Budapest, Hungary

I heard so many wonderful things from my friends about Budapest so of course it was one of the cities at the top of my "must visit list." Budapest was the perfect gift of travel to the Foster Family. 

*Special Note: Christmas Eve is the day Hungarians spend time with their families and open presents & celebrate; so most places will close early around 2pm. On Christmas Day the places that are open will stay open until around 4/5pm. To my surprise a lot of places were open on the holiday in the tourist area of the city; which made for a great holiday trip for us.

*Special Note: Currency Exchange Rate: $1= 215 Hungarian Forint

Getting There

We decided the best option for us to get to Budapest was by train. Since moving to Germany I have really grown to love train travel. It's so convenient and all we have to do is sit back and relax and let someone else do all of the work of getting us there.

Route: 

Beratzhausen to Regensberg (RE train)

 Regensburg to Linz, Austria (ICE train)

          Linz, Austria to Budapest, Hungary (RJ train)

Heroes Square

Parliament

Chain Bridge

Vorosmarty Square

This square is in the heart of the city & it was transformed in to a huge Christmas Market with well over 100+ stalls with tons of specialty gifts & food vendors.

Having fun with fluffy hats

advent wreath

Hard Rock Cafe

This isn't normally where we would eat when we are traveling; we decided we wanted a taste of home for Christmas Eve. I know they don't have the normal holiday spread on the menu but they do serve good American restaurant food (which is something I rarely get nowadays); and it hit the spot! 

Opera House

On Christmas Day we went to the Opera House and saw the Nutcracker Ballet. The Nutcracker has always been one of favorites since I was a little girl. I remember attending Lake Forest Elementary school (a performance arts school) and each year we would put on our school holiday performance of the Nutcracker. So this brought back such good memories for me and I am so glad I got to share this with my son. Just to see his face light up while watching the dancers was priceless. 

City Sites

Of course we decided to use our family favorite to see all of the city sites--the hop on hop off tour bus. Budapest has quite a few different options to choose from; I think I saw about 5; we chose the Big Bus Tour company. No specific reason why-- mainly because it's the first bus we saw (they run everyday). The ticket includes the second day free, a free boat tour, and a free night tour (seasonal).

Lodging

We rented a flat off of airbnb and it was very spacious, homey & comfortable; just all around amazing! I'm so glad we chose to stay here for our family Christmas vacation. It was the best place we have rented off of airbnb and beats out all of the European hotels we have stayed at by far. Here is the link to check it out: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/909638

Balcony of our Flat

View of Parliament at Night from our flat

Marrakech, Morocco

This trip was such an amazing experience and I'm so glad I was able to share it with my family. I have been to Africa before but this was my first time in North Africa and the best part of it all was that I was able to bring my son to the Motherland!!

* Special Note: Currency Exchange Rate: $1= 8.13 Morrocan Dirham 

LaToya's Top 5 Marrakech Travel Tips

Before I get started with all of the wonderful sites and my experiences I have to share with you the Top 5 Things I think you Must Know when travelling to Marrakech:

5) Wear Closed Toe Shoes: the streets are very dirty & there are tons of animals everywhere; so this is not the trip to wear you new sandals and show off your pretty pedicure

4) Dress Appropriately for the Culture: this is a "traditional" Muslim city so please leave the daisy dukes & halter tops at home; bottoms that go to at least to the knee and shirts that cover up the entire torso and the shoulders

3) Do Not Drink the Water: bottled water ONLY

2) Practice on your Bargaining Skills: almost everything is a negotiation so brush up on your price haggling skills; have a set price in mind of what you think something is worth and start bargaining at least 50% below that price

1) Keep an Open Mind & Have Fun: this is not North America/Europe they have there own traditions/culture & economic status so keep that at the front of your mind when travelling; different doesn't mean bad or scary so just experience the city for what it has to offer

Getting There

We used our favorite discount airline RyanAir to purchase our tickets to Marrakech. We originally planned on going there for Christmas (to escape this German cold weather/snow) but they were having such a good sale for Thanksgiving we couldn't pass it up.

*Special Note: 3 round trip plane tickets only cost us 174euro

Jemaa el-Fnaa

This is a huge square and marketplace in the old town area of Marrakech. You can find some of everything going on in this area; anyway someone can think of to make money it will be going on out here. I don't think Marrakech has an actual zoo but they don't need one just go to the Jemaa el-Fnaa and you will see it all; snakes, monkeys, horses, donkeys, camels, chickens, etc. Behind the square is the Souk; narrow alleys with local markets, restaurants, hotels, and tons of bargain shopping.

Jemaa el-Fnaa At Night

Koutoubia Mosque

Koutoubia Mosque at night

Souks

The souks are a huge maze of alleyways filled with different make shift stores from ruins with vendors selling any and everything you can imagine. All types of spices, clothes, shoes, scarfs, rugs, coats, tons of leather items, and some of the best knock of purses I have ever seen.

Special Note: there are no prices on any of the items so you will get to put your price haggling skills to good use here. If you are really interested in something but can't get the price you want walk away & they will immediately drop the price. Once you make eye contact with an item you will immediately be harassed to buy something; give them a firm No Merci and keep it moving!

Hop On/Off Bus Tour

Yes they have the huge site seeing bus tours in Marrakech too. I would definitely recommend it to anyone on there first visit to Marrakech it gives you an easy way to see all different parts of the city without having to worry about haggling with a taxi driver or horse and carriage guy over prices. 

Bahia Palace

Majorelle Gardens

Cyber Gardens

New Town

In this area you will find the nice malls, and high end shopping, nicely paved roads/sidewalks street lights and pedestrian crosswalks. This area gives you a little break from the busy, fast paced choas of the Old Town area.

My Camel Experience

I call it an experience because I was told by my hubby that technically I can not say I rode a camel because I would not let the man stand the camel up and walk him around. I would only get on the camel while it was sitting to take a photo.

This is me trying to overcome the language barrier and explain to the man that the camel had to stay sitting down or I wouldn't get on

This is me getting scared and trying to leave while the guy is pulling me back to get on the camel

Once I finally got on the camel the other camel behind me started eating my hair and I started screaming

The guy yanking the camel off my head while eveyone laughs at me

After all that I finally get the shot I wanted!!


Henna Tattoo

City Sights

Outlet Mall

Prayer Call

Celebration of the Current King of Morocco & his Family

Hotel: Riad Bamileke

We chose to stay in a Riad which is a traditional Morrocan bed and breakfast in the heart of Old Town. So we were literally in the middle of all the action right off an alley fom the souks and square area. However, the best part about the riad was that it is an enclosed area centered around a beautiful courtyard; everything faces inward. So when we left the riad we were engulped with the sounds, smells, and action of the medina area but while inside you can not hear anything it is quiet and peaceful; like being in your own calm oasis.  A perfect choice for us!

Riad Bamileke's Rooftop Terrace

Good Eats
Of course my favorite part of all of my trips is the food. You can't have a true travel experience without trying some of the local favorites. If you are on a low carb diet this is not the place to come because bread is everywhere! Every corner you turn around there is a lady making fresh bread on some type of make shift hot plate and it smells so delightful that you can't just pass by without trying some.

Lamb Tagine with seasonal veggies

Hot Bread right off the stove

Delicious Chicken Tagine