Hungary for More

When we arrived in Sofia we needed a little down-time so we had a three hour nap at our hotel before making our way around the city.  We were in a really good location so could walk everywhere we wanted to see.  We first stopped off at Saint Nedelya square, the location of the Sveta Nedelya Church, a medieval church that has suffered destruction (fires, bombings, you name it) numerous times over the years and has been reconstructed many times. 

Directly across from the church, a Buddy Bears exhibition was set up in the square - this Art of Tolerance exhibit of two meter tall bear sculptures travels around from country to country promoting tolerance and international understanding worldwide.  There is a bear for nearly every country in the world and they are all decorated differently with vibrant colours, wonderfully artistic drawings and fantastic designs; naturally I snapped a photo with the Canadian bear :)

Our next stop was the Church of Saint George, which was built by the Romans and is considered the oldest building in Sofia.  It is located among ancient remains of the remote town of Serdica.  We wandered around there for a while looking at all the ruins, and then we were off to see yet another changing of the guard at Parliament.  This one was not nearly as fascinating as the one in Athens.  Time to move on and quickly. 
On our way to another church (which, as it turns out, is pretty much all Sofia has to offer) we stumbled upon a great little flea market type thing and I bought myself a sterling-silver ring for...guess how much?  THREE EURO!  I was so pumped about my new, yellow gemstone ring and I wore it for the rest of the holiday. 
The next churches on our list were the Church of Saint Nikolas the Miracle Maker, a Russian Orthodox church, and Saint Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Cathedral. 

Both were very beautiful, but honestly, after waking up at 4am and spending the entire day hung-over, Kari and I were ready for some food.  We had dinner (traditional Bulgarian sausage and mashed potatoes for moi - hang-over remedy extraordinaire) and made it an early night.  We desperately needed it.
The next morning we enjoyed our delicious continental breakfast and then rented a car so we could go on a little day trip.  We wanted to go to the Rila Monestary which is a couple hours south of Sofia, but the trip offered lasted eight hours and cost a ridiculous €45.00.  After some research we realised it would be cheaper (albeit potentially more dangerous) for us to rent a car and drive up there ourselves.  Kari's license expired a while back so yours truly stepped behind the wheel; luckily for us they drive on the correct side of the road in Bulgaria so things weren't too scary...except for the fact that we were essentially driving around in a hearse.  It wasn't an actual hearse, but it could very easily pass as one.  Check me out: Driver of the Dead.

The Rila Monestary is regarded as one of Bulgaria's most important cultural, historical and architectural monuments and is located in the absolutely breathtaking Rila Mountains.  It was pretty nippy in the mountains, but it was so peaceful and quiet that we walked around for ages enjoying the enchanting serenity that the monestary had to offer. 

That night we stopped for dinner on the drive back to Sofia and had another early night.  We needed to be up early again the next morning for our flight to Bucharest, Romania.
When we arrived in Bucharest we obviously went exploring around the city.  We walked past the Orchestra House, the National Bank of Bucharest, the Military Club (home of some war memorials), and the National History Museum (all very old and equally beautiful buildings) and spent the afternoon wandering around several lovely parks that were all decorated for Easter.  One of the parks even had a little section loaded up with outdoor exercise equipment - what a fantastic idea!

We went for a traditional Romanian dinner that evening.  It was very fancy, the servers were super friendly and the food was to die for.  I had sausage and mashed potatoes again that night; I figured I had better try all the Eastern European sausage meats, plus it was a good excuse to indulge in mashed potatoes before returning to my no carb life in England.

The next day we went for a ridiculously long walk to the Arch de Triumph and some building we were told was a must-see but was super lame and kind of a waste.  On the way back, though, we walked through another really nice park (with an area full of massive heads...don't ask), and since it was such a gorgeous day it ended up being a fun, relaxing time. 

That afternoon we went to the Parliament Palace.  This is the second largest building in the world next to the Pentagon.  We just made it for the last tour and the inside was pretty incredible, apart from the most depressingly boring and disinterested tour guide I have ever had.  I could write about the things she said but my words would not express the utterly miserable tone of her voice, so you will just have to imagine it for yourselves.  The tour was supposed to last forty minutes but Kari and I timed it and we were in and out in just over twenty; she obviously couldn't wait to go home for the day.  It was probably for the best though; she was boring me to tears.

On our last day in Romania we took a four hour train journey to Bran to see Bran Castle, commonly known and marketed as the home of Bram Stoker's Dracula.  The castle is now more of a museum for tourists and displays art and furniture that belonged to Princess Marie of Edinburgh, wife of Ferdinand the first of Romania.  There is also a room dedicated, of course, to Bram Stoker and Dracula, which was really interesting.  It was a long day but totally worth it.

