friday night we flew to Budapest to spend the weekend we arrived, did our check-in at the hotel and went resting! and the taxi driver told us: well, no snow yet, it's a pitty...
saturday morning, when we left, snow was starting to fall! we went towards the Opera and then passed by the St Stephan Basilica we continued through the Freedom Square towards the Hungarian Parliament and stopped for a while to warm um at a cafe because of the cold! afterwards, along the Danube, we passed the Chain Bridge, Vigadó Square and turned to the Vorosmarty Square wuere the Christhmas market was at after having lunch (and warming up) we went south through the Vaci Utca to the Great Market Hall, which unfortunately was closed... we went back ro the Hotel, to get the bathing suits and towels... and went straight to the Szechenyi Bath to relax!! sauna, thermal pools and exterior pool with snow falling!!
sunday we took the tram to Moskva Ter on the Buda side from there we went to the Castle where we visited the Matthias Church, the Fisherman's Bastion and the Palace, with spectacular views! afterwards, we went down in the cable car, close to the Turul statue! we continued on foot along the river (no rain anymore) passing by Rudas and went up the Gellert Hill where we visited the Citadel to end the day in style, we went to the Gellert Baths, right next door
2monday the sun finally came but the wind was chilly, chilly!! we decided to go to the Great Maket Hall (this time it was open) and then we went back to the Christmas market to eat something typical! finally we went to the airport and flew back home
the impression from the 1st trip still stands: I like this city very much! and I managed to be in the baths, outside, with falling snow!
we left friday right after worlk with snow already falling, but we caught lots of traffic, we only arrived at the Alps 9 hours later!
saturday morning had blue sky and sunshine in Sölden (stayed the whole day) after breakfast we left to rent the equipment and there we went! in the end of the day we went to have a few drinks at the fashionable bar! it was just a pitty that Marta hurt herself in the knee...
sunday we went back, this time with covered sky and cold weather, bu the show that fell the whole day ended up making spectacular tracks! despit the bad visibility it was a great skiing day! in the end of the day we came back home, tired but happy... monday was a work day (for some)!
finally some time to place some pictures here!! which we took when we were in Lisbon (and outskirts), in the S. Jorge Castle, the Pena Palace, and the beaches of Arrábida and, finally, in the Avante festival with very nice food!
finally one week of holidays at the beach doing absolutely nothing!!!
we left Frankfurt thursday and 11 hours later (no sleeping) we were there! in Cancún we took une of the many vans from the agencies, which travel down the Riviera Maya coast towards Tulum, leaving the tourists in the the several resorts along the road... 2 hours later we left our stuff in the room, had dinner and went to sleep!
on friday we woke up wtill with mixed schedules (too early!), and, after a nice breakfast (the meals we buffet style), went to explore the resort and take some dives at the beach!! after lunch we came back to our room to get the mask and breather, the coral reef, filled with colourfull fish, comes right to the beach! its the ideal place to try snorkeling!! and this way also survive the extreme heat and humidity of the day! at night we went to bed really early to try to recover from the jet-lag.
saturday morening we picked some of the tours (guided) to take and we selected one visit to a theme park and another to a pyramid! the rest of the day, apart from meals, was spent in the sun and in the water, doing snorkeling and trying out the new water proof camera! takes some practise but we could already take some nice pictures!
sunday we did a tour of the jungle where, besides being heavily stung, we did rappel into a cenote (very cool) and rode canoes it was nice but we were expecting we could do some snorkeling too... after, in the afternoon, we went to the Coba ruins up the tallest pyramid sweat running down, it was fun to see jungle all arround, from up there! but the complex is very degraded and the trees dominate the ruins... maybe it would have been worth going to Chichen Iza, despite the tourists... the mexicans always have some extra that you can pay for! be it photos of the view, a ride to cross 3 hard kilometers... oh well!
monday we took the Colectivo (easy, cheap and safe) to go to the Xcaret right at the entrance we bought the polemic biodegradable sun screen which we ended up not using because that day we even had rain... and for the first time we had the dollars exanged properly, 12,9 pesos and not the convenient 10 like it seems to be traditional... we started with the snorkeling tour in the cenote, towards the beach (1 hour) where we watched the dolfins and the had lunch. afterwards we went by the sea side to the Flying Men arena and checked out the aquarium (very cool, especially the turtles!!!) afterwards we passed by the felines and checked out the butterflies. in the evening we saw the show about the mayan and mexican cultures very well done and with the impressive ball game and came back to the hotel well tires, again in the Colectivo! it was a very well spent day, the park is impressive!
