Goodnight Budapest

Our final dinner in Budapest was at Pozsony Restaurant, a recommendation by a colleague who lives in Budapest. Jesse was right. I know why it's his favorite restaurant now. I ordered some sort of pork with peppers (its officially my favorite Hungarian entree now!) and potatoes with parsley. The food was perfect and the wine was great. It really is a small little restaurant right in the middle of a little residential area. We were the only non-locals there, until two guys from Austria showed up. They tried speaking German to the waiter, and it was the first time I've ever heard someone overseas say "Can you speak english please? I don't understand." It was a little odd hearing that, but I guess it makes sense.

After dinner we tried to find that beer garden that Jesse recommended, but it was completely MIA. So, we decided that our favorite Irish pub was on the way home, so we jumped off the metro at Deak Square instead of calling in a night. Longford's was a bit dead, but our favorite waiters were there, so Mom and I grabbed some drinks and enjoyed our last night there. When we left, we gave the waiter a hug and he said "see you tomorrow." awww...how sad that we were leaving. We'll have to see him next time I'm in Budapest. Which, hopefully will be soon.

I miss that city already!!!

Budapest, Physically

So just a couple of observations about the city of Budapest.

1: The women in Budapest have the best legs! Whether they are tall or short or even a bit chunky with a gut, they have gorgeous toned legs. Very jealous!!

2: Budapest is home to some of the most beautiful men I have ever seen. The business men, pub waiters, ticket takers...all beautiful. It's absolutely insane. And they all have that great tanned brown skin too. Big fan of Budapest men!!!

That's the end of this absolutely superficial blog! :)

Final Night in Budapest

Our time in Budapest feels like it went by so fast. Tonight is our final night in the city. One of the guys that I used to work with lived in Budapest now. Unfortunately he's out of town on business but he's recommended a couple of places for us. Tonight we will be having dinner at his favorite restaurant, a cute little mom and pop kind of place afterwards we'll head over to Szoda, a beer garden where locals hang out. Should be a good night!

Last night, we went back to our favorite Irish pub for dinner. Had the Hungarian style pork medallions that I have declared my favorite Hungarian food. Had some more beer and watched the Austria-Scotland football game.

Hangover update

The Hungarian hangover is finally gone!! We went to the Opera and bought tickets for tonight's performance. Four dollar tickets for slightly off-center balcony seats. Talk about a great deal. The most expensive seats in the place cost around 70 US dollars. I'm excited for the show. No idea which opera so that will be interesting.

We are on our way now to the Market Hall, one of Budapest's huge food and goods market. We are going to pick up some lunch and see what fun stuff we can buy.

Hungarian Hangovers

Many half liters of beer, three bars, eight hours of sleep, four bottles of water, two advils.....

My head still hurts. Hungarian hangovers suck!!!!

Buda-Pest...two sides to one city

Budapest is my kind of city: beautiful men, great architecture, lots of theatre options and an ice cream shop on every corner!!

My first view of Budapest was not the best. Our train finally arrived in Budapest at midnight Sunday night. Train stations are never pretty places usually, especially late at night. This one was no exception. We hit up an ATM and tried to but metro tickets. Come to find out that the ticket machine only takes smaller bills than we had. So I went all the way back through the station to the ATM to pull out a smaller amount. Back to the ticket machine where we finally got our tickets and we were on our way.

Found our hotel with hardly any trouble. We are on a cute little residential side street two blocks from Vaci Utca and one block from the Great Market Hall. Our hotel room is great - vaulted ceilings, big windows that open up to the main street, and yet another chandelier.

Yesterday we took a three hour walking tour of the city to try to get our bearings on the place and to get some history. I'll save you from the boring historical details that I always find interesting. Couple of highlights: Rather then saying occupiers, Hungarians call invaders from their history "guests" and when the Russians liberated them from German Communism in 1956, they simply "forgot to leave for about 40 years".

We toured the castle district, but it wasn't anything awe-inspiring, minus the view across the Danube to the Pest side. The Buda castle was built in the 1950s and houses 2 musuems now. Fisherman's Bastion was pretty cool though. During the invasion by the Turks, each group of city people was responsible for protecting a part of the wall. The fisherman were responsible for the part of the wall still remaining known as Fisherman's Bastion. I took some great photos there!

