Europe Trip Day 18: More Budapest + Szentendre

Today was my last full day in Budapest, and it wasn’t as busy as previous
days. Today we went to the not-so-exciting House of Terror, which is about
the Nazi and Russian occupation of Hungary. It’s in the old building for the
secret police, and ironically they were watching me when I took a photo inside,
and they wouldn’t leave until I deleted it.

After that we went back to the Synagogue which we visited on the first day,
and this time we took a tour. It was pretty amazing. Our English-speaking tour
guide’s father is somewhat famous, as he saved 200 Hungarian Jews from certain
death during the Holocaust. The Nazis killed 400,000 Hungarian Jews during
WWII.

The final stop for the day was Szentendre, another cute town north of the
city. It was nice, but not as nice as some of the other villages I’ve seen
here.

After the link you’ll find the last bunch of photos for my Europe trip!

Read the rest of this entry »

Europe Trip Day 17: Vienna

Today Tibor and I took a 2.5 hour drive to Vienna, Austria. It was well worth
the trip. Vienna is a very beautiful city and (once again) a photographer’s
delight. We saw most of the major sites inside the Ringstrasse, and after that
we went over to Schönbrunn (the summer home of the Habsburg’s).

The shocker
of the day was when we stopped in Starbucks (yes, they have them in Vienna)
for a drink. A grande iced mocha, which normally costs $3.30 at home, cost €4.80
here — that’s six dollars!

I forgot to mention yesterday’s surprise: if you
think gas prices are bad in the US then you haven’t seen anything. A tank
of gas here in Hungary cost us $100!

Anyhow, pictures are after the link. Since you aren’t allowed to take photos
inside Schönbrunn, I only have exterior shots of that.

Read the rest of this entry »

Europe Trip Day 16: Eger

Today Tibor and I went to the village of Eger, which is about an hour away
from Budapest. There’s lots of nice Baroque architcture plus an old castle
to check out. The castle is famous for keeping the Turks away for many years,
though they got inside eventually. Pictures after the link!

Read the rest of this entry »

Europe Trip Day 15: Pannonhalma, Veszprem, and Lake Balaton

Yesterday we took a very long road trip to several spots in western Hungary.
First up was the Pannonhalma Monestary, which is on top of a hill with a great
view. After that we went to the quaint village of Veszprem. Next we drove to
Lake Balaton, which was a very popular destination on this hot day.
We checked out the village of Tihany and then took a swim in the 80 degree
waters of the Lake. After a long day of sweating, it felt great.

Read the rest of this entry »

Europe Trip Day 14: Budapest by day

Okay, now here are a bunch of photos that I took today. Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

Europe Trip Day 13: Budapest by night

After a long wait in the Rome Airport, I made it to Budapest last night. The
city is big, beautiful, and HOT. Right about now I could use a trip to the
Swiss Alps!

I’ve got two sets of photos from my first 24 hours here. This entry has the
night photos from last night.

Read the rest of this entry »

Europe Trip Day 12: Sicily

Today is the last day of our cruise… sigh. No more stuffing myself with
food several times a day!

We stopped for about half a day in Messina, Sicily,
and from there we took a tour to the beautiful city of Taormina. We had a
lot of free time which allowed for yours truly to have a limon granite, which
is a slushy lemon-flavored drink.

We dock back in Civitavecchia bright and early Thursday morning, and then
it’s off to the airport for a VERY long wait in the terminal for my flight
to Budapest. I’ll be in Hungary until the 26th, touring around the countryside
with a side trip to Vienna. I’ll keep posting pictures until the end of the
trip!

More pics below!

Read the rest of this entry »

Europe Trip Day 11: Malta

After a lazy day at sea yesterday, today we stopped in Valletta, Malta –
not a place I’d ever expect to be, that’s for sure! Valletta has an impressive
harbor, and the whole city rises above it. The colors of the buildings are
almost identical, as everything is made of limestone. After a tour of Valletta
we headed to Malta’s old capital — Mdina. This was a pretty cool place, though
it felt more like North Africa than Europe.

After four hours in the blistering heat it was back to the ship for some pool
action. Following that (and a margarita) we sailed away, which was pretty neat.
I’ve got photos of our departure plus a lot more after the link.

Tomorrow is our last day of the cruise! We stop for half a day in Messina,
Sicily (we already went
past it) and then back to Rome on Thursday.

Read the rest of this entry »