Budapest at Christmas & New Year's

After spending last Christmas here in Saudi, I knew there was no way I was going to stay again.  Don't get me wrong...it was a nice Christmas.  We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with our good friends.  But, seriously, this is Saudi...they don't do Christmas here!  So this year I wanted Christmas up front and in my face.  

We initally wanted to go to Prague or Vienna, but with sticker prices coming in at $250-$300 per night for rentals we had to rethink our plans.  A friend mentioned Budapest.  I said, where??  Isn't that like Eastern Europe??  My hubby on the other hand went bonkers.  So, I started my research and was I ever surprised.  Not only is it a beautiful city, but my god was it reasonable!!  We scored a beautiful two story apartment for 1000 Euro..for 2 weeks!  Including Christmas and New Year's.  Yeah, that pretty much sold me.  

I couldn't wait to get there.  The Christmas markets, decorations, snow (well, for a day).  It was all I wanted for Christmas.  On the advice of yet another friend, we booked a Christmas morning brunch at the Four Seasons.  It was incredible.  The food, the mimosas, the food, the mimosas.  

Speaking of food...there wasn't a single restaurant that we ate at that we didn't like.  From traditional Hungarian food to sushi.  Home runs every time.  We had an absolute blast.  

So, in this post I just wanted to focus on the Christmas stuff.  I'll post more about being out and about in Budapest.  The markets were flat out awesome.  I couldn't get over the booths that were preparing food.  And all the cute little handmade gifts.  The absolute best find were the rolls and rolls of Poppyseed rolls.  It didn't even occur to me that I would find them there.  Why is it such a big deal?  Well its a special treat that I only ever got at Christmas when we visited my grandparents in Ohio.  (which was maybe every other year...increasing to much longer stints away.)  Its not always easy to find the ingredients you need to make them, so it's not something we ever got very often.  These rolls scream Christmas to me and best of all, it made me feel connected to my family.  So, yeah...happy me.

We had a huge scare on Christmas Eve though.  It's tradition in our family to get dressed up and have a huge Christmas Eve dinner.  That day we were just wandering through the markets getting last minute stocking stuffers for Santa to put in the girls' stockings.  At 2:30p, they started to shut down.  And....cue panic.  Oh my god!  We don't have ANY food for dinner and most importantly wine!!!  Matt and I sot off in separate directions.  He hunted down wine and I went scrambling for food.  (some how we managed to keep the kids with us)  I wasn't the only one.  The large booth in the pictures below (with the yellow lighting) was still open and people were barking out orders.  I scored some killer looking pork and a couple of sauerkraut dishes.  But, hubby wasn't having any luck with wine...so I darted into a bar (dragging Lily) and asked the bartender if he would sell me a couple of bottles.  What a nice man, he did.  In about 20 minutes we managed to salvage Christmas Eve dinner.  It wasn't what I had hoped to make, but hell, I was just happy we had food!  

Christmas morning arrived and Santa had found us in Budapest.  The tree wasn't overloaded with gifts, but the girls were happy with what they received.  Then it was off to brunch.  Everything was really lovely.  We even got to Skype family and they watched the girls open some gifts.  Happy day.

For New Years, well, we could have hung out in the square and partied with all the people, but instead, we put the kids to bed early, watched sports bloopers on TV and totally missed the midnight mark.  Ah, but we had champagne.  Not a total loss.  :)

All in all, it will definitely be a memorable Christmas and New Years.     

Christmas Market

The Four Seasons Hotel and the one day of snow

Inside the Four Seasons

 Christmas Eve, Morning and my beloved poppyseed roll

Christmas Market

around town

Vienna, Austria

Oh, man...this is one city that I have already planned a return trip to this summer.  Two days was no where near enough to see the sites...of course, our main reason for the quick side trip from Budapest was to see the Christmas markets.  AND, to see the Lipizzaner stallion show at the Spanish Riding school.  
We sure had a rough start on the way there though.  We bought our tickets and didn't realize till we were on the train that we had 3rd class seats.  Meaning, NO seats.  Matt had to stand for 2 hours while me and the girls sat on the floor.  It was awful.  Safe to say....the minute we got off the train we upgraded the return trip to first class!
Got to our hotel, they upgraded us to a nice roomy suite and set off to find dinner.  The weather was cold and there was a small layer of snow on the ground.  Ate at a fantastic Austrian restaurant that the hotel recommended and then sought out the Christmas markets.  I wanted to see everything all lit up!  We managed to make it to two different ones before the girls had enough.  Indulged in the local hot wine and just really enjoyed the sites.  It was so beautiful!  But, then the rain started, and it was cold...and wet.  We grabbed one of the horse carriages to take us back to the hotel.  It was fun and I wish the weather would have been a bit better for photos.
The next morning we needed to get to the horse show.  It was a Sunday...and not much was open.  Of course.  So, we ended up doing what most American tourists would do...we ate at McDonald's.  
Found our way to the arena and settled in.
Thank god we spent the money to get reserved seats.  Otherwise, it was just standing room.  80 minutes of the girls standing to watch horses.  Yeah, that would have been fun.
The girls enjoyed the show for the most part...I mean it's hard for them to grasp the concept of the degree of difficulty of the moves these horses were performing...but me?  Oh my, I was in second heaven.  The horses were gorgeous.  It was so wonderful.  The arena just took my breath away.  It was magical.
Afterwards we wandered around to another Christmas market.  Up some of the streets and just tried to take in the sites as much as we could before we had to catch our return train.
The train ride back was awesome.  Big comfy seats, wine, snacks...it was all good this time!
But, we really didn't get to see much of the city at all...and I've made it so we will return in August.  Can't wait to get back.  It's an amazingly beautiful city.  :) 

