2016 Europe Trip: Days 12-14

Day 12: Budapest to Boston
When we woke up, our laundry was still not dry, so we hoped we pressed the correct cycle to just dry the clothes and went off in search of breakfast.  We ended up back at Sock's to enjoy a wonderful cup of hot chocolate and a share a slice of Peanut Butter pie.

Then we had to sprint walk back to the flat to pack.  Luckily our clothes were dry (enough).  We quickly got everything in our bags and hustled to the metro.  From the metro, we had to ride the bus to the airport.   At the airport, we had a hard time finding the checkin for our flight.  With help, we finally found it at the end in a corner.  There was a huge line of people!  As we got close to the desk, one of the three employees said it was time for them to take a break, so he left with over 50 people waiting in line to check in.  We finally got to the counter to get our tickets and made it through security and to our gate with a few minutes to spare before boarding.  It was close, but we made it.  On this leg, we flew from Budapest to London.  We only had a couple hours wait in London before our flight into Boston.  We got in late and ended up just taking the courtesy bus to the metro and then the metro out to where our airbnb was.  This time, we were just renting a room in someone's home.  We visited with them for a bit before heading off to bed.

Day 13: Boston
We didn't really have a plan for what to do in Boston.  We just jumped on the Metro and headed downtown.  We took in a few of the sights along the Freedom Trail (the site of the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, North End - Paul Revere's home, the Old North Church).

Then we were reading for lunch.  A guy we sat by on the airplane recommended we eat at the Barking Crab.  So that is where we headed.  We ended up getting there just before they opened so we were one of the first seated, which worked out well, because they filled up fast.

We tried some scallops and crab cakes and the blue crab sandwich.  The crab cakes were my favorite!
After lunch, we wandered back toward Faneuil Hall and found some shade.  It was a really warm day.  We saw advertisements for Cirque de Sole Kurios show, so we decided to see if there were tickets available for the afternoon.  We lucked out and did get tickets.  I had a special offer through Visa and we received free drinks and popcorn with our tickets as well.  We were grateful for the cold drinks.
The show was amazing!  It was the first Cirque show we had been to and we loved it!

At the competition of the show, we took the metro back to the North End to find dinner.  After walking around and checking menus, we decided on Sfizi!  It was a good choice - the food was excellent!  I enjoyed some housemate butternut squash raviolis and Chris enjoyed his beet salad.  We definitely plan to return next time we are in Boston.  

We were not hungry after our dinner, but could not pass up getting a cannoli at Mike's Pastry.  Both times we had walked past earlier in the day, there had been lines down the street, and it was still the same when we arrived.  So we took our place down the block and patiently made the slow move forward until we were finally at the counter to order.  When I had been here about 20 years earlier, we had just walked in and made our selection.  What a difference.  We could not even see the display cases to know what we wanted.  But as we had waited, we had caught glimpses of different things, so in addition to the peanut butter chocolate chip cannoli, we also picked out a Chocolate cherry cake.

We carried our box from Mike's Pastry back to our Airbnb and did have a bite of each before going to bed.  They became our breakfast in the morning while we waited for the first train of the day to take us to the airport.  It was good to be home and we were excited to see the boys!

2016 Europe Trip: Days 10-11 Vienna Budapest

Vienna: 

Day 10: We woke early and made our way back to the train station.  We purchased tickets to Vienna.  It was a beautiful ride through the Czech Republic into Austria.  

In Vienna, we bought a 24 hour pass and jumped on the metro to our hotel.  I was wishing I would have found a hotel closer to the train station, but the Hotel Danua was one of the coolest hotels we have ever stayed at.  We ended up with a free upgraded room.  The rooms on the floor we stayed were all themed.  Our room was Huber & Lerner.   We had a skylights, musically notes above the bed, a Mozart duck, and side tables that were drawers holding printing stamps.  It was a beautiful hotel and we would stay there again! 

We got settled and then set out first to get lunch.  The hotel recommended a café down the street and provided us with a free drink voucher.  Chris enjoyed the buffet brunch and I ordered a veggie omlete and yogurt with fresh fruit.  It was all really nice.  

After our filling lunch, we set out by foot toward central Vienna.  We walked through a university campus and passed a beautiful white cathedral, Votivkirche, on our way to one of Beethoven's homes.

A few blocks away, we came to Pasqualati House where Beethoven lived for a period of time composing.  

