Buongiorno Principessa!

This morning... Early (Like we left the house at 5:20am), we got on a flight and headed for Milan, Italy.
The flight left Timisoara at 6:40 and we landed in Milan at 7:01.  Wow!  That was a short flight... well, we also gained an hour because of time zones, but that was still fun to think for a second.

As we were descending in the plane, the Alps were in full view.  It was so awesome to see the snowcapped crags and jagged peaks from above, and then from the equal level, and then from the ground.

We went to our hostel and dropped off our luggage and went into the city.  The first place we stopped was the Duomo.  This cathedral is the fifth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in the country of Italy (The largest is St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, which is technically inside the borders of Italy but a separate country).  It did not disappoint.  It looks big from the outside, but we walked inside, and it is so HUGE.  I felt like i was swallowed up in the expanse of the cathedral.  There was also a crypt there which we could walk in and see...something (I don't understand much Italian).  But I like the idea of crypts and catacombs and whatnot.

Adjacent to the square infront of the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle II.  This is one of the oldest shopping malls in the world (or something like that... Wikipedia check it if you care).  It was cool with a bunch of fancy shops in it.  They had a Gucci Cafe (I only drink designer coffee).

We had lunch at this cool, modern bakery.  I had bruschetta (Broo-shket-ah in Italian) and it was amazing.

After walking through that, we went to an old castle and big arch and around much of the city.  Another thing about Milan is that it is the shopping capital of the World.  There is an street called Via Monte Napoleone which has tons of designer shops and there are five or six streets surrounding that street that also have some high end looking stores.  We stopped in a boutique store near that street (Rosalie's idea, but it was actually very nice) and spent a good amount of time in there.

We walked back by the Duomo at night for some cool lit up pics :)

We are only in Milan for another half day, so tomorrow will be early.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II

Statue of Leonardo

 Inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II at night.  Prada, Louis V.

 Duomo at night.

Some of the stained glass windows were lit from the inside at night.

Last day in Budapest and on to Romania

Yesterday was our last day in Budapest.  Our train to Romania left at 3:10 PM so we had some time in the morning.  We walked to the Fisherman's Bastian and got one last great view of the Danube and Pest side.

Then we spent a little over 5 hours on the train to Timisoara (Teemee-show-ah-rah) and Tavi was waiting for us at the train station when we got there.  He took us to his house and we had a wonderful dinner with his family and then headed to bed.

Today, Tavi took us around town a little bit. We started at the revolution museum and watched a video about December 1989 when the communist dictator of the country Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown.  That whole movement to end communism in Romania was started here in Timisoara.  While watching the video about it, Tavi told us that he was there in the midst of the huge crowd that gathered in the town square.  It is so interesting to think of people who were a part of an entire change of government.

We also walked into the Orthodox cathedral at the end of the town square and that was impressive.  Very dark, and very ornate.

 Fisherman's Bastian again.

Church of our Lady.  I like the tiled roof.

The Opera in the town square in Timisoara where the speeches where happening during the revolution in 1989.

 This square was packed with over 100,000 people.  The orthodox church is at the end of the square.

Orthodox church up close.  One incident happened during the revolution where there were a group of 30 or so students on these steps holding candles and the Communist leaders ordered the troops to open fire on them.

Inside the orthodox church.

Rubber Ducky, you're the one.

We started today saying good bye to our friend from New Zealand, Jo, and then left to go make some new friends.  We met up with Doug and Lea Coppage at a train station and then went out to lunch with them.

They have been living just outside of Budapest and we have a couple mutual friends.  They are some of the nicest people I have met.  After lunch they took us to an island on the Danube and walked around that and saw a small little zoo with some crazy looking animals... and some peacocks!

After that, we went back to the hostel and got ready to got take a bath.

So Budapest is built on terrain where there are mineral springs everywhere, so there are bathhouses all over the place.  We went to a place called Szechenyi (Say-chain-yee ...i think) Furdo.  This is a very large bathhouse on the Pest side of Budapest.  There are 15 indoor pools and 3 outdoor pools there with a wide variety of temperatures.  We spent most of the afternoon there.  They also had saunas and steam rooms and massage rooms.  It was fun going from the 40°C (104°F) pool into the 20°C (68°F).... Phhhhhhh that is a shock!  Or going from the steam room at 65°C (149°F) into the pool that was 18°C (about 65°F) even better... I'm sure I damaged something doing that :)  There were three outdoor baths too.  Those were at 37-38°C (98-100°F) That was nice because it was chilly outside and it warmed us up.  It was a very relaxing half of the day.

