Our European Adventure: The Pearl of the Danube

Night trains, medieval churches, river boat tours, goulash and lots of bridges. Our recent trip to Budapest was jam packed with new experiences and loads of memories!

Our trip started at 11PM local time when we boarded the night train to Budapest just on the other side of the Liechtenstein/Switzerland border in Buchs. While never having traveled this train before we are actual quite familiar with it as it passes our apartment on its way from Zurich to Budapest every night. So even though it was well past bedtime for the girls we allowed them to stay awake so we could wave at our building as the train whizzed by.

We found our cabin!

Look where I am Mommy!

A few moments later

Good morning sunshine :)

We arrived in Budapest around 9 AM the next morning and my parents were eagerly awaiting our arrival at the station. By the time we got to the apartment and got refreshed from the train ride it was already lunch time so rather than doing any major touring we walked through the Jewish quarter and then found a playground for the girls to get some energy out at. We ended the day back at the apartment watching our beloved Texas Rangers take on Baltimore Orioles in the Divisional Series of the MLB Playoffs on an iPad since the apartment didn't have a tv (spoiler alert: Rangers won the game 3-2).

St Teresa of Avila (Grandma Theresa would be thrilled with the yellow exterior)

Inside St Teresa of Avila

The courtyard within our apartment building

The façade of our apartment facing the street

Carl Lutz was a Swiss diplomat who worked to save an estimated 60,000 Hungarian Jews

during the Holocaust. This statue, dedicated to him, depicts Lutz as a golden angel,

descending from the heavens to help a fallen victim.

#GoandTakeIt

Our second day of touring we probably over did it a little bit. We took a tram down to the river and then walked along the Danube past the parliament building on our way to Margaret Island. The island is quite large (1.5 miles long and .4 miles wide) and has an even longer history with settlements dating back to at least the 12th century. Today it is recreational area for locals and tourists alike with running/walking trails, outdoor gym (think smaller Venice Beach LA), sports and water parks, hotels, natural spas and more all intermingling throughout the island alongside several historical sites. Our visit took most of the day and by the time we made it back to watch game two of the divisional series we had accumulated more than 20,000 steps (I'm sure Charlotte was close to 40k as she walked everywhere we did and then ran, skipped and danced around the island constantly as well)!

The "east" side of the island within the Danube river. The west side of the river across
the island is equal in size!

Dancing fountains

church ruins

Does this tree have a face?

St Margaret

The water tower

The next several days were a bit of a blur if I'm honest. In the span of 4 days we found our favorite coffee shop, toured Parliament, visited the Dohány Street Synagogue, went to multiple museums covering the history and local art of Hungary, made our way across the Danube to see the "older" areas of Buda and found what may be the greatest playground in all of Europe! All while keeping up with MLB playoffs back in Texas.

This is definitely in the running for Best Hot Chocolate on the planet.

Parliament

Parliament a little closer

Golden stairs inside Parliament

Main stairs inside Parliament

You can't take pictures of the actual crown, but the gift shop has a replica for photo ops!

Grandmama & Charlotte admiring where all the law making takes place in the Parliament Building

Dohány Street Synagogue - Dohány means tobacco in Hungarian, the street was named
for all the tobacco merchants who used to sell on the road

The Emanuel Tree unveiled in 1991 in memory of the 600,000 Hungarian
Jews killed by the Nazis in WWII

Inside the Dohány Street Synagogue

Train Museum

Snow removal engine

Charlotte deciding which side of the tracks to play on

What does this lever do?

Perhaps our favorite trains!

Old men riding small trains - we're pretty sure this was a kids ride...

Renoir museum

I seem to recall this sigil from somewhere...

it's the Tuuuetons!

I found a Ruebens!

Looking across the river towards Pest

Matyas Church

Parliament from across the river

When you try to take a "quick" family photo too close to nap time.

Just one of multiple enclosed climbing areas in one of the most impressive playgrounds I've ever seen.

We finished out the last few days in Budapest with an evening cruise on the Danube, A stroll through the local market on date night, actual date night (highly recommend taking some grandparents on vacation with you so you can escape a time or two!), a private Piano concert and then the night train back home.