Before we jump ahead to this weekend... here are a few pictures from the past 2 weekends. We realized that we hadn't done the West End theatre scene properly. Lucky for us there was a quick way to fix that and we bought some tickets to Thriller that Saturday.
It was a great show. They did the typical story from
his childhood to the big hits. There was an interesting
twist to the play though.. they had several
different people play Michael, including one female.
She was great and certainly made it a different experience
than what we have seen before.
Here is another sneak peak in the theatre!
After the theatre we went out with one of Jeff's work mates, Ryan.
He is headed back to the States soon, so we to his local neighborhood,
Putney, to hang out. We started off with pizza for dinner.
Jeff was fascinated with his order... half calzone and half pizza,
so I had to post something about it! haha Not half bad on the
taste department either.
We went to a few other places in Putney and had a great time. He told us about secret DJ. It is an app that allows people to select the songs in the pubs. When you get to VIP you get to select more songs. Pretty cool - and great way to find new places to hang out. We are really going to miss you Ryan!
We took the night bus home and were lucky enough to get a front seat of the bus. It was a kodak moment I couldn't resist! haha It is definitely my favorite seat on the bus.
I think Sunday was the usual chores around the house... or at least nothing significant for me to remember. haha Work is busy as usual.... so the week FLEW by! We did have a fun social this week at a comedy club. It was amateur night, so there were some interesting characters up there. I had 2 favorites, one was a girl that sang 2 songs. The funnest song was making fun of disney princesses. The other person was a guy from Brooklyn. He had everyone rolling! It is certainly interesting to see the differences in British humor compared to others in the same night. Fun enough, the dorky British accountant going for something new won the competition!
Jeff and I headed out on a plane Thursday evening for Budapest. We arrived late Thursday evening and were lucky to get squeezed into the hotels dining room. The hotel was Zara and the restaurant was Araz. We both had a traditional meal. Jeff opted for a fillet of beef hungarian style. I only remember this because we think it had a goose liver on top of it... quite interesting, but we didn't care for it.
The hotel it self was really nice. It made me realize how much time and fashion have changed. All these older cities have so many details in everything, from the statues outside, to tiled roofs, to the carved golden walls. Now, the hot new thing is the sleek, clean nice lines, and space in areas. At least that is what Ikea sells anyways. The thing that left the biggest impression on us about the hotel was the shape of the toilet seat! Not sure the picture does it justice, but it had impressions in the seat lid for your legs. Never seen anything like it before...
On our first full day there, we couldn't have asked for better weather. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We took full advantage of it and headed for the gorgeous hills in Buda. Our first stop was to the castle district.
We ventured down Matthias Church. It gives a good flavor of the mixed architecture of the area.
You can see the roof top better in this picture. Beautiful!
Next we wandered over to Fisherman's Bastion and
what a view of the city from here!
Definitely worth taking a moment to soak it all in!
We wondered back to the castle area. They had
'traditional' castle games set up that you could play,
including knife throwing and bow and arrow. Quite
entertaining to see a few guys in a 'stag do' having a go
at the knives. It was the perfect time to grab some lunch :)
Our next stop was the Citadel. Again.. amazing views!
Not sure if you can see if.. but the Castle and Fisherman's
Bastion are there in the background.
Their statue of liberty at the top of the hill
After visiting the Buda side, we went wondering through the Pest side...
Here is a picture in front of the Jewish Synagog. It is the 2nd largest in the world.
We did a night tour and I think it was one of my
favorite things we did. Here is Hero's square
I was playing with the settings on the camera :)
The next day was good ole' St Patricks day. This has to be one of the most widely celebrated events in the world and it is not even a proper holiday! haha We did enjoy a green ale though
Not only was it St Patrick's Day but it was also National day in Hungry. We didn't realize this until we got there and that the bus wasn't going to run on Saturday. I was secretly hoping that meant the streets would be closed for the parades and I wasn't disappointed :) The first parade we saw was a motorcycle one early in the morning..
We were on the way to the House of Terror. This is a museum of the cities history with double occupancy. We got the self guided audio tour and learned loads on what this city has been through, including double occupancy and having only been independent for 30ish years. After this, it was time for lunch.
(Picture from one of the rooms in the museum)
We picked a prime spot for lunch and saw a second parade go by! (excuse the bad hair it had been raining all morning! haha)
We later on asked what the different flags meant.. turns out we were on the right wing's celebration
Overall we had a great time in Budapest! We headed back to London early Sunday afternoon and were greeted with the warmth and sunshine. Not wanting the weekend to end so early, I convinced Jeff for a nice walk around a park we hadn't visited yet, Turnham Green Park in Chiswick.
effort to enjoy the special gift from God :)
It was back to the grind at work the next monday. Not going to lie though.... we both had a little bit of post-holiday blues. Nothing like getting over the post holiday blues by planning the next holiday though! haha We spent some of this weekend planning and narrowing down the details for our trip to Amsterdam and Italy in late April. April can't get here soon enough!
In the mist of the planning I heard my first crack of thunder and saw hail falling from the sky. We tried to take a picture from the kitchen window, but it didn't turn out so well. We have been here almost a year and this was the first lightning and thunder we have seen or heard.. so I thought it was worth documenting.
In the mist of the planning I heard my first crack of thunder and saw hail falling from the sky. We tried to take a picture from the kitchen window, but it didn't turn out so well. We have been here almost a year and this was the first lightning and thunder we have seen or heard.. so I thought it was worth documenting.
For dinner on Saturday, we explored a new restaurant, Riding House Cafe, in Soho.
It was amazing! The decor was pretty interesting... with squirrels on the wall.
Afterwards we went out with some people Jeff works with. It is rare that we go out with others, but this night was FUN! It was the first true time we went out to a real club, TigerTiger, and the first time we had been out with such a diverse group....Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, Malaysians and us, the Americans :) Can't wait to go out with them again!
And I think that is a wrap, aka I have caught up to the present day :) - Cheers!
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