Last but not least on our amazing April adventure was Budapest, Hungary.  This was by far my favourite country of the entire two-week trip.  There was so much to see and do, the people were incredibly friendly, everything was super cheap, and the buildings were absolutely beautiful.  Not to mention the weather was  GORGEOUS the entire time we were there - doesn't hurt, that's for sure!

Budapest is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (second largest in the world), which was right on the corner of the street of our hotel.  We were in a great location and could walk, in minutes, to the elegant Opera House; the Jewish Heritage site; Budapest Parliament, the third largest Parliament in Europe; St. Stephen's Basilica, the largest Roman Catholic church in Budapest, below; a fantastic market with delicious fresh fruit (strawberries please!) and loads of different types of paprika (the symbolic spice of Hunagry's cuisine); and Vaci Street, the famous pedestrian shopping street lined with high-end shops, restaurants and cafes.

After wandering around "Buda" for a while we crossed the Liberty Bridge (decorated with mythical, falcon-like birds) to "Pest" where we climbed Gellert Hill, overlooking the Danube river. 

The hill is named after Saint Gerard, an Italian bishop who was responsible for converting Budapest to Christianity.  Saint Gerard was thrown down the hill by rivals and killed, hence the hill's title.  The view from Gellert Hill was absolutely stunning; you could literally see all of Budapest from the top.  We took our time wandering around, enjoying the gorgeous greenery (and laughing at an archery lesson performance taking place) before making our way back down. 

That night for dinner we enjoyed a gorgeous evening outside, drinking wine and eating a traditional (obviously) Hungarian meal.  I had the beef goulash (for you, dad), but I have to say, it definitely wasn't the best meal I had on the trip.  The dessert we had afterwards, though, definitely made up for it.  We spotted a place called The Cake and, well...need I say more? 

The next day was the day Kari and I had been waiting for: our spa day!  We walked up to Heroe's Square, the area surrounding Szechenyi Bath and Spa, and couldn't wait to start our day of rest and relaxation.  Unfortunately it took a bit longer than we had hoped to get started.  The spa was ridiculously disorganised and for some reason they couldn't find our booking.  After waiting around for over a half an hour for them to sort the problem, we finally were permitted entrance to the thermal spa.  Even though the start of our spa day was pretty frustrating and stressful our moods changed quickly when we walked outside.  The spa is unbelievably beautiful and we spent the afternoon basking in the sun, bathing in the thirty degree pools and basically living like queens.  We even pampered ourselves with a full body aroma massage - what strenuous lives we lead!

That evening we had booked a dinner cruise on the Danube river so at about five in the afternoon we began our journey back into town for some drinks before the cruise began.  On the way we stopped by

Vajdahunyad Castle, a breathtaking building designed with a mixture of Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles.  I got pretty sappy and nostalgic gawking up at this magnificent building; it reminded me of the castle in Beauty and the Beast and brought back memories of my childhood when I would dream that I was a princess. 

After our pre-dinner drinks we boarded the boat for our dinner cruise.  The boat was much smaller than we anticipated, but there was such a cute atmospehere on board.  We were offered a glass of champagne to start and enjoyed a delicious Hungarian buffet (second attempt at trying beef goulash, only this time in soup form - much better, I must say!) while listening to a fantastic three-man Hungarian band.  The views from the Danube were lovely at sunset, and we sat outside for the majority of the cruise taking it all in...how romantic!  We were so happy at this moment; it was literally the perfect way to spend our last full day on vacation.

The next morning we walked over to Pest again to visit Castle Hill.  This hill offers an unbelievable view of Buda, especially of Parliament.

Castle Hill is home to the Royal Palace, Magdalene Church Tower, and Buda Castle Labyrinth.  The entire area was so pretty and we spent a few hours up there, dreading the afternoon when we had to make our way to the airport.

Before heading back to our hotel to pick up our luggage we walked up to Parliament (had to see it up-close- and-personal) and sauntered along the Danube for a while.  At the riverside was the most touching and unique memorial I have ever seen; there were probably fifty or more shoes cemented to the ground in memory of the Jews whose lives were destroyed during the Holocaust.  I just think this is such an interesting way to pay tribute to a group of people:

Unfortunately our time was up and we had to return to our "boring" lives in England.  We didn't get back home until after midnight, but I didn't even feel tired.  I was not only consumed with memories of the past two weeks but also with excited anticipation of my weekend to come.  I couldn't wait to get through the three days of work to celebrate the royal wedding...Irish style!