Spanish Riding School

Christmas in Saudi

Well, this is definitely one Christmas that will forever remain in our memories.  For starters, this is my first Christmas ever away from ALL my family.  In 34 years, I have always been with family for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning.    
On top of that, I live in a country where you aren't even supposed to be celebrating Christmas.  There are no mall Santa's to take your kids to see, no fun neighborhoods overloaded with Christmas lights, no holiday wrapping paper, no crazy shopping days...it's kind of like the land that Christmas forgot.  (though it was never here in the first place, of course)
It's made for a very surreal holiday.  It didn't seem to bother Lily very much (my youngest), but Sara had a hard time understanding why we didn't have a bigger tree (we are now very happy to just have the little tree we managed to get into the country!) or lights decorating the house...she has a great memory of past Christmas.  
Gift buying was interesting as well.  Shipping anything to this country costs an arm and leg (or two).  So, there was no way we could ask family to send gifts.  Instead, we discussed amounts and I went and bought everything and they reimbursed me for the girl's gifts.  Not much fun for family, but there was really no other option.  As for gifts for our family in the states...well, all I can say is HELLO Amazon.  I really did miss window shopping for ideas at the mall though.


So, in doing our best to make this as wonderful as possible, we found ways to make it feel a little more like Christmas.  In a package from my mom we were able to get stockings and some Christmas lights.  I actually found garland at ToysRUs...go figure.  I found a xmas radio app for my iPad so I could listen to Christmas music.  We made sugar cookies and decorated them.  The girls cousin's in Texas sent a Hallmark talking book about the Night Before Christmas and we've listened to that every night before bed.  My gifts were wrapped...though not in the fun holiday paper I'm so used to.  One of the best parts we the two parties we attended in one of the compounds.  Santa was there (twice!) to greet the kids and he even handed out presents.  We greatly enjoyed that and are so thankful for those who put it all together.


Christmas Eve is a big deal in my family.  We get dressed up, have a huge meal, let the kids open one gift and then watch Christmas Vacation.  I really wanted to do my best to make it the way I've always known.  So, we invited some close friends over for dinner.  Since there is no pork here, I settled for making a roast in the oven.  I managed to pull off making my first batch of perogi's all by myself (a traditional dish we have every Christmas).  Our friends brought some of their holiday faves as well.  Dinner was wonderful and so was the company...and my sweet friends even indulged me and watched the movie!  We really did have a good time...even if it was still so very different from anything I've ever known.
Christmas morning arrived.  Matt had to work, (no day off for Christmas here) so he left early and came back when I called and told him the kids were up.  The girls waited in our bedroom while we got camera and video ready.  They were so excited to see all the gifts!  We were able to skype family back in the states (still celebrating Christmas Eve) and they watched the girls while they opened presents.  (once again, I want to thank the creators of skype...can't imagine life without it)  After the gifts were open, Matt headed back to work.  
So, there I was.  Christmas over.  Home alone with the kids.  No where else to go.  Usually we have to meet up with more family and we get decked out in new dudes and head out for more celebrations.  Instead, I spent 3 hours putting together toys for the girls.  Of course, they didn't realize anything was amiss...they had a ton of new toys!  (more than I realized)  It was such a weird feeling...to have so little to do and no one to see on Christmas Day.  
To try and make future Christmases a bit more special for our family, I decided that morning to instigate a new holiday tradition for our family.  Our Christmas Day evening ritual would consist of Chinese takeout and watching a Christmas Story on tv.  So, no matter where we are in the world, we will have this tradition to take with us..started in Saudi.  


I still can't believe Christmas has come and gone.  With none of the flare I'm so used to.  But, I will say one thing...my life is blessed.  So many are separated or have no family around.  So many weren't able to provide gifts for their loved ones.  I'm thankful that I was with my hubby and girls on Christmas.  I'm thankful for those that worked with us and provided the many gifts the girls were able to open on Christmas morning.  We are lucky to have such loving and understanding families.  So, I hope that all of you had a special Christmas with those you love.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...from Saudi.