Budapest, Hungary

Turkish baths, Pálinka & Goulash
November 16th - 18th, 2010
Hotel: Opera Garden Hotel & Apartments

• Arrive in Budapest, Hungary around 3:30pm where the sky is already beginning to darken
• Check into hotel and upgraded to a 2-bedroom suite that we cannot complain about
• Since we are staying on the "pest" side of Budapest, we decide to venture over to the "buda" side of the city
• Cross the Danube river via the Castle Bridge and cannot believe how wide the river is

Parliament and Castle Bridge we cross over

• Expect the weather to be quite cold during our November visit but surprisingly, it is much warmer than anticipated and don't even need a jacket
• Once we arrive on the "buda" side, we must climb multiple hills & stairs to arrive to the Castle District where we visit the Faust Wine Cellar
• Once at the cellar, we must then climb down 56 stairs to reach our destination - what a journey but the reward is worth it
• Greeted to a small cellar that holds up to about 10 people and are given a scroll with our selections for a wine tasting
• We select the "Recommendations of our sommelier" that includes 5 wine tastings, pogača, (hungarian scones with cheese on top) and a choice of our last tasting (18 euro/pp)

Faust Wine Cellar

• Each wine presented to us is given its background and the host shows us on the map where each wine comes from. He also seems to know at least one member in his family that favors each wine we are tasting
• For our last tasting, Jonathan decides to try another red (his favorite) and I opt for the infamous pálinka, fruit flavored brandy
• I select the raspberry version and am told to pour a drop on the backside of my hand as it will leave a fresh raspberry scent because it is 100% pure pálinka
• While not a fan of brandy, I am glad I tried the drink this area is known for

Our last tasting for the night

• Seeing that it is now 8:00pm, we climb up the stairs, down the hills and stairs we climbed up a few hours prior, cross the bridge and make our way back to the "pest" side for a late dinner
• On our way we stop to look at the Budapest Castle which is beautifully lit up in the night and gorgeously glowing across the river (see the picture at the beginning of this entry)

Budapest Castle

• Stop at this lovely italian restaurant we saw earlier, Trattoria Pomo D'oro where we realize they do not have smoking zones in restaurants as people around us are easily smoking their cigarettes throughout their meals and after
• So glad we live in an area that has smoking zones as the smoke filled air makes it difficult for us to enjoy our delicious meal
• Throughout dinner, we both realize Budapest has the most amazing fresh mozzarella; even better than Italy!

DAY 2

• Enjoy a cozy breakfast at our hotel with these amazing mini cinnamon croissants - I was a fan! 
• Also noticed a couple we saw at the Faust Wine Cellar the night before (they will make yet another appearance throughout this entry)
• After breakfast we head to the Synagogue where we took a tour with a lady who refused to make eye contact with us
• The Synagogue is the largest in Europe, 2nd largest in the world after the one in New York City

Largest synagogue in Europe

• The tour guide told us that in World War 2, the synagogue was bombed 27 times and used by the Nazis as a horse stable! 
• In the rear courtyard holds the "Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs".  Each leaf on the weeping willow represents one of the 400,000 Hungarian Jews that were murdered by the Nazis during World War 2

 

Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs

• Stop for a cup of hot chocolate & coffee at a cozy cafe in the Fashion District of Budapest
• Noticed that these were not just normal hot drinks you order in a cafe; the barista created pieces of artwork on top of the drinks out of the whipped cream! He said he did it all by hand

Our artistic drinks

• Head back to the hotel, to grab our suits & towels to go to the famous Széchenyi Baths that take us about 30 minutes to walk to
• After trying about 3 different entrances to get to the place we needed to go, we are given a plastic watch that scans us into the baths and unlocks our cabin so we can change and lock our stuff away - very high tech
• The baths area is quite large but once in them, it feels like a warm pool
• The one we decided to go in, supposedly the warmest, had old men in their speedos playing chess 

Széchenyi Baths

• Headed inside to test out the inside baths but they felt even dirtier than the outdoor ones - I know these are the thing to do in Budapest but unfortunately all Jonathan & I could do was think about how germ-y these baths must be...I know, we are getting too old to travel and be adventurous
• So, we last about 30 minutes and decide to wash off in our hotel and get ready for dinner

Walk back to the hotel

• Once we clean up, we grab a cup of some hot mulled wine, courtesy of our hotel and sit up on our rooftop terrace to unwind a bit before dinner
• Hotel recommends Cafe Bouchon, a traditional hungarian cuisine restaurant and we are very pleased with our experience - the food in Budapest was really great!
• Jonathan ordered the goulash (hungarian stew) that he really enjoyed  and we stop at a couple of bars on the way back to our hotel to enjoy the wine/beer Budapest has to offer
• We yet again run into the same couple we saw that wine cellar & at our hotel! We seem to be on the same schedule...

DAY 3

• With only a few hours before our flight back to Geneva, we explore more of Budapest during the day.....

Great Market Hall

Old school public transport

Setting up the christmas markets in Budapest

While we were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was in Budapest, we did not find a whole lot to do and not sure I would recommend Budapest to others as a place to travel. To be fair to the city, Jonathan and I are finding it more difficult to enjoy our travels when we found out we will be moving back to Connecticut in January. We had a lot on our mind as far as preparing for the move and we never did get to see Angelina and Brad during their time filming her Bosnian love story she is directing...

