Twenty-three. How on earth do you celebrate turning such an unexciting age?
Apparently with an amazing trip to a foreign land, if you have a boy like mine.
Jonny surprised me with a birthday trip to BUDAPEST!! I had no words... except for an unlimited stream of 'thank you!'s.
The first night Jonny organized a night tour throughout Pest and Buda, culminating with a feast at a family-style Hungarian restaurant up in the hills. It was absolutely perfect and it gave us an insight into the history of the city as well as ideas for things to do in nights to come.
When we went up to the hill of Hungary's '
Statue of Liberty' {
formerly the Communist Statue of Liberation} we got to look down across the Danube and see Pest all lit up... WOW. This city was made for night.
The restaurant was by far the best bit. We walked into a massive room with long tables and fur-lined benches, dried food hanging from every part of the ceiling, goulash and wine at the ready, and a big stage filled with musicians and dancers all in traditional garb. The food was delicious!... And there were three MORE courses after {
we were not told this initially... full, full bellies}! Jonny got chosen to go up on stage and show them what his dancing is made of. I had a lot of fun filming this for later giggles
!
We got by with English in many places but the breakfast bakery down the street from our condo was not one of them. We had a bit of a surprise for breaky, but it was fun and tasty. Mine was
custardy and Jonny's was like
a blanket wrapped hotdog with cheese and sauce. I think they were good selections for our different palate preferences. We did learn how to say '
thank you', and everyone forgave our floundering:
Köszönöm!
{Dre(sc)her. Close enough!}
This building served as the headquarters for Hungary's Nazi Party {the Crossed Arrows} and then, straight after, their Communist Party. The inside has since been converted into a massive museum to show the atrocities that took place over the decades of rule. It was harrowing; you just don't learn much in school about the countries {or the people} that were taken under rule without their consent or simply handed off to the Soviets to appease the big players. It's truly unfair.
{A monument to the seven original Hungarian royal families.}
We went ice skating behind the monument and there were these massive, grand houses behind the rink. Andre, our tour guide from that first night, told us that Hungary's borders have changed so much but the country wanted to keep their original landmarks, so they rebuilt replicas all together, kinda like a Disney World attraction. Behind Jonny you can just make out
Dracula's castle, now in modern day Transylvania.
After ice skating we warmed up in the ancient Turkish baths. It was FREEZING outside {especially for this picture!!} but the baths themselves were the perfect temperature- you can see all of the steam over the water. It was so much fun swimming around with tourists and locals alike, especially outside in the middle of winter! It reminded me of my cousin's hot tub, when we would brave the snow in our bathing suits until we reached the welcoming warmth.
More to come <3
