Travel Blog - Budapest and Vienna

We're back from our European adventure, had a great time and I'm exhausted - that's a sign of a good vacation right? Haha, definitely have the "I need a vacation after going on vacation" thing going on right now. Thanks to everyone who guest-blogged for me, hope you enjoyed their posts and ideas?

Budapest

Forget just about everything I said before regarding traveling with a small carry on suitcase, I ended up checking a little bit bigger one so I would have room to bring home souvenirs and also I saw the weather forecast so decided to throw in a shorty pair of rainboots just in case (and yes, I did end up wearing them). To the list I showed you (click here for that post) I did add in a couple of light weight open front cardigan things in case it was cold. I wore pretty much everything but easily could have fit it all in the small suitcase if I left the boots, cardigans (which I did not wear!), and maybe a couple shirts (that I didn't wear either) out. It was really nice to not have to jam things in and have a little breathing room though so I'm not regretting what I took. Not like the last trip where I seriously overpacked and was bulging at the seams of my suitcase!

Budapest at night

Thought I'd share a few photos and stories with you from our trip - gonna break it up into a few posts though because I took 500 pictures on my iPhone and am going to need a little time to sort thru them all! Here's a couple from our first two days, Budapest and Vienna - both beautiful old world cities that we needed way more time in to explore. I loved doing the river cruise but one of the down sides it that we were in and out of these amazing cities every day - not much time to see more than just an overview. But what we saw was great!

here's another downside to cruising and going on their daily excursions - I've learned I'm not a large group tour kinda girl! Following the guides with their "lollipops" (that's what they called the sign they carried so we could find them) while wearing a "quiet box" (a little device we wore like a necklace that has headphones attached so we could hear the guides while being surrounded by very large masses of other tourists) and having the worlds most uncomfortable earpiece in my ear listening to them talk about the sites (or just hear them breathing when they weren't talking! really, someone should tell them that we can hear everything if they don't turn off their microphone if they are not talking! LOL) is just not my thing. Lesson learned. 

my first (of many) Goulash was a surprise - it's nothing like what my mom makes and we call "goulash" (you know, the elbow macaroni, burger, tomato stuff? Do you also call that goulash?) This was my favorite one of the trip... and I ate a lot of goulash these past few days (that and sausages, man they eat a lot of sausages too)! They have many different versions - this one wasn't spicy and had a nice almost sweet flavor that I loved. Some were spicy, some tasted a bit like chili, some had big chunks of beef or pork while others had ground meat...you never knew what you were going to get when ordering goulash!

I could not believe how many churches there are - and while we didn't tour all of them we certainly got our fill. Don't get me wrong, I love churches - but after a while they started running together and it was mind boggling! Most of them are very ornate, fancy, gaudy, I don't have enough words - think over the top and it's even more than that. Paintings on the ceilings, carved beams, gold everything, towers, steeples, stained glass...all in one building. Amazing. 

here's the gang in Austria - I don't think this building is a church (I can't remember cuz every building looks like this!) Churches, castles, parliament/government buildings, clock towers, spires...truly just about everywhere you looked and every big city is just full of these types of structures! Overwhelming. 

this is a swimming pool, on a small boat, on the river. genius right?

the smallest ice cream truck I've ever seen :) I especially took this picture for my sister - I love to tell the story and tease her about watching her chase the ice cream truck down our street, jumping up and down trying to get his attention but she was too little and he couldn't see her so he'd move the truck before she got to him. All the way down the street. We stood in our yard yelling "run Jenny, run!". Mean, I know - but I laugh every time I remember it. I saw this tiny truck and thought how much better this one would have been for her to catch and have him see her HAHAHA!