– 24,000+ steps
– 3 coffees, 1 croissant, fancy macaroons
– Henri IV soufflé (chicken and mushroom), onion soup and apple and Calvados soufflé for dessert
– visit to Sennelier, a very old, famous art supply store across the river from the Louvre
– Christmas window displays at Printemps (Burberry pop up store) and Galleries Lafayette (Christmas monsters)
Day 2 begins…
Via del Corso, Rome, Italy
– Trip delayed for two weeks and I find myself in exactly the same spot I was in two weeks ago. I could have finished packing – I did not. Well, no harm no foul because I was in pretty good shape them so I’ll just pick up where I left off
– C and I have been walking. We walked four out of five days the week before last, averaging about 3.5 miles per day. Last week we walked five days averaging about 4 miles per day. I’m exhausted but feel great??
– Playing Bunco for the first time ever last night. It was fun.
– I bought another “toy” to take on my trip. Since I’ve signed up for the helicopter ride (oiy!), I want to be certain to capture as much as I can, and I’ve wanted a GoPro for a while. Bought at REI with REI credit card so at least I get about 15% back in REI dollars. Works for me.
– My goal today is to finish packing, but first, more coffee.
– I got more than half-way packed over the weekend.
– Monday night, the adventure was cancelled due to ship crippled by engine failure. They had to fly the current group home from Greenland – total bummer for them too!
– Hope for a different opportunity starting in two weeks.
– Being a “planner,” it is unsettling so am trying to live into the uncertainty. This is not an easy thing.
– Growing experience, but disappointing for sure.
Cappucino. Prague style…
Yummy Czech beer!
There will be much more later but for now we are home from Prague and Budapest! Quite possibly the best vacation EVER! C is much fun to travel with. So proud seeing K being all growed up!
This is a sample of the over 1,700+ photos I took in the trip.
Chain Bridge and Buda Castle Hill in Budapest.
so, over the last two days we’ve walked over 32,000 more steps!
not sure how many we walked the days before, but I’m sure it is around 15,000 plus – which means I should not mind weighing in at the Fat Club next week! Just need to keep the walking up when I get home!
Today we went to the Great Synagogue – which is the second largest in the world (second to one on NYC) – it was very impressive and sad. Then we went to the House of Terror which is a museum dedicated to the WWII German occupation followed by the Soviet occupation – and the system of informants, interrogations and torture that went on at 60 Andrassy Road. We finished by going to a memorial on the banks of the Danube Rive which is comprised of 60 pairs of brass shoes – to memorialze the thousands of Budapest Jews who were marched down to the river, shot and thrown in to the river…
It was a solemn day, interspersed with much more walking. Tomorrow we head to the castle and do some last minute shopping before we head homeon Sunday!
So, according to my pedometer, we walked 20,396 steps today! That translates to approx. eight to ten miles. We walked up the river to across from the Parliament building, then walked one block away from the river and stopped in the grovery store so I could pick up some small packets of tissues – because my allergies are going crazy. I’ve basically lost my voice but I feel fine so we keep moving!
We then walked back to the Castle Hill and waited for Kendall to take funicular to the top. The funicular is closed until Saturday for maintenance – we’ll try again another day. We decided to walk over the bridge to Szent Istvan’s (St. Stephen’s) church instead. It’s beautiful! We went to the top and saw view of the entire city. The day was beautifully warm and sunny!
Then we walked a bunch more places. We took a river boat tour at 7PM – the sun set while we were on the river – it was great – the lights on the buildings began coming on – spectacular!
I’ve taken over 1,100 pictures in 6 days! I sure hope some of them come out ok.
That’s it for now! More from Budapest later…
So, during Lent – I blogged every day (except one) and now I’ve really slacked off. the past couple of nights I’ve crawled in to bed and remembered I forgot.
Right now I’m trying to get ready to go on vacation – and when I say vacation – I mean vacation. I am not traveling with or to visit family, I am not taking a dozen or so other people’s children traipsing around the country to the world… I am traveling with a dear friend to visit her niece who is studying on Budapest for the semester. We are going to Prague for the weekend.
I love my family, I love traveling with my mom – but every so often I like to take a trip for me! Selfish? Yes, but that’s okay too. iPod is fully of stuff to listen to on the plane – two books, a bunch of podcasts and tons of music.
So, I have to finish up buttoning things down at work and also need to pack! I have my list done, but nothing is in the suitcase. YAY – holiday for me! Not sure how much blogging there will be on vacation – but hopefully some! Them Internets is everywhere you know!
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