Inside the front door of the Bath.

Also in the lobby there.

Outdoor pool has some fountains to get massages with.

Nice columns in one of the indoor pools.

Danube, Cathedral, and Exit Games!

I've been a tiny bit behind but that is because I have been so busy here in Budapest.

Yesterday, we walked around the city some, had some fun conversations with the Australians and New Zealander in our hostel, and then we did something called an Exit Game...

So what that is is you go into a room with a group (our group was Rosalie, a guy we met on our walking tour Chris, and Me) and you get locked in a room and have an hour to find your way out by solving a series of clues and logic puzzles hidden all over the room.  We started in a room that was pretty plain, but after solving four or five clues, we found door with some locks on it inside a wardrobe. Once we figured out the clues to open those, we walked through that into this "Alice in Wonderland" style room.  There were a bunch of other clues in there and we ended up finishing the game in 59 minutes and 14 seconds... Phew!  46 seconds left.

These games are all over the whole city of Budapest with different themes and puzzles.  Soooo... I know what I am going to be doing with the rest of my life (hehe...maybe?) But seriously, those things were absolutely fun.

After that, Rosalie and I went on a cruise up and down the Danube at night and got some AWESOME views of the river banks.

Today, we went looking for another exit game to do but they were closed early, so we headed to the St. Stephans Basilika and went in there.  As we walked in, an Organ was playing beautifully there (because of Sunday Mass) and the inside of the basilica was magnificent.  Red marble and Gold trim all over and massive beautiful columns and domes.  We then got to go up onto the top of the dome and got a 360 degree view of Budapest.  The view was magnificent.  We also met an Irish man on the way down from the top and now I want an Irish accent.

Then we did some souvenir shopping and then went to the ballet The Merry Widow. The ballet was interesting because the dancing seemed more like Hungarian folk dancing than ballet, but it was still cool.

The Australians, Dylan and Jacquie, left today and that was a little bit sad, because we had so much fun hanging out with them.  But hopefully we can stay connected via Facebook or something.

 Cool tiled building from on top of Stephans Basilica.

 Parliament all lit up at night.

Bridge over the Danube all lit up

Chain Bridge with a palace/hotel behind.

Cool lit up building.... not sure what it's purpose is.

Inside Stephan's Basilica.

The light was shining in the window, and it was awesome because it was shining right onto a big marble-tiled picture of a sun on the floor.  (These always make me think of Shekhinah glory)

First tastes of Hungary

Yesterday...

We started out the day with a walking tour.  Our tour guide Adam was great.  He was very funny and insightful about everything Hungary.  He told many stories about the history of Budapest, but one springs to mind now.

Stephan's Basilika is the big church I showed in the last blog, Stephan was the first king of Hungary, and he made the decision to follow the Holy Roman Empire back in the 10th Century.  When he passed away, they cut him into pieces and sent them to all the churches that he established around the country.  So they have inside the church the "Holy Right" hand of Stephan.  Then there was a famous Hungarian footballer (soccer player) who was the best soccer player ever to come through Hungary... so after he died they cut him into pieces and sent his body parts all over the country.  So they have the "Holy Left" foot of that guy.  Also when Hungary wanted to join the EU, one of the remaining members of the Hapsburg family really fought for Hungary's inclusion in the EU.  He said his heart was for the people of Hungary.  Sooooo.... when he died, they cut him into pieces and so they have the "Holy Heart" of that guy.  So eventually, they will have all the parts to make a Holy Frankenstein :)

We walked around the city and saw the great Market Hall and many souvenir shops on the pedestrian streets and then came back to the Hostel.  We sat and had some great conversation with the Australians and New Zealander that are in our room.  It was fun to get their perspective on History and the world and it was also so much fun hearing their accents.  We all went out to a ruin pub, which is an old pub (400 years old) called Szimpla.  It has withstood all the bombings from all the wars and is still going strong.

After that, we called it a night and headed to bed.  It was rainy and foggy all day, so the pictures I took aren't the best.  But here you go anyway.

Foggy Buda Castle.

View of Pest from up on Buda hill.

Church of Our Lady

Fisherman's Bastian.

Hungary is looking like it will be great!

We left Vienna (sniff) and made our way to Budapest, Hungary by train.  This was our first experience of inner city travelling without going by bus and it was great.  Trains are way better.  Smoother, faster, way more personal space, and they have a restaurant car and food services.

