Memories from Vienna, Prague and Budapest

Hello guys! I am back from a short vacation across Central Europe and I am so excited to finally share my experiences and photos!

 It took a while to make a selection, it's just difficult to decide which picture is better or if one is more important than the other. 

But anyway, as soon as December kicked off, we embarked on a trip and went straight to Vienna for a day, just in time for the Christmas markets! The atmosphere was not as cozy as expected mainly because a very strong and cold wind was blowing our heads off, so we couldn't enjoy the fairs at the fullest. I really wanted to visit the Belvedere Museum and see Gustav Klimt's paintings - I really love his works and to see "The Kiss" in real life was a little dream of mine. There is no comparison, it's so different from what you see on paper or photos, because it literally shines and there are so many hidden details in it, it's just magical!

I left that place in awe, not just because of the paintings, but because the whole palace is mesmerizing.

I loved the Christmas decorations, they were so pretty and also expensive, but I left Vienna with a silk scarf and a beautiful mug, both illustrating Klimt's paintings - I'm such a tourist, I know!

Next stop was Prague and oh, how much I fell in love with this city! We barely explored about 30% of the old town, we managed to visit the castle and spent some time around the main square where the Christmas fair was happening.

Prague is a medieval city, is it's so different from Vienna which is more grand and austere.

It's simply charming, with all its tiny streets and extremely old buildings; the downside is that it's constantly so filled with tourists that you can barely manage to get from point A to point B. It gets exhausting after a while, so because of the crowds, we could's get a glimpse of Prague from the clock tower, but at least we spent some time on Charles bridge and gaze upon the river and also enjoyed some hot wine in the market.

Can you believe this view??

Like I said, charming!

I really loved it and I can't wait to go back and explore some more.

Next stop was Budapest. We've been here before during the Summer, but now we got to experience the Christmas mood from downtown, which was extremely lovely and also, busy. Filled with people, tourists, gingerbread and many, many lovely souvenirs and Christmassy stuff. Too bad we stayed there far too little, I really needed more time to feel the holiday vibe in Budapest.

And now we are back home, preparing for Christmas (at least I am) - this trip really got me in the mood to make awesome gifts and even though it was tiresome, I somehow feel energized and in a very good mood! It's amazing what happens when you leave your normal routine and explore new activities or places.

I hope you loved these pictures, if you want to see more you can keep up with my Instagram account (@lola.wonder) and I'll keep on posting bits and pieces of this holiday that did not make it to this post.

Now tell me, are you ready for the Winter holidays?

Visiting Budapest

 

Happy weekend everyone! 

I hope you are spending time by the pool or seaside or even visiting new places, just like I did last weekend. 

I tell you what, the most difficult task for a blogger is to select photos, especially the ones from a specific travel. I tried to not make an excessive image overload here, because it is possible that not everyone has patience to get through a gazillion photos in a single article. Also, I am not much of a classic tourist, so you won't see too many photos that include me with a cool landmark in the background. I much prefer to create editorial type photos, but since there were so many things to visit and photograph, there wasn't enough time for me to be all dreamy and romantic. 

I spoke in my last post how easy it was for me to get around Budapest. The metro stations are quite close to each other and easy to find, but I mostly walked around to get a feeling of the streets and the city, so picking up a 24 hour metro pass wasn't really necessary. You can get a single ticket which costs 350 HUF which is about 1.2 USD, or the 24 hour pass, which is 1600 HUF - 5.7 USD.

 The prices were quite convenient for me, the only downside was the fact that around downtown, where all the amazing attractions are, it was sooo hard to find a place to buy bottled water. And when you do find it, you will realize it's much more expensive that the one you find in their markets.

 If you plan to eat downtown, you will see that the food is a bit pricey, especially if you have a low budget. Prices for a meal including a drink, go around 3000 - 4000 HUF and some restaurants add the tip to the bill as well. We didn't know that and we struggled to understand why our calculations didn't add up. 

Leaving that aside, as you walk around you will see and hear an abundance of tourists, agitation and souvenir shops. The buildings all look like palaces (I bet they belong once upon a time to aristocratic families) which are now occupied by famous clothing brands or fancy restaurants. I remember entering an H&M there and I was shocked by how huge it was, I didn't even had the patience to look through the products. I was amazed by the 3 level building, the huge painted windows, chandeliers, marble pillars and massive old wooden doors. It was so royal, it felt like entering a Chanel haute couture store.

Oh, and I ate the most delicious ice cream there! It's not expensive and you get too choose from so many unusual flavours like machiatto, plum cake, Japanese yuzu, ginger caramel,  rice pudding with raspberries or fruit punch! I'm still drooling thinking about them.

 I am going to stop now and leave you with the images, I only hope they are enough to show you a bit of this wonderful city. 

 I can't wait to go back there and explore more!

 

Sunsets at the Buda Castle

 

I am back after a short vacation next door in Budapest - seriously, ever since I realized is so close to Cluj, I felt I needed to visit it asap! And surely, I will come back because there is still so much to see and do there! 

Definitely the first attraction I had to see was the castle up on Buda hill, because of dreamy photos and because I am obsessed with anything castle related! 

 The place did not disappoint, it is so grand and so beautiful and just look at the breathtaking view, I could gaze at it for hours! I envy all the noble families that used to live there in the past and woke up to that view every day. 

 The whole city is made up of old, luxurious, tall buildings and it was very easy for me to find my way through it, I really got used to it quite fast and that is something I did not expect. Needless to say, our feet were dead tired after walking for hours but I just love the feeling of exploring and especially the amazement I feel once I find a park, a building or a beautiful square that I did not expect. 

 I will be back with more photos from this beautiful city, in my next post. Stay tuned!