My parents decided that our time in Europe would make a good excuse for them to fly to Europe and visit us for a couple of weeks(together with some cajoling on our part). So after many hours on the internet exploring options of where to meet and spend time together, we settled on Budapest, Hungary.  Our French friend Lara had earlier offered her family holiday house close to the Alps in Italy, but we decided that being in a city would provide more activities and options for an extended stay.

Coincidently, (or fantastic organisation on Sally’s behalf) our flights from Romania and those of my parents coming from Venice were due to arrive within five minutes of each other the Budapest airport, so we arranged to meet there. The girls were excited to see their grandparents again as we had been talking about it during the weeks leading up to the reunion. So in flew the Granparents on the Ryanair flight from Venice, and in we flew on our Wizz flight from Targu Mures in Romania and we met at the airport concourse and caught a maxi-taxi downtown to the apartment.

Our criteria for the apartment was it had to have two bathroom and room for 6 to sleep as well as either having a lift or on a low floor and preferably close to public transport.  The apartment we settled on as the best option consisted of a large one bedroom apartment with a good size kitchen and also a separate studio apartment with ensuite and kitchenette next door for the VIP guests (my folks). The huge lounge area had a double sofa bed for the girls that we moved into the big bedroom so we could put the girls to bed and still use the lounge at night for the adults.

The apartment letting was arranged direct with the owner; an extremely friendly and helpful Irishman ‘Patrick’ and together, the two apartments were 400 Euro a week (a little over $500) not bad especially when shared between two families.  The apartment was located on  Raday Utca, an upbeat pedestrianized ‘restaurant’ street in what is considered the Latin Quarter.

The building is typical for Europe in design: offices or apartments around the outside forming the exterior and all looking into an internal courtyard. Our apartment was on the first floor and also overlooked Raday Street, so we had a small bay window and balcony that took in the street vista below, great to watch the comings and goings of city life.

There was a bakery  right outside the building front door, so it wasn’t always necessary to dress ‘appropriately’ (as Immi would say) in the sub zero temperatures when fresh bread was needed for lunch – just as long as you were quick!

A Spar supermarket was  just one block away, and a Tesco supermarket a little further in the opposite direction.  The surrounding streets were filled with an amazing assortment of restaurants, cafes, bookshops, antiques stores, and many other interesting shops. Even after a month in the apartment, we were still discovering shops in our neighbourhood. If ever we needed to know where something specific (like a computer/printing shop) a quick email to Patrick was sent and we would have an answer back within the hour.

The largest indoor markets in Budapest, the ‘Great Market Hall’ was just a 10 minute walk and close to the banks of the Danube River, and Vaci Utca the most well known (read overpriced and touristy) pedestrian street was a little further.

The apartment building was most likely constructed in the 1800’s, and our apartment had extremely high ceilings (5 metres) and thick walls, in places up to 0.8m. When we first arrived, the apartment had been vacant and it took more than 24 hours for the walls to stop absorbing the heat given off by the central heating radiators. Once the rooms had warmed up, the whole apartment was very cosy and we were able to just wear t-shirts inside. The entire time we were there, the gas boiler in the bathroom worked pretty hard to keep us all warm as most days the outside temperature was in the negatives.

The high vaulted ceilings meant badminton could be played in the lounge room and many a game was enjoyed using the racquets delivered by Santa in Bansko.

Some other interesting facts about Budapest we learned during our time here: the wide Andrássy Avenue was once paved with timber ‘bricks’, there are numerous thermal swimming pools and health spas in the city which date back to Roman times, and the first Christian monk to arrive at the city (Gellert) was placed in a timber barrel full of venomous snakes by the town’s pagan residents and rolled down a hill into the river. I guess they just weren’t ready for conversion to Christianity. Although I’m sure they felt bad afterward as they named the hill in his honour.

Poor old Budapest copped a bit if a flogging during World War II. Hungary was occupied by the Germans and the capital was substantially damaged by Allied bombings. As the Germans withdrew during the closing stages of the war, they destroyed all of the bridges crossing the Danube, the last being the ‘Chain Bridge’ which they blew up without warning during afternoon peak hour, killing many locals and sending a tram full of passengers into the river. After WWII, Hungary became a communist state and remained so until democracy swept across Eastern Europe in 1989.

