Budapest, Lisbon, and the End of Europe

Our work experience in the UK was far from great (That's the nicest way I can describe it), so I figured we should do something special to celebrate Sarah's last day and the start of our Brexit!  Therefore, on the Thursday before her final day, I said eff it, and booked flights to the two cities highest on our European travel list.  I even splurged on actual hotel rooms!  So after wrapping things up on Friday, we caught a flight to Budapest!  I've been waiting over two years to use those lyrics in my blog!  Finally!

Budapest used to be two cities, Buda and Pest.  Kind of like Sarah and I, one of us is calm and Asian like a Buddha and the other is a bit of a pest.  Just saying.  We didn't get in until 1 AM, so night one consisted of getting to the hotel and passing out.  Day two started with breakfast, and let me tell you about what a man orders at breakfast.  A man doesn't start his day with coffee or juice or a protein shake, he drinks a liter of beer.  I mean, that's probably how alcoholics start their day as well, but I'll reflect on that later.  

Our hotel was on the Pest side of the river, so we decided to wander up to the Parliament building since that is the big tourist thing to do.  Along the way we found the typical European city stuff; the winding alleyways full of restaurants and bars, the opera house, and the giant church (St. Stephen's Basilica).  However once you cross a bridge over to the Buda (Sean) side, things become a little more unique, and a whole lot more handsome.  There is a gigantic castle area that sits atop a hill and for a few quid you can actually pick up a bow and start shooting arrows at stuff!  How cool is that?  Going to an actual castle and practicing your archery... There is so much cool stuff do in this world.  A few miles outside the castle, you can also hike up through a wooded area to get to a place called Gellert Hill which probably has the best 360 views of the city.

My house in Budapest, my-my hidden treasure chest, golden grand piano, my beautiful castillo, you-oo, you-oo, I'd leave it all.

My acres of land that I've achieved, it may be hard for you to stop and believe, but for you-oo. you-oo I'd leave it all.  Oh for you-oo, you-oo I'd leave it all

Oh give me one good reason why I should never make a change...Baby if you hold me then all of this will go away

My many artifacts, the list goes on.  If you just say the words, I'll, I'll up and run.  Oh to you-oo, you-oo, I'd leave it all.  Oh for you-oo, you-oo, I'd leave it all.

Oh give me one good reason why I should never make a change...Baby if you hold me then all of this will go away
Oh give me one good reason why I should never make a change...Baby if you hold me then all of this will go away

My friends and family, they don't understand.  They fear they'll lose so much if you take my hand, but for you-oo, you-oo I'd lose it all.  Oh for you-oo, you-oo I'd lose it all.

After spending all day wandering around the city and climbing up too many hills and steps, we decided to take it easy and do a night time cruise along the River Danube.  The cruises range from high end ships featuring live bands and five course meals to party boats featuring unlimited beer and pizza.  We went somewhere in the middle with one free drink and a buffet dinner.  We have seen a lot of cities at night, but Budapest is definitely one of the more memorable because of the way all the buildings are lit up.  On one side is the giant castle and on the other is one of Europe's largest parliament buildings, so it makes for some pretty cool views.

Now, when I hit a buffet, I'm going to eat some of everything.  Sarah just eats enough to get full, which I openly mock her for, I mean, it's an all you can eat buffet.  Why would you not eat until you reach an uncomfortable level of full?  However, based on the 16 hours that followed that gluttonous rampage and the total evacuation of my bowels, I learned that I should probably listen to her (I won't though).  After exiting the boat, it was a race against time to get back to the hotel before I pooped my pants.  Now normally you either go number one or number two, but I found a third option that night - Satan's Apocalypse.   I literally spent the entire night alternating between number three, crying in the fetal position, and wanting my life to end.  

The Parliament building lit up at night

We couldn't figure out if it was birds or bats flying around the building...If you ever go to Budapest, let me know what you think.

I wasn't in the best shape the next morning, so we decided to stick to indoor places that had toilets nearby!  After purchasing a gatorade and crescent to get some energy, we went to the Hungarian National Museum, which was conveniently located around the corner from our hotel!  The museum was actually pretty cool and I was feeling a little better, so we decided to eat lunch before making our way to the airport to catch a flight to our next country: Portugal.  

