Super Saturday

We are back to the States! Where in the States you may wonder? Well maybe this will clue you in. We are back home in California.

Just when you thought I was done blogging I fooled you. I'm going to try to keep it up for as long as I can. This is much more fun than the discussion postings I have to do for grad school. My travel companion and I drove up to SF for the day.

We were excited to visit the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason. We headed up there last year and loved checking out all the cool and sometimes weird items made by vendors. If there is one in your area, you should really check it out.

Outside the Fort Mason building there were these cool wind spinners that would pop up with the wind and twirl down when there wasn't any wind. Pretty cool idea along the windy coast.

Boats in the harbor by the bay.

Crazy big succulents.

Super foggy today. You can hardly see the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The city covered in fog.

Always lovin' the cable cars.

After our trip to the Renegade Craft Fair we went to two of my other favorites, Sports Basement and IKEA. I know, Jeremy finally let me go in after dashing my hopes of entering an IKEA in Europe.

At night we headed to a Texas Hold'em Poker Night as part of the school auction. I want to state the fact that I've never played Poker or even really watched Poker at all before. I went hoping not to make a fool of myself and get out first. Thankfully I started at a beginner table and had an amazing dealer give me a few tips to start me out. At the end of the night I was at the last table, not quite sure how I got there.

In the end I got third place! I went home with a trophy and won a bit of money as well. Don't worry, I'm not going to Las Vegas anytime soon.

Have a great week!

Day 16: Traveling Home

We headed out bright and early at 5:00am. Cleaning up the flat the night before made for a very short amount of sleep. Here is Justin's room. Jeremy and I got to sleep in the bunkbeds.

Justin's tiny kitchen. Most of the cooking is done in the Ippel's flat.

Hallway to the entry. Check out that new refrigerator on the left.

The living room. Mom and Dad's room for the week.

Once through security at the Budapest Airport, my fabulous husband got me a muffin and coffee. Isn't he the best?

Hungarian Airlines! Making us feel like celebrities walking out onto the tarmac.

When we got out of the plane in Warsaw, Poland we were able to touch the ground. Jennifer and I were a little excited.

Warsaw's Airport reminded me a little of a prision. There were many security guards in army-like gear with guns.

Justin, happy to be playing Angry Birds on the iPad.

You can tell they love me taking their picture so early in the morning.

Crazy bus to bring us to the terminal. Such a huge amount of space up front for this driver.

For our flight from Warsaw to Helsinki, Justin was sitting in business class. You can't see him in this picture because he's on the other side of the curtain.

Right before take-off they moved the curtain right in front of him. No more business class for Justin :).

Once in Helsinki, after answering numerous security questions I was reunited with the awesome lounge chairs. This would make a long layover in Helsinki manageable.

Lovely airplane food. It definetly made me miss KLM.

Thanks for following our family trip to Hungary and the Netherlands. We had a great time and enjoyed sharing it with you!

Day 15

Happy 4th of July everyone! We celebrated by lighting fireworks just outside Justin's flat...just kidding, they weren't selling them out here for some reason.

Today we went to the journal shop. There is only room for about three people inside this shop at any one time. I kept running into the doorway when the pigeons would come my way. You know how I feel about birds.

BomoArt is the name of the shop. The journals and other products they sell are amazing. They are all handmade as well.

We had lunch at Nagyi Palacsintázója. We had amazing Hungarian like crepes. I had three different ones, cheese, Nutella and banana, and apple.

Jeremy had crepes that oozed chocolate like crazy. It was sugar overload.

After lunch we headed to the Great Market. I was shopped out by this point, but it was fun to look around at the unique and not so unique items.

Inside. Shopping for gifts on the top level.

Awe! Siblings :)

Bottom floor had vegetables, meats, and other delicious foods.

All paprika. The Hungarians know how to do paprika.

Mmmmm gelato. It had to be freshly made, it had fresh raspberries and lemon peel in it.

The recycling in Hungary was pretty advanced. Too bad so much garbage didn't make it in the trash.

The outside of Justin's flat. He's on the second floor.

The tram that always took us safely to the Metro at Határ út.

For our last dinner in Hungary we went to La Guna.

Justin had fruit soup for an appetizer. It was like a smoothie as a soup.

It was very purple and gold.

Jeremy's amazing meal of veggies and chicken with cheese.

I had chicken with rice and peas, covered in a mushroom cream sauce.

Happy to be together. Not happy to have to pack up luggage for our return trip.

Day 14

Here is our room at the Penzion. You may notice our bed is made from two beds pushed together. Great solution for sheet snatchers, not so great for cuddling.

Breakfast. Yes, I ate the whole pepper for breakfast.

Inside our apartment at the Penzion.

B&B sign.

After breakfast we took our luggage with us and headed on foot to the sweet shop. It was worth the walk.

Check out these delicious treats.

DenOuden men waiting for treats.

Coffee and cake. It was a great way to start my day.

A cool statue outside the train station.

We tried to go to the ceramic's shop but it was closed. Bummer.

We got a picture of Jennifer napping on the way home. Apparently she is a sad sleeper.

It was like going to Hogwarts inside the train compartment. They were double sided and held all seven of us.

Jennifer, excited to be off the train.

This is the grocery store right by Justin's flat. I thought today was a good day to take a picture because it was closed. That way no one would look at me like I was a crazy tourist.

For dinner we went to America's Next Great Restaurant. I mean...Vapiano, an amazing casual restaurant that can be found across Europe. I just found out they have locations in the east coast. Why do we west coasters have to miss out on all the goodness?

You get a card when you go inside, make all your food choices, and they scan your card each time you add something to your bill. Just before you leave you pay for whatever was scanned on your card. They have delicious pizza and pastas.

Happy 26th Birthday Jennifer! We love you.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Pasta Carbonara

After dinner we stopped by the Széchenyi Baths to check them out. They looked awesome.

After that we had to wait for darkness to come. Justin planned for us to explore the city at night. We headed over to the California Coffee Company to get some delicious java.

Hazelnut macchiato

Justin found the ceiling to be a little too low for his height.

Finally the sun went down and we were able to go exploring. Here is St. Istvan at night.

This is the way they change names around Budapest. Put up a new sign and cross out the old one.

The Four Seasons Hotel in Roosevelt Square.

Chain bridge and castle in the background.

I love this one.

Sorry this isn't that great of a picture. I wanted to include it anyway because it is a memorial for all of the victims that were shot into the Danube River during World War II.

Tunnel going under the castle district.

Dan and Jennifer

After taking those pictures we hiked half way up to a bridge overlooking the bridge and the city below.

Compare this picture to the previous one of the two of us to see how high we climbed.

Tomorrow is our last day in Budapest. See you then!