Greetings from Budapest, Hungary!

We have exactly 1 week from tomorrow left in this incredible adventure. After first, I admit I thought it would never end as I was lying in a tent during a torrential rain storm in Copenhagen. Now here we are in Budapest enjoying their spectacular buildings along the Danube River. Here are a few pictures from where we have been since posting in Switzerland.

The Parliment building in Budapest along the Danube River. Incredible building!

A closer look at the Parliment building; the Hungarians are also very good at flowers! Incredible flowers with all colors were everywhere in really cool patterns.

We went on a river cruise at night and all the buildings and bridges light up; it was really beautiful!

The Bavaria part of Germany (south east) is breath-takingly beautiful! Green rollings hills with deep forests and cute little towns with churches poking out of the center. I LOVED it! We went to Fussen, Germany to see the famous Neuswanstein castle and I felt like I was living in the real Beauty and the Beast! I am completely convinced that Walt Disney got the plot from this castle :)

The view from the castle was incredible. The castle sits right up against that Alps and overlooks the most beautiful lake and country side. I was really wishing that I was Beauty at that moment!!

We also went to Hallstatt, Austria home of the world's oldest salt mine dating back thousands of years. This charming little Austrian villiage is also like a dream or something you see in the movies. Right up against the Austrian Alps and set on a lake, you can't help but stare at it in wonder and wish you lived there.

We did a little hike to a big waterfall while we were there and got a spectacular view of the valley and lake.

We also made our way to Salzburg, Austria birthplace of Mozart and The Sound of Music :) The old town of Salzburg is very lovely with its old churches and the massive castle/fortress set on the hill. 

We have seen so many awesome places. We are tired (pretty sure we have walked at least 100 miles haha) but still have lots of fun seeing so many diverse and beautiful cities. Some things that I have noticed about Europe though are:

-no free ketchup at Burger King :( For those who know me and my love of ketchup, this doesn't make me too happy :)
-bottled water at 50 cents a liter is the best find of the day!
-paying for the bathroom...who invented this??!?
-EVERYONE smokes here. YUCK
-the dollar is so pathetic!
-and...I am grateful to hear English every other day :)

Until next time, our next stops involve Vienna, Prague, Rothenburg, and PARIS!