Paris!

We planned a trip to Paris as a late birthday trip for K, her choice. We went over winter break so the kids wouldn't miss any school, and we always hope that the cooler temps will keep all the other tourists away. We figured out into the trip that doing one big thing each day as early as we could, following by eating then some relaxing in our hotel rooms, then dinner out. 

Trying to hit up another tourist destination in the afternoons proved to be too much work for the kids, and nobody enjoyed so we didn't bother. That said, we still saw a lot in our 5 days there. 

First day we dropped our bags quickly at the hotel & ran to the Eiffel Tower where we had a reservation. After going up in the tower, I will say I find it much more majestic from the ground. 

The rest of the week we went to the Christmas market along Champs-Elysees, visited The Louvre, the Catacombs, The Musee Picasso, the Arc de Triomph (just from the ground), ate along Rue Cler, bought a beret, and a few more trips back to the Tower to see it again.

We have far too many pictures to post them here, I think we'll need a 'Paris' album. This trip helped me plan an upcoming trip to Rome knowing how much touristing the kids could handle in one day.

Parliament Tour

We have monthly activities for Fulbright, and December's activity was a tour of the 

Hungarian Parliament building & surrounding area.

The building is gorgeous on the outside, a definite landmark of the city along the Danube. Some pictures from our tour inside. 

One highlight was definitely seeing the crown jewels, complete with the crooked cross, though no pictures are allowed in that area which is guarded by two soldiers. After our tour indoors, we went outside with a Hungarian scholar who explained the significance of the various statues that surround the Parliament building. We weren't able to stay for the entire tour before heading to the Fulbright Christmas party later that evening, because kids get cranky after a certain amount of touring... (as evidenced by pictures)...

 

Christmas Markets

This is what happens when people get blogs! They forget to post at some point..

We spent Christmas in Budapest and took advantage of the many Christmas markets around the city to keep ourselves entertained throughout the season.
We also had a white elephant brunch with fellow Fulbrighters.

The big Christmas market in front of Cafe Gerbeaud near Vörösmarty tér had a wooden train the kids could play in and a giant lit up tree down Fashion Avenue.

The arch in front of the market in front of St. Stephen's Basilica.

 

The Museum of Applied Arts has an annual market indoors where the artisans sell their work. We spent one day here with the kids who needed to pick out gifts for their secret santa exchanges at school. 

The kids even enjoyed a cup of mulled wine, or forralt bor. 

 

 

Some of the artwork on the walls of Bonnie Restro, where we had our white elephant party.