GoingDeutsch

First stop on our three country tour was Budapest, Hungary

The Great Market Hall, where we picked up a bottle of Tokaji, Hungary's most famous sweet wine!

Strolling along the Danube - the green Liberty Bridge

Stopped in for coffee at Gerbeaud, a famous coffee house along the large shopping street Vaci Utca

St. Istvan's Basilica all lit up

Nighttime stroll after dinner at Dionysus, a great Greek restaurant!

The Chain Bridge

Our second day in Budapest was a bit drab and dreary, so we ended up doing a hop on/hop off bus tour through the city. We tried to go to the House of Terror museum but it was a national holiday so it was closed.

Warming up with a little Palinka. "The fire of the palinka will inspire you..."

Matthias Church on the Buda hills

The Fisherman's Bastion built to commemorate the fisherman who defended this stretch of the city walls during the Middle Ages.

The Parliament building

Hungarian wine tasting on Castle Hill, Harslevelu was our favorite!

View from the Royal Palace of Pest

We got some sunshine the next day so we took a walk through Leopold town to get some pictures!

The Soviet War memorial commemorating when the Soviets forced the Nazis out of Hungary. There is some controversy over this monument because of what the Soviets went on to do to the Hungarian people. There is now a fence around the memorial to stop people from defacing it.

Josh and Ronald Reagan!

The Parliament building

Castle Hill from the other side of the Danube

The Holocaust Memorial, consisting of 50 pairs of bronze shoes. The Nazis massacred many Jewish people right here, letting their bodies fall into the Danube.

A more light hearted statue of a police officer from the good old days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before WWI.

St. Istvan's Basilica in the day time, it was so beautiful inside!

We went to an amazing lunch at Onyx (foodies can see pictures at the end of this blog!). Afterwards, we headed to take the waters at Szechenyi Baths to get the true Hungarian experience!

Heroes' Square is the entry way to City Park, where the baths were located.

It was freezing outside, but the baths were so warm. The true Hungarians were sitting in the baths playing chess in the water!

We ended this relaxing day, by taking an hour long cruise on the Danube. Budapest is absolutely gorgeous at night when the sights are all lit up!

We had a great time in Budapest and decided to extend our trip to see Bratislava, Slovakia and Vienna, Austria as well!

St. Michael's Gate is the last remaining tower of the city wall in Bratislava.

This Napoleonic officer with his hat pulled over his eyes erected outside of the French Embassy is the Slovak's "revenge" for the difficulties they faced from Napoleon. There are also cannonballs embedded in the buildings throughout the town which commemorate Napoleon's two sieges of Bratislava.

Having some fun with "Schoner Naci", a resident of Bratislava who would dress up in his finest and stroll the streets giving gifts to "schon" (German for beautiful) women.