Sarah had been wanting to go to Lisbon because they have one of the highest rated aquariums in the world.  The Oceanario de Lisboa has one massive central tank, with a ton of smaller tanks and outdoor exhibits encircling it.  So you literally spend the entire time circling one massive tank...And we were there for nearly two hours if that gives you an idea of how huge it is!  They also had a special pool for two otters, which were probably the funnest animals to watch!  It's definitely the most impressive aquarium I've ever been too and I reckon it's the best place to visit if you're in Lisbon for a day.

Do you know why fish don't like soccer?  Because they're afraid of nets!  Bahaha, there's more where that came from.

Look at this little jerk flipperin me off.

Much like me, this otter is annoyingly adorable.

How does a fish bathe you ask?  Well this guy swims to the surface of the water and then lays flat on it's side so it can sunbathe.  Thus he is called a Sunfish.  That's right, I explained how a fish bathes, and I didn't even need to use a sponge.  I'm that good.

Probably one of Sarah's best shots to date.  A close up of this colorful little guy

After leaving the aquarium, we decided to head into the city center to see what cool touristy stuff there was to do, but literally everything was closed!  If you're ever planning a visit to Lisbon, don't go on a Monday, because nothing is open.  We were, however, able to find a little boat/pop up bar along the pier, so I grabbed some beer, Sarah grabbed some wine, and we chilled out whilst watching the sunset.  Not a bad way to live life.

After the sun went down, we climbed up a huge hill and found a cool little restaurant area, but the place we wanted to eat at had a two hour wait!  Based on the menu and the amount of people trying to get in, we figured it had to be amazing and decided to wait it out.  Luckily it was in a fun part of town, so we were able to wander around whilst killing time and even found the oldest bookstore in Europe!  The wait was definitely worth it, as our dinner spot was effing delicious.  Everything was ordered as Tapas style sharing platters, but the portions were massive.  If we ever make it back to Lisbon, we're definitely wandering the alleyways until we find that place again!

Jeronimos Monastery.  It was closed.

Belem Tower.  It was closed.

Praca do Comercio. There was nothing to close (Otherwise they would have).

We weren't really that impressed with Lisbon, so instead of spending another day there, Sarah grabbed some travel pamphlets and suggested we go to a place called Sintra.  It was only a 40 minute train out of the city, so we figured it was worth a shot.  We didn't really know what to expect, but knew it was going to be awesome when we arrived and saw a massive castle sitting atop a hill.  I'm not one to pass up on a castle, mostly because I like to see how people way poorer than me live.  Until you live in a palace, you're not really someone that I would want to associate with.

The majority of the castle was in ruins, so we were mostly just walking along a perimeter wall, but the views from the top were wicked.  Our castle ticket also got us into a palace that was only about a mile away, so we decided to hike over and check it out even though we weren't really expecting much.  However, once we got there, we realized that place is straight out of a Disney movie.  It's a massive, multi-colored palace with crazy sculptures, winding ramps, huge outdoor balconies, and insane views of the surrounding countryside.  I would go as far as saying it's my favorite palace in Europe, both because it was unexpected and because it wasn't ostentatious in design.  It wasn't meant to be imposing and impressive, it was just awesome.  Colorful, friendly, inviting.  It felt like the owners created a palace that they would love, not caring about making something that would impress others.

This would be the castle that you signed up to guard back in the day.  I mean who the hell is going to attack you?  That's just free money.

Pena Palace - This place was incredible, way cooler than the monochrome castles we've seen in other cities.

It looked pretty average from afar, but once you get closer, you realize how massive it is (Not unlike a certain part of my body... Wow I was talking about my biceps.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  I mean really, this is a classy blog.  I can't believe you'd even go there.)

If I end up looking like this guy when I get old, I will be very happy.  And Sarah will be so lucky, especially when I do my Saturday morning wake up dances

I had to keep working in the UK for a few weeks longer than Sarah, so unfortunately our trip had to end so we could fly back to London.  We did end up taking one final UK trip so Sarah could see York before coming home to the U.S., but that's a story for another blog...


Random GoPros

St. Stephen's Basilica

Buda Castle Gardens

The Castle of the Moors

I love the clouds in this photo.  I would honestly rather sit outside and watch the clouds for an hour than watch Netflix.  I love - love, love, love this world.  

The walls are boring me, paint it like you always dreamed it'd be.  Throw like Pollock.  Fuck the apartment. Oh paint it like you always dreamed it'd be...

A rainbow kitchen floor, you're laughing like you always dreamed you'd be. Handprints on the ceiling where our dreams will reach.  And I don't know what you wish... But if you want it, you can have it, every color that you see, see, see-ee. 

