Churches and Synagogues St.Stephen's Cathedral dominates the surrounding buildings and also features a lovely square with great people watching (plus wine and gelato!) St. Stephen's Cathedral from the Bastion St. Stephen's Cathedral from the square The fees were a bit high to enter Dohany Street Synagogue so we simply admired the exterior and continued on our way. Dohany Street Synagogue - gorgeous and intricate brickwork Holocaust Memorial at the … [Read more...]
Budapest 2013: sights around town I
May 18, 2013
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Bridges Budapest is separated by the Danube River, so there are a number of bridges that bring the two sides together. The Chain Bridge is probably the most famous, and heavily trafficked, as it connects the center of both cities. The famous Chain Bridge linking Buda to Pest View of Buda from the Chain Bridge Liberty Bridge is downstream of the Chain Bridge, close to the Market, and affords a number of photographic opportunities. Liberty Bridge with Elisabeth Bridge in … [Read more...]
Budapest 2013: overview
May 17, 2013
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Leandra's grandmother was born in Budapest, and that has fueled her interest in visiting Budapest for several years. This past April we made our first trip, spending most of our time exploring districts 1,5,6 and 7. Some of our findings: the Hungarian language was just as hard to comprehend as we thought it would be. Luckily, most everyone spoke at least a little English, and we never too much of an issue. wow traffic! Budapest is a city on the move via all kinds of transport- car, bike, … [Read more...]
Curacao 2013: food & lodging
March 13, 2013
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Hotel Floris Suites - Unlike most of our trips, for this getaway we booked a package deal with airfare and hotel through AA vacations. We considered 6 different hotels, and though the Floris Suites is not on the water, their combination of price and reviews won us over. Upon arrival the lobby is a little confusing, as the large desk you see is unoccupied. Instead, check-in was in an office to the right. Initially we were given a room next to the kitchen (room 1) which would have been noisy … [Read more...]
Curacao 2013: sights
March 12, 2013
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Around Thanksgiving we found several interesting travel deals for 2013, and a return to Curacao for a long weekend was one of them. Since we had explored much of the island in 2007 we didn't feel like we had to explore as much on this trip; consequently, we decided to relax and spent most of our time reading on the beach or by the pool. However, we did break free from our books occasionally to snorkel, enjoy the sights, and laugh at the politics of lizards. Unlike our last trip, island maps … [Read more...]
Asia/Australia 2013: Singapore sights II
March 1, 2013
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Wednesday Our morning goal was to see the Singapore Botanical Gardens, and knowing the warmth that midday would bring, we got an early morning start. The gardens were about a 30 minute MTR ride away, and then a 20+ minute walk across the park. On the way to the National Orchid Garden we took a slight detour to enjoy the rainforest walk. Then it was on to the orchid garden, one of the largest in the world. The garden was spectacular with lots of flowers (and shade!) in every color and … [Read more...]
Asia/Australia 2013: Singapore sights I
February 28, 2013
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Monday Following our evening arrival we only had time for a short exploratory walk through Chinatown. With the Chinese New Year approaching the neighborhood was decorated with lots of red, gold and citrus. year of the snake! festive decor Off the main street were pedestrian walkways stuffed with shop and stalls. Our senses overloaded, we went back to the hotel after about an hour of wandering, but not before stopping at one of the numerous 7-11s for juice and … [Read more...]
Asia/Australia 2013: Singapore food & lodging
February 27, 2013
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Hotel We landed in Singapore around 7:30pm and after negotiating the inner airport transportation to catch the MRT, we managed to buy tickets and grab a seat. I was glad I went to an ATM before arriving at the train station since the ticket machines don't take credit cards! The ride from the airport to our stop, Outram Park, took about an hour and then the real fun began. We should have been more used to the confusing, multiple exits from subway stations after our time in Hong Kong last year … [Read more...]
Asia/Australia 2013: Brisbane
February 25, 2013
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Our time in Brisbane unfortunately overlapped with the rather-strong remnants of Tropical Cyclone Oswald. Rain came and went on the first evening but Eric was able to get some interesting shots of the CBD from our apartment balcony. The next day featured intermittent showers, so we were able to get out and explore a few spots on a wet Saturday. free city hopper water taxi... slow, but cost-effective The free ferry took a winding 30 minutes to get to the South bank dock, just … [Read more...]
Asia/Australia 2013: Great Ocean Road parks
February 24, 2013
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Though we spent a considerable portion of our time driving along the coast there were several inland parks that we stopped at as well. On day one we headed inland from Lorne in search of several waterfalls. Unfortunately, our luck wasn't great, with Erskine Falls closed for re-construction of stairs. So, we turned around and drove to Phantom Falls. Finding the parking lot was easier than the trail and we got turned around twice due to some especially unhelpful directions. And then after a … [Read more...]