Jeff Visits his Homeland

Ha, that title makes me think that Jeff is an alien. In all seriousness, Jeff's ancestors are from Denmark on his grandmother's side...so heading to Denmark for us was a "no brainer".  Although, we were only in Denmark for about 48 hours, so there was not enough time to travel outside of Copenhagen. We really wished we had time to rent a car or take public transportation to this small town, but we were cramped on time given Jeff has to be cautious of how many days we are taking off to travel.

We woke up early (3:30 AM), to head to the airport. I do have to admit, Jeff and I are slowly getting tired of these early morning wake ups to hop on all forms of public transportation to get where we need to be.  They are exhausting to say the least. We flew out of London, and in an hour and a half we were in Copenhagen. A quick ride on Copenhagen's metro and a brisk walk...we made it to the hotel.

After checking into the hotel, which was harbor-side, we headed out exploring.  We didn't really have too much to check off on our lists, so we sat down for a nice lunch and then headed to the Christiansborg Palace.  This was probably the coolest thing we did while we were there. We took a tour that included the stables, ruins, and the palace itself.  We started our guided tour in the stables, which was about 45 minutes long. The horses are still in use by The Royal Family of Denmark and only horses that are white can be used.  It was really interesting to learn about how all white horses are born black or grey and eventually become white.  There were a few in the stable that still had a little black on them.  I think the stables has approximately 16 horses, although we did not see that many when we were there.  Along with the horses, we were able to see all the various carriages The Royal Family rides in, including the one with real gold!  I could go on and on about the things I learned, as this was my favorite part of the tour.

 Very sweet horses, although there were signs warning us that they bite...

 Every morning they train the horses at 8 in the morning.

The carriage that is used now by The Royal Family.  There was another one nearby that used to be used just as a toilet. Gross.

Next up, was the palace itself.  This was quite funny given we had to put these bright blue plastic shoe covers on our feet.  It was probably best, given the majority of the people on this tour just came from the stables like we did.  We had a tour guide that was full of life, although at times was difficult to understand.  Which was surprising, given this was the most English-friendly country we have been to so far that their native language wasn't English.  But I think it was her passion and excitement that made her a little hard to understand.  We walked around the palace, learning about The Royal Family and the uses of the rooms.  A couple of my favorites were the dining room, which they do not even use for eating.  And the ball room was fabulous, as it was the first time I actually enjoyed looking at tapestries.  They were modern, colorful, and I actually understood the scenes within them because they were things in my lifetime or within the last 70 years.

 The Palace

 Our super cool booties! 

My favorite room, the ball room where they have state dinners. 

 One of the coolest tapestries.  Not only did it have people like J.F.K, Einstein, and MLK on it, but famous pop culture and history scenes as well. The guide was telling me when she showed this to Michelle Obama on a private tour, she easily pointed out MLK.

 The large dining hall they do not use to eat at because it would be too hard to converse. #excuses

 Struttin'  around in the booties.

 No guards on duty today..or any day actually

We walked down to the ruins, but we were not overly impressed. I think we're becoming snobs now given we were able to see so many beautiful and ancient ruins in Rome.  We walked around the city a bit more, enjoying the sites and heading to the far north part of the city where The Little Mermaid was located. On our walk there, we walked past this famous area known for the bright buildings and ships in the canal.  It was definitely a beautiful backdrop (see below).  We finally made it to The Little Mermaid where people were fighting to take turns with pictures.  I finally had Jeff sneak up on the side to snap our picture.  People were not playing nice, and cutting us...so we took matters into our own hands. The statue was cool, and I learned that many of the arms and legs have had to be replaced over the years.  We enjoyed the hour long walk back to our hotel afterwards to prepare for another full day tomorrow.

 Definitely the best view/photo spot in Copenhagen

Jeff with The Little Mermaid.

We decided to get up, grab some breakfast at a local bakery, which was amazing. We got the "Danish specialty" which reminded us of a cold cinnamon roll with a tiny bit of custard within it. Pretty yummy! We took a long stroll around the city, saw the outside of The Round Tower (observatory) and ended up at Rosenborg Castle.  This castle's grounds were beautiful, and still had a working moat.  We went in the castle and the treasury, which were neat given they still looked like a working castle.  Our favorite room was on the top where their was a ball room with these golden lion statues in front of two elaborate thrones. We walked to our last royal building, Amalienborg, which was four large identical palaces in this one large plaza area.  We walked around in a really lame museum, then watched The Changing of the Guards.

 So yummy! We got the one on the middle shelf, second from the left.

 Very quaint little castle

 Our favorite room in the castle. These lions were awesome. As always, the picture does not do them justice.

Another photo in front of the castle before heading on our way

Up very close to see the Changing of the Guards for a moment. Then they went to the opposite side where I could see nothing but the back of heads. 

Afterwards, we walked towards the main street of shopping and restaurants with a hope to find a place to eat lunch before getting to the tourist areas.  We had an amazing lunch with too much food. We both left feeling very sleepy and full! We ended our last night in Copenhagen enjoying the nightlife, people watching, and grabbing some dinner.

 Temporary art that was placed outside of a construction area.  We added our initials, took a picture, and before I put my camera up people had already changed the S + J.

Another quick plane ride home, and we had a nice relaxing Monday afternoon to enjoy together.  Overall, we had a great trip.  It will always be a special one to us, as we will be able to share the experience with Jeff's grandparents who visited years ago.  We are looking forward to the next time we see you, Grandmother & Grandfather! We have lots to talk about!

