Warm Adventures: Spring Break 2017

Jamming to some street music

This year for Spring break we visited Budapest. It was a bit of a whim as my friend said "Hey, what do you think about Budapest for Spring Break?" and I said "Sure!" without really thinking about it too much. My dear friend and I had been adventuring together a few years back with our kids, but she wasn't able to go the last two years due to some family issues. So when she suggested Budapest for this trip, I jumped at the chance as I enjoy traveling with her and her son. We always have a great time together.

Like I said, I hadn't given much thought to what we would actually do in Budapest. So we did this trip a bit differently than years past. It wasn't about entertaining the kids at the local children friendly places. It was really about taking it easy, enjoying the food, cultural and history of the area.

Beautiful city

We did do the hop on, hop off tourist bus, just to get our bearings. So after a lovely Sunday morning market breakfast, we took the bus all over the city on the Buda and Pest side. This gave us some good ideas on places we would like to come back and visit in more detail during the week.

We played tourists for a few days and just walked the town, had some great meals (and one not so great one) and enjoyed the local coffee and desserts. The kids played at playgrounds, while we sipped coffee and generally took it easy. We shopped for paprika and honey and enjoyed our big apartment conveniently located close to everything. We rode the 'Eye' and had our first (and last) fish pedicure that had everyone laughing.

Beautiful Parliament building

Toward the end of the week, we toured the Parliament and had a somber but important history lesson for the children. There was a huge Jewish community in Budapest during the 2nd World War and today there are grim reminders of the atrocities of that time. We visited the "shoe memorial" on the banks of the Danube - a spot where the Jews were lined up and shot into the river. Today there are bronze shoes marking the location, which also depicts the diversity of those killed, women, children, businessmen, athletes.

It was so hard to explain what happened back then to the children. I kept getting choked up just trying to get the well thought out words out. The kids reaction to this history lesson was interesting. Miles, the king of questions, did just that and asked a million questions for hours on end. And Alison just flat out told me she didn't believe me. We also visited the 2nd largest Synagogue in the World in the heart of Budapest.

Shoe Memorial

The Turks ruled Hungary from mid 15th Century for roughly 100 years and that is seen heavily in the thermal baths, delicious coffee and cuisine. We enjoyed several delicious meals and I fell in love with the coffee and the kids with the sweets of course. We were even able to visit some friends of ours from Lenzburg who travel their quite frequently.

Other noteworthy things; I know we are a bit spoiled here in Switzerland with the cleanliness but it was notably dirtier in Budapest. The air was a bit harsh and the trash on the street hard to avoid. They also have quite a prominent homeless population. It was challenging navigating the children around the trash, dog poop and vomit on the sidewalks, all while keeping them from wanting to know about every homeless person. Again all experiences to learn about through the eyes of your children.

Budapest was great for a getaway. I think if I got the opportunity to go back it would be without kids as I hear the baths (which we didn't get to) are super nice and it's good destination for some beauty treatments. I love that I never think twice about going somewhere with my children. It doesn't even cross my mind as they are great little travelers. Flying, taxis, new apartments, strange food, it's all just part of the adventure - and for that I am truly grateful