Mrs started with new job and by the policy no personal leaves allowed during probation. Abiding by that we could not have family break. Until there was this one day where her manager walked up to her to ask "why are you not taking any holidays?" . Obliging to such generosity is being respectful . Her team mate was always on about the city he is from . Common lunch table topics was about his home city and how wondrous it is. We did not need much inspiration to choose a city break.
Because identifying a holiday destination is a pain. Too many variables to be evaluated. Her team mate was kind of enough to give all the details of all things that may be visited, places to stay away from, best things for kids to do etc...
We booked the hotel and flights for the bank holiday weekend in August. Time to bring out the "Days to holiday count down app" . Something to look forward to. Only a week later while on my way to wedding with my buddy Dave did i know that he and his Fiance are great fans of the same place. So much so that they even got engaged there. Now that made me take a look at the app everyday twice as much. I was also made aware that currency there is Fornito and things can get really cheaper there. Double win!!
It was an early morning flight and on a bank holiday weekend airport can get super busy. After receiving multiple alert emails from the airline i decided to be safe rather than sorry. We were there three hours well in advance. At five AM it was the busiest I have ever seen Dublin Airport terminal 1 at. But me and my little family were though the whole process in under 15 minutes. The power of having a toddler with you at airport is supreme. Security checks done in priority and assisted. Super! But that did leave a lot of time for us at the airport to have a snooze.
A flight duration of three hours was not fantastic , thanks to the same annoying toddler. It was her first holiday in Europe and this time she was registering the fact that she is ina . metal tube and its going up. Her look outside the window and back at my face twenty times during lift off was priceless.
At the airport after getting some currency exchanged i felt like a super rich dude for few minutes. Exchange rate was 1 euro is to 300 Forinto . Thousands of cash in my hand. Finding way from airport to hotel was not too complicated. Transport was super cheap. three day unlimited access to all forms of transport for hte both of us was just Euro 20. What caught us in true surprise was the heat. Man was it hot! 37 degrees. I might be from India , but my body has truly acclimatized to the Irish weather and anything above 20 is hot for me. 37 degrees is something that I haven't even experienced in India .
The hotel we checked in at was fabulous. Had an AC ! we rested for a little while and got out during dusk. The hotel was at central location accessible to all trains, trams and busses. The city was beautiful and busy. we wandered about the squares and decided to hop on to a tram on the Pest side of the city. This is all unplanned. The tram stopped at the parliament. and god was a it a beautiful building. One of the best I have seen in Europe.
We spent the evening here since there was a pool which the little kiddo enjoyed wading in. Way back Mrs tried a hand at shopping expecting things to be cheaper, but where . we stayed , it was a tourist hot spot. So everything was Euro converted to Forinto.
Dinner was at one of the restaurants . We sat outside and there was this constant fine mist of water sprayed to keep everyone cool . Best fresh Pizza, mushroom risotto and soup I have had. THe fact that i remember what I have had speaks for itself.
Following day we decided to head to the baths which Budapest was famous for. The bath is a thermal batha nd at that heat ice cold bath is waht is preferable. We were allowed in for a look around.
My Mrs would never get into a swim suit so the option of trying out, ruled out. we headed to the zoo right opposite . Huge zoo and plenty to see. My daughter was truly entertained. All the animals that she sees on her favorite cartoon were all alive and kicking for real. 
The butterfly sanctuary and petting zoo was her favorite. we spent four hours there and was able to cover just the half of it. It was noon and even after gulping two liters of water each, none of us had pee'ed . It was that hot. 
Potable Water fountains were every where which was a huge relief. We headed to the hotel for a snooze and resume exploration later on.
By four we decided to . cross over the bridge closes to us and that we did. But what i did not mention to my Mrs was my intention of hiking up the hill at the other end of it. That too with a buggy. My little daughter was all in for it. It was a good climb up to the citadel . Must have taken us an hour. The entire trail was through wooded area so it was not too bad. When we reached the summit my wife stared giving out and was delighted we did get up here. The views were spectacular.
Totally flexed the zoom on my lens. Bought the most expensive lemonade at four euro each. Total rip off of the tourists. By the way we had been warned of this before we came over.
We headed back down by six and hopped on to the tram that traversed the Buda part of the city . we spotted a children's play area and we hopped off there. She has a whale of a time playing there. It was funny to see most kids running around in just diapers and i dont blame them at all.
After while just when the sun decided to set we thought this was the best time to take the river cruise and boy was the best move made. We got on to the one and a half hour river cruise and to see the city with the orange backlit sky was splendid. THe highlight was the parliament all illuminated. Priceless . The buda castle also looked great but we knew we did not have enough time to check out the museum there. It was the most peaceful evening we have had. Soaking up the views and the reflection of the lights on the waters was enthralling. The city had many bridges, not one of them looked looked industrial. Each bridge looks like it stood for an era and was a piece of art.
That night the three of us slept like logs. Tired is an understatement.
Following day we had little time time so we took the tram to the Budapest city park. We got off at the Hero's square which is ten times as much as trafalgar's square.
WE wandered into the park. There was a rehearsal going on for some music fest. By noon we headed back to the hotel to checkout. Took the train to the airport. There was a huge mall where we had to transfer to a bus from the last train station. We had our lunch there and my Mrs engaged in her favorite pass time while i minded the trouble maker.