When we got to Budapest, it took us a while to find where the metro was, but eventually found it and made our way to the hostel.  It is called the Zen Hostel and that is a good description.  You are given slippers as you come in the door and there is a very laid back attitude around the whole place.

We met a few people in our room.  One is from New Zealand and two are from Australia.  They were talking about going to something called Exit Games, where you get locked in a room and solve clues to get out... Um, Awesome!  It is definitely something we want to do.

We head out to walk around, stopped by the box office to get a ticket for the ballet here, and some really good seats were only $6.60.  Not too shabby!

Then we walked some of the city and saw some great sights, such as a big basilica, parliament building, castles, and the Danube River.  The Danube splits the city in half.  On one side is Buda and Obuda and on the other is Pest.  We are staying on the Pest side.

We went to dinner and had some traditional Hungarian food.  I got a Chicken Paprika dish with a goulash soup.  It was good!  At dinner, we started talking about all the things we want to do while we are here, and were surprised that this is the city that we have so much we want to do even though we knew nothing about this city before we showed up.

After that went to see the Danube at night.  The castles on the far side are beautiful all lit up.

Szechenyi Chain Bridge and Buda Castle.

 Another castle... Don't know what it is yet, but I will find out.

Danube river. (la da da da da... dada... dada)

Stephen's Basilica

Schonbrunn and Weinerschnitzel

Today we went to the Schloß Schönbrunn which is a great big palace in Vienna. It was beautiful.  Even in the winter, you could tell how the massive gardens might look in the spring time with all of the trees and  flowers in bloom.  The palace building itself was also an impressive sight.  I liked imagining being on parade down the big streets in my fleet of horse drawn carriages each carriage getting more and more extravagant until mine arrives at last and the people who come to watch applaud as I exit mine in an equally as extravagant an outfit.  Ahhhh...  There was also a Zoo inside the palace walls and a butterfly house, but that wasn't open.

We saw Ahmed off to the airport and then went to go to dinner.  On the way, we got sidetracked by some stores (shiny) and then headed to Fligmuller to get a Weinerschnitzel.  From what Brad Hunter had told us, these were the best in Vienna and they did not dissappoint.  Soooo good.  Then we went right around the corner and had some ice cream at another recommended place.  Also, soooo good.

Tomorrow we head to Budapest so we bid a fond Auf Wiedersehen to fair Vienna.  Still one of my favorite cities!

So check out the photos of the day.

Schonbrunn Palace from the front.

Schonbrunn Palace from the back side.

Looking down the gardens in the back yard to the nice structure on the hill.

Look how big the back yard really is.

Closer view of the structure on the hill with reflecting pond in front of it.

Walking around the inner ring

Another fine day in Vienna.

One of Rosalie's friends who is living in Berlin came down and met up with us here in Vienna.  His name is Ahmed and he speaks many languages, including german, and I got to practice and speak German with him a lot today.  It was very fun for me and I felt like I knew more than I did before.  

We started out and walked around in the city center (mostly) inside a big circular street referred to as the ring.  There were many cool shops and sights that you could find just by walking down random side streets in the ring.  We saw some of the same things as yesterday as well as Karlsplatz, Hofburg palace, and we went inside Stephensdom.  The all-around beauty of the architecture is outstanding.

We went to the Sacher Cafe and had the original Sachertorte (Viennese chocolatey cake type thing) and a Wiener Melange (coffee drink typical of Vienna).  They tasted too good!  

We then walked to Belvedere Palace and saw the grounds... That place is amazing.  I think I might get myself one.  It seems like the thing to do.  The gardens were huge and when we walked in I was taking all sorts of pictures and then realized we were in the back yard :)  The front was just as cool with a giant reflecting pool in the front of it.

After leaving there, we stopped in a few shops (Oh if I hadn't mentioned it yet, Vienna is kind of famous for all of the shopping that you can do here) and wandered around them for a while.  We then had dinner at a local place and headed back to the hostel.

Check out these pics from today.

Rossauer Barracks.

Backyard of Belvedere Palace

Front yard/pool of Belvedere Palace

My feet are tired.

Yesterday, We arrived in Vienna around noon.  We found our way to the hostel and headed to a church in the city called New City Wien.  The church was in both English and German languages.  That was a fun experience.

I knew the pastor and his wife, Brad and Stacey Hunter,  from the last time I had come to Vienna in 2008.  It was so fun though because it was almost as if no time had passed.  I felt like it was just the other day we were there and it was great fun talking to them.  They had a meal after the service and we stayed there and met up with another contact I had in Vienna, Josh.  Josh is the son of one of my fathers college house mates.  It was nice to see him and catch up with what he is doing here and back home.

