February 6th 2009 - Budapest-Day 2

Woke up bright and early. Ross and I have really changed our sleeping habits since little Alicia came.... We started the day of with a big Hilton breakfast buffet while we were planning out our day.

First on the schedule was to go to the Parliament and try to go on one of the tours that they have there. To avoid the stairs down we tried a new way down to the city that ended up being a really long walk. All people we asked showed us in different directions and told us to take trams and busses. We decided against all the people and did it our own way, which worked out in the end. We came down to Elisabeth bridge were we crossed over to the other side. The views from the bridge was amazing!



The wonderful Parliament, the Danube River and in the background is the Chain Bridge.
This picture was taken from the Elisabeth Bridge.
We got to the Parliament and managed to get tour tickets for 2 o'clock. We had about two hours to kill so we walked up the street to look at the Basilica of St Stephen. This is a beautiful church with a big dome. There were a couple of different alters around the church. Ross said a prayer with Alicia and me in front of Mary holding baby Jesus. He asked Mary to tell her son to take care of Alicia and make her better, she should understand being the mother to Jesus and all. In the back of the church was a really odd thing. It was the actual mummified hand of St. Stephen. St. Stephen was the person who is credited with bring Christianity to Hungary, and is also considered the founding father of Hungary.


Daddy and Alicia in front of St. Stephen's Basilica
Inside the church
When we left we went to a little cafe. Ross and I had hot chocolate while Alicia had some food and stretched out.



Alicia stretching out
Right afterwards, we headed for the Parliament. The Gothic looking Parliament is amazing from the outside. The inside is elegant and it was interesting to learn some of the history. Alicia spoke better than the "English speaking tour guide."


Daddy and Alicia outside of Parliament


Alicia's view of Parliament while laying down in her stroller



Just chillin

The rest of the day was fun, but only worthy of bullet points

• We went back to the Hotel
• Alicia took a nice warm bath with Daddy while Mommy splashed her endlessly.
• We then walked down to a big mall called Mammut (Mammoth). We forgot the diaper bag so we started back to the hotel.
• On the way back we stop in for a quick beer. Alicia sat on Daddy and they snuggled.
• After we got back to the Hilton we walked right over to the Fishermen's Bastion to overlook the night time city. Alicia stayed warm and cozy in the stroller.
• About an hour later we had a scrumptious, but small portioned lamb dinner at the Hilton. Alicia came out of the stroller and wanted to be thrown up in the air and held during the dinner.
• After dinner we headed to the hotel bar had hot chocolate and cradled Alicia to sleep.

Dinner with Mommy. My hair won't go down:)