Rain & Snow Didn't Stop our Fun in Budapest

Those who have been following my updates on our boiler situation will appreciate our first picture we decided to take once we reached Budapest...

A hot shower...is that even possible?

We got into Budapest, Hungary late on Friday night after the two hour plane ride and ~50 minute bus/train ride to the hotel.  Jeff and I were a bit surprised to see the train we were riding in, as it screamed 1990's American trains.  We hit the sack and woke up early to start our adventure in a new city and country. A little fact: the city is divided into the "Buda" side and the "Pest" side (the Danube River divides the two).  I read the Buda side is the calmer side where the main attractions stand.  The Pest side is known for the nightlife.  We stayed on the Pest side.

  Definitely one old train.  We did see some newer ones walking around the city, and a few of the other underground trains were newer as well. 

It was pretty neat to see the Hungarian money as it was in the thousands.  Holding a bill that said 20,000 on it made me feel pretty cool.  Although 20,000 Hungarian Forints is equal to about 72.50 dollars.  We walked around the city with no specific goal in mind at first, but made our way to Parliament where we started marking off our "To Dos" quickly. We had to wait about an hour and a half before our English tour started so we left to go see some other sites until then.

First up was the famous shoes on the Danube River. A sculptor created memorial for the Jews that were killed during World War II. They were asked to take off their shoes before they were shot and fell into the river.  The memorial represented men and women's shoe(s) all along the area.  It was really incredible.

The shoes. You can also see the Royal Palace in the background

Next, we booked it down to the Central Market, as I have a fascination with markets now.  I wish Indy had a larger selection of markets, as I just think it would be fantastic to go weekly to pick our fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.  The market was not only filled with fresh food, but also some trinkets, clothing, and a few restaurants.  Jeff and I both agreed that if we had more time, we would have loved to get a few Hungarian snacks to hold us over until lunch time.

The bridges were really pretty as we walked along the river. The most famous one, the Chain Bridge, was beautiful.  An urban legend stated that if someone found something wrong with it, the architect said he would kill himself.  A person pointed out a long time ago that the lions at the both entrances to the bridge were missing tongues.  And that night...the architect mysteriously died in his bed.

We made our way back to the Hungarian Parliament Building for our tour. Surprisingly we were able to take pictures (all except the guarded Crown Jewels). The Crown Jewels are guarded 24/7, and the guards change positions every 5 minutes.  We were able to watch them do that during our time in that particular room.  We even learned that the Crown Jewels were stored in Fort Knox during the war for safe keeping.  Our tour led us through one half of the building, and we were able to learn some interesting things.

 Parliament was so large, I couldn't get the entire thing in one shot

 The front of the building

 Jeff took this artsy shot. I really like it!

 One of the prettiest views in Parliament

A place for the members of Parliament to put their cigars while in session

Next up on the list was to see the Royal Palace.  We walked up a large hill to get to the top, and the rain started hitting harder...which wasn't too fun.  We have been really lucky that weather has not gotten in the way of our travels. I would say this would have been some of the worst weather we've been "stuck" in.  We didn't go in the palace, as there were just random museums inside that we were not overly interested in.

We saw the Matthias Church, which was stunning.  The pictures below do not do it justice, as there was beautiful orange, green, and yellow colored tiles on top that you couldn't see too well in the photos.  Next to it was the Fisherman's Bastian, which had some beautiful views.  Too bad the weather was so yucky, as the skyline view was a bit cloudy and foggy. Finally, we found this amazing restaurant nearby.  I was able to try some paprika chicken with homemade Hungarian egg noodles.  Jeff got another chicken dish that looked pretty yummy, too. 

 Matthias Church. If you look closely you can see how pretty the roof is

 Fisherman's Bastian

The main part of Fisherman's Bastian. Although the top is a bar, which was a surprise.

After lunch we wandered around the are for a while, and then found this labyrinth of Buda Castle nearby.  It was not something we planned to do, but with the weather being so miserable we thought it was a great idea.  It was this massive maze under the palace grounds where we learned about Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula) who was imprisoned in these caves.  We learned a lot about his life, why people suspected he was a vampire, and his secret wife.  The next day we visited his castle as well.  The labyrinth was about a mile long, and there were creepy dead ends that were not lit up very well...which became creepy at times.  Although people were going around lost, Jeff and I seemed to take all the right turns because it didn't take us very long to find the exit.  Professional Labyrinth explorers, perhaps? 

 There was fake fog down there, so our pictures didn't come out the best...

