OoPs!

Okay, okay, I know. I've been home for several weeks now and I still haven't finished my Europe blog. Which is probably bugging me more than it's bugging you. So here are two new posts. I can't do any more than that until my sister gets home, because she has all the pictures with her, but I got these loaded before she left. So, without further ado about nothing (someone needs to stop me when I start mixing phrases like that), here are Romania and Hungary (picking up right after Ukraine).

Hungary

We only had one stop in Hungary, but it was a good one. Budapest, though a large city, was actually really great! I'm sure the Christmas market nearby helped, and the general Christmas atmosphere. But it was also very clean and modern, yet with a charming eastern flair.

There are two sides to Budapest, separated by the Danube River. They are called Buda and Pest. No, seriously. This was in the Pest side, in the Pest Palace. I liked this statue because it reminded me of the Emperor in Star Wars. So I stood next to it and tried to pose like Vader. Trouble is, seeing as Vader has no expression due to his mask, and I didn't have billowing black cloak on hand, I couldn't figure out what to do besides just stand there.
Aaaah, my first taste of mulled wine. I've wanted to taste it ever since playing the computer game Dreamfall. And man was I ever NOT disappointed. It was really really good. We tried it many more times throughout the trip, and it was still good, but this place made it the best. It was this small stand in front of the Buda palace, right next to the lake-turned-iceskating rink for the winter. They also had these traditional Christmas cookie type things, and those were really good too.
This was one of the most amazing buildings I've seen in my life. It's just the parliament building in Budapest, but as you can see, it's beautiful! We got lots of pictures of it from different angles (including from across the river), so I'm just including a couple here. I think I could have stared at it all day though.
Here's another view with one of my favouritest things...orange flowers of course. The only thing that could make this building more perfect. Well, that and maybe a cat farm outside. And a free public toilet.
This was at the Christmas market in Budapest. Loved it loved it loved it! Why doesn't every place have Christmas markets? Well, I get Utah I guess. They'd probably run crying from even the mention of mulled wine. Mulled anything with a speck of alcohol. But still...Christmas markets are wonderful things. We were blessed to see quite a few after this, though I think this remained our favourite. Maybe it's because it was our first. I don't know. Or maybe it was because of these things in the picture. There was a constant line at this stand, and with good reason. Those are fresh rolls of dough which they cook to a nice golden brown, and then cover in either cinnamon, cinnamon and walnuts, or something else. They were all great, except the something else which we didn't try.
Here's me with the finished product. Elizabeth and I shared it because it was so big. And because we shared practically everything on this trip. They were so warm and delicious though. And of course went very well with a cup of mulled wine.
This was the amazing Holocaust memorial at a synagogue in Budapest. Cities all over Europe have memorials, and we saw quite a few, but this was one of my favourites. It's a metal tree in the shape of a weeping willow, but it's also an upside-down menorah. Many of the leaves have names of victims engraved on them. It was very beautiful.
I finally got to try grog in Budapest! I've wanted to try that since playing Monkey Island a lifetime ago. Well, since I've known it was a real drink anyway. Which was probably about five minutes before I ordered it. It wasn't green, but it was still very good. And very warm. And very strong. Mmmm.
Here's the beautiful blue Danube. Which looks like all three from back here. Up close it's the murky green Danube. So I went with this picture. Plus you can see the parliament building in there. So there you go. I snuck a third picture of it in here.
Yes, of course we went iceskating! If you could go ice skating on a real lake in front of a real palace in eastern Europe, wouldn't you? It was fun. The view was great. And we got more mulled wine.

And that about covers Hungary. Well, it covers Budapest anyway. I'm sure there's much more to see in Hungary besides its capital, and I'd love to go back someday. Two more things to say. If you ever go, make sure you see the labyrinth under the Pest palace. It was a blast! Especially if you're into cheap scares (caused by your own imagination) and giant hoaxes. I loved it. And finally, since no place is perfect, here is Budapest's flaw: their metro system. The tickets are expensive (though not as bad as London as we were to discover...holy manna!), and they don't allow transfers. They only have three lines, and if you're transferring at their meeting point, you have to buy a new ticket. None of the other systems we used in Europe worked like that, and we used quite a few. So either be prepared to be ripped off, or just walk everywhere. We walked. As usual. Anyhoos...

Vampire Country

Okay, yes, it's sad, but one reason I wanted to go to Romania was because of Dracula. But hey, I'm allowed one or two silly tourist flings, right? I really was delighted with Romania...it's a beautiful country.
Our first stop in Romania was Bucharest. Not too exciting...just a large city...but we enjoyed the brief amount of time we had there. I even got a bit of Christmas tree shopping done here. I thought this one was very promising.
This one was...less promising.
This one was, I thought, very worthy of Charlie Brown.
Well, enough about Bucharest. This is Sighisoara, the city where Vlad Dracul was born. (The legend of Dracula is based on Vlad Dracul.) Although its main claim to fame is Dracula, it really is a beautiful and charming town. This being one of the only times on this trip we "GUS"ed it, we thoroughly enjoyed looking down at all of the gothic architecture. Really, there's not a lot to do there, but I could have spent more days just walking around. Even our hostel was friendly and laid back.
Well of course I saw the Dracula sights!! All that remains of his birthplace is a restaurant and this plaque. But I suppose that's enough. A haunted house would have been too tacky.
It's porridge! And it's happy to see me! This was our traditional Romanian meal with goulash, an egg, and the stuff in the middle which tasted kind of like grits. And someday I'm sure the name of the dish will come back to me. It was really good though!
This was the first decorated Christmas tree we got to see in Europe (though not even close to the last), and as you can see, I was extremely excited! Christmas!!!!