Last night we stayed on our side of the city, Pest. We went to a Hungarian Folk dance performance. It is tourist oriented so I was expecting something cheesy but fun. I was very pleasantly surprised though! There were about 15 musicians and 8 dancers. It switched between straight up musical performances (Franz Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody, etc) and choreographed dances. Everyone was so talented that I didn't want it to end. And the theatre was a local theatre but absolutly beautiful. It was a great night!! Perfect ending to a first day.

I alreay love Budapest and we still have the rest of the week here. I like the smaller view of Vienna but I love that the majority of Budapest's buildings were built in the late 1800s. Every street corner is filled with great architectural details. The whole city is a photograph waiting to be taken! I love it!

Oh where oh where did my little train go?

Fours hours late, our train to Budapest has finally arrived!! It stopped for a total of five minutes to let everyone off and some of us on before it took off again. Seven cars later, we found a spot in a mostly non-smoking car. But then...it wouldn't be a Jill Escapade through Europe without at least one travel incident!

So here I am on the train for the first time this trip. It's been very "Plane, Trains and Automobiles" this year ... Well, more trams, subways, and boats but you get the idea. Hoping to see some of the much talked about Slovakian countryside in the next two and a half hours. I'll let you know. Just a litle disappointed that we won't be in Budapest until at least 10pm, but I guess better late than never!!!!

Bratislava

Bratislava is a really cute city. Well, let me correct that...the Old Town is really cute. The rest (regular part) of the city is just your regular city. A lot of it built in that post-war, square concrete style construction.

The Old Town has great architecture and little alleyways which I love. It's the perfect little place to wander and get lost in since you can walk one end to the other in 15 minutes. People and dogs start to look familiar cause you pass them several times a night, each time on a different street, while dining, strolling, eating ice cream, at church, etc.

The temperature in the city was insane. It was so hot when we got off the boat that I almost wanted to turn around and get right back on. Two days is perfect in Bratislava. It gives you time to get familiar with the place and to relax. But it also gets you out of town before the boredom strikes. I liked it there but I'm not sure if I would recommend it to anyone.

Fancy meeting you here Mr. President

After touring Schonbrunn Palace and its grounds, we had a nice little picnic dinner by its park while we waited for the concert. Bored with staring at the trees, we moved to a bench at the front of the palace where we people watched after our picnic.

People started showing up slowly along with the VIPs in dresses and suits. There were some police and undercover security hanging aound one of the front doors so we figured somebody big was showing up. Then, I remembered that the Austrian president was presiding over the ceremony. What are the odds of running into him twice in two days? We dicided too wander over there just as all of the cars came speeding toward the palace through the massive fron courtyard.

The cars pulled up right where we were standing, and in fact the President did get out. He shook a few hands and answered some questions from the press who magically appeared when he did. Then he went inside the Palace.

That was a fun, random moment or two. We were going to head back to the other side of the palace when we noticed a 20ish Austrian wearing Hillary Clinton stickers all over his shirt. That made us start to wonder if Bill and Hillary would be there. We started looking around a bit more and noticed a whole group of US Secret Service guys standing nearby and a couple of American brand cars. I don't think I've ever seen a Ford in Europe before.

Hanging out for what seemed like forever (although there was really little else to do other than people watch while waiting for the concert), the SS guys started moving around and talking about last minute logistics (white SUV and then the black SUV follow the police motorcycles).

Bill surprised us and the photographers by entering through a side door somewhere and appearing up on the front, center balcony waving with the Austrian president.

We tried taking a photo or two but he was too high up and was surrounded by people. He did look over towards us and saw the kid with all of the Hillary stickers. He motioned for him to come up the stairs to the balcony. He made his way up there. Clinton spoke with him for a moment, signed one of the kid's signs and then read the letter the guy had written to Hillary. When he was done, Clinton gave one last wave and disappeared inside.

Remembering earlier that the SS guys had started the SUVs but had not left yet, Mom suggested we hang out a bit longer. And it paid off. A few minutes later, Clinton came out through the side front door that we were standing near. There were four other Americans standing next to us and when Clinton walked out, they startd singing the US national anthem. One of his staff members pointed them out and Clinton came walking over. He talked to the boys for a minute and then came over to us. We shook his hands, said hello and then snapped some photos of him as he made his way back.