After leaving Pasqualati House, we continued down Universtatstring road which took us right to the Parliament building. We were able to go in and cool off a minute to get some water and use the restroom.  

After leaving Parliament, we went back across the street and walked through the Volksgarten to get to Helden Platz and Neue Burg Palace.

Even though I had done it before, it had been almost 20 years since my last visit, I convinced Chris to buy a ticket to tour the Hofbrau palace.  We bought a Sissy combination ticket which allowed us to tour the palace, as well as Schoenbrunn Palace and the Furniture museum.   The first part of the tour takes you through the China and Kitchen pieces.  It is amazing how many different sets of china they had and how they would use a different one for different occasions.  After a tour through the china, we saw a little bit of the palace and then our tour was over. 

I didn’t think we would use the Imperial Furniture museum portion of our ticket, but since it was along our path we decided we might as well check it out.  It was kind of hidden down a side street.  But it ended up being a really cool museum with a variety of furniture and artifacts from various generations of the royal family. Pictures were not allowed.

After the Museum, we retraced our steps back to the underground and took the metro to the Ferris Wheel.  Chris was a little unsure if he wanted to take a ride and decided he wanted to eat first.  We did not see anything appealing around he Ferris Wheel, so we walked back to the metro station and found a Kebab shop.  This shop did the Kebab on a flat bread – like a tortilla.  It was still just as good, but not as good as a pita.  They were also selling fry breads.  Chris wanted to see if they would put our Gyro on the fry bread, but since we were sharing I opted not to go that route. 

After sharing the Gyro, we walked back to the Riesenrad ticket office and purchased tickets.  There was a little museum with a history of the Ferris Wheel depicted by miniature scenes enclosed in small ferris wheel car replicas.  

As you leave the little museum, they take your picture in a ferris wheel car photo window.  Of course, I didn’t plan to purchase any of the pictures, but one of the photos turned out pretty cute and we decided it was worth it for $8-9. 

We only had to wait for one group to go before us, about 5 minutes later, we were loaded onto a car with about 8 other people.  There is a bench in the center for people to sit on either side and windows all around the car.  As our car slowly climbed upward, we enjoyed a beautiful 360 view of the sprawling city of Vienna.  The sun was close to setting, so there was pretty light from the setting sun as well.  It ended up being the highlight of our visit to Vienna. 

We did not find many options that appealed to us for dessert.  So we took the metro back to the station where Hard Rock Café was located.  We lucked out and found a number of restaurants, gelato and dessert places.  After checking the Hard Rock for something of interest, we debating between a few dessert cafes and settled on the one on the corner down from Hard Rock Café.  There were so many choices in the display case, it was hard to choose.  We were glad we had shared the Gyro.  I settled on an apple struedel with warm custard sauce.  Chris saw a cherry cake that looked like to was chocolate.  After making our purchase, we found a bench to sit and eat our treats.  Mine was excellent, especially with the warm custard sauce.  Chris, however, did not enjoy his as he had hoped.  While it was good, it did not have much chocolate flavor except for some frosting.  After finishing up, we went back to the same café since they had the best looking gelato.  Chris got a scoop of chocolate to satisfy his chocolate craving. 

Calling it a night, we headed back to the Hotel Danau to enjoy sleeping in our cool room and on a nice bed.   

Day 11: Vienna and back to Budapest

Originally, we were going to leave our bags at the hotel until we were ready to get on the train.  But since the metro was so crowded the day before and it is a little distance from the train station, we opted to check out and take our bags to a locker at the train station to save the extra trip back to the hotel.  We were sad to leave our room at the Hotel Danau – it was a fun European hotel treat!

After placing our bags in a locker, we looked for breakfast at one of the cafes in the train station  (some of the best choices are in the train stations).  We didn’t have much cash left – the negative to the cafes in the station is they usually only take cash.  I settled on a caprese sandwich.  It wasn’t as good as the others I had been getting, but it would do.  Chris found a pastry and a couple donuts at another shop for us.  The donuts were Amazing.  For not being fresh hot, they still melted in your mouth. 

We had planned to purchase our train tickets for Budapest, but there was a long line at the ticket desks due to a train delay, so we jumped back on the metro and took the train out to the Schoenbrunn Palace.  It was another warm day, but the palace was beautiful.  I think Chris enjoyed the tour of this palace better.  It was pretty cool.   Unfortunately, no pictures allowed.  It is amazing how large the palace is, how many different rooms and spaces and how intricate the designs in each room from the walls, tapestry, décor and flooring. 

