Budapest

What a great trip to kick off 2012! Buda and Pest are on opposite sides of the Danube River. It wasn’t until 1873, with the constructions of the Chain Bridge, that the two cities became one. It then became one of the fastest developing European countries. They also have the fastest escalators I’ve ever been on. Seriously, these escalators are no joke!

We arrived Friday evening and checked into the Marriott. It's a gorgeous hotel right on the Danube River. We had a room on the 6th floor with a beautiful view of the river and the Citadel. It was such a treat to wake up to a sunrise behind this view in the morning!

One of the things I loved about this trip was that we didn't have an itinerary to follow. We had researched what we wanted to do but didn't have an actual schedule that we had to stick to. We decided to start by strolling through the Pest side and taking a look at some of the sights. Our first stop was the Grand Synagogue, Europe's largest Synagogue and museum. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside since it had closed for the day. Inside is the Wallenberg Memorial Park, built on top of a mass grave from the 1940s. We continued on to St. Steven's Basilica, commemorating the first Christian king of Hungary. We lucked out and entered the church during a concert. The music was really beautiful to match the decor of the church.

Our next stop was the Opera. We entered the lobby but decided not to pay for a tour. Instead, we bought a short book on Budapest. We continued our journey to the Parliament. This building is massive! And really pretty. We both agreed that we wanted to take a tour the following day. We later learned that this is the third largest Parliament building in the world. Student discount gets you 50% off!

Touring during winter really has its advantages....we strolled along the Danube back towards the Chain Bridge and it seemed like we had the whole city to ourselves. The "Shoes on the Danube" is pretty cool. It consists of 60 pairs of metal shoes set in concrete along the embankment commemorating Hungarian Jews killed in 1944-1945.

Tummies grumbling, we chose a boat-turned-restaurant on the river for some fine dining. The meal was delicious....goulash soup, almond encrusted chicken stuffed with feta and basil and a "Hungarian trilogy" plate consisting of three traditional Hungarian foods. Too full for dessert, we walked off our meal over the Chain Bridge and up the hill to The Castle District. The night-time views are really pretty, especially of the Parliament building. Budapest does a wonderful job of lighting up its landmarks at night time....it's possible that we enjoyed them even more at night. We returned to the Marriott for some drinks on the waterfront and called it a night.

The Budapest Marriott is great and the best part is the buffet breakfast! I was so excited for omelets and the variety of pastries....and everything else. Looking across the river to the castle while dining didn’t hurt either. Our first destination of the morning was the House of Terror. This building used to house the secret police of the Nazis and the state police of the Communist regime. Today, it commemorates the victims of these two parties. Unfortunately, the museum was closed for the weekend due to maintenance.

A bit disappointed but still in high spirits, we continued on to Heroes' Square. In the middle of the large square are the Millennium Monument and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Behind this square is the City Park where we were delighted to see an outdoor skating rink and what looked like a castle. It was, indeed, a castle...the Vajdahunyad Castle. It was originally built of cardboard and wood for the 1896 World Expo. It was built of stone at the end of the expo. Across the street is the Széchenyi Baths, an attraction we knew we were going to do the following day. We checked it out a bit so that we knew what to expect in the morning.

We made our way back to Parliament to buy tickets for an English tour. We killed the hour before the start of the tour with a Kürtőskalács, a circular cake with cinnamon and sugar, and a beer at an outdoor street bar. The tour of the Parliament building was really cool, though we only saw a few of the 691 rooms. There are also 27 gates, 10 courtyards and 29 stairways. The two wings are mirror images...we toured part of the north wing, the Lord's Chamber, used today as the session floor of Parliament. We were able to see the Hungarian Crown Jewels, guarded by soldiers that stand still on either side, only moving every 5 minutes to change the position of their sword. The crown is one the oldest in Europe and was used to crown every Hungarian king...something like 900 years. An interesting thing we saw were built-in cigar holders on the window sills. They are each numbered so that, when smoking was permitted, men would know which cigar was there.

Next up, the castle district during daylight hours. We rode the Funicular Railway, the world's second cable railway, up the hill. The castle now houses museums and offices and is no longer used as a residence. Just around the corner is the Matthias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion. The Roof of the church is beautiful. We were 10 minutes too late to view the inside. The foundation of the Fisherman's Bastion is a part of the former medieval fortified defensive wall. Though it never served defensive purposes, it did serve as the home to a huge fish and grocery market in the Middle Ages. It's really pretty and provides a great viewpoint to look over the city.

