Post by Kim on Jul 18, 2003 10:22:49 GMT -5
Hello from Budapest -
Well, we're on our final three weeks of our trip. The past 2 weeks have been both very fun and very exhausting. I've found that although Rob is fine where ever he travels, I tend to get homesick my first day in a city and it takes about 24 hours until I'm really settled in. But we're both excited to have so much time left and so little time too!
After Munich we hit Hallstatt, Austria, which is a beautiful little town situated next to a lake. Hallstatt was a really easy place to visit, with great hospitality and lots of events and sights nearby. Probably one of the more prettier places we've visited too. For such a small little town (900 residents) it has a fascinating history, back to the Romans and before. After Hallstatt we visited Vienna. Vienna is a great city with lots to do BUT the sights are very expensive, even more so than Paris or London. But they also have quite a few summer events, outdoor films and concerts and things like that. We managed to make it to the MAK center on the free Saturday, and it's a wonderful museum. I'm just sad that we didn't make it during opera season, but we did see a perfomance of Mozart's Requiem in the Cathedral that was first rate.
So we're in Budapest, both so western and yet not. The prices here are either super cheap or outrageously expensive. Anything connected with the tourist trade, hostels, walking tours and such are just as expensive or more so than the rest of europe. But stuff like ice cream and groceries and even museums are cheap. Where else can you get an ice cream cone for 30 cents? And we went to two of our favorite museums we've seen yet, the Telephone Museum and the Museum of Catering and Commerce. The metro system works great, but the old style escalators in the stations are much too fast and dangerous - we've seen people get hurt. Rob has brought up many violations of building code since we've been here. Quite entertaining... But Budapest is a great place to visit, we're very much enjoying our time here.
Our next stop is Prague, then back into Germany to Dresden and Berlin, then to Copenhagen and then three days in London. Then back to New York!
Love, Mari and Rob
Well, we're on our final three weeks of our trip. The past 2 weeks have been both very fun and very exhausting. I've found that although Rob is fine where ever he travels, I tend to get homesick my first day in a city and it takes about 24 hours until I'm really settled in. But we're both excited to have so much time left and so little time too!
After Munich we hit Hallstatt, Austria, which is a beautiful little town situated next to a lake. Hallstatt was a really easy place to visit, with great hospitality and lots of events and sights nearby. Probably one of the more prettier places we've visited too. For such a small little town (900 residents) it has a fascinating history, back to the Romans and before. After Hallstatt we visited Vienna. Vienna is a great city with lots to do BUT the sights are very expensive, even more so than Paris or London. But they also have quite a few summer events, outdoor films and concerts and things like that. We managed to make it to the MAK center on the free Saturday, and it's a wonderful museum. I'm just sad that we didn't make it during opera season, but we did see a perfomance of Mozart's Requiem in the Cathedral that was first rate.
So we're in Budapest, both so western and yet not. The prices here are either super cheap or outrageously expensive. Anything connected with the tourist trade, hostels, walking tours and such are just as expensive or more so than the rest of europe. But stuff like ice cream and groceries and even museums are cheap. Where else can you get an ice cream cone for 30 cents? And we went to two of our favorite museums we've seen yet, the Telephone Museum and the Museum of Catering and Commerce. The metro system works great, but the old style escalators in the stations are much too fast and dangerous - we've seen people get hurt. Rob has brought up many violations of building code since we've been here. Quite entertaining... But Budapest is a great place to visit, we're very much enjoying our time here.
Our next stop is Prague, then back into Germany to Dresden and Berlin, then to Copenhagen and then three days in London. Then back to New York!
Love, Mari and Rob