First Day In Budapest

I got into Budapest just about an hour after I was supposed to. Tons and tons of flights in Europe are canceled or delayed due to snow. Mary's flight got in an hour late, also. I just hung out with my parents and the three massive suitcases at the airport until she arrived. Unfortunately our car broke down right as my parents were entering Budapest yesterday, so they found a random parking garage to leave it in... haha... they considered leaving it there forever, but I think we're towing it back to Pecs instead. What a mess!

Dad found us a nice hotel on priceline.com that is on the Danube River, just across the water from the Castle and parliament. We have rooms facing all of the beautiful landmarks, and it's just gorgeous.( The pictures here are of our view at night.) Once we got to our hotel last night (in the taxi van that was required due to our 5 large suitcases and 4 carry-ons total), we freshened up and headed to dinner. On the way we walked through the Christmas market where we got some hot red wine in cute mugs that we got to keep! It was delicious. It was probably 20 degrees last night, with 0 degrees windchill. (My dad just gave me those figures- so that isn't an exaggeration!) My dad just said, "Europe is in a deep freeze, and we're right in the middle of it." Oh goodness... Bring on the long underwear today!! Apparently this morning it was 15 degrees, -11 windchill (I'm talking Fahrenheit, not Celsius). It's noon now though, so I'm sure it's warmed up some :)

Well, as I said- it's noon, and my parents just woke me up. I think we're about to venture into the cold to go to the markets and my favorite Hungarian restaurant. I like this place because they serve you Goulash in a little hanging black pot, and you dish it out into your own bowl to eat. I think it's really cool actually!

Pictures from the restaurant:

Mary scooping out her Goulash from the kettle.