After our inside tour, we headed to the gardens in the back.  I have always wanted to return to walk through the large maze in the back.  However, once again, we just did not have time to be able to enjoy touring through it.  In addition, it was quite a warm day and now you have to pay extra to walk through it.  I wanted a few pictures of the palace and the ghrotto at the top of the hill.  Chris found a bench to sit and wait for me.  I hadn’t planned to hike up the hill, but it was the only way to get a good photo of the ghrotto at the top. 

Unfortunately the grounds between the hill and the back of the palace were covered with chairs and large speakers in preparations for the concert they were holding that night.  It would have been fun to go if we hadn’t been leaving that day. 

After returning to where Chris was resting, we made our way back to the metro station and returned to the train station to get our tickets to Budapest.  Luckily there were just a few people waiting in line when we returned so we were able to get our tickets pretty quickly.  We had about 40 minutes before we needed to board our train, so we looked for food.  We were out of cash and none of the café’s in the station took cards and there were no options outside the station.  Luckily we found a grocery store at one end of the station.  Chris picked out a patty in the deli and I had them make it into a sandwich and grabbed a slice of chocolate cake he had picked out.  We also grabbed a couple of yogurts and cereals.  By the time we finished we were able to go board our train.  After we were settled, we ate our yogurts and shared the sandwich and slice of cake. 

Evening in Budapest: 

This train ride from Vienna to Budapest was the shortest in duration of all the trains we had been on and it was just a few hours before we were back in Budapest.  We went straight to our Airbnb, The Diana Apartment on Vaci, to meet up with our host who let us in and gave us a quick tour.  We needed to do laundry, so we started with the machine sitting in plain site in the bathroom.  We got it plugged in and it seemed to work but could not get the door to close.  So after messaging back and forth with the host, we found the working machine in a closet by the kitchen.  This machine was both a washer and dryer.  We did our best to put it on the setting we hoped would wash and dry our clothes and then set off to find dinner.  We walked along the busy touristy street of Vaci and kept walking until eventually we were in near St. Stephans Basicalla.  Chris found a Georgian restaurant, called Vai Me,  that caught his eye and we decided to be adventurous and try it.  

There were many options and all unfamiliar to us.  Chris narrowed it down to a chicken dish topped with kiwi.  The breads looked good (pizza-like) – round with the bread twisted on each end.  Almost all the options had an egg on it.  However, I selected a chicken one without the egg.  Chris was a bit disappointed as he wanted to try one with the egg on it. 

It was good food and fun to try, not my favorite flavors, but we enjoyed it.  After dinner, we walked down to the river.  It was a beautiful night and the famous structures were all lit up, so we walked along the river and across Chain Bridget to capture the beautiful views- it was a beautiful last night in Budapest and Europe!

2016 Europe Trip: Days 8-9 Prague, Czech Republic

Day 8: Ostrava to Prague, Czech Republic

We had planned to arise early and take the first train into Prague, but it was a nice bed and quiet and we were exhausted, so we slept a little longer and then rushed to the train station to make the 9 am train.  At the train station, we picked up a sandwich to share and an excellent yogurt. I always enjoy the views of the countryside as I sit on the train!  

In Prague, we walked to our Airbnb flat and got settled, then set out to explore Prague.  We retraced our steps back to the Wenceslas Square and then walked down Vaclavske Street where we found a bakery that looked good and got lunch.  

After lunch, we continued down the street and wandered through the cobblestone roads to Old Town. We came to the square where the oldest Astronomical Clock stands and found a pack of tourists waiting for the clock to toll.  It is a beautiful square, but it was just very crowded.

We did not stay long and continued through the cobblestone streets until we came to Cech bridge.  We walked across the bridge to the other side and took the stairs to the Prague Metronome.  

At the top of the hill, we had great views of Prague.

We continued across the top of the hill to the west coming into The Royal Gardens which leads right to the Palace entrance.

We wondered through the castle ground and enjoyed the artitechure of the cathedrals.

As we were leaving the Castle Grounds, we had another great view of the city.  

But it was about this time that it began to drizzle, so we quickly made our way down the Old Castle stairs.  We were not sure where we were going, and just happened into Wallenstein Gardens.  It is a beautiful area with a pond and many statutes.  The rain was not letting up, so we ducked in to a building of Senate and stayed there for about 30 minutes until they kicked us out due to the garden area closing. 

