Summer in February--Budapest and Berlin

We wanted to get out of the cold and found these two spots: the thermal baths in Budapest. It was seriously cold outside--maybe 25 degrees, but Brady braved the frostbite to get out of the wonderful waters to take the photos. (Crazy? You decide...)

 This place had five pools and more spas inside. We stayed here for several hours among people from many Euro countries...

 Brady did some artsy b and ws...Bathing beauties!

 Professional quality photography here--I'm going to frame this one at home.

 This is Tropical Islands (in an old WWII hangar just outside of Berlin). We took a 3 hour bus ride each way, and there were thousands of near-naked people...but it was WARM.

More bathing beauties...

Finn's checking out a "hot chick"...we're having us some fun :)

Krakow/Auschwitz/Salt Mine

 Dad and Hector's trip to Auschwitz, a Polish concentration camp, was quite an experience. These are some pictures of a few of the children killed.

 The wall where people were executed by a pistol shot to the head.

 The Cloth Hall in Krakow's main square is Europe's biggest medieval shopping hall, with all kinds of stuff.

 Dad practices jumping pictures with Hector

 We had some Poles take this on the edge of Wawel Castle's hill.

 The old Jewish cemetery

 A young kid gave us yarmulkes to wear in the cemetery, and he took a picture for us.

A depiction of an old Polish story carved out of salt by the miners in the Salt Mine in a town near Krakow.

Amsterdam--ganja and other sweet treats

 We found some interesting graffiti downtown while strolling through a back street near the Red Light District.

 Iamsterdam: amsterdam's slogan, but it's not that punny. This is inside a little walled-in museum/cafe complex downtown.

 On a bridge over a canal, some people (who seemed a little elevated) blew the biggest bubbles any of us had ever seen. Here Hector hurls himself into a huge one.

 Interesting modern sculptures

 A canal at night

 Here we are at Zansgraaft, a little port village who's industry was big old windmills: the kids got to go look at one turned into a museum.

Say Cheese! At the working cheese factory near the windmills. Free samples were Delicious!

Salzburg (/sahls-buhg/) Girls Trip

Oh, we had a grand time in Salzburg! JaNae came to Prague for the first leg of her 3-leg trip (continuing on to Paris and London) with David. Georgie, Pearlie, JaNae and I set out on the 7-hour train trip for lovely Salzburg. The trip was short and fast--with a hitch or two--but we all loved it.

We left at about 7 am from  Hlavi Nadrazi--the train station near our apartment at Namesti Miru. We were on a classic (translation: older)  Czech train. I love the color. We had a booth for six and brought sandwiches, drinks, CHOCOLATE, yogurt, etc. so didn't have to buy it on the train. All four of us got a pretty good nap. And JaNae especially needed it since this was less than 24 hours after her 20-hour flight to Prague!

We're looking pretty good at the beginning of the journey. :)

 Getriedegasse: the girls were delighted to discover this shopping street, which Salzburg is famous for. (Who knew?) We bought some European boots for them (5 euro each) and found a 1 Euro store (the equivalent to a $1 Dollar Store in the US.) They were excited to buy a mini stuffed animal there. And begged every day to go back for more...

 The first real stop of the Sound of Music Tour. (Of course, we had to take the tour--we talked about dad the whole way. He would have loved it!) This is where the boat tips over and Gretl falls in.

 The famous gazebo. Funny though, that they have moved it to a remote location so that the hordes of Pilgrims didn't disrupt the regal grounds where it was originally built. The girls are wearing their prized boots--not the light slippers necessary for the 16 going on 17 dancing...but we did skip a little.

 We drove in a minibus to the little village where the opening scene is filmed. You can't see it too well, but up on top of the mountain in the back is a little building. A train goes up there--wasn't open this early in the year, so we couldn't take it :(  From there is where Maria twirls and sings "The Hills are Alive!

 The sidewalk in front of the church where the wedding was filmed: it was in the next village up of the "Lake District." Turns out the lake's for sale but none of the land around it comes with it. Seriously, this village is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!