 Sarah and Sean's Sensational Stockpile of Snappy Snaps

I knocked out our one good photo of the trip on day one, so I could ruin all the photos on subsequent days....

I wish you could have seen where this arrow went... We are lucky she didn't impale someone

Food poisoned yet again.  Luckily I was able to harness the power of the spirit animal on my shirt to overcome it.

I don't know how she's so oblivious to me taking these photos...

I'll wake you up with some breakfast in bed, I'll bring you coffee with a kiss on your head.  I'll take the kids to school, wave them goodbye.  And I'll thank my lucky stars for that night... When you looked over your shoulder, for a minute I forget that I'm older.  I want to dance with you right now. And you look as beautiful as ever, and I swear that every day you get better.  You make me feel this way somehow.

Our last mainland Europe adventure.... For now ;)

I've been really trying baby.  Trying to hold back these feelings for soooo long.  And if you feel, like I feel baby, c'mon.  Ohh, c'mon.  Let's get it on.  Ahhh Babe. Let's get it on.  Sugar!  Sugar!  Let's get it on.  Sugar.  Let's get it on! (Listen to James Arthur's cover... So good)

Life is crazy and hectic at times, but there's always something to smile about :)

My house in Budapest, my-my hidden treasure chest, golden grand piano, my beautiful castillo, you-oo, you-oo, I'd leave it all.  Oh for you-oo, you-oo, I'd leave it all....

King of Kong

Hong Kong is essentially a sprawling series of skyscrapers, but if you make the journey out of the city, it offers pretty impressive scenery...It is a group of islands after all.  I decided to head to the island of Lantau, which houses a 34 meter tall, 250 ton bronze buddha called Tian Tan.   Lantau Island is about an hour from the city using the metro and when you arrive you have two options to get to Big Buddha, you can either ride the gondola or take the bus.  Being poor, I was reduced to option two.  

Tian Tan is in the middle of a Buddhist monastary, so it's packed with tourists and worshipers.  You have to climb a few hundred steps to get to the statue, which would normally take about three minutes, but people randomly just stop to kneel down and pray along the steps, so it's like an obstacle course to the top.  I didn't really understand the rules, so I wasn't sure if I was offending people by climbing past or if I was supposed to stop while they prayed.  Luckily people expect Americans to be ignorant idiots, so I played to the stereotype and kept hiking.  

There are statues of the 12 Divine Generals in the courtyard. Most have kick ass weapons like swords or spears...This dude has a fucking sea shell

Tian Tan faces uniquely faces North, while other big Buddha statues face South

The swastika means success and good fortune in Buddhism and symbolizes the Buddha's footprints and heart, which is why it's on his chest.

The base of the statue also serves as a little museum, so I checked that out and then roamed into the main temple area, where people were burning hundreds if not thousands of incense sticks.  A lot of people say it's good luck to burn them, but I don't want to buy my luck.  I follow Hurley's strategy and make my own, so I just watched the worshipers with appreciation.

There happened to be some hiking paths in the complex, so I figured I might as well get some exercise while I was there, plus it's a free activity!  Twas a super foggy day, so you couldn't really see anything, but I wandered into something called the Wisdom Path, which was an elaborate series of giant pillars jutting out from the ground in a bizarre pattern, which made me feel like I was in stone henge or something. Eventually I found a path that led to Lantau Peak, which is the second highest mountain in Hong Kong, but the highest that you are allowed to climb.  

Rich people travel via glass floored gondolas, poor people travel by bus

Are you sure those incense sticks are large enough bro?

The Wisdom Path

It was pretty similar to Machu Picchu, you just keep climbing steps, probably around 2000, until you reach the top.  On a clear day you can apparently see as far as Macau, but it was so foggy I could barely see past my armpits.  The view may not have been great, but I got a good workout and got to breathe the fresh mountain air.  You can't control the weather, but you can control how you look at it.  #TheArtOfHappiness

I was dead after climbing down since I hadn't eaten that day and it was already 2.  I had to wait in line at the Vegetarian cafe for about 40 minutes, but the food was pretty awesome.  It's a really weird setup, you start at the dessert section and then work your way towards the entrees.  It's actually kind of brilliant because you just see all these small desserts on your tray and think this isn't going to fill me, so you keep ordering more.  Then you get to the end and get a giant plate of noodles and realize you probably didn't need all of those puddings.

We feel nothing so we jump into the fog, In the hope that we hit he ground upright.  We feel nothing so we jump into the fog, I just hope it's your bones that shatter and not mine.

