up on Wenceslas Square. We walked down to the end where the National Museum sits to take some pictures of the whole street/square. Dusk was just setting in - so the pictures turned out pretty cool!

We headed back to our hostel to get a suggestion for a dinner spot that served authentic Czech food...as we loved the local food so much in our last two spots! We learned of a beer hall/restaurant that was 5 minutes from our hostel...so we headed there to fill our stomachs! We walked in to the sounds of men singing loudly to an accordion player and clinking their beer steins! Hilarious! We all got a good chuckle watching them at their table...singing loudly and happily downing their drinks. We all ordered some type of meat (the name escapes me) and also had some traditional kinedliki, which are dumplings. My meat also came covered in saurkraut! YUM! The dumplings weren't my favorite...but the meal was wonderfully filling. We also each got a beer that was brewed by this particular beer hall - one of the best I've ever had! Oh - and the beer hall was founded in 1499, no big deal. (SO COOL!)

We went home to rest up and get ready for another day out on the town! We had seen most of the sites we wanted to see this first day, and all that was left was Prague Castle...so we slept in and then leisurely headed out the door on Day #2. We started with breakfast which consisted of hot blackberries on top of crepes along with sour cream and whipped cream. Oh yeah, it was drizzled with honey as well. IT WAS DELICIOUS! One of the best things I've ever tasted. (Clean plate club below.) Full and in great moods from a wonderful breakfast we wandered towards Charles Bridge which would take us over to the castle.


Walking across the Charles Bridge we saw multiple homemade goodies at souvenir stands - earrings, magnets, photographs etc. We knew we'd be coming back at the end of the day to purchase some! We followed the crowd that was headed up to the castle, winding through the streets of Lesser Town. We found the historic steps that lead up to the castle and cathedral - which were LONG and STEEP! (Joy). We started the long walk to the top which was made easier by the beautiful view we could see as we climbed higher and higher. (Oh...and the sun was out again! YES!) We took plenty of pictures once we got to the top..and then walked over to the St. Vitus cathedral to look around inside. It was built originally back before the year 1000, but has been added to and expanded much in the centuries that followed. It was beautiful inside and we took lots of pictures. I was especially impressed with the intricate stained glass on the windows...each which had a unique color palette. I was also blown away by the age of the church - it's amazing what our species was capable of, back before they had the technology of today. Truly amazing to see!!

We took a small tour of Prague castle afterward...but we couldn't take pictures. We saw another smaller church as well as other buildings that were a part of the Castle. We ended on this little street that had small shops with homemade Czech gifts taunting us in their windows. We looked in multiple of these shops and even purchased a few things! We then went to find some lunch...and found a cafe not far away. I had a delicious lox sandwich and then Carolyn and I shared this mouth-watering piece of chocolate and cherry cake. YUM!

We proceeded to simply stroll around for the rest of the afternoon in Lesser Town...stocking up on souvenirs and also revisiting the Charles Bridge for some fun jewelry as well. We grabbed dinner later that night at a favorite and cheap place - Subway! Always nice to have a taste from home once in awhile...especially when it's easy on the wallet! We ended the evening with a lot of Olympics watching (with German commentary) and then hit the sack.

The day of traveling home was a long one - with an hour plane delay, missing a train and doing LOTS of waiting in lines. (My favorite. Not.) But - we were safely home by about 9 the next night...and all needing to do LOTS of homework to get ready for the busy week that lay ahead.

Prague was a wonderful way to end our trip - with a laid back approach to the city and stunning views from everywhere we went. Great food was had and also some of the coolest souvenirs of the trip were found as well. The trip as whole was a blast! The girls and I all were on the same wave-length about what to see and when to eat etc., which makes everything very fun and less stressful. We all liked to eat, ha, so we enjoyed quite a lot of local cuisine in each of the respective countries we visited - which is just as cool as touring old buildings (to me...but perhaps that's because I love to eat!). It was nice to finally be home in Maastricht - which truly does feel like home now. I came home expecting a roommate...and there was still an empty bed to greet me. I feel I may end up alone in this large room for the semester - which is actually kind of fun! (I host a lot of get-togethers due to this...and all the space available, which is also a bonus!)