Several chances to meet the guy and I had to fly over to Europe to make it happen! Oh well. It was a great moment! It made my mom's day, well probably week actually. She was really excited about it.

Clinton got into the SS car and drove off. We made our way through the palace to the back courtyard for the concert and who was on the stage? Bill Clinton! He was receiving a check from the people of Austria for a charity fund. The man was everywhere!!

Not a bad way to end your last day in Vienna: meeting the President, picnicing in the royal park and hear the National Orchestra play at the palace. Not too shabby at all. Not at all.

I could live like this

Yesterday we decided to continue our theme of living like royalty. We took the subway out to Schonnbrunn Palace, the summer home of the Hapsburgs (and Napolean during the French occupation).

The palace is everything you would want from royalty: beautiful gardens, great fountains, the wow factor when you first see it, etc. The palace has 1400 rooms, 40 of which are open to the public. At one time it housed the entire royal family and up to 1000 servants. The place was gorgeous and in impeccable condition.

As if the palace weren't enough, there was a rose garden, greenhouses, a Marionette theatre (they scare me), a zoo, a maze and a grand public park. About a half mile or so behind the palace on a huge hill was the Gloriette, a great stone structure where the royal family ate their breakfast when the weather was nice. It was the original planned spot for the palace (to resemble Versaille) but royals wanted to save money (go figure) they chose a less auspicious location where the palace now sits.

The view from the Gloriette was phenominal. The bit of a hike up there was horrbile - direct sun, straight up hill, in about 90 degree weather. It was worth it when we got to the top though.

As suggested by all of the books we packed a picnic. We decided to eat it as dinner there between our sightseeing and the free symphony concert that was going to be later that night.

I had randomly come across info on the concert while surfing the web. I didn't realize just what a big deal it was. This was the fourth year that Vienna's Concert for America took place, averaging around 80,000 people each year. The entire back of the palace yard is covered with people - tourists and locals alike. The show is televised live all over Europe. The conductor this year was from Russia and the concert was presided over by the Austrian president.

Is that red carpet for us??

Yesterday morning we visited the Royal Treasury Museum at the Hofburg Palace. When we arrived they had the red carpet rolled out for us...literally!

The police were starting to set up barricades and the red carpet was receiving its finally sweeping. The Hofburg is still home to the offices of the President of Austria, so we figured something big must be going on.

We stood around for about 20 minutes taking in all of the confusion. Come to find out President Putin was in town to meet with the Austrian president. Putin wasn't expected till around 2pm so we decided to explore the Treasury while we waited.

Can I just say, the royals had some great bling!! One of personal favorites in the collection was a 492 karat amythest stone. It was part of a four piece collection of large stones. Apparently the royals used to give them to other royals as gifts. Yeah, me too!!

The crowns were insane with the amount of diamonds, pearls and other jewels on them. It must have been heavy! As the television obsessed American that I am, I couldn't help thinking of Showtime's The Tudors while I was there. Great stuff

When we left the Treasury, we were sort of barricaded into one of the palace courtyards. But thankfully we took the city tour through here the day before and I remembered a way out through the back. Feeling a little James Bond like, we manuevered our way out the side of the palace, through a little alley way and back to the main courtyard again. The police had barricades up everywhere so we couldn't go back to our original spot next to the red carpet. We cut our lossed and headed the couple of blocks back to our apartment for lunch.

News helicopters were hovering over our building and the Hofburg so we decided to turn on the tv. Putin's arrival was broadcast live so we did get to see it. The military band played and there was a lot of handshaking after that.

All in a day's adventure in Vienna I suppose!

Another sign?

Just as my nightmares were a sign from God when I was younger, I might have gotten another sign yesterday. When we left St. Stephens, the bright sunny sky had turned grey and rain was falling. Our apartment was right next door so we decided to wait out the little rain shower there were Mom insisted "it'll be over soon and clear up".

Instead of clearing up, the thunder began and the rain became a little stronger. What better to do on a hot, rainy afternoon but to take a little nap. I passed out in my bed, only to be woken up a short time later by a wierd noise. We had the apt windows open so my first thought was that the rain was pouring in there. I jumped outta bed (no, really I did) and went over to the window. Never did I expect to see what I did: hail!!! 80 degrees out in May and it's hailing! Yet another sign from God...Mom is going to have to visit those catacombs alone.

