“I got hit by a bike”

My poor little Jonah is so accident prone it’s ridiculous. Nick got a call from the day care the other day while I was teaching swim lessons. They said Jonah had gotten a little scratch on the side of his face and they just wanted to let us know. They didn’t know what happened but when we asked Jonah he said “Gino hit me with the bike”. After talking to Gino’s mom, she was able to obtain a confession confirming that Jonah was in fact hit by a bike. Oh, Jonah.

More on Budapest

Budapest has this really random claim to fame that I never would have guessed. They have the oldest metro on the European continent (the only one older is in London). It is so old that it was originally horse and carts that would go through the tunnels. The trains that run on this line must be the original trains or close to it, they are super retro. And they sing a little diddy at each stop which is fun.

We have been trying to do more for Jonah on our trips so in Budapest we went to the circus. They spoke in Hungarian but we got the jist.

Langos are a delicacy in Budapest…basically the most fatty thing you can eat. Fry bread with sour cream, garlic and cheese. It was tasty but a bit much.

We have found lot’s of fancy buildings around Europe that were built for various world fairs. The one in the photo above is an example. Below is a statue of “anonymous” who wrote Hungary’s history down.

Szechenyi bath house. The number one thing to do in Budapest according to all the guidebooks is take a dip at one of their many Turkish style baths. (Pretty much a hot springs spa).

(Above) Old abandonned Parisian style “mall” with original wood and glass in it, super pretty and neat old phone booths. (Below) Market hall place similar to the Boqueria in Barcelona.

Cool church (above). Fisherman’s bastion (below) apparently this is where they used to sell fish. Not sure why it’s such a cool looking building just for fish….

 

Budapest

We found super cheap tickets to fly to Budapest (gotta love Ryanair). So we decided to check it out over a weekend. Hungary is more of an Eastern European country, but they  have tried very hard to be more western, so it’s a good mix of both really. The country was occupied by Nazi Germany for a little while until the Soviets came in and “liberated” them. They have several monuments to the Soviets, but it didn’t take long to realize that the soviet reign was not so good either. The monuments are still there, and are controversial, it’s very interesting to think about.

Above, a monument to the soviet liberators. Below, the opera house, their attempt to be more westernized. They wanted one just like the one in Austria.