Budapest Day 6&7

Day 6&7 (8/15-8/16)

The kids and I made it through a 3 hour train ride back to budapest on our own... we managed to survive. Nora and her husband picked us up and we headed back to her parents house. Monika, Arnold, Aidan, Andrew, and Leslie arrived that day. The kids were SOOO excited to see each other and Isa showered Andrew with kisses! We spent the rest of that day just catching up.
On the 16th Nora and Janos met up with us for a ride on Budapest's Children's Railway. This railway is run by children ages 10-16 who do just about everything except for conducting the trains. The kids LOVED this day. They swore Thomas the Tank Engine was pulling them. Aidan and Will both got necklaces with a train on them. After our last stop we were treated to a PHENOMENAL authentic Hungarian lunch which included goulash, bean soup, paprikash, and Palinka drink (which I couldn't have). This was the MOST amazing and delicious meal of the trip!
On our way back the kids and I met up with Gramma at the train station (she finally made it back from Vienna) and headed to Aunt Margaret and Uncle Joseph's house. We had another great meal with good company... and more Palinka!

Vienna

Day 5 (8/14)
We started our journey to Vienna bright and early. Thanks to help from Mary with arranging our train ride, we set off from the Keleti train station in Budapest and arrived in Vienna, Austria about 3 hours later. Will LOVED this train ride... he pointed out all the other tracks, and the many other trains and freight cars we passed. However, with about an hour left both kids (primarily Isa) would say... a Train All Done. We checked into our hotel (where we all had the best night's sleep of the trip) and headed out to explore the city. The kids and I only did a one day trip (Gramma stayed an extra night in Vienna). We took a subway ride to the Schönbrunn Palace where we explored the grounds and visited the Imperial Zoo (the oldest zoo known to date). We were so impressed with the beautiful gardens, the manicured lawns, the pathways of trimmed trees, and arches of roses. Impressive is all we can say!

our train ride to Vienna....


strolling through the palace gardens. it was HUGE we literally could have been lost for hours.







at the Imperial Zoo the kids saw their first Panda bear, Will climbed on a lion (not real), and loved all the animals.





an elegant and amazing dinner after a long day! Walking past the Opera House at night and finally an awesome bath that the kids loved!

Budapest day 4

Day 4 (8/13/09)
Jet lag hit us hard this day. We decided to just stay in, sleep alot, and visit with Nagymama (my grandma). We finally ventured out to a nearby park to let the kids run around, but there wasn't a playground there... to our great surprise we spotted a restaurant that had 2 slides (perfect for the kids). Gramma and I were ALSO very excited to get some REAL coffee there (Nagymama only had instant coffee that wasn't really working for us). After some Latte Macchiatos, and the kids playing, we headed back. We stopped at he local shop and snapped a picture for Justin. Back at Nagymama's my cousin Nora, her husband Janos, and daughter Dora met up with us. Everyone was super sweet and we loved being able to chat with them.

spending time with Nagymama and playing Hallabaloo!!!



thank goodness for these slides at the restaurant!


a local's shop display of their Axe products... I have to say, Axe and baby products don't quite mix. We will also note, Gramma got yelled at for taking this picure....


family time. Will also lined up all the chairs for ALL of us to sit on while he conducted his train!

finally =)

We are safe back at home and I am finally able to blog from a borrowed computer thanks to ours freezing after 2 minutes of use at a time... Tobin is ready to throw it through a window.
On a good note... we are back and had a wonderful time visiting our hungarian family and seeing all the great sites. Even though we were able to do ALOT of sightseeing, we did do many new activities catered to the kids. The easiest way for me to share our journey is blog each day. and so our fun begins....

Days 1&2&3 (8/10-8/12/09)
Our first day began leaving Ohio at 5pm. We had 2 connections, in Detroit, then Amsterdam, before arriving in Budapest. As soon as we got on the plane, Isa was instantly attached to Gramma's (aka Bapa's) hip. We thought that since it was an overnight trip the kids would sleep most of the way... during our 7 hour flight from Detroit to Amsterdam, Will managed to sleep a great 5 hours... BUT Isa only slept for 2... needless to say we were exhausted! However, we made it just fine and were welcomed by one of my uncles (Laszlo) and his son who took us to my Grandmother's home. We arrived on 8/11 at about 1pm Budapest time (7am local). Nagymama (my grandma) was so excited to see the kids and we just spent time together that first day followed by an EARLY bedtime. However, Isa woke up at 9:30 pm and managed to stay awake for 4 hours. We were tired, but she was so CUTE telling us over and over... Hi, Mommy, HI Bapa... I love you.
We awoke to an amazing breakfast of fresh pastries that Aunt Margaret had brought us. Gramma, Will, Isa and I then ventured off for our first day in the city where we took a Tram to the Metro, and then walked across the Chain Bridge over the Danube to explore the Buda side. We went to the Buda Castle, and the Fisherman's Bastion. We had a great view of the city below. The kids did extremely well. and seemed to enjoy running around the when we stopped for a fruit break!

ready for a long plane ride...



at the Danube and crossing the bridge...



a tram ride up to the Buda Castle....







Fisherman's Bastion, some delicious ice cream, and by one of the MANY flower beds decorating the city!

on our way to Budapest, Hungary!

tomorrow at 5pm we(Veronika, Will, Isa and Gramma Sikora) start our 13 hour trip to Budapest. We are heading there to visit my grandmother and for the kids to see their great-grandma. We are a little anxious but very excited to go! We hope the kids do well on the flights and in country!
We are looking forward to seeing my Hungarian family again!!! we can't wait to arrive!

Here is a picture of my grandmother with us when she visited in 2007 to meet Will and cousin Aidan!