Our Five Favorite International Trips

While on the train back from Triberg, Greg and I thought about our five favorite trips we've taken together in the last two years. We have wonderful memories and great stories from all of our trips, but here are the most special ones:

Croatia

Island of Cres

If I could talk about Croatia every day to everyone I see, I would. But then I would be one of the "crazies" so I withhold from doing so. The parts of this country we saw were absolutely beautiful and fairly untouched by tourism, unlike Italy and Greece. Although the language is a problem, I envy the people who live there.

The coastline and Plitvices park were so gorgeous, and there are tons of great old cities to explore as well. My mouth still waters when I think about the grapes, tomatoes and cucumbers I ate there - it felt like someone had just picked them off the plant and handed them to me. I still sometimes say to myself if I eat an average grape in Germany, "it's just not like Croatia."

If you're looking for a sunny holiday off the beaten path, go to Croatia!

Budapest

If you've seen quite a bit of Europe - as we have over the years - old buildings and churches start to look the same, or you've already seen what you consider the most beautiful church and none of the others can compare. The reason I'm saying this is because I think this was our mindframe when we arrived in Budapest. We had just left Vienna, which is a beautiful classic European city, and Budapest hit us with a solid dose of reality.

It may not be a city for everyone, but we loved it. The atmosphere, the resourcefulness of the people, the kindness of people in helping us find our way around... it just felt so different from Western Europe. Or indeed, any other country we'd been to.

Istanbul

Talking about something different from Western Europe, Istanbul was it, for sure! We went here for our first anniversary (our second was in Lindau, which is in Germany - that list is coming soon). I wish we had time to explore other areas of Turkey because it sounds like each part is very different. I especially hope to get to the ruins in the East at some point in my life.

Having been to a Muslim country when I was small (and Greg had never been to one before), we were struck by the beautiful minerats and mosques everywhere. There must have been at least 30 on the hills around our quaint little hotel. Parts of the city were crumbling, but the palace grounds and the museums were still very much there. And I won't go on again on how much the Islamic designs inspire me with their beauty. I'm sure you all had about enough of that already.

Prague

Prague seems to be everyone's favorite and for good reason. The city is so lovely whatever the season. Even when we went in winter, the snow on the ground gave Prague this mystery and warmth. Greg went with his parents in the summer and they seemed to all like it for the nice cafes along the river and easy walking distances. Another of our friends went in the spring and meet great new friends randomly. Everyone seems to find something that they enjoy in the city.

Salzburg
Last on our list is Salzburg, but not because we liked it the least. It's only 2 hours from Munich so we went there a lot the first year. The city is touristy, but in a way, I never minded it. The walk up to the castle gives one such a great overlook as to why people go there. The beautiful little old town stretches out below you and you may even make out the palace grounds to your left.

Last time we went there, I visited the art museum on the hill and I think the walks along the cliffs were more fun for me then than checking out the art. And of course, who can forget the Sound of Music tour?

 We'll also be doing a post about our top five favorite trips just in Germany so stay tuned!

Budapest Activities

As you already know, we had a great time in Budapest and wish we had more time to spend in the city. We only visited one museum, but spent much of our time walking around and getting a feeling for the neighborhoods of the city. It was a wonderful way to see the architecture and experience the city in its true life.

Rickety, rusty trains - but very convenient, timely and cheap!

After an adventure getting to our hotel via public transport, we had an easy night and then spent the next day doing things we loved: going to an art museum and visiting the city's famous baths. There are several baths scattered throughout the city, but we choose to go to the Szechenyi baths. You could soak in the pools of various temperatures ranging from 68 degrees F to 104 degrees F inside or out. While it's not quiet with people milling around or particularly sweet-smelling with the funky thermal smell, it's great fun to people watch and relax in the soothing waters. Greg especially enjoyed seeing the old guys playing chess while in the water.

Outside bath part of Szchenyi

On Wednesday, we met up with fellow teacher friends who had taught in Budapest before moving to Munich and they took us on a daytrip to Szentendre, a little artist's village not far from Budapest itself. They knew the best places to get ceramics, knives, glass and delicious Hungarian cakes. Dave and Henny also gave us so many ideas of great things to see in the city that we would not have done otherwise. After we came back to Budapest, we checked out the great synagogue and walked along the citadel walls on the Buda side of the city.

View of Parliament from Buda side

Church on the top of the Buda side

We later met up with Dave to check out a local kert, which was an old warehouse bar in the city (surprisingly clean) where people used to simply drink all night rather than risk being caught out after curfew. Now it's filled with students and old timers, a random assortment of chairs (supposedly there's even a few made from bath tubs that have been cut in half and legs added on) and a movie screen to keep some sort of license going.

On our last morning, we ate yummy "chimney cakes," found several cute design stores and stumbled upon the Rumbach synagogue that was undergoing renovatioins. We also checked out a communist statue on Margarit Island - a lovely 2.5 km island on the Danube and easily reachable from the city. We had a simple lunch and bid our adieu to the lovely city. Budapest might not be a city you would think to visit, but we loved it.

Dome of the Rumbach Synagogue

Budapest

Budapest was so unlike other places we've visited and at the same time, combined great aspects of the different cities we've been to and loved. It had remnants of communism like Berlin; beautiful art noveau architecture in unexpected places like Prague; wonderful thermal baths like Steamboat Springs, Colorado (although the settings could not be more different); creativity overflowing and inspiring just like Ljubljana; and the great river running through it like so many other cities (London, Verona, Salzburg to name a few).

The mix of those familiar undertones, the language, helpful people and wonderful scenery made Budapest a great city to travel to. While "shabby" may not connotate good to most people, Budapest definitely has a shabby chicness to it that many cities could not pull off. We hardly saw any graffiti or trash on the streets, but buildings were just older and people seemed to make due with what they had rather than having the newest, latest and greatest.

For example, I was surprised by the amount of upcycled/recycled materials used to make jewelry, accessories and home decor stuff that we saw in several design stores. The city seemed to flow along with our viewpoint of reshaping old into new. Budapest also felt very historic, but still had that gritty quality that makes it feel like a real city. I'll write more about what we actually did in Budapest and Vienna soon, but wanted to get my thoughts down before they slipped away.

Check out our photos here:

Budapest