TYVAND'S IN BUDAPEST

This November the Tyvand's took advantage of a four day weekend (Bajrem, not Thanksgiving) loaded up the car and drove to Budapest. Budapest is a somewhat short 8 hour drive from Sarajevo. It takes us about 3 hours to escape the Bosnian road system, but once out, we're able to take advantage of the expressways (think autobahn) that the rest of Europe enjoys.

We stayed at the Bellevue B&B in the castle district on the Buda side of the city. For any of you planning to visit Budapest, we highly recommend it. We were joined by our good friend Dan who flew to Sarajevo a few days prior to our journey.

You can get this all from a guide book, but the brief lowdown on the city is that it is actually two cities that joined one another, Buda in the west, Pest in the East, divided by the Danube River. The city is considered the "capital" of Eastern Europe.

Here's a rundown on the places we visited:

Szechenyi Park and Thermal Baths - We spent most of our first and second days in/around the park. Almost as soon as we arrived Saturday morning (another overnight drive for Jim), Rose rounded up the girls and headed for the circus adjacent to the park. Dan and Jim took this opportunity to walk from the B&B in the castle district to the park, crossing a good part of the city in the process.Often as we visit places the Tyvand's go on "treasure" hunts using our GPS to find Geocache's hidden around the world. Below Talin proudly displays the treasure that she found just outside of Szechenyi Bath.
Rose gave Talin a "list" of things to find/see while walking around Budapest. Finding the treasure was the last item on her list.
Szechenyi Bath - We spent the better part of Sunday enjoying the public thermal bath complex located in the park. The complex was immense, and we found ourselves spending most of our afternoon in two of the outdoor pools.The girls enjoying the bath that was a little more kid friendly.
Dan chillin in the thermal bath.
There were many baths to choose from in the city, Szechenyi being the largest, and from what we could figure out, the most kid friendly. Most of the other baths were indoor complexes featuring Roman architecture, and featuring themes such as Men's Day, Men's Day clothing optional, Women's Day, Women's Day clothing option, clothing optional, please don't wear clothes, loin cloth provided, etc. Szechenyi seemed like the place for us.

Chain Bridge - Rumor has it the construction of this bridge at the end of the 19th century was the result of the king at the time being upset that he could not attend his daughter's wedding on the other side due to the fact that ice flows blocked crossing the river. Another way of saying that at the time the city needed a bridge but did not have one. Regardless of the reason, we found ourselves crossing this particular bridge multiple times a day. Rose and Talin pausing in front of a guardian lion, on our way from the Buda side to the Pest side of the city.
Rose and Alma, looking towards the Buda side with the Royal Palace in the background.
Dan and Jim on the Buda side, standing on the river walk/bike way that serves as a method of transport for commuters and tourists. The bike commuters were typically pleased that tourists use this route during the work day.
Castle District - Home to..........a castle. This part of the city is a World Heritage site, and also where we stayed. About 50 steps up from our B&B, and we're there.
Talin and Alma standing on the steps that we would take down to the Danube and the closest subway stop.
Scenes from the CityTalin on a wall in the castle, looking down upon the Danube and the Parliament building.
View of the Parliament building from the Buda side.
View of the Royal Palace from the Chain Bridge.
Opera Building in the heart of Pest.
Heroes Square, also the place where Talin found one of the three Geocaches we searched for in the city.

Budapest at nightParliament Building

Talin being serenaded at dinner our last night. Alma became ill during the day on Monday, so Dan and Jim took Talin to Corzo on the banks of the Danube.

Parting Shot - Dan and Jim in front of our favorite restaurant in Sarajevo, Dveri. We take all of our guests here. If you come and visit, you'll see why.

Spring Break Austria

Spring Break destination - Austria. We left Sarajevo 9PM on Friday night. A relatively short 10 hour drive later, after having driven through Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and then Austria, we arrived in Salzburg. We would spend 1 night in Salzburg before continuing to the Austrian Alps for the remainder of the week.
Do-Re-Mi Fountain from the Sound of Music. Somehow Rose sensed that fatigued driver Jim would prefer to explore the city on foot while the girls basked in the "hills are alive" experience.
Von Trapp Residence - about as close as the tourists are allowed to get.

Alma sharing her personality with the dwarf statue from the Do-Re-Mi scene. When we returned to Sarajevo, the girls watched the movie for the first time.

Scenes from the Tirolerhof Kinderhotel in Ehrwald, Austria. So what is a Kinderhotel? - It's a magical place according to Rose, where all your dreams come true. More specifically, they are a kid friendly option in the Alps, meals included, daycare included, indoor swimming pool, kid's play area, ski school right in town, and majestic views. There were about 30 to choose from in Austria, Ehrwald was our choice.

As if the hotel were not enough, we were joined by the elder Tyvand's (Jim and Judy) during our stay at the Tirolerhof.

Alma out for a walk in the village.Fresh snow our first morning. Made for great skiing at Lermoos for Jim. The remainder of the week was sunny and warm.Talin prepping for ski school. She spent 2 days in ski school, first unlearning everything her father had taught her during the winter, then getting command of her wedge (pizza in school lingo) and learning her turns. Alma's version of ski school. We managed 2 sledding runs before Alma found a delicious snowball and decided that an alpine snack was in order.
Zugspitz - Dominating the Ehrwald skyline is the Zugspitz. Gondola is the only option, up and down. There is an observation deck at the top for non-skiers, Jim/Judy took this option. For skiers, another gondola takes you into the bowl.
Gondola that takes skiers into the bowl. Rose at the top of the Zugspitz. Stopped for a quick photo on our way into the bowl.
For the most part, Zugspitz an intermediate skiing experience. However, if one were to follow tracks away from the groomers, plenty of fresh snow and steeps to be found.
View from the observation deck into the skiing bowl.

Perfect day in the Zugspitz made perfecter by dark beer.Jim and Judy on the observation deck.

View from the gondola into the village of Ehrwald.

As if skiing were not enough, the warm temperatures allowed some hiking experiences. Talin is checking out the reindeer.

Team Tyvand
Inexplicably, a Tee Pee along one of the hiking trails.
Scenes from the hotel - Two person swing most often in use just before kid dinner at 6pm.
We swam every day at about 4pm. The girls received two new bathing suits from Nana and Baba (Judy/Jim) for their "ski" vacation.

Once kid dinner was over, the girls shuffled off to daycare while the adults dined sans kids.


A few parting shots. Alma jumping for joy in Ehrwald, and Talin below experiencing her first rainbow ever, in Sarajevo.