Edinburgh, Scotland

Friendliest town in all of Scotland!

November 6th - November 8th 2010

Hotel: Fraser Suites

• We knew that this was going to be a good trip as soon as the very friendly bus driver got out of his bus post to come out and show us the best route to get to our hotel. We did not receive the usual "damn tourist" scowl
• Walk up a steep hill where our hotel sat against the clear blue sky we were definitely not expecting in November while in the UK (see Dublin 2009 entry)

Walking up the hill to our hotel

• Very pleased with our accommodations; modern and provide us with the infamous Walker shortbread cookies I so pleasantly accepted
• Drop off luggage and go to a pub around the corner where tables are filled with groups of friends enjoying a pint and watching the rugby match on the "telly" 
• Jonathan orders us each a beer and the popular Scottish dish, Haggis, which reminds us both a lot of meatloaf with a bit more spice. 

The Haggis Experience

• Walk through the streets of Edinburgh , which is a pretty small town. The Royal Mile, the main street is lined with pubs, cafes, christmas shops and cashmere stores

the bagpipe man outside of our hotel

• Stop for another drink once the rain starts to come down. It was only a matter of time...
• Since the rain does not appear to be letting up anytime soon, we decide to go on the Scotch Whiskey tour, near the Edinburgh Castle
• Seated in a whiskey barrel, we are taken through an interactive tour of the whiskey making process

Our guide during the whiskey tour

• After the tour, we are able to choose which region we want our tasting of whiskey to come from; Speyside (banana flavor), Highland (vanilla flavor and my choice) , Lowland (more citrus taste) or Islay (very smoky flavor and Jon's choice) 
• We were then told the proper way of tasting whiskey and taken to the largest collection of scotch whiskey, with over 3,000 bottles

largest whiskey collection in the world

• Rain continues to pour through the afternoon and evening when we stop in another pub to watch South Africa vs Ireland in the rugby finals 
• Neither of us had watched a rugby match and were blown away at how fierce it was! I believe South Africa won by the way
• After the Rugby match, we stop at "The Filling Station" which is quite similar to an Applebee's
• We are seated across the way from a group of intoxicated 16 year olds who thought it would be funny to throw food around the restaurant, which ends up hitting Jonathan in the head (haha - no brawls occurred, thank goodness!)
• The manager eventually kicked out the kids and we enjoyed the rest of the meal, even though at that point we were pretty tired from the day

DAY 2

• Eat breakfast at one of the cozy cafe's we passed the day before called "always Sunday" 
• Meet in front of the corner Starbuck's to start our free walking tour of Edinburgh 
• Our guide looks like he just came home from a night of drinking whisky but maybe that is how the majority of people who live here look...
• However, he proved to be a wonderful guide who was a fascinating story teller 
• Here are some highlights we saw during the 3 hour tour...

• Edinburgh Castle

• St Giles’ Cathedral

• Mercat Cross
• Greyfriars Kirkyard (cemetery) and Greyfriars Bobby

Since late 1998, Greyfriar's has been the site of unexplained events linked in the popular imagination to the ghost of George Mackenzie, two days after a "vagrant" had broken into his tomb to find shelter. More than 500 attacks had been reported in 2006. Visitors reported being cut, bruised, bitten, scratched and most commonly blacking out. Some complained later of bruises, scratches and gouge-marks on their bodies. Most attacks and feelings of unease occurred in MacKenzie's Black Mausoleum (shown above) and the Covenantors Prison. An exorcist was brought in to perform an exorcism ceremony, but soon claimed that the forces were too overpowering, and feared that they could kill him. A few weeks later, he died of a heart attack

Supposedly, Bobby was a dog who was so devoted to his owner, that when his owner died he laid atop his grave for 14 years until he, himself died. This is his grave where people from all over come to see Bobby and leave him sticks, flowers, dog toys and in some cases tickets to Oktoberfest!

Where J.K Rowling ordered a cup of tea and stayed all day writing the infamous Harry Potter series

• After the tour, we had about an hour until the castle closed so we headed over the castle and did a quick 45 minute walk through
• The best part of the castle was the views of Edinburgh and seeing the infamous "Stone of Destiny" everyone talks about

us on top of the Edinburgh castle

walking out of the castle

• We are cold and hungry, so stop at this cozy little pub called "The Last Drop" that has beer bottles with lit candles dripping wax down the sides of the glass
• Enjoy my new favorite drink, Magner's Irish Cider - it tastes like sparking apple cider with alcohol - everyone was drinking it in Edinburgh so I thought I would try. Thumbs up! 
• After we are warmed up and got a little food and drink, we head to our 7pm Ghost & Ghouls tour that takes us around the streets of Edinburgh and under the streets into the haunted vaults...

Our tour guide, Fiona showing us how thieves were treated back in the day

the most haunted room underground

We were very much surprised by how much we liked Edinburgh! It was small enough for us to easily explore everything in a weekend and had enough to keep us entertained. The people were very friendly and the stories were wildly entertaining. All in all, a wonderful weekend in Edinburgh!