Puerto Vallarta Week 1 - October 14-21, 2017

We are spending our first week of four in Puerto Vallarta in the Lindo Mar 3 bedroom penthouse. Our  three week trip was all set when this beautiful penthouse exchange came open on Trading Places International for the week before our trip began. We had to snag it, change our airfare and invite Ruth's former sister in law, Sandy and her husband Victor to join us. What a view from the wrap around balcony!

Sandy and Victor share our taste for spicy and unusual foods. We had fun dining at Merida Grill with food from the Yucatan area of Mexico. They had great table made guacamole and a delicious lime soup that was poured into your bowl piping hot from a tin kettle. Flowers garnished every meal. Warique was another favorite. Tucked back in the neighborhood, it was a great find. Owners Kris from Poland and his business from Peru have created an intimate little space with eclectic food. The arrechera from Brazil was delicious, as was the cold lime soup. the highlight of Warique is Luis, who plays on weekends on the sweet little patio. He is very talented and can play any request. We came back multiple times to hear Luis.

Our week with the Bolducs passed too quickly. We took the bus south to Boca de Tomatlan and  caught a water taxo to Yelapa for a day, went to Tony's La Choza in Mismaloya for dinner, shopped and enjoyed lots of Lindo Mar beach time!

Budapest, Hungary 5/11/17

Today is our last full day in Budapest. We took the metro to the Opera House to take a look at the lobby. We did not want to take the hour tour, but we did enjoy the splendor of the building.

Our metro stop for the Hungarian State Opera House. 

Ornate lobby!

Coat check a

Our next metro stop was The House of Terror museum. This is an amazing exhibit that chronicles Hungary's difficult history under two regimes: the Nazis and the Communists. The exhibit was extremely creative and so well done. We learned much about Hungary and its difficult past. It was not until 1989 that the Communist regime left. It was a sobering exhibit.

After lunch we took the metro to the Szechenyi Bath House, which is located in City Park. This is a lovely bright yellow building that is the oldest thermal bath in Pest, built in 1913. It is one of the largest in Europe. We enjoyed some time soaking in the water and in the atmosphere.

We then went to a restaurant in the park and did some people watching while enjoying a German beer.

Beer in the City Park.

I loved the leather used for balance on the metro.

Vicky Barcelona was our dinner choice for our last meal in Budapest. We found this great little tapas place in Gozsdu Court, right near our apartment.

There are about 30 restaurants in this little plaza area, so it is so easy to find a good eating spot. We chose Vicky Barcelona. Our server, Fannie, was so cute and she made some good suggestions for our meal. I asked the owner if anyone was from Spain - Nope! But they do a good job.

It was a great ending to a great vacation! Budapest is a wonderful city worth a visit or two!

Bye Bye Budapest!

Budapest, Hungary 5/10/17

After our breakfast we headed over to St Stephen's Basilica to find the Segway guys to sign up for their half hour tour. Our guide, Lazlo, showed us how to operate the Segways and we were off.

Very fun!

We went to the Parliament Building and Liberty Square first. The Parliament build is incredible at night. They light it all up and it is so very pretty from a boat.

Beautiful in the daytime, too

They purposefully left the bullet holes from an occupation by the Communtsts as a reminder.

Our next stop was the Shoes on the Bridge monument . This is a very sobering memorial to the Hungarian Jews who were killed by the Nazis. They lined them up along the Danube, had them remove their shoes and then they shot them so that they fell into the Danube. The city has placed hundreds of bronze shoes along a stretch of the Danube to remember these people. Its was very moving.  

As we were coming back to St Stephens Basilica for the end of the tour, we passed a couple of good restaurants. After turning in our Segways, we backtracked to the area and had a delicious Gyro on pita bread. The place was packed with a long line, so we figured it must be good and was it ever! 

We returned home to hang our laundry on the drying rack and then we went out for a long afternoon of sightseeing. We took the Metro to the Chain Bridge and walked across, where we bought tickets for the funicular up the steep hill to the Castle Hill district. We followed RIck Steve’s narrative as he guided us through the National Palace. We have been told by several Hungarians guides that the Nazis took everything of value from the beautiful and huge palace. It has never been brought back to what it once was, which is sad. The facade and grounds are gorgeous and there are two museums on the property now.

The funicular up the steep hill.

View of Pest

View of Pest

Neat sundial on National Palace

The Hungarian National Palace

View of hilly and green Buda from the National Palace courtyard

Stunning!

We then made our way to Matthias Church and took a look inside. In this church there was a 1515 statue of Mary and baby Jesus that the Christians bricked up in a niche when the Ottomans took over the area so it would not be plundered. A century and a half later there was an explosion and the bricks broke apart, exposing the statue. The Ottomans, who had been using the church as a mosque for all of these years, were frightened by this, saw it as a sign and left the area. Interesting story of how a statue saved the church. 

Matthias Church

A model of the church for the blind with braille labels.

This cutie took our picture for us.

We wanted to tour the Hospital in the Rock, but we arrived just a little late and they only do the tours on the hour. This 25,000 square foot museum sprawling beneath Castle Hill is a labyrinth of hospital and fallout shelter corridors built in the mid-20th century. During WWII, it was created as a secret emergency surgical hospital. It was designed for 200 patients and by the end of the war was housing three times that number. Later, in the late 1950’s it was expanded to include a giant bomb shelter and a potential post nuclear disaster holocaust hospital. After years in mothballs, it is now a museum with an excellent tour that we missed!

Dinner was nearby at Gozdu Court, the walkway that spans three blocks full of restaurants/  We chose Spiler, which was recommended by several people. The outdoor patio overlooked a makeshift dance floor. People were doing the most interesting dance where the men moved along the ring from partner to partner. It was a salsa beat and it looked like so much fun. Ruth wants salsa lessons!

Spilers is a good restaurant and we were seated where we could watch a community dance event.

Gozsdu Court has so many restaurants and it is a few steps form our apartment.