After we left church, we headed to Stephensdom (Big recognizable cathedral in the center of the city) and walked around there a bit.  We walked all around some of the shopping streets in Vienna and saw some amazing buildings all lit up.  We then headed back to the hostel for the night.

Today is why my feet hurt.
We headed down a big shopping street this morning because today was Rosalie's birthday.  She had also picked out a few vintage stores she wanted to check out.  So we walked around and found a couple and walked through a flea market.  After that, we went by the Museum of Natural History and the Kunsthistorisches museum (Art History Museum) and down by the Parliament building and then to the Rathaus (City Hall) where there is typically a garden in front of it, but they had put in a HUGE ice skating rink.  There were two big areas to skate and then a whole bunch of small trails that you could go around on too.  We skated there for hours and that was really fun!  There were beautiful views from the rinks of beautiful Viennese architecture all around.

After ice skating, we headed to the Staatsoper (State Opera)  We heard there was a possibility of getting cheap standing area tickets and so we decided it was worth it.  The ballet Dornröschen (Sleeping Beauty) was playing tonight.  So we stood in line to get the tickets which were 4 Euro each!  4 Euro?  That has to be a mistake, right?  Nope.  And the area where we were standing had a great view.  The only problem was... the whole standing for three hours thing.  Hence, my feet are tired.  The ballet, however, was so amazing, the sets, the costumes, the performers, and the music.  I was surprised that the Disney version of sleeping beauty uses so much of Tchaikovsky's music in it.  There were at least 5 songs that I could tell that were in the Disney movie that came from the ballet. (If you didn't know this about me, Disney's Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney movie so I really liked the ballet)

Check out some pics of the day.

Cool colorful facades on buildings in Vienna.

Museum of Natural History.

Hofburgtheater, across the street from the Rathaus.

Rathaus with the ice skating park in front of it.

View from above of some of the skating paths.

 I found out how to get some of my camera settings to work... Artsy B&W of the larger ice rink.

 Ceiling in the Lobby of the Staatsoper.

View from my standing area place at the inside the Staatoper.

Finale in Praha

This was our last full day in Prague.

We started out the day and walked towards Vichyhrad which is another castle with some great views of other parts of Prague and there is a cool cathedral there too.  There was a cemetery there that had beautiful headstones at each grave.  The oldest grave I noticed was from the early 1700's.  We walked around the whole castle and there were some awesome high walled sections that looked very ancient and so many different views of the city.

We had lunch at a charming little pizza place (and we were able to get free tap water there!)  The to go box had cute dinosaurs all over it.

We then walked to an island that was at the base of Most Legii (one of the bridges there).  People were feeding the swans, ducks, seagulls, and other water birds that happened along.

After that we walked around and under Charles Bridge and found this other park where peacocks and peahens were roaming free.  We sat and watched an old lady feeding the peacocks and she was speaking to them in Czech.  At one point, she started counting and said something to us we didn't understand and left.  We, however, took the bread that she had left and began trying to feed the peacocks.  We eventually were able to get them to come eat the bread from the palms of our hands.  Peacocks are some of the most beautiful animals with intricate patterns all over their whole bodies and their bright blue necks were stunning.  While we were feeding the peacocks though, a man came up and shouted to us and pointed at a key in his hand... We had been locked in (sheepish grin).  I guess that lady that said something to us said "The park is closing, you should leave" or something like that.  Oooops!  Well the man graciously let us out of the park and all is good.
We kept some of the bread the lady at the peacock garden left behind and we headed back to the island with the swans and fed them by hand too!

We went back to the hostel and grabbed a bite to eat there and afterwards went to the Ice Pub that is very close to one entrance of Charles Bridge.  That was hilarious.  The bar area was fun and the walls were ice and there were ice statues all over.  You are given a jacket and gloves and are allowed to stay in the bar for 30 minutes, all the drinks come in glasses made out of ice.  It was hilarious because of the group that went in with us.  There were about 6 or 7 Scottish guys there and they were just having a good ole time.  Some things they would yell would be in such a thick accent, i couldn't even understand what they were saying.

Tomorrow will be an early morning getting on a bus to head to Vienna!

Cathedral inside the castle Vishyhrad.

View of Prague Castle and St. Vitus from Vishyhrad.

Swan says "What are you looking at?!"

View back towards Prague 1 from the island with the swans.

Peacock... Cool guy.