 ...or they just turned out creepy

Later that night we grabbed burgers at this yummy looking burger place.  Jeff got this mega burger that was bigger than his head.  SO massive.  It reminded me of Purdue's Pappy's Sweet Shop, where you can do the Pappy's Challenge (1 pound burger, fries, and a milkshake) to get your picture on a wall. My best friend, Kristin, and I tried...but failed senior year.  Jeff also finished his, and I'm pretty sure it was way bigger than a pound.  You be the judge.

We had a full day on Sunday to do some exploring.  We decided to go to the mall (attached to our hotel) to look for bathing suits so we could go to one of the famous thermal baths. I think we were a few weeks or a month short of bathing suit season.  We were unable to find some, so I ended up buying one at the baths (cute top, ugly bottoms, & overpriced...in case you're wondering).  We stayed at the baths for a few hours hopping from baths (both inside and outside) to saunas, to steam rooms, to baths again.  The baths were about 98 degrees Fahrenheit, but there were also some cold baths that were about 64 degrees. Jeff braved that one, although I couldn't and just put my toes in!  Our favorite was the large outside bath, as the snow was hitting us in the face.  It was wonderful, although SO cold when you get out to run to your towel.

 This was our favorite bath.  Beautiful!

They had a few baths, including this large one, that people could swim laps in. It wasn't for just lounging.

We also visited the Vajdahunyad Castle nearby.  Once again, we didn't get to go inside...but it was beautiful.  There was a museum inside, that once again didn't interest us.  We walked around the area, where we saw the largest open air  ice skating rink in Europe.

 The river is normally full, but the dam stopped it because of the ice skating rink.

 Count Dracula's Castle...

 One of the most colorful and beautiful castles we have seen so far.

Ice skating.  Not the best shot, but the next time we walked past it...there was no one on it as the Zambonis were doing their magic.

One of the last things we did in Budapest was visit Gellert Hill.  We were so relaxed and tired from the baths earlier that morning that we took the underground to get there...which is not like us at all.  There was a church located on the side of the hill, Cave Church.  We were able to walk through it.  Very interesting, although out of respect I did not take any photos.  We walked up this giant hill with beautiful views of the city.  It was neat to see the snow get thicker the higher up we went.  Very beautiful.  There was a fortress at the top, although either it was closed or you couldn't get in there at all. We snapped some photos as all the lights of the city were beginning to turn on at that point.  Our photos were pretty, although I think we need to learn how to work it more as they weren't as clear as we had hopped.

 Outside the Cave Church

 Another beautiful bridge (not the Chain Bridge)

 Can you spot Jeff?

 The city lit up at night.  The Royal Palace on the left and the Chain Bridge on the right.

We headed to bed early, as our flight home left at 6:30 in the morning.  We took a taxi (very unlike us as well) to make it easier than the public transportation we took to get to the hotel.  We were glad we did as we were walking zombies and not functioning enough to probably get their safely on our own.  It was a great trip overall.  Although, Jeff and I think that this would be an amazing place to visit during the summer...not so much in the winter. I think we're spoiled when it comes to weather...silly rain and snow.

On to the next adventure...

I Said, Brrr...it's Cold in Here!

Movie reference? {Bring It On}

And no, I'm not complaining about the outside temperatures here. I know I will never make comments about that given the weather is so mild here compared to the Midwest temperatures back home. I'm actually talking about inside our flat.  I know our visitors so far have been told to bring warm clothes to sleep in and lounge around because generally our place is cold (single pane windows that give off a good draft).  But anyway, on Sunday our boiler started acting funny.  We noticed our radiators weren't staying warm and then our water wasn't getting hot either.  We called our property management, and they sent an engineer out...although it started working again by the time he got here. Long story short, it went out again...and he was unable to come back to look at it.

 One of the many non-working radiators

The property management did bring over 3 small heaters, so our house looks funny right now with mini-heaters strategically placed around our apartment.  We are staying warm at night with the heaters and multiple blankets on our bed.  Although the lack of hot water has been an issue.  Good thing we belong to gyms, so we are able to have a place to shower.  Jeff made a comment to the property management that it is a bit of an inconvenience going without hot water, and they didn't seem to think it was a big deal. 

 All three heaters are strategically placed around the apartment (where I work on the computer, bedroom, and couch)

Our boiler is unique---so the engineer told me.  Therefore, they won't be able to get a new boiler for a couple days since this one has to be ordered instead of picking it up off the shelf. Hoping it will be fixed soon, as bringing tons of items to the gym isn't ideal to get ready for the day. I felt bad for Jeff this morning as he came back in the flat at least 3x forgetting different things for his day.  Sadly, he texted me later and said he forgot his breakfast as well.

