Last Day of the Family Trip

Today we disembarked from the River Beatrice. Time has been flying really fast! Our rooms needed to be cleared by 8:30 AM and so we did need to get up quite early to shower and pack. It felt quite different to have to pretty much pack up from scratch rather than the quasi unpack we do in hotels... it sure was lovely to have a home base for a full week though!

Once we were finished packing, we headed to the dining room for our final included breakfast buffet. I was concerned that they were going to shuttle our suitcases up to the taxi pick up area and so I kept checking in on that. At one point, the bags did accidentally go up there. Probably would have only meant picking them up from another spot but I was a bit paranoid that they would accidentally get on a bus. No more baggage issues needed! Anyway, we had our breakfasts, grabbed our bags and walked to the Marriott. The Budapest Marriott hotel is along the Pest side of the river bank and was only about a ten minute walk from our boat's dock. It was definitely a shorter walk than six years ago in Paris when Tyler insisted that we walk from the central train station to our hotel. Once checked in to the hotel, two of the rooms were ready so we were able to settle ourselves before heading out for our day of activities.

One of the plans for Budapest included the boys going for a hot shave. Sort of the pampering experience of a facial for women from what I can tell. We all started walking in the direction of the shop that Sandor had looked up for us but eventually us ladies decided to walk to the Vaci utca, one of the main shopping streets. We planned to meet back up in an hour. Celeste, Rae and I enjoyed shopping in the stores: a smattering of tourist and Hungarian craft/gift shops and clothing stores with reasonable prices. Rae tried on some dresses in a very neat shop called Springfield. Later in the day she went back to get it! Such a cute dress! We then reconvened with the boys. All of them looking very dapper after their shave.

We headed in the general direction of the parliament building along the Vaci utca. We stopped at a small basement Lego store along the way and were very impressed at the extensive array of Lego Star Wars keychains. These are becoming somewhat of a traditional vacation souvenir for Tyler. I don't think it was on his radar for this trip, but upon seeing them we decided we'd come back later to decide between all the options. We left the store planning to return tomorrow to use up as many forints as we had left on Lego. Not something we had planned for Budapest!

As we neared the lovely Parliament building, we took a few photos. It really is a breathtaking building. Kelly got the tickets all set up in advance and we stopped to check on when to arrive and get the physical tickets. We had about 50 minutes for lunch. We walked just to the other side of the parliament building (which is surprisingly quite the jaunt) to buy Hungarian salami sandwiches with pickles and hard boiled eggs. Tyler was hangry but I think it hit the spot.

Next was our Parliament tour. Really a must do, especially given the amount we have already enjoyed the exterior of the building. We walked through the main corridors learning about the building from our guide. In some ways, the building is just as lovely as the inside of some of the palaces. Interestingly enough, the entire building except the main dome is symmetrical, which adds to the grandiose nature of the building. It also allows them to hold guided tours without interrupting the actual government proceedings. There's even a duplicate of the main assembly room. There is only one of the central domes of course, and in it is housed the Hungarian coronation crown, sceptre, orb, and sword. A fitting location for such regal relics!!

At the end of the tour, there was a small hall with a museum about the Parliament with excellent info, videos, pictures, and a model. We enjoyed this pretty much the same amount as the walking tour itself!

Upon exiting the Parliament, we thought of going to see the Shoes on the Danube monument. We started walking in that direction but weren't sure where it was and thought it might be a ways away. So instead we decided to head to the large market by tram. We attempted to validate the tickets we purchased, but nothing seemed to happen when we inserted them into the rickety machine on the tram. Well, at least we tried.

We arrived at the market. Tyler says it's not as big as the grand bazaar in Istanbul but I thought it was pretty cool. The main level hosts mainly meat, cheese, fruit and spice stands. This is where we noticed the lower prices for the same Hungarian paprika. On the upper level, they sell a variety of souvenirs, clothing, embroider tablecloths, etc. We scouted it out after Tyler had a strudel. After making a circle, we went back to a shop to buy a Hungarian Easter egg! I love how they remind me so much of pysanka! The next order of business was to buy more paprika, at nearly 30% cheaper than yesterday. Tyler stopped for one more pastry, this time a dough crescent filled with poppy seeds before we all got back together.

We walked back up the shopping street and stopped at an English pub called Pointers Pub. We were drawn in by the happy hour prices: 390 forints for a 500 ml beer... about $1.60 CAD. We also shared a salami pizza.

From here, we all split up for a bit before dinner. Tyler and I went back to the Lego store to re-evaluate but not purchase yet. So many options!

We took a few minutes back at the hotel to change. I laid down for a few minutes. As usual, not a great choice... it was hard to get back up.

We went to a riverside restaurant called Dubarry for our last supper on the trip all together. The four of us 'kids' had the idea to take Celeste and Kelly out on our last night as a thank you for the fabulous trip!!! Brett had researched the place and it was awesome! Tyler and I shared Goulash soup to start. I had a lovely salad with smoked cheese on top (reminds me of an awesome salad I used to have in Edmonton on White Ave). Tyler had the pork Goulash with cabbage. We enjoyed Hungarian wines with our supper also. At the end of supper, the four of us sorted out our cash (still so odd to be paying in literally thousands of the currency). We took a family photo outside of the restaurant at the end.

One thing that came up on trip advisor as a Budapest attraction was a pinball arcade called the Flipper Museum. We weren't sure if it was going to make it on to the list of what we could do in Budapest but when we realized it stays open until midnight, we thought perhaps we could. Tyler, Brett, and I took the tram there. We actually succeeded in validating our tram tickets. The machine made a satisfying beep and stamped them and we felt more legit. We arrived at the museum shortly before ten. I'd have to research how many pinball machines they have but it must be 50-75 at least. It spanned multiple rooms. Perhaps the least busy room held the oldest machines. Some of these dated back to the 1940s but they were quite amazing to see and try out. Some notable favourites were Super Mario Bros, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Apollo 13. I had a bit of beginners luck on Apollo 13 and somehow initiated a launch sequence that spat out about 20 balls at once. Overall a super interesting place to go and we had an awesome time!

We thought about taking the tram home but wanted to buy tickets and the machines don't take cash at night. So we jumped in a cab and arrived at the hotel near midnight. It'll be a tired flight for Brett tomorrow (7 AM) departure, but I think we'd all agree it was worth it!

Tomorrow is our last partial day in Budapest!

Brooke & TylerRead more