Budapest

I had my first girls only weekend March 9-11 to Budapest, Hungary.  Easy Jet is a Europe's version of Allegiant Air or other budget airlines.  I was able to fly round trip for under $150 as long as I didn't check any luggage.  Knowing how much Switzerland is for following rules, I looked at what size suitcase they allowed, measured and checked with Angie, who I was traveling with.  She has flown Easy Jet and just brought a carry on and never checked the dimensions.  Well, I must have been back luck, because we were checked on both flights.  Fortunately, hers fit and ours were the same size, so I didn't have to shove mine in on the way there.  There is more to this, but will save it when we are heading back.

We had planned this back in November and wouldn't you know it, Sydney has her skating show the same weekend.  Oh well, guess it will put Randy to the test on managing three kids and Sydney's skating.  We left early Friday afternoon, so Randy had to get the kids off the bus, get them loaded up and head to the rink.  She also skated on Saturday and had to be at the rink at 8am on Sunday.  Fortunately Sydney's skating friend's mom was going to be there and could help her if needed.  Here is a picture and some video from the show.

Group picture - The ugly duckling and the swan.

Sydney spreading her wings.

The ugly duckling was Sydney's piece and then they joined the swans for the finale.  She is the middle egg and usually third from front of line.

We finally made it to Budapest and found a ATM to get some Hungarian money and then a cab to the hotel. We arrived later than expected so got checked in and asked for a recommendation for dinner.  We ate at a Hungarian restaurant that served us some sort of shot/drink in a shot sized wine glass with a lid.  It was very strong but went down pretty well.  Angie tried another one back at the bar in our hotel and that one didn't go down as well, so must have been on the cheap side.

We had a leisure morning and slowly made our way to the market in Budapest.  We totally took advantage of no kids and just strolled along taking in the sites.  The market was in a massive building with food vendors on the first floor and goods on the second floor.  We headed for the second floor and wandered around in search of some nesting dolls for the kids.  My aunt bought me one from Russia and the kids absolutely loved it and unfortunately one broke.  I wanted to get one for the kids and one for our house.  Randy and I like to buy things for the house when we travel, but we have been a little slow since arriving in Switzerland.  We are finding it a bit of a challenge to find souvenirs for the house when we have a limited time and typically have the kids.  After the mission was accomplished we found a restaurant along the river and plotted out our afternoon.

Danube River and Buda side with castle hill and bridge at night.

Market on Pest side

Buda and castle hill during the day.

It was time to cross the bridge and head up a funicular to Castle Hill.  The views were just spectacular at night and we were both looking forward to getting up there and really getting a view of Budapest and Parliament.  We had done a ton of walking and our feet were a little sore so we took a stop at the hotel before heading out to another Hungarian restaurant for dinner.  We had great luck with restaurants and enjoyed some tasty food.  We had a very late flight the next day so went to the Széchenyi thermal bath, which are not only relaxing but therapeutic because of the water composition.

One of the bridges connecting Buda and Pest, we walked across to funicular.

At top of funicular looking back down at river and bridge.

Castle hill with awesome views of Pest and Parliament.

Parliament through the pillars.

Parliament - it is a massive building.

Angie and I with Parliament in the background on our way back to the hotel.

Szécheny is a massive complex with several different pools and saunas on the inside and a few on the outside.  They were all different temperatures and it was a maze to get outside and felt very institutional.  There was white everywhere with all tile on the floors and lockers and even the people working there wore white smocks.  Every time we turned a corner or walked through a door we were afraid we would walk into the mens changing room.  Not that they would care, but it would definitely be a shock to us "Americans".  Once we made our way outside, it was a beautiful courtyard in the center with 3 different pools.  We stayed in one after realizing one was much colder and the other required a swimming cap, which we did not have.  It was time to head back to the hotel and get cleaned up before heading home.

Courtyard with 3 pools.  The one closest was the warm one.

We made our way to the airport and after having to wait in another area after a bag was left unattended we were finally able to check in.  The asked if we wanted to check our bag for free since it was a full flight and I declined since I had only 15 minutes to catch the train to Lausanne and the last bus home.  He asked to see our bags and then asked that I put mine in the metal frame to make sure it would fit.  I finally shoved it in and then had one heck of a time getting it out!  Ugh, what a pain and after several minutes it was finally free and I was begrudgingly checking my bag!  It took a couple extra hands and muscled and I was so hot to only have to wait in a huge security line.  We ended up leaving late so checking the bag didn't make a difference.  I made it home safely and was quickly off to bed since 6am would come too quickly in the morning.