The top ten for this trip is coming soon, lots of fun tidbits to share with you all! :)

The Musical City: Vienna

It's been a crazy week of travel recovery and homework, but I want to try to pick up where I last left off with Vienna!

Our train from Budapest was early in the morning, so we weren't up too late our last night. Up early (...which we got quite good at...and those that know me well know that it's not my favorite thing to do. At all.) we found the bus that would take us to the train station. Our train left from a station of the far East side of Budapest...but we arrived earlier than anticipated thanks to the bus. We wanted to get rid of the last of our forints (Hungarian currency...will be explained in the Top Ten to come...) and bought some fresh fruit and snacks for the train. And of course pastries! (You should know by now that pastries and I have a SERIOUS relationship.) We found our train, and climbed aboard. Much to my delight, you sat in compartments on this train! For all you Harry Potter fans out there...you know what I'm talking about. It was a long train ride...about 3 and half hours, but thanks to some naps, it didn't take too long.

Once we arrived, we followed the directions to our hostel. All of us were uncomfortable with our HUGE backpacks...and not from the weight, but the awkward pull backpacks seem to have on your shoulders. Anyway...it was wonderful to get to our hostel. We were a bit concerned at first...as we had to buzz ourselves in, then walk down this dark hallway with renovation happening on all the walls...up this little staircase...down another hallway with tiles that weren't all secure in the floor...and found our hostel. At this point we thought we were in for a crappy hostel...but once the door was opened - SURPRISE! It was lovely! All the walls were white, with natural, light furnishings to make it seem hip, comfortable and homey all at the same time. The hostel owners greeted us warmly, showed us our room (another loft! YAY!!!) and around the hostel. She even had laminated maps for us with all the best spots highlighted and explained. I was blown away. We all were completely rejuvenated from the train ride after chatting with her and hit the streets of Vienna!

First on the list was lunch..as we had only our snacks and breakfast. We found a Cafe on the edge of central Vienna, right across from the Volkstheatre. The waitress was extremely kind, very smiley, and very helpful. We all orded some form of schnitzel...mine was swimming in gravy. And it was awesome! We also tried some Radler beer, at the suggestion of Theresia. It's half beer and half pop, so it tastes very light and almost sweet. Was quite refreshing and worked well with the heavy meal.

I was also able to get the cell working after we crossed into Austria, so called the parental units to let them know my whereabouts and that the cell was working. After the train crash in Belgium, we wanted to make sure phones were working internationally!

Full and content we headed out to see the sights. We walked by the National Museum, which became a point of reference as it was on the way back to the hostel each night. We headed in the direction of the Austrian Parliament. The building was very much Parliament looking and had a beautiful statue in front. We admired the statue more than the building itself! We briefly glanced inside before heading over to Town Hall. Town Hall is a HUGE building, and much more stunning than the Parliament building. We were in awe and took lots of pictures. Out in front of Town Hall was an outdoor skating rink! It was also huge, with lots of rinks connected by paths. It reminded me of a lazy river that connects different pools. We planned to go ice skating the next evening after seeing the neat layout! (This sadly didn't end up happening as our poor feet needed a break before we went to Prague.)

We wandered away from Town Hall and the rink towards a huge church we saw towering in the distance. It was Votiv Church and we realized once we got close that it was undergoing a renovation on the entire front facade. Not a lot of great picture opportunities, but I was able to take a few of the sides and the towers on top.

We wandered back down towards Town Hall, but on the other side of the rink to see the Imperial Palace! We found it, and also found out that it's really a bunch of different museums now. We weren't in the museum mood, so glanced around the lobby and pressed on.