 Where it all begins...near Mirabelle where the Do Re Mi steps are. It was closed for remodeling though--we should have gotten a discount.

 Entryway to the shopping district.

 From above the city near the Fortress. Salzburg is bigger than I expected. It's a busy place but easy to navigate. It looked like Provo/Midway with similar mountains in every direction :)

 The girls messing around near the Fortress/Monastery. They loved being able to romp and play in Salzburg. We saw more parks/natural area than they've seen in 3 months. Although visitng Eurpoean cities has its perks too, in my opinion.

On the way home. we didn't get off where we needed to change trains to for one to Prague. So, we ended up on a train going BACK to Salzburg. The conductor was very amused by this and laughed and laughed. The extra 4 hours on the train were not so amusing to us...But we were able to ride back to this stop in the middle of nowhere (Czech? Austrian? Who knows?) and after a wait, catch one back to Prague. The kind conductor did make sure the station manager knew what train we needed and would get us on it. At least I think that's what he was saying...These guys somehow speak no English!

Amsterdam

Our stay in Amsterdam was lovely: the bikes, canals, weather and much more helped make the trip a great time. We visited places like The Anne Frank house, Van Gogh museum, Rembrandt house, Rijks Museum, Red Light District, NDSM Werf (holds Europe's MTV headquarters), Zoo, and a small windmill town.

 We all hung out in the entrance of a park while waiting for a bus, and the girls played on some rocks.

 Taking a canal tour through the city: we all had fun and saw some sights. The girls loved being so low in the water.

 A boat in the canal

 Strange graffiti we found while on a hunt for Finn's college project.

Pearl takes a shot of Dad taking a picture. We were at Zansgraaft, "the windmill place", on the edge of a bay and it was bone-chilling. Dad wears Finn's "ugliest sweatshirt ever" while Finn wears dad's coat.

 Elektra, Europe's largest (and creepiest) cyborg looms over the girls and says weird things in english. This is at NEMO, a huge hands-on science center for kids.

 A magnificent peacock at the zoo. Numerous birds were roaming free (while the girls ate "chips" with mayonnaise) around the Amsterdam zoo: 250 years old.

Funny face fest (not on purpose). This was taken while waiting to catch the canal tour boat.

Our Favorite Things

It seems that our blague is getting a little photo-heavy. So, this post is simply a list: favorite and not-so-favorite things from the places that we've experienced..

Prague Favorites
Pearl: I like that the playground equipment at all the parks was made out of wood.
Georgia: Parks, unique food, language, transpertation, style of people
Hector: I love the architecture, the variation in feeling from neighborhood to neighborhood, and language.
Finn: Excellent public transport, decent bed to sleep in.

Prague Not-so-Favorites
Pearl: I didn't like all of the smoking and all of the people.
Georgia: Dog poo on sidewalk, cigarettes everywhere.
Hector: Creepy people, having to give up seats on the tram/Metro to elderly folks.
Finn: Bad customer service.

Kutna Hora Favorites
Pearl: The Bone Church is cool because it had real bones.
Georgia: The Bone Church was cool.
Hector: Laid-back-ness, location, Bone Church, castle, walking in the back streets.
Finn: Ossuary was cool.

Kutna Hora Not-so-Favorites
Pearl: I didn't like the railroad because all we did was take pictures.
Georgia: The Bone Church was creepy/scary.
Hector: Walking from the train stop to Kutna Hora--a long walk through an unattractive town.
Finn: Town was somewhat empty; too windy!

Vienna Favorites
Pearl: Butterfly House!
Georgia: Shmetterling Haus, eating schnitzel--a bunch of it.
Hector: Kings' Crypt, Shmetterling Haus, squares, university, Museum of Natural History.
Finn: Best art museum ever! (National Art Museum), Killer graffiti.

