We landed in Budapest to meet our long-time overseas friends, the Jettners, who we are meeting for the 4th Christmas in a row. The trip started on a low with a broken computer and leaving a phone in the cab (which we amazingly got back after two days). But it perked up when we went to the Nutcracker. Incredible costumes and music told a great story, and none of us had done a ballet before. The first 2.5 acts were great, but two intermissions and a long third act dragged on. Dinner with craft beer and BBQ revitalized the spirits.
Our usual gift exchange and movie on Christmas Eve lead to our annual water park visit on Christmas Day. Great slides and hot tubs broke up the cold. The next day we hit the zoo and then went ice skating on the outdoor rink in front of the castle in the evening. The week was packed with mulled wine, sausages, and chimney stacks at the markets. Budapest did not disappoint.
We flew to Romania and got another treat. They would not rent me a car without an international driving license, despite nothing being said about this when I booked. We eventually got a different company to do it. It cost double the price and we tacked on full insurance so as to not get charged for some scratch at the end. After a long day, we arrived in Brasov.
Our first trip was to Bran Castle, the inspiration for Dracula's Castle. The we hit up Peles Castle which had the most beautiful interior of any castle we have ever seen. We went skiing. Thinking that ski school would help the girls be more confident. We paid a ton, battled for parking, and the girls spent most of the day walking up the hill because the lift was too crowded. Meanwhile, I hiked 15 min in ski gear with skis, waited 25 min for a lift ticket, then another 20 min for the gondola. I skied maybe 15 min and hiked all the way back. Kaelia and Sarah had enough so I took Taelyn for more runs. For each 1 min of skiing, we stood in line for 15. It was not fun. Needless to say, we declined a second day on the slopes.
I must say we redeemed ourselves by going back on the First. We arrived early and for a flat rate had a go of tubing and sledding. The tubing was so fast and exciting we wished we stayed longer or came for another day. It was Sarah's birthday so we went to Keller's Steak House, a great little place serving up some nice cuts of beef.
We drove about an hour and a half to Fagaras Fortress but it ended up being closed on that day, which was disappointing. Another hour or so drive took us up the mountain to a small place called Balea Cascada, above which the road was closed. We parked in a snow bank and headed to the cable car. There were no signs or information but a long line of people filing out of the building. There were three stories to this place and the line wound up all of them. The cable car comes once every 15-20 minutes and holds only about 15 people. There were more than 150 in line. We waited for a long time while people pushed past, saying they were meeting friends. Nearly all of them were dressed hugely inappropriately, with jeans and light shoes on. Apparently, the thing to do is go to the top and take a few pictures; however, the wait was many hours and the weather had the mountain socked in so there was nothing to see. We, unfortunately, had to go up since we were staying in the ice hotel. After 90 minutes of standing on the stairs, we saw a person walk by with a large backpack. Sarah went up and found out that those staying at the hotel can just walk to the front. It was a huge waste of time.
The cable car finally got us to the top nearly 3 hours after we had arrived. The entire place was a whiteout and freezing. We ate lunch in the lodge and toured the ice hotel which is open to the public during the day time. We finally were let in about 6pm for dinner. Eating while sitting on tables and chairs made of ice was a unique experience. We had some drinks and listened to music while the girls played outside in the snow building a fort. We slept on beds which had a wooden platform and a mattress, and we stayed very warm with good sleeping bags. The next morning we attempted to head down but the cable car was iced over and did not run. It took 3.5 hours of waiting before the car started running and we got on one eventually. Luckily, I did not have to dig the car out and we started on our way. Our next stop was a long drive to Corvin Castle. While it was quite impressive on the outside, the inside was not anything to write home about, and given the late night, stress of getting up and down the mountain, and the long drive, we should have skipped it. A massive snowstorm arrived and made the drive even longer as we slowed to a crawl to just stay on the road. The next morning left us with a 4-hour-drive to Bucharest so we could fly on to Prague.
Once in Prague we started off with dinner on Lod Pivovar, a boat-turned-brewery. The next few day we wandered around town, revisiting some sights like the Charles Bridge, Lennon Wall, the Piss Statue, and the Crawling Babies. We ate at lovely places like Craft House, Fat Cat and Ukunstatu and one of the oldest breweries in Europe (U Medvidku), with a stop at the far too touristy and disappointing Prague Beer Museum. Of course, waterparks are a great place to spend cold days in Europe so we hit up Aquaplace again. The kids found the Lego Museum enjoyable as they had just about every Lego set ever made constructed over four floors. After the kids had their fun, we had ours, by attending the Prague Beer Spa. We walked into a private room and sure enough, there was a large barrel. The host put a scoop of hops and a scoop of malt into the hot water and turned it on. We were left alone, undressed, and soaked in the beer. The best part was that a tap was positioned right next to the tub, dispensing unlimited beer. After the tub, we donned white robes and rested on the straw bed in front of the fire.