Walking the City

Yesterday we started the day with a walking tour of the city. It was a great way to get a feel of the city's history and to put into context some of the amazing buildings that we had seen the night before. It was a good tour and it did help to bring the city to life, especially the influence of the Hapsburgs, vienna's ruling emperial family until the first war when Vienna became a republic.

After the tour, we decided to make it a holy day and visit two of the cities major churches, cause I'm soooo religious...hahaha. The first church on out stop was St. Karl's, built right after the plague hit Vienna in the early 1700s. From the outside, it is a huge Baroque church with massive spires. It's very overwhelming. Once we got inside, we were a little underwhelmed. The actual inside was a lot smalled than expected. The decor and paintings were all still impressive, but we expected a bit more. I'm always amazed by the frescoes on cielings though. Just beautiful.

The second church we visited is the most important church in Vienna and also right next door to our apartment. Our bedroom window balcony looks out onto St. Stephens and St. Stephens Square so we know it well. This was our first look inside though. The church was absolutly beautiful and just as impressive on the inside as on the out. My mom still wants to visit the church's catacombs but she might have to go alone. I had a bad experience in grade when a school field trip ended with a tour of the city's cathedral's catacombs. I couldn't sleep for a month and when I could sleep I had nightmares. I was probably around ten at the time but maybe that should of been a sign then for me to stay outta the church. :)

Vienna at a first glance

I've been in Vienna for about five hours now and I absolutely love this city. The architecture is more than I could have imagined and I've only seen it at night so far!

Mom and I found our apartment that we rented and it is outstanding. Huge bedroom, chandelier in the living room, small balconies overlooking St. Stephens Chuch, etc. I've already decided that I want to move in here.

After finally tearing ourselves away from the great apt (many photos were taken of it, no worry), Mom and I decided to wander the neighborhood. We started with a traditional Austrian hot dog filled with cheese stuffed into a roll. We took are dinner on the road and went out to explore. In great travel fashion we got mildly lost and ended up at the Hopsburg Palace. You're not really lost if you are at a palace are you?

I love this city. It is monday night at 11pm and people are still wandering the streets and sitting in the squares. Parents with little kids, older couple, teenagers...everyone is just enjoying life.

Exhaustion is finally starting to set in so I'm off to bed. Day one was a success!

Lax

So we made to lax with plenty of time to spare. Thanks for the ride Lova!! We made it through security with our 80 miniature-under-three-ounces bottles of shampoo and toothpaste among other things. Security left us alone this time for a change!

Now the airport boredom begins. Its kind of quiet in the tom bradley terminal. No interesting people to ease drop on...yet. Maybe things will liven up a bit later. Although I should be careful of what I wish for! Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We will report next from london!!
Jill and Sandy

How many Dollars for how many Euros?

I went to American Express to exchange my money yesterday…same thing I do every year before I travel. It's puts a bit of local currency in my hand for when I land, and saves me some of those "non-Bank of American" ATM fees that I hate so much. Well, that damn Euro and its value. I handed over $400 and was expecting to get back around 300 Euros. Hahahaha…not quite so much. Instead, with a smile on his face and completely not shocked he handed me back 248 euros and three US dollars and some change. Wait..what the?? The Euro was trading at $1.48. Ain't that some shit? Damn Europe and their Euro. This sucks! Well, at least Budapest and Bratislava with have better exchange rates with their currency. And I'm glad I decided not to go to England this year. The British Pound would have killed me.

Just found out that my work blackberry is set up to work in europe!! This means that I can stay in touch with everyone easier and cheaper by not hitting up internet cafes everyday. Saving money...big fan...plus not having to use a foreign keyboard...even bigger fan!! So try not to miss us too much while we are gone. Stay in touch and email me at my work account if u have it!!

Hotels....Tedious Details

I love traveling, especially the whole planning process. But, there is a point where some of the details just become tedious. Spending two weeks trying to find a hotel room/apartment in the part of town that I like for a price that I could afford that offered me the option to walk everywhere started to look hopeless. I would get frustrated and stop searching. Start fresh a couple of days later. I'm happy to report that all of the rooms have been booked and we're happy with all three places.