The one event that we did plan for and reserve was a wine tasting at Faust Winery. It's located underground of the Castle District inside of the caves. There's a vast system of natural caves….the ambiance was great! We were one of five small tables, it was extremely intimate. Our sommelier was really nice and informative. We ended up staying for 3 hours! We did the short "Curiosities of Hungary," 2 red wines and 3 white wines with a callback at the end. It also included Hungarian scones, which were really good. In addition, we ordered a cheese plate and a sausage plate which were the icing on the cake. We finished the evening with Brandy Salinkas. We really enjoyed our time there and highly recommend it!

Our final stop for the night was to meet up with one of Bryan's coworkers and her friend, who works at the Budapest Marriott and we had met the previous night at the bar. We went to the Hard Rock and had a really good time...lots of laughs.

Our last morning, we got up early and headed, again, for the Marriott breakfast....another satisfying meal. We were really excited for the Széchenyi baths! This bathhouse was built in the beginning of the 1900s and is one of the largest bath complexes in Europe. It has the hottest thermal spring in the city. It contains 3 outdoor pools and about 20 indoor pools, each with varying temperatures and mineral content.

We shared a cabin and changed into our bathing suits. I was able to schedule an immediate massage. I absolutely LOVE massages and this was one of the best I've had. It was labeled "Revitalizing and Relaxation" massage...I was so incredibly relaxed afterwards, Bryan asked if I had fallen asleep (I have never, nor will I ever, fall asleep during such a pleasurable experience). Bryan was kind enough to stake out and test all of the baths while I was melting away, so he had a great plan of attack ready for us when I was finished. Our first bath was the outdoor bath. We lucked out with clear, sunny skies. The walks between the pool and inside were a bit frigid! Next was a really hot "Jacuzzi" followed by a cooler, but warm, larger bath. After relaxing in those we headed to a "whirlpool" oval-shaped bath...the jets create a circular current that's really fun to play in. After that we headed to the "medicinal bath" where we remained floating in a state of relaxation until it was time to leave. We truly enjoyed this experience!

We really enjoyed this trip and the city and would visit again in the future. Three days were plenty but four would be nice. The weather called for two days of rain/snow but we only encountered about 20 minutes...the weather was clear, albeit a bit chilly.

Dave's Visit

Dedicated to Susan.

For those of you that don't know Dave, he is my and Bryan's best friend. Dave and Bryan were fraternity brothers and played intramural sports together. Dave and I share the same crazy, lovable fraternity big brother. We've been friends since the day we were introduced. Dave has lived in Chicago for nearly 4 years now. We usually get together 3 times per year, including our annual Ohio State football games in Columbus. 2011 lacked a presence of Dave in our lives and he was so kind as to fly himself over to good ole Munich to play with us. And so our adventures begin....

Day 1: Introduction
Dave arrives at the Munich Airport. Munich Airport has a brewery and a biergarten, Airbrau. Dave experiences his first beer in Germany. Now that I think it about, I wish we would have kept track of how many beers Dave consumed throughout this trip. I can tell you, though, that it's a lot. We headed home and let Dave settle in, and have a beer. Bryan made a fantastic lunch of leberkase semmel and spatzl. We then we headed to Augustinerkeller. Here, Dave experienced his first mas bier and pretzel. From there, we headed to Karlsplatz for outdoor ice skating. From ice skating, we headed to an Irish pub for some live music. We all thoroughly enjoyed the bassist of the band. It was a good night.

(At Augustiner)

Day 2: Munich Day turns Drinking Day
We enjoy taking our guests of Munich on a ‘Jenn and Bryan walking tour.’ We walk along the river and pass some cool buildings then turn in towards the city. We take them to the Viktualienmarkt, an outdoor market, to enjoy some quick, delicious German food. We introduced Dave to a pork sandwich with a layer of fried skin (I don’t know the German name of it) and schnitzel. I need to upload the video of Dave in heaven, describing his fondness for this meal. Our next stop was to look at lederhosen for Dave. Some Germans I have spoken to are amused by how much Americans love lederhosen and dirndls. I'm guilty, I love my dirndls. Yes, plural, I now have two....today was the day I purchased my second one. Bryan and I had both made previous purchases in this store. There is an associate that we absolutely love. He's a short, large, gay man and he's hysterical. He is on the face of all the advertising and he's a great deal of fun. I think he loves his job mostly because he gets to touch so many men’s’ booties.

