19 Budapest-iful Years

Wowzers...19 years and counting! 

I never dreamed us spending an anniversary in this remarkable city. Budapest took us completely by surprise and has become one of our most favorite city's we have visited thus far. It is packed with history, charm, great architecture, fabulous goulash, a wonderful Christmas market, fun shopping, diversity and to top it off...hot baths! Who knew?! Spencer and I had a really great time for three days and once again want to thank, and absolutely LOVE the McCluckie's - Andy, Azaria and baby Sienna, for coming to be with the kids. 

We were able to figure out their well layed-out underground system at the airport and only paid 14USD for a pass, for the entire three days we were there! It was so refreshing to visit a city and not get completely jabbed with transportation costs. We arrived and went straight out to visit the markets. As per usual, our camera can't quite capture the magic of the event. It's just so sparkly and fun. The smells, the music and the yummy food.  

We were told to try the langos. It's a type of flatbread smothered with cheese, veggies and meats. The cook takes the round bread, puts the toppings on, folds it in half and sets those big hot irons on top to cook them.

The next day we used our 'Rick Steves' book and did a wonderful walking tour of the city. This lion statue (was one, our friends, Rachelle and Tyler Price told us about, so I took a picture..)the lion supposedly doesn't have a tongue - making it a flaw by the designer. (By the way, who critiques things like that...) It's on/by the famous Chain Bridge that crosses the massive Danube River. The bridge, in it's day when it was first constructed, was considered to be one of the wonders of the world. 

Looking at Pest from the Buda side. A perfect view of Chain Bridge.

Matthias Church

A view of Parliament from the Buda side of the Danube. We just thought it was such a beautiful city.

The Halászbástya or Fisherman's Bastion is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style situated on the Buda bank of the Danube, which is on the Castle hill around Matthias Church.

It was really really beautiful. When we first walked into this area, it almost takes your breath away. 

How did I luck out having Spencer in my life? What a guy! (as Wesley would say). 

He is an amazing father and husband. Love you SO much!

We were led, by the book, to a sobering memorial of metal shoes on the bank of the Danube - immortalizing the tragic event to the Nazi's lining Hungarian Jews on the side of the river and shooting them. I cannot get over how horrible WWII events were. The Hungarians had to endure so much suffering. 

600K Jews were killed from Hungary alone. 

We then walked back over another bridge called Margaret Bridge to the Pest side

and toured around the stunning grounds of Parliament. 

Spence really liked this area.

Yep! Our own wonderful Ronald Regan statue in the middle of the city as a sign of 
gratitude for his (USA's) help to Hungary during the Cold War. HipHip Hooray! For great leaders!!

St. Stephen's Basilica

This is a Roman Catholic Basilica, named after the first king of Hungary.

I admired the story of this Hungarian flag with the circle cut out in the center...cutting the circle out was a symbol the young people used to show their anger and protest toward the communist party. The communist party had put their symbol in the centre of the flag...so the youth cut it out and hug it up. Pretty brave..

This was the first McDonald's behind the Iron Curtain 

This memorial statue is dedicated to Carl Lutz, the Swiss Vice Consul based in Budapest during the war, who was instrumental in helping to save over 62,000 thousands of Jews from deportation and possible execution.

Budapest Opera House!

We ordered tickets in advance for the showing of the Nutcracker Ballet! 

The performance was absolutely positively BREATH TAKING! 

Even Spencer was impressed with the production and athleticism of these performers. It was a fabulous evening!

The entrance staircase..I felt there was a very similar feel to this opera house to the one in Vienna.

The ceiling

The room was very opulent.

The next day we went to another sobering museum called The House of Terror.

It was a very impactful display of how the Nazi's came in and marched down their famous

Andrássy Street when they over took Budapest. This story was done in conjunction to when the Russians came in and invaded Budapest, kicked the Nazi's out, and continued horrors amongst the Hungarian people. 

Yes, very sad, very important to remember, and very well done. A must see...

The second largest Jewish synagogue in the world (NYC is the largest).

We were not able to go inside because we came on Saturday, which is their Sabbath.

But, we were able to see the piece of art I was very excited to see...

The Tree of Life.

It is a breath taking memorial of a weeping willow metal tree. Each limb was dripping with metal leaves that had the names of Jewish people killed engraved on each of them. I was blown away. It instantly became a new favorite piece of art for me. The parallel of this tree, to our own beliefs, was remarkable. 

The Great Market Hall

This market was amazing! It was a locals shopping center filled with food stalls, meats, cheese, spices (paprika is what they are famous for), dairy, sweets, breads, clothing, almost anything you could think of. 

Hero's Square
The city's largest city square with statues of their country's hero's around the Archangel Gabriel.

The outdoor Christmas skating rink by the castle.

 Vajdahunyad (Medieval) Castle

It was SO cold!

Széchenyi Baths and Spa

K, so obviously we couldn't get an ariel view of the spa, so I took this one from the internet, but this is what it looks like. It was SO fun! and the water was HOT! We loved it...and yes, everyone is dressed. :) 

Baths are a famous and popular Hungarian past-time.

 UMMMM, ya, I get it......

This was the only shot we got. It was so cold outside, so it was hard to see well. 
Home in England....

 Here are a few pictures of Ike and Anne with beautiful Baby Sienna. 
Andy and Azaria had to help someone at church, so Ike and Anne jumped in to help with Sienna.
She was apparently having a hard time in nursery, so they took her and walked her till she fell asleep. 

 I guess Ike was SO happy because she usually will only go to Anne, 
so Ike was thrilled that she spent time with him too. :) xxx

 Once again, we were surprised by our amazing children, with a yummy candle lit dinner made my them and the McCluckies. Oh how blessed we are to have such thoughtful children.