Budapest

While checking my emails one day I noticed that I was signed up to Groupon UK and that there were all these deals for weekend getaways to various destinations. Knowing my mom was coming to visit in March, I thought it would be nice to go on a little getaway during her stay. We saw that there was a great deal on a 3 day trip to Budapest, Hungary which included flight from London, three nights in a hotel with breakfast included and we opted for the add-on to the Thermal Spa in Budapest.

View taking off from Stansted Airport in London

Budapest is split into two areas - Buda and Pest on opposite sides of the Danube River. We stayed on the Buda side, which is a lot quieter and more suburban whereas the Pest side is more central. Our hotel was far away and we had to take a bus and a tram to get to the city centre and had a very traditional feeling. I was quite nervous before the trip as this was the first time I would be the one in charge of navigating and couldn't rely on using data on my cellphone to get us around. Luckily it wasn't too difficult and public transit was really easy after the first day.

Once arriving at the airport we got a public transport pass for 72 hours which also gave us discounts to some restaurants. Our first day we discovered "Kürtőskalács" which is a Hungarian pastry that is rolled in sugar and delicious! One of my favourite parts of the city was the Great Market Hall which is a huge indoor market in the centre of Budapest. The ground floor sells produce, meats, pastries, spices (Hungary is known for their paprika) and alcohol. The top floor is for souvenirs and some restaurants. According to Rick Steves, the langos (flatbread usually with sour cream and cheese) is the best at the market so I had to try it. 

Kürtőskalács

Mom and I in front of the Daunbe 

Our second day we went on a walking tour which to us to all the main sights and a detailed history of the city. Hungary has had a rich history full of many battles that has affected the land and people, 80 percent of the buildings in Budapest were destroyed during WW2 and was a communist state only 26 years ago which is hard to believe.

Bronze statues were all around Budapest.  Our tour guide said that if you rub the knees on this statue you will come back to Budapest. 

St. Stephens Basilica - not technically considered a basilica, but the pope thought it was so beautiful and called it a basilica. 

Inside the beautiful church

The Great Market 

Hungarian National Museum

Vajdahunyad Castle

Heroes' Square including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 

During our walk we hiked up to Buda Castle where the was a spectacular view of the Pest side

We lucked out and made it in time to see the changing of the guard at Buda Castle

Matthias Church

Beautiful Fisherman's Bastion

View of Hungarian Parliament buildings 

As I mentioned, we opted for the add-on to our Groupon package which was a day at the

Széchenyi Thermal Bath, known as the largest thermal bath in Europe. Probably the best decision and

I would highly recommend to anyone that goes to Hungary (but remember to bring your own towel and flip-flops instead of having to pay to rent.) You get a wristband that looks like a watch which gives you access to a private changing room and then go outside and relax in the baths. Although it was cold out, the water was heated to a perfect temperature that made us not want to get out. We spent most of our time in the outdoor pool as it was a nice day out but had to check out the one inside the building.

Our last thing we had to check out before the end of our trip was the Hungarian Parliament buildings which I found to be one of the most spectacular buildings I've ever seen. There was a military statue unveiling happening which was pretty cool to witness as well. Overall solid trip to Budapest and was glad to experience it all with my mom, and I think 3 days was plenty of time to see all the wonderful sights. The only thing I wasn't able to do is see some of the ruin pubs, but that wasn't exactly something to do with a parent. 

In Between

After my trip to Poland/Germany my next exciting event was that my mom was coming to visit in a few weeks and we would be going to Budapest, Hungary for a weekend getaway. 

Between that time I went to Chinese New Year with some friends at Trafalgar Square where they celebrated the year of the sheep. We watched the Flying Lion Dance and bought little paper dragons because they were adorable and everyone had them. 

I also went away for the weekend to Manchester and went on a day trip to Dover to see the White Cliffs. I don't think that I went to the right location to see the cliffs because I didn't find it all that special.

Katy, Kylie and I went out in Shoreditch, our favourite place to go out. Kylie decided to move back to Canada in April and we all hadn't gone out in a long time so wanted to make sure before we got too busy with visitors coming.

My mom came for almost two weeks at the end of February and unfortunately I had to work for most of her visit but she managed to see some sights during the day and we would get together after I was finished work. The first weekend she was here I took her to Notting Hill and Kensington Garden/Hyde Park. I had been to Hyde Park in October and searched (almost) the entire park trying to find the Peter Pan statue but gave up because it was so cold out. This time when I was with my mom I made sure we found it, and here's the proof!

Potsdam

 We had really seen all of Berlin (or all that we wanted to) so for our last full day in Berlin, we took the train to Potsdam which was about a 30 minute train ride. Potsdam was the residence of Prussian kings until 1918 and is the largest world heritage site in Germany. Today, it is the capital of Brandenburg and is famous for being used as a conference after WW2 as Berlin was being rebuilt. We didn't really know much more than that, and just spent the day wandering around looking at the beautiful buildings and were so fortunate it was such a gorgeous day.

After we got back to hostel in Berlin, Sarah was going to meet up with a friend from work that was also in Berlin for some drinks. I had heard that the nightlife in Berlin was pretty crazy so thought it may be fun to experience. We went out to an American Bar, and then to a nightclub called "House of Weekend" which you take an elevator to the top floor to get to. Basically you are allowed to do anything in the club (smoke, drugs, etc.) - it really was a different experience but we had fun! It was a good end to our trip.

Katy, Lauren and I stayed later so spent our last half day in Berlin just taking it easy and of course we had to have some Curry Wurst for the last time before going back to London. This will definitely be a week I will always remember and so glad I had such amazing travel buddies!!