Our boiler

For those that are wondering "go to a hotel or a friend's house"...we have had offers to stay/shower at other places, but we're sticking it out.  The weather is about 29 degrees today and around 38 degrees tomorrow (potential snow, too!).  Cross your fingers that the problem will be fixed soon, and we will be able to live a normal life again soon.

Off to the gym....

[Update as of January 22 at 10:15AM] The boiler is fixed...after 4.25 days without heat and hot water.  They have to send a contractor back out to fix the cupboard around it because the lock is broken...which is a major safety no-no apparently. Hopefully by this evening our house will be back to a normal temperature! No need to worry about us anymore...

[Update as of January 22nd at 11:15AM] The boiler is no longer working...great. Called our property management, so we'll see what happens now. I hope I only update you one more time with good news!

[Update as of January 22nd at 5:00 PM].  After a contractor came to fix the lock on the cabinet and the engineer came back with another worker to work on the boiler...it is still is not fixed. Break out the heaters and another gym shower.  They are ordering a part, and hoping it will be fixed soon. I'll continue updates, as this is becoming pretty annoying.  

[Update as of January 26th at 12:00 PM] Jeff and I were pretty annoyed on Friday as we were trying  to leave for our holiday (vacation). The "engineers" knocked on our door around noon on Friday...we told them they only had a few minutes before we left. Long story short, we kicked them out and told them property management would have to let them in again.  Our property management does not usually stay with the workers, but we insisted they do so.  We left thinking it would be fixed when we got home on Monday (today).  We received a test on Saturday saying they could not fix it and would order a new boiler on Monday.  Needless to say, we are still without heat and hot water. So thankful for our hotel this past weekend to get a break from it all. Cross your fingers it is fixed tomorrow or Wednesday!

[Update as of January 28th at 8:20 AM] Well, the clock is ticking.  The "engineers" are supposed to be here from now until 9:30 to put in a new boiler. I might go nuts if they do not come today...

[Update as of January 28th at 6:00 PM] A week and a half later...we have heat and hot water!! It took them all day (9:30-5:40) to complete the boiler situation.  I was without water for part of the day...but who cares as long as it all keeps working.  We have a fancy new boiler with user friendly knobs and a remote digital thermometer. Keep your fingers cross the heat stays and our first showers are worth the wait! 

[Update as of January 29th ay 5:30 PM] Our first night with hot water and heat was fantastic! I took the longest shower ever and enjoyed every minute of it.  I'm sure Jeff enjoyed it this morning instead of starting his day in a gym shower every morning.  They engineers left a complete mess in our bathroom, so once the contractor comes to put the new cabinet in around it...then I'll do my magic to make the room useable again.  Today was filled with few blankets, zero mini heaters in use, a hot shower, and lots of laundry.  It's the small things...

This whole experience brings back awful memories of the week that the building's fire alarms went off 3-4x a day.   Do not miss that, and I won't miss this either.  Something we all take for granted...heat and hot water.

On to the next adventure...

Update: Mackey!

I got to thinking...I have not talked about Mackey in a while. I thought I would give my loyal readers a little glimpse into what is going on with him.

Over the last year, Mackey has gained a bit of weight. Many of you that know him, will see the change when we bring him back.  Since our flat is smaller, and we do not have 2 sets of stairs, therefore he doesn't get the amount of exercise that he did when living the states.

 My mom sent Mackey a Christmas present, and he played so hard with it---that he ripped off all the fins in about 10 minutes from this fish toy.

He has done pretty well (or so we think) hanging in there while we are gone on our trips.  We try not to be gone more than a week, as that is the longest we want to leave him without someone checking on him.  Even a week, worries me.  We give him lots of food and water, so it seems to work.  When we get back, he is normally all over us.  Purring and laying on us. He is definitely a sweet and unique cat.  Being away, means that he thinks its okay to sleep on our pillows with us.  Within the last month, that has been his newest craze.  I wake up, and he is literally in my face---paws and all.

I will never regret bringing him over here, and neither will Jeff.  I think he has given us a great sense of home.  I know my parents would have not minded looking after him, but it would have made me pretty sad seeing him through Skype.  He only has a few more months until he has to take the big plane ride back, which I am dreading for him. He doesn't even know it is coming! I do not have as much paperwork to fill out to bring him back into the states. He is up to date with all of his shots, and I think he only needs to be checked at the vet before we leave and he's good to go to re-enter the country.

He is currently laying on my lap as I write this. Rough life, Mackey...rough life!