Vienna Not-so-Favorites
Pearl: It was too cold, and I didn't have a big (warm) enough jacket. (Mom: She had her winter coat.)
Georgia: Not being able to go ice-skating at Rathaus.
Hector: COLD, couldn't find batteries for Georgia's camera so no pictures of the Butterfly House, or Natural History Museum.
Finn: Cold weather.


Budapest Favorites
Pearl: I enjoyed going to the spa bath--the steam in cold air.
Georgia: Swimming in the spa.
Hector: Castle village, view of Danube, market, Labyrinth, swimming
Finn: Cool, old school metro, very, very old...


Budapest Not-so- Favorites
Pearl: The Happy Train (Europe's oldest metro!) was too loud and hurts my ears.
Georgia: We had to show the guards our ticket EVERY TIME we got on the metro.
Hector: Hotel (like an old person's house), constant ticket checking.
Finn: People seemed angry.


Tropical Islands (Germany) Favorites
Pearl: I enjoyed the waterslides and that nobody is watching you.
Georgia: Going down the slides.
Hector: Warmth, swimming, sand, birds/trees.
Finn: Hot chicks, 70 degree weather in winter.

Tropical Islands (Germany) Not-so-Favorites
Pearl: The watersides are dangerous--Dad crashed into Georgia--and kids pee in the pools.
Georgia: Getting the wind knocked out of me going down the slides--thanks Dad!
Hector: bus ride (3 hours each way)
Finn: NO wave pool :(

Amsterdam Favorites
Pearl: I enjoyed the zoo because it didn't have strict rules like at home. (Some animals, like the peacocks, just roamed around.)
Georgia: NEMO, zoo. apartment,(It had a Wii), museums.
Hector: Canals, NEMO, bikes, museums (Anne Frank, Rijks, Van Gogh, Rembrandt),
Finn: Beautiful architecture, "coffee"shops,  good food.

Amsterdam Not-so- Favorites
Pearl: I didn't like that you had to swipe your card every time you take a tram.
Georgia: too many fast bikes
Hector: pot, tram tickets
Finn: Crappy public transport.

Salzburg Favorites
Pearl: I liked the Sound of Music Tour and the guide's accent. (British)
Georgia: Shopping, new boots/hat,

Salzburg Not-so-Favorites
Pearl: Forgetting to change on the end of the train ride.
Georgia: Getting there (took a long time.)


Christian International School Prague Favorites
Pearl: Lunch and Phisical Education
Georgia: Modeling clay and painting it in Art.
Hector: The Korean kids in my class--they are funny and make me laugh. Soccer and game called "Purdel"?, that we play in PE.
Finn: Friendly students and staff.


Christian International School Prague Not-so-Favorites
Pearl: Our friends don't notice when we are gone.
Georgia: Indoor/outdoor shoes--always having to trade...
Hector: The front door is always locked (guarded by the Czech gatekeeper, who buzzes you in, when the door is locked...)
Finn: Too small!

Krakow Favorites

Finn: Aushwitz was eye-opening; Cool salt mines.

Krakow Not-so-Favorites

Finn: Rain was annoying; no sleep.

Paris Favorites

Paris Not-so-Favorites

Buda Labyrinth

You can't get the sense of this from the pictures--but this labyrinth was UNDER the castle. It was dark and creepy, and there were weird statues around every corner and in every dead end. At the very end was free tea! We were all chilled and it was a lovely place--well-lit too--to sit and recharge.

One of the weird fixtures--looks like we're having a seance.

We all loved this guy.

Budapest--Pest side

Have to start out with a picture taken from the Buda side to show the Pest castle--in the background. We didn't get to it to take the photo. The Pest side has most of the restaurants, accommodations, etc.

A cafe where we splurged. The Secret Service had their coffee and cakes here during occupancy. Even then, it was the nicest place available. Very elegant...It hasn't changed much.

Our own Secret Service tea party!

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We also stumbled across a great indoor market right near the river. We had langos--big scones with a choice of toppings. We all chose cheese!

Traditional food at the very hip Menza's! We all loved this place--the food and the decor.


Good bye beautiful Budapest!