Back to Budapest

I love Budapest. Just absolutely adore it. If someone would have introduced me to aparthotels, I probably would have already made a couple more trips to Budapest..! An apartment operated similar to a hotel, five of us were able to spend three nights right in the city center for a fraction of the price of a hotel. I am hooked.. On Budapest... And aparthotels...

View of the city from the Liberty Statue.

The Wujek Coal Mine

The two red and white striped stacks of the Wujek Coal Mine stand tall on the outskirts of the city - near the park where we spend a large amount of our leisure time. I was familiar with this area having faced a lot of struggle and that so much of it is quite recent history. However, a visit to the museum located at the still operational mine, left me in deep awe of what was happening in the 1980's. This was a world where the joys of Pee-wee Herman, Donkey Kong and the Cabbage Patch Kids were probably the last things on anyone's mind.

Kopalnia Wujek (Wujek Mine)

The Anonymous Pedestrians

At an intersection in Wroclaw, stand fourteen bronze statues designed by Jerzy Kalina. The statues which are also referred to as "Passage" or "Transition", were unveiled on the eve of the 13th of December in 2005 - the 24th anniversary of the imposition of Martial Law in Poland.

The Anonymous Pedestrians

Snapshots of Prague

We've only made a couple short visits to Prague (plus a couple stop-ins for a quick Starbucks fix while en-route to Germany). A very mystical and magnificent city full of Gothic beauty, it just isn't one of my favorites. For as stunning as the city is to view from the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle, for me the culinary interests are too lacking.

View of Prague

Return Visit: Berlin

The last stop on our Christmas Market Extravaganza was Berlin. I can sum up our Christmas Market journey in short by saying that if there is a city that knows how to put on a market (or over a hundred..) it's Berlin!

Berliner Weihnachtszeit

Christmas Market Tour: Dresden

In the city of Dresden, there are eleven Christmas Markets. We only attended two of them... The market in which we spent the most time was the Dresdner Striezelmarket which was celebrating the 579th anniversary of the first market held in 1434.

Tis the Season

It is Christmas market season - my favorite time of the year here! Last weekend we were in Wroclaw, where there is a beautiful market. A couple of carnival rides for the children, lots of lights and decor, stall upon stall of traditional gifts and to top it all off, a generous amount of traditional fare to choose from along with grzaniec (mulled wine) to finish. You really can't have too much Christmas..!

Grzaniec