Budapest

Budapest…or BootyFest as James liked to call it. It ended up becoming the group phrase for the weekend…it didn’t help that we saw a lot of inappropriately dressed girls that supported the name.

The week before Lindsey left for New Zealand, we wanted to take a little trip- so we looked up the cheapest flights on RyanAir and Budapest it was! We found a great little apartment in the Castle district…only slightly misleading… so we headed out!

Finding a place to stay can always be a bit of a nightmare…for example, this place looked awesome- it was advertised as an off branch of a hotel, sounds easy and accommodating, right? It was an apartment owned by 2 people. No hair dryer, the hot water lasted for only 1 person, no internet, and the power cut on us- frequently. As the Italian’s say, “Alora (Oh well)!” 

The most important rule we had to follow was to take our shoes off…he even provided slippers for us!

The owners were extremely nice! They gave us a several local places to eat in the surrounding area. The first night, we ate at this semi-hole in the wall, with amazing food. Let’s just say the Hungarians KNOW how to cook. I had this delicious paprika chicken with dumplings. We drank and ate until they basically asked us to leave! Hungarians don’t stay out as late apparently. Then we took a little stroll down by the river. On the opposite side, the parliament building stood- lit up for the world to see!! What a breath taking view!

 (I have way too many pictures of Katie up in my personal space...)

The next day, we walked. A lot.

The best part of the morning was getting on the subway. Katie had a stoller for Carson, and this subway station had NO way to get down except for the escalator. And this escalator was moving FAST. We ultimately caused a scene. The lady that worked there didn’t speak English, not one of us had ever taken a stroller down and escalator, and we were holding up the line. Perfect. It was decided that Katie would carry him down the broken one…just like using stairs right? So Katie starts carrying, and we hop on the ridiculously fast one and realize that this escalator is about a mile long…maybe not a mile- but REALLY long and really steep. I look up and don’t see Katie. Great. So we all get off, and get on the up escalator to meet this:

The Hungarian man from Texas!! Life Saver.

Lindsey took us on a Rick’s Steve’s tour around town. The tour accidentally started with a Starbucks run!

We went to an awesome WWII museum at The House of Terror, which was the Nazi Headquarters in Budapest. The exhibit was so incredible- very artistic and informative. At the beginning of each room, there was an informational pamphlet that explained the history of the room. There were rooms about torture, the prisoners, the lives of prisoners of upper, middle, and lower class, the voting system, the propaganda, and we even got to go down into the torture chambers.

 

Next up- the Turkish Baths. Originally, I thought it was going to be disgusting- lots of people in the same water…public. Sick. There are a lot of natural hot springs underneath the city, so the Turkish baths are still in use today. There are different pools that are different temperatures- there is a proper way to go from pool to pool, but we just hopped right in, threw the baby around a little bit, and worked up a good little appetite. The architecture was beautiful, it was clean, and not too crowded! The only down side was that Kaitlin and I could NOT for the life of us open our changing room door. The lady was not happy because we had to change “suites” aka closets. 

 

-->

The next day we were able to go the awesome market!! It is HUGE! Tons of meats, paprika, dried fruit, and langos! We searched hi and low for this Hungarian speciality- surprisingly much harder to find than I would have thought! It is a fried bread, with sour cream, and mozzarella cheese on top. Sounds weird. But AH-mazing. 

 Dried strawberries are my new favorite thing!

I loved wandering around looking at all of the little trinkets- I even bought some Hungarian Easter eggs- hand painted. Can't wait to put them out!

We rushed out of the market and raced down to the parliament building to get a tour- it was suppose to be pretty awesome...sadly, their government was in session, so all tours were closed. Lindsey was rather irritated because she had called ahead to ask if it was open, apparently we got bad information. We even tried to go early the next morning before we left...no such luck- the line was SO long!

The evening ended with a walk up to Castle Hill. It was like a quaint little village that overlooked the hustle and bustling city. We got some beautiful pictures!! 

Budapest was a blessing. We were able to get away from the craziness of Vicenza and the Army. We were able to walk around and discover a new place and be reminded of the world outside of the bubble we live in. I am so thankful to have wonderful traveling buddies! I mean, let's be honest- not everyone can travel together, and the fact that I have 3 awesome friends and we can travel together is huge!