Back to my story...it's common to be served Prosecco while shopping. We were served 5 bottles. Daniel, the associate we love, kept them coming, and we weren't going to be impolite by refusing. Three hours later, I had purchased a new dirndl, Dave had purchased his lederhosen and Bryan a new shirt. Oh, and I got a free hat! To be fair, I had been wanting a new dirndl. We forced ourselves out of the store, promising to return later to pick up our merchandise. Dave was really cold so we stopped at a store to get him a scarf. An hour later, he emerged with a scarf and 5 dress shirts (they were a great deal, though!) Finally, we're off to Hofbräuhaus. The place was packed but we found a seat and ordered a round of mas biers and obatzda with pretzel. We split one more mas, trying to keep it under control, and then headed back to the shop pick up our purchases. Daniel opened yet another bottle of Prosecco. Thank goodness our next stop was home. However, that sort of backfired when we drunk-Skyped the whole world upon returning.

(Pork sandwich and schnitzel)

Day 3: Disneyworld
Füssen is home to two castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Our friend, Christoph, lives in Füssen and offered to take us around....what a great guy! We toured the city and played in the snow while waiting for our reservation at the castle. Neuschwanstein is massive! I've heard reviews from some people that it was a bit disappointing. I didn't think so but I see their reasoning. The castle is a bit away from the train station; therefore, you must take a bus to the ticket office. You are given a group number and reservation number for your tour of the castle which may not be immediately. There is a guided tour in English that takes about 30 minutes. It's a huge castle so some could expect to be inside for a quite a while. However, due to the fact that the castle is incomplete and Ludwig II only lived here for under a year, there isn't a whole lot to see. It’s still incredible, especially the outside. After finishing up the tour, we headed up to Hohenschwangau for a private tour given by Christoph (he works there). Although this castle is much smaller than Neuschwanstein, we still enjoyed it. It’s interesting since the family actually lived there and it has a history. Christoph was also a great guide. We were also really happy that it snowed…the scenery was so beautiful. We’ll most likely be returning in the summer.

(Neuschwanstein Castle)

Day 4: We're not drinking (much)
This day was New Year's Eve and we were all exhausted from three non-stop days. We decide to sleep in and have brunch, then take Dave to Löwenbräu Keller for a beer. Bryan would then head to work and Dave and I would get some errands accomplished and get ready for the night. The day didn't quite work out that way. Our friend, Lynn, was visiting Munich from the States. We hadn't seen her yet so she planned to meet up at Löwenbräu. One beer turned into 3 for me and 4-5 for Dave as well as an extended time at Löwenbräu. We were rushed getting back to our apartment to get ready and finish other tasks we’d procrastinated on, and finally headed out to my friend's apartment for dinner and drinks. We were those rude people showing up just as dinner started but I don't think anyone really cared. We had fondue, which I love, and it didn't disappoint. We all hung out for a bit after dinner then headed to one of the bridges to watch the fireworks. My big mistake was taking a roadie which consisted of rum. Whoops. After that, we headed to BMW Welt (BMW World) for a celebration. When Dave and I decided it was time to go, we headed to the U-Bahn to get home. We weren’t paying attention and guess who got onto the wrong train? Yep. We headed away from the city. The next train back wasn't for another 45 minutes so we cabbed it all the way back. We managed to make it home about an hour and a half before it was time to get up for the next day's adventure. At least we made it home before Bryan did...he only had an hour of sleep.

(At Löwenbräu)

Day 5: Dave's hurting. We carry on.
I wake up to Bryan pouting...Dave is too hungover to execute our mission for the day. I don't like seeing Bryan sad, so I rally the troops and head out the door to catch the train to Garmisch to watch the ski jump competition. I've never been on such an uncomfortable train before...it was so hot! Poor Dave had to sit in between the cars to cool down. We finally arrived a little while before the start of the competition, so what else would we do but grab a beer across the way and watch the practice runs. Bryan and I felt fine, just tired, but poor Dave was having a rough time getting the beer down...I think partial blame goes to Domi for the shots he and Dave had taken the night before. Dave mans up and finishes the beer (we’re good friends so we helped him out a bit) and headed to the competition. It was so great! The skiers go so fast and far and the crowd was a good time too. At the end of the day we were all glad we fought the urge of laziness. Mission accomplished.