We had planned on going to the Opera that night, so headed to the Opera House to buy tickets! We were bummed to find out the Opera wasn't performing that evening...but the Ballet was! It was pretty cheap, so we decided to get tickets. We didn't recognize the title: Dies Flandermaus, but figured we'd understand as the Ballet happened. We needed to kill time until it started, and we needed a little caffiene, so decided to head to a tradional Vienna coffee house! (Note: coffee house means something completely different in Holland, this was an ACTUAL coffee house. Just to clarify)

We found the perfect place just a few blocks from the Opera House. As our hostel owner had promised, it was a classy place! The waiters are wearing tuxes and the decor makes you feel like you should be in an fancy dress! But - the prices are really cheap and the food and coffee is to die for. We intended to just get some coffee, but after reading the menu, decided the cimmamon and nutmeg flavored hot chocolate sounded divine. We also were in full view of the cake display. Well, we all know what happened there...but the fun part is my cake was called the Mozart Bomb! Haha...I thought that was hilarious, and didn't even care what the flavor was (pistachio and chocolate). It was actually quite tasty, as was the hot chocolate. Warm and full we decided to wander around for another hour until the ballet.

Wandering involved looking at souvenirs and we found scarves! I had really wanted to get one in Paris, and regretted not. So, once we found this shop with the scarves on display, I halted the group and started browsing. I ended up buying two...a pretty red one that matched my coat, and a classy looking black and white one. Carolyn and Theresia also bought scarves and we all wore them as we headed to the ballet!

We felt a bit underdressed in our tennis shoes and fleeces (under the coats) but no one said anything...so we wandered upstairs to take pictures and find our seats. The Opera House was beautiful, with paintings and sculptures everywhere! We had seats in the 'partial viewing' area...which we didn't fully understand until we sat down. We couldn't see Stage Left, really, at all. We all got really good at craning our necks and leaning forward to try to see what was going on if the dancers happened to be on our blind spot. The ballet itself had wonderfully talented dancers...but the story was a bit strange. The Reader's Digest version is that a couple is unhappily married and for some reason, the husband turns into a bat at night (don't ask me why...NO IDEA)...the husband goes out to bars basically looks to cheat on his wife...his wife is being seduced at the same time by their children's tutor who wants to show the woman what her husband is doing so he turns the women into a beautiful enchanting stranger...the tutor takes her to find her husband at this bar and the husband is completely head over heels with her...the tutor gets jealous that she didn't fall for HIM and has her husband thrown in jail...in her disguise the wife cuts visits him in jail and cuts off his bat wings (again...NO IDEA)...the ballet ends with the husband happily with the women he thinks is a stranger but is really still his own wife. The End. Confused????? SO WERE WE! The above synopsis was only able to be regurgitated because of Wikipedia. Moving on...

We headed home to rest up for Day #2! Carolyn and I headed to Bratislava, Slovakia for what we thought would be a cool day trip. (It's only an hour away!) We thought it would be easy to find a train there...or a bus...but spent almost two hours on the city's metro, trying to find the train station and then trying to find the RIGHT train station. It was exhausting, but we eventually found a place to get tickets. We set out on the train...with a pastry of course! We arrived in Bratislava and were greeted with a very dirty train station...unhelpful people...very little English speakers who could figure out what we wanted (directions to the downtown) and we soon felt very uncomfortable. Sketchy would be an accurate word. We didn't go far from the train station...as we didn't know where we were going and our train back was in a hour. (We had been told that we could see all of Bratislava in an hour or two). We saw only the area next to the train station. We then walked back...we tried to find lunch in the station (a microwaved hamburger for me...which was not real meat I don't think) and then were overjoyed to be back on our train to Vienna! Our summed up thoughts about Bratislava...we came...we saw...we left. (The picture above captures how ready I was to leave...after being there 10 minutes.)

