Getting Ready to Ring in 2010 in Budapest

Happy New Year! What an amazing year 2009 has been for our family! And we are delighted to be able to ring in 2010 in such a unique way.

Yesterday was very foggy. We made our way up to Castle Hill but we could not see anything.

The fog was so dense that statues and buildings that were close were not even visible. But Trey tried looking through the binoculars anyway--even with no money, dense fog AND backwards!

Last night we babysat our friends' little ones so they could have a grown up night out. Another American friend, Leanne, arrived in Budapest yesterday. She had gone home to California for Christmas in a whirlwind trip and is now joining us. She is assigned to Kielce, Poland in the southern part of the country. We are so glad to be able to spend time with her and the Key family. Here are Sonya and I at lunch today and Myles, Ben and Leanne being tourists today.

We had a very pretty and warm (45 degrees) day for sightseeing today. We went to Heroes Square where they have a huge monument and statue of Hungarian Heroes. One was St. Stephen, who was the first king of Hungary. The rest of them I had never heard of. I realized today that I know very little about Hungarian history. We stopped to take in the view in front of the Danube of the Parliament Building. It looks like we are in front of a postcard!

We walked up to Castle Hill again today because the weather was so much better. It was quite a climb (yesterday we took a bus--today we walked). We have noticed in Europe that they don't worry about things in disrepair like Americans do. Take a look at the stairs that Ben is climbing...

When we reached the top we were sure glad we came back. Yesterday we really couldn't see anything. Today when we arrived the sun was setting, there was a full moon, people were playing violins nearby and there were tons of people. The view was spectacular. 

Last evening on our way to babysit we picked up Burger King on the way. Trey wore his crown all day long today, everywhere we went! When we were enjoying the view, we noticed a grown up guy also wearing a Burger King crown. He was from San Marino (the country--not California). He came up to Trey, shook his hand and we took a picture of them together.

I have been specifically instructed to hand over the camera and include some pictures of me, so here are Myles and I with the river and city in the background. How's that? :)

It is 7:10 p.m. right now. We are getting ready to head out for the evening to enjoy the festivities of New Year's in Budapest. We are looking forward to fireworks over the Danube at midnight! What a special year for us!