Hungarian Christmas! 23/12 - Michael and I woke-up way too early to get to London City Airport (my fifth and final London airport) to fly to Dusseldorf, Germany, for a six hour layover on the way to Budapest, Hungary. Jo greeted us at the airport with a sign that read "£3 pizza and Big Michael." Those are our nicknames around the hostel. Once we got into the city we found our apartment/guest house which was in the building that was used as the Jewish Ghetto during World War II. It was a cute apartment with three big rooms, kitchen, lounge, and bathroom. It was really nice for £7 a night! We went out in search of food and ended up eating sausages, bread, and spicy mustard from a stand at the Christmas Market. We went down by the Danube River and saw the sights of Budapest for the first time.

24/12 - Everything closed around 2 pm on Christmas Eve so we found a grocery store before that to buy stuff for dinner. Sightseeing and activities today included street pastries for breakfast, the Christmas Market again, pedestrianized shopping street, and over the Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the river. Budapest was once Buda and Pest each on one side of the Danube River and were united in 1111. At the Christmas Market we bought this really good doughy dessert thing covered in caramel. I cooked Christmas Eve dinner, since that's the biggest part of Christmas in Hungary. I made this strange Hungarian sauce thing with chicken, dehydrated onion, and this thick gravy sauce. Don't worry there are photos to document the whole process! After dinner we went for a walk down by the Danube River again and had good quality sharing time on the Chain Bridge. Kind of like group therapy without the third party. Then we went to Midnight Mass at St. Stephen's Basilica which was facilitated by the Cardinal of Hungary.

25/12 - Major sightseeing in Buda today! We started with Opera House, which is beautiful and on the Pest side, and then headed over the Danube. We had Hungarian food for lunch at this beer hall/restaurant near the Central Market and the river. After lunch we headed up to the Citadell which is the highest point in Budapest with great views. On the way back down we stopped by a memorial to St. Gellert. Next was Buda Castle which use to be the Imperial Palace. After the castle we needed a break from the weather so we went into a cool building from the 1600s for some amazing hot chocolate. Then it was on to Mathias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion. My parents, grandparents, and sister called me to wish me a Merry Christmas while I was on the Bastion overlooking the entire city, very cool! Also while on the Bastion we had chestnuts which had been roasted on an open fire. Then we attempted to find a restaurant for dinner but it was closed, so we ended up in a dodgy pizza place. It was suprisingly good! I had salami, bacon, paprika, red peppers, and something else on mine. When we finally got back we went out for some drinks at the bar down the street with the Aussies who were in the next room in the apartment. It was kind of weird to be at a bar on Christmas but with Australians it seemed alright. As a prank we pushed their beds together when we got home, they thought it was really funny!

26/12 - Today was Pest day! We went into the synagogue down the street which is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world next to New York. It was so cold that morning! It was -4 Celsiuscius and 20 Fahrenheit, which was cold for us. Our next stop was Parliament. There was an ice rink in front of it, but it was overrun with kids. We had another two of the toasted doughy desserts for lunch. Then we moved onto Hero's Square and the city park. In the park there was a moat skating rink, castle, and thermal baths. We went to a really nice restaurant for an early dinner. We had a three course meal of all Hungarian food for really cheap, mine was about £7! We went down to the Danube one last time before bed and played Uno.

27/12 - Up really early to finally go buy things i.e. Hungarian goodies at the grocery store. This was good since everything had been closed for the last few days. Off to the Central Market to explore and find lunch before heading for the airport again. It was snowing which Jo had never experienced before! We actually ended up at the wrong airport terminal but easily fixed by a quick bus ride. Delayed flight back to Dusseldorf in the snow and onwards to London, where it was snowing as well! So I returned to London with 7 new stamps in my passport and was snowed on in 3 countries in one day! Back in London we went out for a walk in the snow although it didn't stay on the ground. Everyone else was starting to come back from their Christmas trips as well so we were all sharing stories.