Pest and Buda

Tuesday we had an appointment with the American Consolate at the US Embassy in Budapest, to start the process of getting Princess's VISA and Hungarian Passport. What a beautiful city!

We found a fantastic fountain that seemed to have sensors on it...as soon as you stepped close to a portion of it, it turned off just in that section. Monkey couldn't get enough of this. That's how he got to the middle of it without getting wet.

We were not allowed to take any pictures of the Embassy, it was fenced off and guarded and you had to go through metal detectors, and you had to be 'on the list' before they let you through security. But we did get a picture with Ronald Reagan.  ??

Princess had to get in one of those photo booths to take her passport picture....but she was too short and kept giving goofy looks. Finally on the 86th try, we got her to kneel on the stool and scowl. It was a winner.

We signed a bunch of forms written in Hungarian, paid for the VISA, and will come back in about 20 days to get the VISA and the passport for Princess. Everything is coordinated perfectly, and going smoothly!

......then we went to lunch, because it was nearly 10:45 and that's all we really do is eat. We also got a ride in the world's smallest (& scariest) elevator. Now, I really like small things...but I took the stairs on the way down. I would have taken the stairs even if we had ridden up to the 23rd floor. Kids thought it was fun though.

Since we were in Budapest with time to kill, we asked to see one of the Castles. I still can't help but revel in the fact that there used to be real kings living in castles here. I guess I don't get out much...and maybe we're just not in Kansas anymore. (although it was so hot it felt like it)

We got to park the car inside the 'compound' for the low price of $22 for a whole hour, but it was worth it. I have a master plan to print a bunch of these prints out in black and white and frame them to decorate my living room...someday when I learn to decorate.

 Wow...those knights must have been really tiny men. Ha!

 This was someone's "apartment". That word just somehow doesn't capture the coolness of this dwelling place. I'd call it more of a private abode if I were them. They live inside a kingdom, for goodness sakes.

 Pest-Buda. Wait a minute...isn't that backwards? Pest and Buda are two different cities, merged together like twin cities. I guess they used to call it Pest-Buda, but maybe Budapest is easier to say??

 Of course the kingdom was on a hill overlooking the city, so the view was fantabulous....right by the Danube river of course.

 What a great picture of the two of us with the Parliament 'castle' across the Danube River in the background. Too bad it was too sunny and you can't see it.

 Monkey used some of his spending money to buy this little wooden chicken game...you twirl it around and the chickens peck at painted seeds.

 Just wait til you see the front view of this one, it's way cuter.

I think this was the church of the kingdom, the roof alone was a work of art. Hundreds of years and this place is almost like new. Can't say that about the places built today, made of plastic and cheap stuff. 

And of course like every other place in this country, there is a fagyi stand. They are only about 80 cents to $1.00 a cone, so we've been stopping at A LOT of fagyi stands.

Back in the car for another 2 and a half hour drive 'home'. Princess is a fantastic traveler, just sitting quietly. We watched A Bugs Life to pass the time. Back at home we hopped in the pool to cool off from a sweaty day, and I made meatballs and mushroom sauce for the family and Rita who stayed with us for a couple of days. We have so much fun with her, she is so cute and fun. We like to laugh at each other's pronunciation of words and my inability to make the 'eu' sound because I can't get my lips to stick out far enough.