For a side trip, we took a train out of town to the Sedlec Ossuary in Kunta Hora. This church is lined entirely with human bones, tens of thousands of them. While impressive and pretty in a way, it was very haunting. The rain was falling and no cabs came by so we stepped into some museum to smoking (not the best) to get help. A taxi took us Dacicky, a medieval-looking restaurant in town that was highly rated. It did not disappoint. Warm comfort food picked up our spirits before the ride back to the city.
Our usual gift exchange and movie on Christmas Eve lead to our annual water park visit on Christmas Day. Great slides and hot tubs broke up the cold. The next day we hit the zoo and then went ice skating on the outdoor rink in front of the castle in the evening. The week was packed with mulled wine, sausages, and chimney stacks at the markets. Budapest did not disappoint.
We flew to Romania and got another treat. They would not rent me a car without an international driving license, despite nothing being said about this when I booked. We eventually got a different company to do it. It cost double the price and we tacked on full insurance so as to not get charged for some scratch at the end. After a long day, we arrived in Brasov.
Our first trip was to Bran Castle, the inspiration for Dracula's Castle. The we hit up Peles Castle which had the most beautiful interior of any castle we have ever seen. We went skiing. Thinking that ski school would help the girls be more confident. We paid a ton, battled for parking, and the girls spent most of the day walking up the hill because the lift was too crowded. Meanwhile, I hiked 15 min in ski gear with skis, waited 25 min for a lift ticket, then another 20 min for the gondola. I skied maybe 15 min and hiked all the way back. Kaelia and Sarah had enough so I took Taelyn for more runs. For each 1 min of skiing, we stood in line for 15. It was not fun. Needless to say, we declined a second day on the slopes.
I must say we redeemed ourselves by going back on the First. We arrived early and for a flat rate had a go of tubing and sledding. The tubing was so fast and exciting we wished we stayed longer or came for another day. It was Sarah's birthday so we went to Keller's Steak House, a great little place serving up some nice cuts of beef.
We drove about an hour and a half to Fagaras Fortress but it ended up being closed on that day, which was disappointing. Another hour or so drive took us up the mountain to a small place called Balea Cascada, above which the road was closed. We parked in a snow bank and headed to the cable car. There were no signs or information but a long line of people filing out of the building. There were three stories to this place and the line wound up all of them. The cable car comes once every 15-20 minutes and holds only about 15 people. There were more than 150 in line. We waited for a long time while people pushed past, saying they were meeting friends. Nearly all of them were dressed hugely inappropriately, with jeans and light shoes on. Apparently, the thing to do is go to the top and take a few pictures; however, the wait was many hours and the weather had the mountain socked in so there was nothing to see. We, unfortunately, had to go up since we were staying in the ice hotel. After 90 minutes of standing on the stairs, we saw a person walk by with a large backpack. Sarah went up and found out that those staying at the hotel can just walk to the front. It was a huge waste of time.
The cable car finally got us to the top nearly 3 hours after we had arrived. The entire place was a whiteout and freezing. We ate lunch in the lodge and toured the ice hotel which is open to the public during the day time. We finally were let in about 6pm for dinner. Eating while sitting on tables and chairs made of ice was a unique experience. We had some drinks and listened to music while the girls played outside in the snow building a fort. We slept on beds which had a wooden platform and a mattress, and we stayed very warm with good sleeping bags. The next morning we attempted to head down but the cable car was iced over and did not run. It took 3.5 hours of waiting before the car started running and we got on one eventually. Luckily, I did not have to dig the car out and we started on our way. Our next stop was a long drive to Corvin Castle. While it was quite impressive on the outside, the inside was not anything to write home about, and given the late night, stress of getting up and down the mountain, and the long drive, we should have skipped it. A massive snowstorm arrived and made the drive even longer as we slowed to a crawl to just stay on the road. The next morning left us with a 4-hour-drive to Bucharest so we could fly on to Prague.
Once in Prague we started off with dinner on Lod Pivovar, a boat-turned-brewery. The next few day we wandered around town, revisiting some sights like the Charles Bridge, Lennon Wall, the Piss Statue, and the Crawling Babies. We ate at lovely places like Craft House, Fat Cat and Ukunstatu and one of the oldest breweries in Europe (U Medvidku), with a stop at the far too touristy and disappointing Prague Beer Museum. Of course, waterparks are a great place to spend cold days in Europe so we hit up Aquaplace again. The kids found the Lego Museum enjoyable as they had just about every Lego set ever made constructed over four floors. After the kids had their fun, we had ours, by attending the Prague Beer Spa. We walked into a private room and sure enough, there was a large barrel. The host put a scoop of hops and a scoop of malt into the hot water and turned it on. We were left alone, undressed, and soaked in the beer. The best part was that a tap was positioned right next to the tub, dispensing unlimited beer. After the tub, we donned white robes and rested on the straw bed in front of the fire.
For a side trip, we took a train out of town to the Sedlec Ossuary in Kunta Hora. This church is lined entirely with human bones, tens of thousands of them. While impressive and pretty in a way, it was very haunting. The rain was falling and no cabs came by so we stepped into some museum to smoking (not the best) to get help. A taxi took us Dacicky, a medieval-looking restaurant in town that was highly rated. It did not disappoint. Warm comfort food picked up our spirits before the ride back to the city.