(Dave hurting and not too fond of his beer)

Day 6: Failed Attempts
I took a "personal morning" this day to recover from near exhaustion and to let the boys have a morning to themselves. Bryan took Dave out to Gauting, where we play baseball/softball. I was going to meet them afterwards in Starnberg for snacks and beer on the lake. My timing was off (fail #1) and I was going to miss the train. Disappointed, I decided I'd meet them back in the city. It ended up working out for me since the restaurant we were planning on going to was closed when the boys arrived (fail #2). We met back in the city and Dave got another pork sandwich from Viktualienmarkt (addict) and we headed to Schneider Weiss Bräuhaus. This was my first experience, although Bryan and I had been wanting to go, and it's now one of my favorite. The beer is delicious! This also marks the beginning of coaster flipping. In short, it’s like flip cup but you catch the coaster before it lands on the table. The table of children adjacent to us thought this was a fabulous way to entertain themselves. You're welcome parents.

To the main event: OSU v UF Gator Bowl game. We head up to the sports bar at the Marriott that Bryan works at to view the game. We're pumped, decked out in our OSU attire and ready to eat some American bar food. The bar doesn't get the channel (Fail #3). We're a bit discouraged but won't let this get our spirits down. We decide to grab some frozen pizzas and stream it at our house. Normally, we can stream whatever sporting event we want, but today is not our day. After many failed (#4 plus some) attempts and 30 minutes, we finally got the game on. The Buckeyes ended up losing, but at least the pizza was good.

(At Schneider Weiss in his Buckeye shirt)

Day 7: Put on your drinking uniforms
I had a private English lesson in the morning so the boys spent the morning at Dachau. We met up in the afternoon at the Isar River to enjoy some snacks and beer. Since Dave had purchased his lederhosen, we had to let him sport it. Now is also probably a good place to point out that we had an overall mission to visit 7 Bräuhauser in Munich. We had previously visited five...Airbrau, Augustiner, Hofbräuhaus, Löwenbräu, Schneider Weiss. Next up was Hacker-Pschorr Bräuhaus. Coaster drinking games begin. Nothing’s getting too serious but we start making up different rules for different games. I believe Bryan holds the record for flipping and catching a stack of 28 coasters at one time. Dave was a close second. I had no chance. We only stayed for a beer and walked it off across the Oktoberfest field to Paulaner Bräuhaus. We ordered our beers and Obatzda, and then things started to get serious. We all started off well in our new game of Flip-Coasters. I quickly fell behind the boys, though. To speed up the story, Bryan has won and Dave and I are competing for runner-up. Dave was ahead by a good amount...maybe 5-6 coasters, nearing the winning limit (I think it may have been 15 coasters). But I don’t go down without fight. I pulled off the most epic comeback and beat Dave. That’s right, Dave, I BEAT YOU!

(Dave in complete disbelief that he lost)

I think the story is only great for the three of us, but once you play, you’ll understand. Plus, we are three very competitive people.


Day 8: There's a Palace in the City?
We’ve visited Schloss Nymphenburg, which is in the Munich area, but we didn’t realize there is a big-ass palace (sorry, no other way to put it) smack in the middle of Munich city center. Well, we knew it was there, we just didn’t know how big it actually is. It’s called the Residenz and it’s great. Interesting fact: This was the Wittelsbach’s family palace who ruled Bavaria for nearly 700 years…the longest continuously ruling family in European history. The palace spans the styles of four different centuries. I don’t know how many rooms there are, but it’s a lot…at least 150. One could easily get lost inside. There’s a theatre, huge antiquarium, a church, galleries and so many other rooms. We also explored the Treasury, which was cool.

Afterwards, we went to Ratskeller under the large Gothic building famous in Munich. I can’t wait to go back for a real meal, as I only had a cup of soup. Just around the corner, we hit up Schneider Weiss once more. Although the Christmas Markets were already gone, there was one spot still serving Glühwein outdoors so we stopped for a night cap on our way home. Since it was Dave’s last night, we headed home early to get him packed up and ready for his flight in the morning. To all our Munich friends, if you’re reading this, we’re sorry…but we had an amazing Taco Night. Tacos with all the fixings and loaded nachos mmmmm! It was a great way to end an amazing week.

(The boys getting warm by the fire before ordering some Glühwein)

We really enjoyed having Dave here and are very appreciative that he took the time off of work and saved up his money to come see us. Anyone else planning on coming to Munich to visit us…this is a glimpse of what may be in store for you. Thankfully, Dave plans on coming back for Oktoberfest and he’ll get to experience the biergartens, as they’re obviously closed in winter.

Happy New Year

I am the worst Blogger.

With new years, come new resolutions, and I'm jumping on the bandwagon. I've told myself I'm going to keep up my blog and blog at least once per month. I have no idea if anyone actually reads this but I figure it's a good way to make myself journal and keep friends updated if they do. So here we go....

2011 was an incredible year! Together, we managed to visit 7 countries and what we feel are considered some of “Europe’s top attractions.”

