Brrr, chilly outside! I just came back home from doing groceries, and decided to snuggle up behind my laptop to warm up a bit. The cold kind of reminded me of my city trip to Budapest, where it was also freezzzing. And in the back of my head, I also remembered my promise of sharing some pictures with you..

My family and I have the habit of spending the holidays in between Christmas and New Year in a beautiful, snowy place away from home. We used to stay at a spa hotel in Germany, but this year we decided on Budapest. I thought the city was beautiful with its ancient buildings, great history, delicious food and of course, relaxing spa’s. Loved it, the perfect way to end 2012! <3

We stayed at the lovely Corinthia Hotel, situated in the heart of the city. The hotel had a humongous spa, where I got my very first massage (mother-to-be massage). There were also a couple of restaurants inside, of which the Thai “Rickshaw” was my absolute favorite.

During our four days there, we bought tickets for the Hop-on Hop-Off bus, which took us to the most important and beautiful areas of the city. And yes, we did fight the cold and sat all the way on top of the roofless bus #realtourists

A great thing we also got to do was the late evening Donau cruise. At night, the city is beautifully lit and the boat took us for a one-hour cruise on the river. Lots of fun, but we had to do our best to stay awake, since the silent rocking of the boat made us extra sleepy after an intensive day!

We also visited one of the market halls. There are plenty in Budapest and they’re very popular, so for us this was a must-see. Tons and tons of fruit, vegetables, meat and spices. A food walhalla! Luckily, I had a firm lunch right before we entered, otherwise I would’ve gone wild and spent too much cash on all the food.

The top floor of the market hall is a kind of food court, where many different kinds of hot food are available. I tried goulash soup for the very first time, and it has now become one of my favorites, yum! Ánd how could we not resist the Oreo Milka chocolate?! Ka-tching!

I’m a huge fan of Buddha Bar. The first Buddha Bar I went to was the one in Paris, and I actually didn’t know Budapest had one as well. Even better, there was an entire Buddha Bar hotel, OMG! This just isn’t a place I can walk by and neglect, so we ordered a pre-dinner drink and made ourselves comfortable in the lounge bar.

Some more walking and sightseeing before heading back to the hotel for dinner at my favorite restaurant… Yesss, the thai “Rickshaw” restaurant at our hotel!

We also went to the “21″ restaurant to celebrate my parents’ 25th anniversary (again).

To end the trip, we visited a thermal bath. To me, a must-see when visiting Budapest, very typical. I would’ve enjoyed the experience more if it wasn’t as crowded and a bit more hygienic, but it was nice to have seen the place. Another box ticked from my “must visit” list :-)

♥

Laura