Vienna: We are staying at the Sacher Apartments, part of the famous Sacher Hotel and owned by the family responsible for the famous Sachertorte. More on that later. The hotel is right next to the famous Opera House with views of St. Stephen's Cathedral and within easy walking distance to everything!

From the hotel's website: In 1876, the Hotel Sacher in Vienna was established by Eduard Sacher, son of the creator of the Original Sacher-Torte, a unique chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam. In 1880, Eduard’s 21-year old wife took over the hotel and established its noble reputation. “I am the Master in the house,” the Grande Dame of the Sacher-dynasty is known to have said. She loved cigars and little dogs, some say she owned several hundreds of them. Throughout its existence, the Sacher has been a popular meeting point for the aristocracy, politicians, business people and artists. Its guest book is signed by celebrities such as the Prince of Monaco and his wife Gracia Patricia, Indira Gandhi, Queen Elisabeth II. and John F. Kennedy. Artists, like Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan or Marcel Prawy were also frequent guests.

But it wasn’t just the charm and luxury that built the Sacher’s international reputation. The Original Sacher-Torte actually became the world’s most famous chocolate cake. In fact, the cake is fifty years older than the hotel!

The story of the legendary chocolate cake filled with apricot jam began in 1832. Franz Sacher was a 16-year old apprentice at the court of Prince Metternich when he was asked to create an especially delicious desert for distinguished guests. The guests loved it, and it became known as the Sacher-Torte. Today, the Sacher-Torte is exported across the world. Every single cake is hand-made according to Franz’s original recipe, which is a well-kept Sacher secret.

Bratislava: We rented out a great little private apartment in the Old Town area. We are there for three days and two nights, so it'll be a great little home base to explore the city and all of its great statues that I've heard so much about.

Budapest: We are staying in the Kalvin House in Budapest. It's right near the Vaci Utca and the Great Market, a couple of blocks off of the Danube on the Pest side. The people there seem extremely friendly. This was another hard place to find, but once we did it was worth the wait. We're right in the center of all of the sites. The bus/metro/tram station is a block away. We're near one of the bridges to cross over the Buda side. So we're all good.

So I guess it was all worth it to find some cool places to stay.

It Has Been Decided

Dates have been set. Places have been locked down. Tickets have been purchased. Mom and I are spending two fun-filled weeks in Europe this May. She's going to fly to LA, and then together we are going to fly to Vienna. I know it seems odd for her to fly here and then back across the country, but there were reasons. We couldn't find any flights that connected us before we got to Vienna. Plus, if she flew out of STL, she'd have two layovers which is just annoying. So, we found her a flight to LA to come hang out the day before and the day after our European adventure.

So....we'll be flying from Los Angeles to Vienna. Spend four days in Vienna and then we'll take a boat an hour down the Danube to Bratislava. We'll spend a three-day weekend in Bratislava relaxing and enjoying the smaller town sort of life. From there, we'll take a three-hour train ride to Budapest where we'll spend four days before flying back to Los Angeles.

I'm so excited for all three places. Usually on a trip, there is one place that I'm looking forward to more than the others, but this time I'm excited equally about all three. That should make for a great trip!

Stay tuned for more details and I'll be posting during the trip like I did last year. It seemed to be a big hit with the friends and family back home. I'm also going to try my best to not get robbed this time! ug! Hopefully that works out for me!

Next on the agenda is to book the hotels. Usually, I like to just play it by ear on these trips, but I was given some great recommendations by travel buddies so I think I'm going to plan ahead this time.

Where to go next

It's that time of year again. It's time to start planning another trip over to Europe. I've decided to bring my mom along for this journey. We still haven't decided where we are going though. Some of the places on the possible itinerary include: London, Paris, Budapest, Vienna and Bratislava.

Plane tickets are really expensive this year, so we might have to save London and its pricey British Pound currency for another trip. Budapest is definitely on the agenda, no matter where else we end up. And I'm thinking, since Vienna is so close that it would only make sense to pair them up for one trip. I'm really excited about the architecture of both places. I heard nothing but rave reviews about them while I in Prague. "If you like Prague, you'll love Budapest/Vienna." Hopefully they are right!

It looks like we'll be heading over around the end of May for about two weeks. I'll post more details when I know...if we can ever lock down some spots. :)