Budapest

Brian and I spent Columbus Day Weekend in Budapest, Hungary this year.  We rented our own apartment right downtown, an awesome location.  We did the Hop On/Off bus one day, which I would recommend in this spread out city.  It includes a Danube River Cruise, which was nice, especially to see Parliament from the river view.  We took the English tour of the Opera House, which is really beautiful inside and if you've never been inside to see an Opera, then it's worth the price.  We stood in line to get into Parliament, but obviously got there too late.  If you go, you must get in line super early to get your tickets.
We toured the Hospital in the Rock, Castle Hill, and the rest of Buda mostly by the Hop On/Off bus.  We took a separate bus tour out to Momento Park.  It cost extra, but was worth it for the convenience of it all.  Here's some pictures of me with the Statues of the Communist Era in Hungary.

See me dictating from up near Stalin's boots?!

 We wandered around Pest mostly on foot.  Our apartment was in a great location and we really only used the Metro to get to the Spa.  The thermal spa was a fantastic experience.  Somewhat different from the mineral spas here in Germany and very different from the Turkish baths in Istanbul.  We spent the day at the Mineral Therm Bath and really loved it!  I would highly recommend it if you find yourself in Budapest.  We follow the Rick Steves guide pretty closely no matter what country we're in.  We've just found it to always have great info and great hotel/restaurant recommendations.  Budapest was no different.  Although our apartment didn't come out of there, most places we stopped to eat at did.

 I did happen upon a Chocolate Bar one night as we walked home from a yummy Indian dinner.  We went inside and we ordered our "hot chocolate".  These were really like a thick, hot, drinking chocolate.  I got Hungarian Bon Bon, which had Bourbon in it.  It was amazing and so rich, I couldn't finish it.  Brian was happy to help me out.  The next time we went I decided that I better go light and instead got a banana with chocolate, which was perfect and I was able to finish the whole thing!  YUMMY!!