February: Prague, Czech Republic
March: Rome, Naples/Sorrento/Capri/Pompeii, Italy
April: Zermatt, Switzerland
May: Zurich, Switzerland
June: (Jenn to Amsterdam with her brother)
   Vienna, Austria
July: Paris, Rouen and Etratret, France
   (Jenn solo to the USA)
August: Berlin, Germany
September: Dublin, Gallway, Killarney, Blarney
          and Cork, Ireland
   Oktoberfest (not really travel but a great    
    experience)
October: Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre and
         Venice, Italy
November: Regensburg, Germany
December: Rothenburg, Nürnberg, Füssen and Garmisch, Germany

Needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do on my blogs for our travel experiences. We had such an amazing 2011 that I'm not sure we'll top it. We won't be getting engaged this year, so that may be the deciding factor. However, we have big plans for this year for seeing many countries and we're pretty excited about it! I would say that 2013 may be a letdown after these two years, but we'll be getting married so it will contend for best year ever too.

The question we're asked most is, "What is your favorite place you've visited so far?" That is a terribly difficult question to answer. Actually, it's impossible. So I will provide as brief as possible of a highlight:

-Prague was surprisingly beautiful; inexpensive; the Castle Cathedral was beautiful; it was our first trip.

-Rome, well, it's Rome; standing in front of and inside of the massive Coliseum and Roman Forum thinking about their history and the fact that they're 2000 years old; we could have spent days in the Vatican Museum.

-Naples/Capri/Sorrento/Pompeii: the pizza of Naples (I literally had it for every meal); the views of Sorrento and Capri; Pompeii's excavations and massiveness; Mt. Vesuvius.

-Zermatt was an amazing ski trip, we had so much fun and the town is adorable; Bryan's proposal, of course!

-Zurich was a relaxing trip of wondering the streets and shopping; lunch by the lake was beautiful.

-I think Amsterdam is adorable and I love the architecture; the trip was made even better that I was joined by my brother; the nightlife was great and we met really nice people; returning with Bryan in February.

-Vienna was beautiful; the Shonbrunn Palace was massive and beautiful with wonderful views; drinks overlooking the city; my family!

-Paris was even better than I expected, I really enjoyed the architecture; the views from the top of Notre Dame; croissants and wine.

-Rouen was such a peaceful portion of the trip; relaxing, ping pong, croissants and wine.

-Etratret was breathtaking; trying mussels for the first time and loving them; Bryan's mom and stepdad for all of France!

-We timed Berlin to meet up with our friend Brooks, definite highlight; the chocolate store; beach bar in between the water and the Berlin wall; the sights.

-Ireland as a whole was a great trip; Bryan’s dad joined us!; great beer; Bryan got to play golf; randomly staying in the same room as friends from UCF that we didn’t know were in Europe; everything was great...too much to keep this short, the Paddy Wagon tour contributed to this; seeing our friends Cristen and Marc in Dublin.

-I was completely blown away by Florence! What a great city; Statue of David; overlooking the city at Piazzale Michelangelo.

-The tower of Pisa in Pisa.

-Cinque Terre could possibly be my favorite spot in Italy; the 5 villages were all beautiful; hiking.

-Getting lost in Venice; sitting at San Giorgio looking across to Venice; St. Mark’s Basilica.

-Regensburg is a historical town; Thanksgiving with friends.

-Rothenburg was a very "German" city; the city wall; Christmas markets.

-Nürnberg had wonderful Christmas markets; very enjoyable to walk around; eating all of the food.

-Füssen was made even better by having a personal tour by our friend, Christoph; such a fun trip and the castles were great; Dave was here.

-Garmisch was holding a ski jump competition; Dave was here.


As for our day-to-day lives....Bryan is still working at Marriott. The family I was previously with hired an Au Pair. It's extremely cost effective if you have a spare room and don't mind someone living in your house. I still babysit for them quite often on the weekends. I'm now employed by another family, working during the week and occasional babysitting on weekends. They are a German-Austrian family with two girls, 6 and 8. Both girls attended a bi-lingual kindergarten and speak English. They hired me to ensure the girls keep their English and, of course, to take care of them. I really like my new family and it's going very well. I'm still teaching my adult English class and private tutoring.

As for the future, we're planning on returning to the States mid-November of this year. We are excited to spend the holidays with our families. I'm also looking forward to a warm, Florida winter. I know this year is going to fly by...we're already down to 10 months remaining in Munich. We haven't decided where we're going to settle or what we're going to do as occupations. For now, we're living in the present and enjoying Europe as much as possible!