Sidenote: Since Daylight Saving Time happened for many of you already, therefore we are on a 4 hour time difference now until March 29th...then we'll be back to 5 hours.  Keep that in mind Skype family and friends!

On to the next adventure...

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...

More Pasta, More Pizza, More Beer/Wine, and More Florence!

After a quick train ride, we made our way to Florence, Italy.  I was really excited to head here, as I came here with some of my study abroad friends about oh, six years ago.  We got into Florence in the evening (I think...timing is starting to blur together).  Our hotel was one of our favorites, as it was near the train station, had a balcony with a great view, and great breakfast.

 You can see the Florence Cathedral and a few more churches from our balcony!

Panoramic view from our room. 

We walked around the city, took a few photos, and headed straight to Piazzale Michelangelo, which was where one of the replicas of The David stood.  I remembered this area during my time there with friends because we were lost for a long time, and all of a sudden there was this amazing view and The David was lit up.  It totally changed all of our moods.  So I knew I wanted to take Jeff back to that spot as it was breathtaking at night.

 Sunset at the Piazza 

One of the replicas of The David

Getting good use out of the self-timer...although we normally look pretty odd to people passing by: "Why are they smiling at that post?"

We were able to enjoy the scenery, then walk back towards the city centre for dinner.  On our way back down we kept hearing some popular music being played in a small park area.  We decided to check it out.  A young woman and man were playing/singing on a small stage. The audience was drinking, eating, and enjoying themselves at these quaint tables in this park.  We grabbed a couple beers and enjoyed the music. Jeff and I were enjoying ourselves so much that we sat their for an hour or two (or more?).  Shocker...I was losing track of time. Anyway, this ended up being one of our favorite times in Florence because it was relaxed and we could slow down the tourist mode we get into sometimes.  Afterwards, we grabbed a quick dinner (sandwiches & pizza) and then headed back to the hotel.

The next morning, Jeff had tickets to see the real David.  I decided to not "waste" the money, as I had already seen the massive statue.  I walked around, stopped in shops, and enjoyed the city while he went in there for about 30 minutes.  Jeff said he enjoyed himself, and was surprised that you could take photos.  I had told him that I was not able to take pictures when I went there 6 years ago, and now apparently you can.  So no pictures of the both of us, but Jeff got a few selfies with The David.

 Over 13 feet tall. 

Jeff's selfie with David

We decided to head to The Florence Cathedral.  It was a free entrance fee and extremely crowded.  Although it was absolutely beautiful, our experience wasn't the best as there were people everywhere.  You were dodging people, and trying to take pictures at the same time.  Jeff opted out of climbing the duomo, and I had already done it before.

Beautiful!

We decided to head to the market so I could do some shopping next! I had my eye on a new bag...surprised, anyone? and a maroon scarf that I had been looking for locally.  I ended up with a brown multifunctional leather bag and a maroon scarf.  I was pretty pleased with my purchases and got the prices down pretty low. Wahoo! 

[No pictures here...but I'm sure you'll see them make their debut in future posts!]

Next on our agenda was visiting a plaza area, grabbing lunch, and heading to yet another church.  Lunch was one of my favorites during our time in Italy.  I had a potato filled tortellini with meat sauce, and Jeff enjoyed a penne dish.  We also enjoyed a bottle of wine, which it and the rest of the food came from a local farm.  We really enjoyed that experience as it was a quaint place with great food.  We found the 2nd replica of The David in the Piazza della Signoria as well as a statue of Zeus or it might have been Hercules. We just went with Zeus...

 Another replica of The David

 Spending time in this busy square

Zeus or Hercules? We are overruling and saying Zeus!

We went into our last church in Florence, Basilica of Santa Croce.  It was beautiful, as they all are in their own ways.  We especially enjoyed the courtyard area.  Jeff and I sat down and enjoyed the area and the beautiful day.

 Basilica of Santa Croce

 Pretty impressive entrance, right?

The courtyard area

We headed all the way back towards our hotel to see a fortress called Fortress da Basso.  At the time, we thought this was the "fort" that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West got married at...now looking into it. Not the same fort. Whoops! It was a good thing they didn't get married here, because the fortress was not well kept.  We couldn't even enter, so we found a park nearby to enjoy instead.

 Outside of the fortress

 The park near the fortress

We headed to one of the most famous bridges in Florence afterwards, the Ponte Vecchino.  It is most famous because it still has functional shops built into (onto it?) it. What makes it even cooler is that all the shops are expensive jewelry stores.  It is amazing to see it from afar, as you would think the buildings would just fall into the river.  Also, walking through the bridge you don't realize you're going over water...just feels like another street.  We walked over this bridge to see the palace, Pitti Palace, which unfortunately closed about 10 minutes before we got there.  It was so massive, I could only take a picture of the entrance.  Now I have found out that the fortress where Kim and Kayne got married at was right behind this palace. THIS makes more sense now. Mystery solved. We actually saw this fortress, Forte di Belvedere,  from our view at the Piazzale Michelangelo the night before.  [End of tabloid rant]

 The famous bridge, Ponte Vecchino. No jewelry purchase this time. Florence was only meant for me to buy bags and scarves. 

We grabbed dinner on our walk back home, and headed to bed.  We had yet another early day of train rides to get to our next destination....

Onto our next adventure...