Once we arrived back in Vienna we met up with Theresia (who chose to hang out in Vienna that morning and skip the Bratislava trip. Smart girl!) at the Hall of Music. It's an interactive museum all about music and the famous musicians of Vienna. We were all a little fried so we didn't really retain a lot of what we were doing. We enjoyed the museum, but I wish I had been a bit more mentally aware to take it all in. There were lots of creepy mannequins that represented the famous musicians. Above is one of Mozart.

We grabbed some grub afterwards...as well as some souvenirs...and then headed home to the hostel. We caught up with some Olympics that night, some emails and then hit the sack. Our train to Prague was early the next morning...overall Vienna was wonderful! A very classy, cultured city that I'd love to go back to. Budapest I saw as an adventure and full of history. Vienna was also full of history but had this class in the air. I discovered you can love two cities...in two different ways. Bring on Prague!

Buda...Buda...BudaPEST!

I'm currently mid-way through my trip (in Vienna!!) and figured I should do my blog about Budapest while everything is still fresh in my memory!!

We left from Maastricht on Monday around noon, excited and ready! But, as we were mid-train we heard about a big train crash that had happened that morning in Brussels! We didn't know all the details, but that it happened around 9 and there were quite a few people killed. Our train route wasn't going to be around the crash site, but the concern was about our families back home who may not know the details of our route. After phones weren't working to call home once over the Belgian border, we had to wait until we arrived at the hostel that night to email back home. Noted for the future...let the rents know the exact route of our trip (thank goodness I had done that!!). Our travel that day was hindered a bit...we ended up having to switch trains when our driver didn't show up, possibly due to issues with the crash so we took two trains instead of one. We still made our flight okay and even had time to relax a bit before. This flight didn't allow a purse AND a carry-on, so we had to shove everything into our backpacks. Haha...we looked a little ridiculous going through security, with our huge backpacks...but made it through successfully! Our flight was only about two hours and we all got a little nap in...once we arrived we took a short train ride into Budapest and had a short walk to the hostel.

Our hostel was really neat...we entered in this big iron gate...then walked up two floors where the hallways and stairs were actually outside facing a courtyard. Our hostel itself, inside, was really neat. We shared a room with five other people, and Carolyn and I had this SWEET loft all to ourselves (see upper left). We needed some grub so headed to this great little Hungarian fast food restaurant (which our hostel guy suggested ONLY because it was cheap) and we actually loved it! Rice with a beef stew on top...perfect as it was warm and filling. We headed to bed early, and were excited to explore on Tuesday!

Up around 8, we were out the door by 8:45...bought our train tickets for our train to Vienna (lesson learned from the Paris trip) and then were out exploring for the day. We walked down to the Danube, which separates the city into the "Buda" side and the "Pest" (our hostel was on the Pest side) and followed it down to Parliament. Took lots of pictures, but weren't allowed even into the parking lot. No big deal to us...after some pictures we headed down to the Chain Bridge and crossed over the the Buda side to visit the Castle District. We were quite surprised as Parliment looked more 'castle' like than the actual Castle, but both were beautiful buildings in their own right. We had to climb a fair amount of stairs to make it up TO the castle...so were in need of a place to sit and grab some lunch. We wandered down the little streets and found this cute little cafe tucked into a back alley. There was one little table and three little stools...but the food was great! Little pizzas and then some flaky pastries for dessert. Mine was poppyseed flavored, but didn't really taste like poppyseed at all and looked more like chocolate. It was interesting, and one of those things I'm not sure if I liked or didn't like...but it was a pastry. :)

We did a little souvenir shopping and then headed back down the stairs and back over the Chain Bridge. We walked over to St. Stephen's Basilica, which was beautiful inside! Much bigger and more ornate than Notre Dame inside...we took quite a lot of pictures. The moldings were so complex and there was gold everywhere. I was in awe. Caught myself with my mouth open a couple of times, haha. We wandered across the street afterwards to grab some coffee and regroup.