Also, Budapest is home to the second oldest electrified underground railway system in the world, dating from 1896 (after London’s underground). We made good use of the metro system during our stay, and were surprised at how deep the tunnels are. The escalators, some still with the old style timber treads, seemed to run at double the speed of other escalators probably because they have so much further down to go, so you really have to hang on when you step on! I think the metro tunnels were probably designed to double as nuclear shelters for the citizens during the cold war years. The metro system underwent further construction and refurbishment in the 1970’s & 1980’s, and the décor at a lot of the stations hasn’t been changed since! Even the trains themselves have that boxy 70’s look which I actually don’t mind and think looks kind of cool. At least it all matches!

Sally had been experiencing some ‘sensitive’ teeth (perhaps too much Turkish Delight in Turkey), and with one cavity clearly visible, it was time to get to know a Budapest dentist. A quick email to our all-knowing landlord and it turns out one of his best mates in Budapest is a dentist! An appointment was made and Sally walked the few short blocks to his surgery. The dentist found six cavities and sets to work repairing four of them which is all Sally would allow in a single sitting. We later discover that Budapest is the dentistry capital of Europe where everyone comes to have work done at affordable prices. There are dentists offering packages including accommodation and surgery, similar to that offered in the Philippines for Australians.

During the weeks leading up to our arrival in Budapest, I had been in clandestine email communication with Juli; a former AFS Exchange Student who had stayed in my parents’ home in Australia in 1996. Although we have kept in contact and visited each other since then, my parents didn’t have time to visit her in Germany as part of this trip, so Juli and I secretly decided she should come to Budapest for a surprise visit. Juli arrived on Friday afternoon, the end of our first week and stayed for the weekend. We spent a couple of really busy days exploring the local attractions together – it was a wonderful three days to be part of a bigger group for a change rather than just the four of us. Both girls took to Juli quickly and enjoyed her attention.

First, we headed to the City Park Ice-skating rink. Located in front of the Vajdahunyad Castle it is normally a lake in the summer months used for boating but during winter it is transformed into Europe’s largest outdoor ice-skating rink.

We also covered a bit of ground including the beautiful and historical walking district of Castle Hill, including the wonderful Fisherman’s Bastion and the former royal Palace.

The Grandparent’s, grandchildren and Juli enjoyed a soak in the Famous Gellert baths, while Sally and I decided on a climb to the top of nearby Gellert Hill to admire the view as the sun set over the city.

After Juli’s departure on Monday, we spent the second week exploring more of the local sights at a more leisurely pace. The snow hadn’t finished with us, and we had a few days of snow during our time in Budapest. There were two parks/playgrounds within easy walking distance of the apartment and we would visit both several times during our stay.

The girls especially enjoyed the trips to the Budapest Zoo (yes they went twice!) . They also enjoyed a couple of shopping excursions with their grandmother and always seemed to return with some sort of knick-knack.

Now, anyone who knows Immi, will know that her oldest and best friend is a small 15cm long toy dog. ‘Scruffy’ has been on all our adventures and rarely leaves Immis’ side always travelling safely in the ‘Scruffy Bag’ slung over one shoulder. Immi always puts Scruffy’s needs first and is on constant lookout for clothes or accessories for her bestie. So it came as no surprise that shopping trips with Grandma resulted in soccer shoes and ball for Scruffy. We discovered a dolls shop in our street where the owner handmade all the dolls clothes, some of which were just the right size for you-know-who and so a few new outfits were purchased.

All too quickly, our two weeks with the grandparents was over and they left by train for Romania and a tour they had booked before leaving Australia. They were able to replenish our Vegemite supply and brought us a second Kindle and some more schoolbooks from home.

For their return to Australia, we loaded them up with unwanted items such as completed diaries to take home. It was fantastic to have them visit and spend some time with the girls, and Sally and I even got to go out one night and enjoy a meal, just the two of us – the first time in 6 months!  We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and we were able to share some of the stories of our adventures with like-minded travellers over meals and numerous cups of tea. Thanks Mum & Dad.