We just returned from a fantastic spring break trip to two beautiful cities: Vienna and Budapest. I booked these tickets many months ago, and despite the airline schedule changing five times and Jason having conflicts with his new job, we all managed to make the trip.
We started in Vienna, which is a city that has been on my list for a long time. It was a beautiful city, clean, charming, and very easy to navigate. The weather was a bit cold (it snowed the first day!), but we bundled up and toured around.
On the first day, we went to the Hapsburg palace and St. Stephen's Cathedral. Both were quite impressive. I enjoyed learning about Austrian history, which I never remember learning in school. The cathedral was huge and we hiked to the top of the spire for a great view over the city.
The next day, we took the train out to Schonbrunn Palace, which was a beautiful complex.
After a palace tour, we walked the grounds, and the kids enjoyed checking out a labyrinth.
That evening we headed to the Vienna Opera house to see Carmen. The building was opulent, and though I purchased the "cheap" seats with a partially obstructed view, Jason and I really enjoyed it. (the kids were bored.....someday they will appreciate, I hope). The coolest thing to me was that my dad's great uncle was actually an usher at the opera hours in the early 1900s...so I got to walk in my ancestor's footsteps!
On our last full day in Vienna we checked out the Belvedere museum as well as the Prater Amusement park (it was too cold for most of the rides to be open but the kids did enjoy some cotton candy) and finally the House of Music, which is a museum about the music history of Vienna that is geared for kids.
We had great food in Vienna--my favorite was a schnitzel from Figlmueller:
but almost everything we ate was very high quality. Cake is also quite popular, and I enjoyed sampling many varieties and apple streusel!
The next day we caught a train to Budapest. Unfortunately, upon checking into our air bnb we found it to be a dump, and struggled to find a new accommodation. We were stuck for the night, but the next day, moved to a much nicer place just a few blocks away.
Budapest had a very different feel from Vienna, in many ways. It was grittier, dirtier, cheaper, and less predicable. For example, in Vienna, we had to wear KN95 masks everywhere and carry proof of vaccination--and in Budapest, we never saw one mask! But the city was a lot of fun, and we had some amazing food.
On our first day, we took a tour of the parliament, and saw the Hungarian Crown Jewels from 900 AD. We also learned a lot of Hungarian history (which I definitely never learned in school). Seems like the Hungarians have always sided with the "wrong" side of history (and continue to now, with respect to Ukraine..... )
In the afternoon, we checked out the Szechnyi Baths. Budapest is built on a geothermal site, and has a lot of thermal springs that have been covered into year-round swimming pools/hot tubs. The Szechnyi baths are the most famous, and quite large. Hanging out was relaxing, and Ethan even played chess with a local. Dinner that night was at Retek--delicious!
On our next day, we visited the Dohany Synagogue, which is the largest synagogue in Europe. It is also not an orthodox synagogue, which was interesting. They had a small exhibit on WWII, but we agreed it could have been better. There certainly was a lot of tragedy in Budapest at the time. In the afternoon, we visited the Budapest Castle, which had spectacular views of the city, and enjoyed some treats at the Ruszworm Cafe. Yum! The kids also got Hungarian haircuts!
Our last day in Budapest unfortunately brought rain, so we did a bit of souvenir shopping and then headed to another thermal bath--this time Palatinus. Palatinus even has a wave pool and waterslides that open in the summer--would be a fun place for sure. Dinner was at the Hoppa Bistro-probably our best meal of the trip, but it really was hard to pick a best!
The food in Budapest was amazing. From amazing morning cinnamon rolls at Aran bakery, to langos--whcih is a top of field bread, yummy treats were available around every corner. My new favorite dish is chicken paprikash--which is chicken cooked in a creamy paprika sauce. I bought some Hungarian paprika so I can try to make it at home! We also really enjoyed the goulash--which is actually not a stew, but a beef broth based soup. Luckily we did a lot of walking to burn off all of the calories!