Living Chess Game

Last night a group of girls traveled together to a little town called Marostica. We went to dinner at the is restaurant about 15 minutes outside of the walled town and then ventured into town. I thought it was going to be complete chaos! With the way Italians park and drive I knew the town would a nightmare....but they surprised me! People were almost directing traffic and guiding people to parking spots. I was amazed to say the least. The town was packed with people- lots of people in costumes, getting ready for the show. Let's just say there was no backstage area. But the majority of them were still in character outside of the stage. We entered into the main square and caught the first glimpse of the chess board. I have been up to Marostica a couple of times, but never saw the chess board because of the construction for the big event, and it was massive. The chess board is made out of asiago stone. For some reason, I thought it was going to be a huge piece of paper rolled out into the middle of the square. Wrong.

And then it started...about 45min late.


Every even-numbered year, the town puts on a living chess game to commemorate a piece of history from 1454. The story goes that 2 warriors fell in love with the Lord of Marostica's daughter, Lionora. So as custom permitted, they were going to fight in a duel to see who would win the hand of the Lord's daughter. The Lord of Marostica had another idea, he did not want anyone to fight- so he declared that the 2 warriors would play a chess game. The winner won Lionora's hand in marriage and the loser won the sister's hand. What a bummer to be the youngest...

 The soldiers walking around town in formation 

 You know your husband is deployed when, you answer your phone at the Living Chess game

They shot arrows of fire onto the chess board!! 

 

 The chess players

 Starting the match

See the orange jump suit boys...the poor boy passed out!! Created a little scene, but they were ready for it!

Rome with MK and MH

Mary Kathryn, Mary Hannah and I spent a whirlwind 3 days in Rome…including traveling. We got up bright and early Monday morning, drove to Orvieto, trained to Rome and started off the trip!

Our first stop, the Vatican. James and I had already been here, but I was more than happy to pay again to see the Sistine Chapel, and this time we did a Rick Steve’s tour through the museum…. James and I had tried to do it, but we got off track and then just gave up and wandered. So using the tour was so helpful! The last time we were in Rome, James and I really took a liking to sculpture- so we started the tour going through the Greek and Roman sculptures. 

We saw the famous, Apollo sculpture that represents balance, perfect beauty and poise, and well roundedness. The Greeks thought great men were not only great warriors, but poets and musicians as well. 

Next up was a crazy half statue of Hercules by Michelangelo. I remember the first time I saw this and thought- weird. But after reading a little more about the history and actually looking at the piece for a time, it was crazy how detailed and awesome it is! 

 Here is a HUGE Roman bath!

The Sistine Chapel didn’t disappoint either…although everyone in the chapel did…I was so mad! Everyone was loud and talking and no one listened when the guards hushed everyone. I mean everything really was beautiful, but I really had wanted MK and MH to experience the quiet reverence…instead we got pushed around by old, angry, tourists.

Then we exited out some back way that was only for tour groups…whoops…and made it to St. Peter’s Basilica- which was what I was SO excited for. 

There are five bronze doors that enter into the basilica, and the one on the far right is called the Holy Door. It is only opened every 25years for Christmas Eve. The Pope knocks on the door 3 times, opens it, and then lets all of the people on pilgrimage pass through. 

Inside was Michelangelo’s famous Pieta…that is now behind glass because some psycho attacked it with a chisel. He sculpted this when he was 24. Really puts all of my accomplishments in perspective!

There was a line down the center to show how big other churches were compared to St. Peters…it was HUGE. I wandered around in amazement for a while…especially staring at the massive alter…that is only used when the Pope preaches. The alter is surrounded by what resembles a seven story four-poster bed, built by Bernini (famous for his Baroque style).  My favorite part was the dove window…it looks so small, but the dove is in fact 6 feet wide. A beautiful oak chair, known as the Throne of Peter, surrounds it. 

We left the Vatican and wandered down to the Castel nearby. Castel Sant’Angelo was build by Emperor Hadrain because of the Roman law that no one could be buried inside the Roman city walls. So he tried to stick it to the man and built himself a huge castle directly outside the city wall. We just walked around and enjoyed listening to music and looking at the beautiful river flowing near. 

Day 2- the Long Day

Colessum

Campo di Fiore and Piazza Navonna

Pantheon

Gelato

 Trevi Fountain

And then the crazy night began...