Starting at the Beginning...

So it looks like I'm going to have to do this in stages if I'm ever to get it done at all. Funny how holiday tends to put me into a slow motion pace it's hard to break out of. It's not as though I haven't had time to spend staring at the computer (when the internet decided to work) it's just that I haven't been motivated enough to actually sit down and write anything up. But now that I've at least managed to get something down in my journal about all my holiday travels, I think it's high time I started to record something here beyond the train story, which I must say was quite entertaining.
After the ridiculous trip out to Joanna's place, Laura and I were well good and happy to sleep in. With three days to spend exploring Budapest we decided we had plenty of time to take things slow. The only downside of not getting out of the house until after noon (besides being ridiculously hungry and ordering two large pizzas for three small girls which resulted in the waiter being snide and commenting on what a lot of food that was -grr!) the location of Hungary near the beginning of the time zone means it also gets dark there really early. So by the time we got through eating almost all of the pizzas (after which said rude waiter asked if we'd "had enough" and the proceeded not only to ask us if we wanted dessert, but also to inform us that the tip was not included in the bill! The nerve!) it was nearing the dark time of the day.
We hopped onto the tram:

and headed to Heroes Square. Kelly thinks they may have modeled the horses and riders in Lord of the Rings after these statues of the Hungarian forefathers.


From there we proceeded to the "fake" castle. Joanna wasn't sure when this castle was built, but it was never actually used as a castle. It was just for looks I guess. Well, all I can say is, they made it look awfully cool. And God did a nice job on the effects by throwing out this sunset at us. It ranked high on Laura's favorite things for the day :)


I must now inform you that, as out of character as this may be for me, I developed a crush whilst on this little foray. There was just something mysterious that drew me deeply into a state of near obsession. I could do nothing to stop myself from curling right up in the very lap of none other than Anonymous, that timeless writer of mythic proportions who roams the globe and speaks of everything under the sun. Pretty hot, eh?

Our last stop of the day was the Christmas Market. Laura and I were particularly impressed with the originality of the items they had for sale there. This was the fourth Christmas market in the fourth country that I made it to this season and I found it to be the most unique by far. I enjoyed them all, but appreciated the variety in the stalls. This cheery glass garden was particularly fetching.

I can safely say I have enough pictures to do a day by day recounting of my past two weeks of travel, so for now I think I'll leave it at this, and I'll try to continue the updates soon. Hope you enjoy :)