On to the next adventure...

Flat Stanley Takes on Europe

Well here is an unusual blog post...

My aunt, a 3rd grade teacher, back home is having her class complete the Flat Stanley project.  If you're not a teacher or a parent with a child in elementary, you may not be familiar with the character.  Stanley is a character who is flatten by a bulletin board that falls on him in his sleep. He makes the best of a bad situation and uses his flatten body to go under doors, and better yet go in an envelope to visit friends and family around the world.  Now this is something students all over the world do, like a pen pal program.  A student from my aunt's class, wrote me a letter and sent me a small paper Stanley.  Jeff and I took pictures with him on a few of our trips. I thought I would share a few of the pictures I plan to send to my 3rd grade pen pal.

We first took Stanley out in Bruges, taking a few photos of him around the canals, windmills, and city life. He also stopped for a quick bite at a fast food restaurant before hitting the road. 

  

We then took him out for a photo shoot in Blankenberge, so he could experience the sea (North Sea) for the first time!

Although, we forgot to take some pictures with him in London, I decided to extend his time in Europe by bringing him with me around Nottingham. His favorite spots were the Nottingham Castle and the famous, Robin Hood statue. He even did the "famous" pose.

Next on Stanley's visit was the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland. It was pretty windy for him, as I thought his head might rip off...

He also came to Limerick with us to see King John's Castle. He braved some rain in this one as well. 

Stanley was supposed to head to our next trip, but he needed to get back to his student.  I mailed him back to the US.  Hoping to hear from my Aunt Carol on how the activity went and her student's reaction to the photographs I took.

Farewell Stanley.

On to the next adventure...

Finishing Up Our Time in Ireland

After the cliffs, we headed to Limerick for the night.  It was a short drive away from the cliffs.  We explored the city a little, grabbed a bite to eat at a local sandwich shop called, O'Briens.  It was really good.  The next morning we woke up to explore the city a little more, and go to King John's Castle.  The front desk thought it might have been closed on Sundays, so we were initially bummed.  After walking over to the castle to snap a few photos, a lady told us that they were open but just had a power outage.  Many of the surrounding buildings were out of power, so I'm not sure if it was because of wind or what.

View of King John's Castle from across the very full River Shannon. They had many sections of the viewing points closed down due to high rising water

Either way, we walked around a little more to try to find a place for breakfast.  We were getting pretty annoyed that no place was open for breakfast...even McDonald's and Costa (a local coffee shop).  Not sure what was going around, we finally found Subway...but they didn't have breakfast either.  BLT for breakfast...sure, why not?! Around 11:00 all of the restaurants were opening back up...weird.

Beautiful church and cemetery

We made it back over to the castle, and we were glad we did as it was a pretty cool experience. Part of it was still shut down due to the power outage, but we were able to see the castle grounds which was all we really wanted to see.  It reminded us a lot of Connor Prairie as they had little rooms set up like they did back in those days.  They also had video life size people who explained each room when you touched an object. We have seen these screens before, but we could not put our finger on where we have seen them before. Can anyone help us out? Our thoughts were Stirling Castle...but wasn't quite sure.  It is sort of driving me crazy.

In the kitchen

Inner walls of the castle

We were able to climb the two small towers that had beautiful views of Limerick. We stayed for about an hour, then headed back to the hotel before checking out of the hotel. Next up on our list was some warm Irish stew.  It definitely hit the spot!

 This view is from the opposite side of the city centre. Jeff and I were amazed because if you look closely the city comes to a complete stop. From there is land and mountains.

 The view of the city, although our heads are blocking it...

We jumped in the car to head to the beautiful town of Adare, Ireland.  Adorable is an understatement of the small quaint city.  We didn't do much here but walk around to see the cuteness.

 Adorable houses on Main Street

We made it to the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.  It made us pretty jealous as that was one of quite a few golf courses we had seen in the last day.  We wished we had our clubs so we could have played a round...although I'm sure the wind would have been quite a challenge.  Either way, the manor was beautiful.  It would have been like staying in a castle for sure.  We walked around the grounds for a little, and then headed back.  We took the scenic route to the airport, although it got dark pretty quickly...so we didn't see much. Jeff and I's flight was delayed so we didn't get back to Manchester until around 11:30, and home by 1:00 AM.  Jeff was pretty bummed because he didn't get to watch the Colts game live.  He came home to watch the recording on Monday evening after work.  Talk about avoiding the internet all day...yowza.

 The washing pool. Women used to come here to wash their families clothes.

Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort

On to the next adventure...