Margit-sziget and the New Air-Conditioned Trams!

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Jason

No, it’s not the name of my latest band, but it was what we did yesterday. Spent the day on the sziget — the big island between Buda and Pest. On the way, we were fortunate enough to take a ride on the newer air-conditioned trams on the 4/6 route… awesome! The old yellow ones are still running, and still run exclusively on the other routes around town. The 4/6 route I read was one of the busiest trams in the world. It runs on the longest ring-road in Pest, then into Buda stopping at Moskva square — huge route.

Libegő and the Children’s Railway

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Jason

The Libegő is always fun. It’s a ski-lift that starts in Buda and goes up to Jánoshegy (János is a person’s name and hegy = mountain). When you get to the top, you can hike all over the place. We walked up to the tower and then down to the train stop. Taking the “nostalgic” train — a steam engine — we headed for Hüvösvögy (“chilly valley”) at the end of the line. Foosball and cappuccino was awesome!

Eger Castle!

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Jason

The castle at Eger is definitely on the must-see list in this part of Hungary. Also check out the little-known underground wine complex beneath the temple on the way. Bring an extra sweater though, it’s colder then most caves for some reason… I read 10 degrees Celsius on the inner walls.

Always Something Happening At The Zoo!

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Jason

The Budapest Zoo is really good. It gets better each time we go — about every other year. Lots of things to see packed into what seems like a small place. Plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and interesting animals to see.

Especially cool was the Red Panda. We caught a glimpse of him up in his tree. The various bufé around the park are great too. We shared a lángos for the first time since getting here — very heavy, regretted it later. Also had our first palacsinta. Mmmmmmm…!

Oh, and we also bought Natalia a new Bicycle at Auchan. Daniel got a scooter to keep things more fair. What a bunch of spoiled kids!

Castle Hill

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Jason

Lots of good fun around and inside castle hill. The self-guided tour of the labyrinth was super creepy. They definitely took in up a notch with all the spooky sound effects and music. The heard-beat room was especially unnerving… =O