tuesday, apart from meals and shopping, was spent in the sun and water again doing snorkeling and now experimenting with videos! the new camera was really a good investment!
on wednesday the day was spent again at the beach doing nothing, once again only interruped by lunch (tired of the buffet...) and a small nap in the bedroom, to avoid the hours of hardest heat this time I decided to try the swimming glasses, in the afternoon!
in the last day, thursday, we still could enjoy the beach in the morning! after lunch we had to take the van to the airport, but we still waited 4 hours for the flight and 11 more in the air! we arrived home friday, dying of sleep (could not sleep in the airplane)!!
these were different holidays and mainly very relaxing!! and I found that snorkeling is actually really cool, but with a proper breather snorkel - with a valve at the bottom!!
this week and the next I am finally on holidays!!! and what better way to start than going to Legoland?!? in the middle of a trip through north Bavaria (Franconia) and a hot to some Baden-Württemberg cities on the way home!
we left sunday heading towards Nördlingen but after having seen Rothemburg a while ago in the end it did not seem so interesting... afterwards we headed to Augsburg passing by Shloss Harburg. we had ice cream in the pedestrian area in Augsburg going along a wide street where the trams go through... and kept on going to Günzburg where we spent the night (near Legoland)!
monday really early, a sunny and warm day, we went into Legoland! it was a fantastic day! I need to make a post only about this visit, and show some of the hundred photos I ended up taking! but it's for the kids that Legoland is especially fantastic!
tuesday we woke up early again (staying in the centre is not always good...) the churche's bell rang at 7h, without stopping for 10 whole minutes, and it rang at 8h... and afterwards at 9h... and every 15 minutes... we headed towards Ulm to see the enormous Ulmer Münster had lunch close by, close to the clock in the oposite side of the square, which rings with a composition played in bells (looked like porcelain). afterwards, before coming back to Darmstadt, we went through Karlsruhe with an interesting urban organization based on the location of the Palace and the normous gardens that start in its back!
today is for resting and for preparing tomorrow's trip!
last weekend we took a trip to Vienna! we left Darmstadt friday night and came back on sunday... the plan was to come back on monday but, with the launch postonements it became a simulation day!
saturday, after breakfast, we left the hotel, close to Karlsplatz went through the market next door on the way to the Opera where, after some time, we finally found the ticket office! we kept going north in Kärtnerstrasse (comertial pedestrian street) until we got to the Stephansdom were we climbed the tower (nice view) as the weather was good, we stopped in a cafe at Graben, to have a snack and get some sun! afterwards we went to Peterskirche and kept going to Am Hof where we found an Easter Market filled with handycraft, we kept going untill Maria Am Gestade and came back south for lunch. in the afternoon we went south to the enormous area of the Hofburg through the Spanish Riding School e in the National Library, in the direction of the Burggarten, where we stayed to get some more sun! still going sul, back to the hotel, we went in the Museums Quarter passing in front of the Natural History and the Ancient Art Museums. after resting in the hotel, at night, we went to the Opera, to see Arabella which I followed in german (including subtitles), and managed to understand!
sunday we went around touwn, starting where we left off last day past the Volkstheater, the Main Court, arriving at the Parliament going paralell to the Volksgarten, we went past the Burgtheater and stopped for a coffee in front of the City Hall afterwards we went north past the University and the Votivkirche and caught the Subway back to Karlsplatz searching for lunch! before having some enormous doses of spare ribs and Kaiserschmarrn we still visited the Karlskirche and the Monument to the Red Army! we still went to the Stadtpark for a last stroll before returning to the hotel to get the luggage and go to the airport.
Vienna is a beautiful city, with majestic buildings and wide avenues and with the good weather we had the trip was nice, although short!
this saturday it snowed again and now its is freezing cold... but it was worth it to see Heidelberg white again!! ...there you go, we were playing tourist guides again!