We continued along Letenska street staying close to the buildings to try to not get pounded, as the rains came down faster and harder – we finally ducked into a café on Mostecka and bought hot chocolate so we could stay in the café for coverage.  As we sat there the rain turned to hail stones.  

We slowly enjoyed our hot chocolates until the rain slowed down to a drizzle.  Then we headed out back across the Charles Bridge.    

On the other side, we found a Valvaldi concert that was just beginning in St. Clements Cathedral, so we bought tickets for the front row and walked right in.  It was a beautiful concert and well done. 

At the completion of the concert, we wondered through the tourist filled streets and found a restaurant that had soup in a bread bowl which Chris was craving.  I selected a grilled salmon and it was excellent!  After dinner, we bought a strawberry dream roll that we had been eyeing all day.  It is a cinnamon sugar “donut” baked over coals. Then they filled it with strawberries, Nutella and whip cream.  It was amazing!

 It drizzled all the way back to the flat.  We decided we would be prepared the next day with rain gear. 

Day 9: 2nd Day in Prague:

Upon leaving our airbnb flat, we went left heading southwest to Vsyegard.  Along the way, we walked through a university campus and found this large snail crossing our path. 

As we left campus, we spotted a bakery.  I made the mistake of buying a “pizza” bread which I found out the sauce was ketchup on my first bite.  Chris made the better choice this time and selected a museuli bar dipped in chocolate.  It was amazing.  We should have gone back and bought at least a few more!  

We hiked up the hill to Vsyegard grounds.  We made our way to the cathedral and we were able to look in.  

Then we walked along the wall which overlooked the river.  The leaves along the wall were glistening with morning dew and it was so pretty!

As we stood at the wall, we could see the Petrin tower and the Prague Castle across the river.

 We made our way off Vysegard hill and walked along the river.  Under the first bridge was this pretty decoration and and number of swans swimming underneath.

 We continued walking until we came to the Legii bridge and then walked across.  We found a grocery store and bought some yogurt, fruit and water.  We enjoyed our snack at the base of this memorial to the Victims of Communism.

After our light snack, we made our way to the base of the funicular and bought tickets.

 The funicular took us up the hillside to the Petrin Tower (a mini Eiffel).

We bought tickets and took the stairs to the top observation area of the tower.  It was enclosed in glass, so while I did take pictures there, I liked the pictures I took at the lower observation area that was not enclosed in glass.  

From the tower, we walked across the hill west and then northeast back to the Castle.  

Today we bought tickets to tour the St. Vitus Cathedral (took at least 30-45 minutes waiting in line to purchase tickets).  We really had just wanted to see the inside of the St. Vitus Cathedral (and we found out we could have walked in for free, your tickets allow you to walk through the entire cathedral, but you can walk into the back and see the inide from the back for free).  It really was quite a nice cathedral and the stained glass windows were amazing. 

Our ticket also allowed us to walk through the St. George Basilica that was so plain compared to the first one, but was still interesting to tour through.  

The last part of our ticket allowed us to tour through the Golden Lane and Daliborka Tower.   

The top floor along the Golden Lane has been turned into a museum of armor, swords, guns, knifes, some torture materials.

The lower areas have been restored and re-created to show the homes that were made into the walls that surrounded the castle.  At the end of the row is the Daliborka Tower which was used as a prison.  You can see the cells and the torture equipment that were used on the prisoners.  

We walked down the front of the castle hill and as we were about to cross the bridge, I saw rotisserie ham.  We decided to give it a try.   When we got there, we found they had some dumplings that looked like spaztle so we tried that too.  The ham was good, but they gave us such a large chunk and a large bowl of dumplings.  It was fun to try, but not one of our favorites and would have enjoyed something else.  

We crossed back over the bridge and wondered through the old streets again filled with tourists.  We found another chocolate shop and selected a half dozen different chocolates to try.  We checked out a few shops looking for things to bring home to the family, then made our way towards our flat.  We grabbed another strawberry dream but it was not as good as the one we had the day before, they skimped on strawberries and they used a round one instead the the coned shaped and so the filling all leaked down in the the wrapper.  We also picked up a pizza and pizza rolls back to take to the flat that ended up being the perfect breakfast for the next morning.