Security check was super quick again but the weather wasn't cooperative. we were grounded in the aircraft for one hour because of a thunderstorm that we could all see from the oval windows in the distance.
Finally back to dublin to the super comfy sub twenties and felt great to head back to the urinals.
Because identifying a holiday destination is a pain. Too many variables to be evaluated. Her team mate was kind of enough to give all the details of all things that may be visited, places to stay away from, best things for kids to do etc...
We booked the hotel and flights for the bank holiday weekend in August. Time to bring out the "Days to holiday count down app" . Something to look forward to. Only a week later while on my way to wedding with my buddy Dave did i know that he and his Fiance are great fans of the same place. So much so that they even got engaged there. Now that made me take a look at the app everyday twice as much. I was also made aware that currency there is Fornito and things can get really cheaper there. Double win!!
It was an early morning flight and on a bank holiday weekend airport can get super busy. After receiving multiple alert emails from the airline i decided to be safe rather than sorry. We were there three hours well in advance. At five AM it was the busiest I have ever seen Dublin Airport terminal 1 at. But me and my little family were though the whole process in under 15 minutes. The power of having a toddler with you at airport is supreme. Security checks done in priority and assisted. Super! But that did leave a lot of time for us at the airport to have a snooze.
A flight duration of three hours was not fantastic , thanks to the same annoying toddler. It was her first holiday in Europe and this time she was registering the fact that she is ina . metal tube and its going up. Her look outside the window and back at my face twenty times during lift off was priceless.
At the airport after getting some currency exchanged i felt like a super rich dude for few minutes. Exchange rate was 1 euro is to 300 Forinto . Thousands of cash in my hand. Finding way from airport to hotel was not too complicated. Transport was super cheap. three day unlimited access to all forms of transport for hte both of us was just Euro 20. What caught us in true surprise was the heat. Man was it hot! 37 degrees. I might be from India , but my body has truly acclimatized to the Irish weather and anything above 20 is hot for me. 37 degrees is something that I haven't even experienced in India .
The hotel we checked in at was fabulous. Had an AC ! we rested for a little while and got out during dusk. The hotel was at central location accessible to all trains, trams and busses. The city was beautiful and busy. we wandered about the squares and decided to hop on to a tram on the Pest side of the city. This is all unplanned. The tram stopped at the parliament. and god was a it a beautiful building. One of the best I have seen in Europe.
We spent the evening here since there was a pool which the little kiddo enjoyed wading in. Way back Mrs tried a hand at shopping expecting things to be cheaper, but where . we stayed , it was a tourist hot spot. So everything was Euro converted to Forinto.Dinner was at one of the restaurants . We sat outside and there was this constant fine mist of water sprayed to keep everyone cool . Best fresh Pizza, mushroom risotto and soup I have had. THe fact that i remember what I have had speaks for itself.
Following day we decided to head to the baths which Budapest was famous for. The bath is a thermal batha nd at that heat ice cold bath is waht is preferable. We were allowed in for a look around.
My Mrs would never get into a swim suit so the option of trying out, ruled out. we headed to the zoo right opposite . Huge zoo and plenty to see. My daughter was truly entertained. All the animals that she sees on her favorite cartoon were all alive and kicking for real. 
The butterfly sanctuary and petting zoo was her favorite. we spent four hours there and was able to cover just the half of it. It was noon and even after gulping two liters of water each, none of us had pee'ed . It was that hot. 
Potable Water fountains were every where which was a huge relief. We headed to the hotel for a snooze and resume exploration later on.By four we decided to . cross over the bridge closes to us and that we did. But what i did not mention to my Mrs was my intention of hiking up the hill at the other end of it. That too with a buggy. My little daughter was all in for it. It was a good climb up to the citadel . Must have taken us an hour. The entire trail was through wooded area so it was not too bad. When we reached the summit my wife stared giving out and was delighted we did get up here. The views were spectacular.
Totally flexed the zoom on my lens. Bought the most expensive lemonade at four euro each. Total rip off of the tourists. By the way we had been warned of this before we came over.We headed back down by six and hopped on to the tram that traversed the Buda part of the city . we spotted a children's play area and we hopped off there. She has a whale of a time playing there. It was funny to see most kids running around in just diapers and i dont blame them at all.
After while just when the sun decided to set we thought this was the best time to take the river cruise and boy was the best move made. We got on to the one and a half hour river cruise and to see the city with the orange backlit sky was splendid. THe highlight was the parliament all illuminated. Priceless . The buda castle also looked great but we knew we did not have enough time to check out the museum there. It was the most peaceful evening we have had. Soaking up the views and the reflection of the lights on the waters was enthralling. The city had many bridges, not one of them looked looked industrial. Each bridge looks like it stood for an era and was a piece of art.
That night the three of us slept like logs. Tired is an understatement.
Following day we had little time time so we took the tram to the Budapest city park. We got off at the Hero's square which is ten times as much as trafalgar's square.
WE wandered into the park. There was a rehearsal going on for some music fest. By noon we headed back to the hotel to checkout. Took the train to the airport. There was a huge mall where we had to transfer to a bus from the last train station. We had our lunch there and my Mrs engaged in her favorite pass time while i minded the trouble maker.Security check was super quick again but the weather wasn't cooperative. we were grounded in the aircraft for one hour because of a thunderstorm that we could all see from the oval windows in the distance.
Finally back to dublin to the super comfy sub twenties and felt great to head back to the urinals.
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