Next up was the Terror Museum, which is a museum dedicated to explaining how Hungary dealt with the Nazis and the Russian Communist movements. The museum is in the same building that these groups used as their headquarters, and we toured the rooms that were once their offices. The tour ends in the basement, where many innocent people were tortured and murdered for acting out against these regimes. It definitely gave me the hibbie jibbies but was really informative at the same time. We don't learn a lot at home about how countries REALLY dealt with the Nazis or Communism in Europe, other than the Holocaust. I had never really learned much about the Communist labor camps or any of the other activities that went on in Hungary. It gave me a great appreciation for my life, and for living in the times that we do. BUT we needed a pick-me-up, so headed up towards Northern Budapest for the baths!

After walking through Heroes' Square, and through the parks at the North end of Budapest, we made our way to the outdoor, hot-spring heated, Szechenyi Baths. It was the perfect way to end the day, especially seeing the steam in the twilight. We had gotten in when it was still light, but left after it was dark...just like at the Eiffel Tower, it made the experience so much cooler! The water wasn't hot-tub hot, but perfectly warm so you weren't chilled even if you stopped moving. The best part was this circular part of the pool, where everyone would swim/walk in a circle when the bubbles turned off (every 15 min or so) and it would become this suction vacuum! It was impossible to swim upstream, and even difficult to get out of the 'whirlpool' area. We had a lot of laughs attempting it ourselves, and as we all bumped into people and they bumped into us mid-whirlpool. We headed home that night, ate the leftovers from our fast food the night before as well as some groceries from a local supermarket.

Budapest Day Two had us sleeping in until 10 (YAY!!) and then just wandering around the city. We walked over to the Synagogue, which is one of the biggest in the world apparently. Took some pictures of the neat architecture and then walked over the this old train station (at least inside it looked like one) where a market is every day. There was fresh fruit, fresh cut meats, and souvenirs galore. We took a look through-out the whole market before grabbing some lunch. Theresia and I both got a pasta with cooked cabbage and split this wonderful smelling sausage while Carolyn had some fresh bread and Brie. (Yes Dad! I ate cooked cabbage voluntarily and liked it!! I was as surprised as you!). We walked back to the hostel to relax for an hour or two until we went caving.

Yup, that's right, caving! Remember the hot springs that heated the baths? They also created these wonderful caves below Budapest, and we took a tour of them, led by some expert 'cavers'. We all wore these really attractive jumpsuits, to protect our clothes...helmets and each had nice head lamp on them. Because I was short, I got one of the smallest (width wise too) suits...which proved to be really fun while trying to crawl and move about in the caves, haha. This was hands down the coolest thing we did...crawling on our stomachs, our backs, our sides through little tiny tunnels and passages. We went in a line (there were about 9 in our group) and our guide was out of my view, so I simply watched what Carolyn did in front of me and listened the instructions that were relayed back from the front of the line. We hit the hardest part at the end of our 2 hour tour, where you have to crawl through a particular way, with your chest and legs up towards the ceiling as you lean and pull forward with only your left hand, then turn a corner and crawl on your stomach to shimmy under and out. Confused? Yeah, try doing it! You end up stuck, forcing yourself to not panic, and then just heave your way through. The picture at the top is me at the end of that 'hard part'. Lots of sassy words being said, as you can imagine, as that picture was being taken. We had some sweet bruises and scratches to show for our adventure!!

We ate one last time at our fave Hungarian fast food with some new friends we had meet while caving from Switzerland. I was amazed at how many people travel alone, especially females, many of whom we met while caving. We relaxed that night...chatting with the other great people in our hostel, doing emails and even catching some Olympics.

We successfully caught the train this morning to Vienna...and THAT is where the next post shall pick up. My apologies that this is so long...but it felt like we did SO much in Budapest. Vienna has been great...so get excited for the next post! Cheers!