I had no idea what most of the food was, so I just pointed at some stuff... Delicious!

Hong Kong is really famous for it's skyline, so that evening I hit up another tourist activity, taking a tram to "The Peak".  Rich people can pay $5 and see views from the top deck, but if you're poor you leave the main building and follow the walking trails until you get a clear view.  $5 may not seem like much, but that's the difference between me eating dinner or not.  Besides, it was so foggy the view wasn't going to be perfect, so why shell out the cash?

Seeing the skyline at night in itself is worth a trip to Hong Kong...Unbelievable

My secret spot where the MTR is empty :)

For my last full day, I went to Ocean Park, because it is the only place outside of mainland China that I was going to be able to see pandas.  When I first walked in and saw the cheesy bright colors and obnoxious statues, I was thinking it was going to be pretty ghetto, but it was actually really awesome and I ended up spending the whole day there.  They had a massive aquarium full of sharks and stingrays, carnival games, and a dozen or so roller coasters!

Most people don't know this, but the octopus is my favorite sea creature.  Highly intelligent, capable of camoflauge, super creepy looking.  They're fascinating.

That's a pretty awesome aquarium for an adventure park

I love pandas, from Kung Fu Panda to the panda that attacked Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder.  I'm pretty sure I even had zoo shoes of pandas as a kid.  Yeah Zoo shoes, look that shit up, they were awesome.  After I hung out with the pandas, I randomly stumbled upon an arctic zone between some roller coasters.  Turns out they had a penguin exhibit too!!!  Ladies, if you want to get into my pants, this is the place to take me.  

Pandas, check.

Kung Fu Panda!!!!!!!!! The fact that I saw a panda doing Kung Fu is clearly destiny!

This penguin's neck bending abilities are insane, this thing looks decapitated.  Animals = Amazing

What you lookin at?!?!  You got a problem bro?

Look at this guy, going out on a limb to catch the eye of the bird he fancies....and she just ignores him.  Typical

After I had my fill of the animals, I hit up every major roller coaster the park had and bought the customarily overpriced $4 hot dog.  Since I was having such a terrible day, I decided to cheer myself up by going to Ozone Bar in the Ritz Carlton Hotel, which is the world's highest bar!  The prices were absurd, the cheapest bottle of beer was $11.  Mixed drinks were $21!  I thought about being a man and getting an Old Fashioned, but I'm not that guy.  I don't enjoy Old Fashioneds, straight scotch, or Vespers.  I'm a dude that orders Dragontinis.  So what exactly is in a Dragonitini you ask?  Vodka, Raspberry Liqueur, Raspberry, Yuzu and Basil Foam, then you put a little piece of dragon fruit on the rim.  In other words, it's the kind of drink that puts hair on a man's chest, which is clearly evidenced in all my shirtless photos.

There's a bone in my hand that connects to a drink in a crowded room where the glasses clink, and I'll buy you a beer and we'll drink it in deep, because that keeps me from falling asleep!

Barkeep, I'll have a Dragonitini please

I loved Hong Kong.  It has cheap options for accomodation, food, and transportation and is the easiest place to get a Chinese visa while traveling overseas.  I definitely recommend it to anyone that is backpacking.  My next stop was Seoul, so I made my way to the airport, where I learned that my flight was already delayed 2 hours, which then turned into 4 hours. After we boarded the plane we got delayed another 2 hours because of rain!  However, it actually worked out better for me, because we were supposed to arrive at 2 AM and Seoul's train system doesn't start running until 6 AM, so I was saved from spending a night in the airport.

Outside of Japan, Korea was the place I was most excited to see on this trip.  To make things even better, one of my brosephs and his friend decided to meet me there!  Would Seoul live up to my lofty expectations?  That, my friends, is a story for another blog...

Extra Panda Photos

Peekaboo Panda!

Butt Scratching Panda

Laughing Panda

Content Panda

Random GoPros

I have a distinct fear that I'm going to go insane someday....This picture only reaffirms that feeling

So friendly, one kept rubbing her head against my leg when I scratched her neck.  #FreeRoam

The rain's a relief, cus it slickens the streets, which clumsily brings you closer to me.  You can fall on me, oh you can fall onto me....

The breakneck speed of the tram

The skyscrapers are like a thousand candles burning in the night, waiting to be extinguished by the dawn's light

If you believe in this world then no one has died in vain.  But don't you dare get to the top and not know what to do

When you enter the mouth of a clown..you know that roller coaster is going to be legit

Edward Scissorhands Panda