 |
| Traveling is exhausting! |
This is my last report from Europe, as we are now sitting in the airport waiting for a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Philadelphia. We are all eager to sleep in our own beds, eat hamburgers, see Christopher and have regular access to the internet (not in that order…).
The past four days have been a whirlwind of different cities, countries and experiences. On Sunday we spent an exhilarating day in Budapest. The Marriott, and particularly our room, had a magnificent view across the Danube of the Gellert Spa Hotel and Monument, the Citadel and the Castle District.
 |
| View from the Marriott Lounge |
Our first event on Sunday morning, ironically, was to peek inside a church that was built into a cave.
 |
| The Rock Church |
 |
| In front of the rock church |
Then we crossed the street to look around the old spa hotel. We learned that the Italian Bishop Gellert was a Christian martyr at the hands of "vengeful pagans" and was supposedly put into a barrel studded with nails and thrown into the Danube. He was later commemorated with a huge monument built into the side of the mountain.
 |
| Gellert spa is in the background |
Then we climbed to the top of the mountain where the Citadel is and took in a panoramic view of the city.
 |
| View of Pest from the Citadel |
 |
| Carrie singing at castle |
After lunch we toured around the castle district where Carrie made her first forints singing for tourists out on the street. Rob took a cut as her manager and I got a cut as an audience plant and Carrie took home $25 in Hungarian change. We may have found a way to finance our next trip abroad!
 |
| Rob will be putting together a video of an original song...more on that later |
 |
They've done a great job copying Epcot!
|
 |
| The Castle District |
 |
| View of Parliament from the Castle |
 |
| Carrie's competition |
 |
| Performing in Budapest with the locals |
Monday morning included shopping, sampling McDonalds Hungary and saying a sad goodbye to the Marriott Executive Lounge where we definitely got our money’s worth of “free” food and beverage, not to mention a spectacular view. After lunch we took a scenic drive north about 13k to Szentendre, a 1,000 year old village on the Danube (which is brown, not blue, as one would hope). More shopping, exploring and eating thoroughly tired us out, so we ate ice cream, which is really cheap and popular in Hungary, and went to sleep in a little panzio (hotel) by the river.
 |
| There seems to be a problem with doors here |
 |
| Even Carrie won't fit in |
 |
Lunch at the Farmer's Market
|
We had an ambitious schedule on Tuesday as we were in three countries in one day. First we visited Esztergom, Hungary where we went to a local farmers market, climbed to the top of the largest templom (church) for a birds eye view and then crossed a bridge over to Slovakia.
 |
View of Slovakia
We were feeling adventurous so changed our route to drive through southern Slovakia to visit the capital, Bratislava. We did our normal circling of the city five or six times before getting our bearings and had a delicious dinner there. |
 |
Dinner in Bratislava
Next stop was just outside of Vienna , Austria, for the night. |
On Wednesday we drove into the city (and around in circles a number of times) until we found the historic shopping district where we experienced the culture shock of prices west of Hungary. We saw the Cathedral of Saint Stephen, then drove to Schonbrunn Palace to meet up with some Hungarian friends from the festival.
 |
| Our Hungarian friends |
Ishte, Sarah and their mom took us to a food chain called Schnitzel House and we spent the afternoon with them walking and driving around town.
 |
Alex says that schnitzel is serious business
|
 |
Singing with an Italian in Vienna
|
 |
| So we needed some ice cream money... |
We had the most spectacular end to our day (and our trip) on the top of a “space needle” type building where we saw the Austrian landscape from the air, saw rain from the clouds and saw a rainbow in the sky.
 |
| Up in the the sky tower |
We woke up at 4 am this morning to start our long journey home, thanking God for new friends, adventures, cultural experiences, great weather, safety and our own home in Phoenixville, PA, USA.
