Szent István Bazilika, Saint Stephen’s, serves as the main church for Budapest. It is named for Saint Stephen I of Hungary, who tradition says became the country’s first King on Christmas in the year 1000… CONTINUE READING >>
The Christmas Market in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica.
Szent István Bazilika, Saint Stephen’s, serves as the main church for Budapest. It is named for Saint Stephen I of Hungary, who tradition says became the country’s first King on Christmas in the year 1000. He was canonized in 1083 by Pope Gregory VII for bringing Christianity to Hungary.
The church is quite new compared to most of the great cathedrals of Europe, completed in 1905 after fifty-four years of construction.
Without really knowing what to expect, we bought tickets to go up in the tower.
Climbing the seemingly endless stairs, we were feeling certain that there must be something really good at the top.
Three hundred sixty four steps later we were not disappointed.
The top of the dome from the inside.The Parliament Dome is off in the distance in the fog.
From the top of the cathedral dome we had a 360 degree panoramic view of the entire city.
It looked to be the highest spot in town, but we discovered later that the dome on the parliament building is the exact same height.
This was done intentionally, to show the equality of political and religious power. By law, no building can be erected higher than the ninety-six meters of these two domes.
The Christmas market in the plaza in front of the basilica – note the skating rink!
Inside the basilica, the king who became the patron saint of Hungary is honored in several ways, including a display of his right hand.
Yes, the one thousand-year-old mummified hand of Saint Stephen is kept in a glass case in a small chapel at the back of the church.
We know this to be true because we saw it with our own eyes. Just slip a coin into a slot and a light comes on to reveal it, looking like it had the worst case of frostbite ever.
We’re heading to Queensland in a week – and couldn’t BE more excited!
It’s our first time visiting Australia and while doing our pre-game research / planning / drooling we discovered that, sadly, our knowledge of Aussie colloquialisms was limited to dated Crocodile Dundee movies and Outback Steakhouse commercials.
We’re heading to Queensland in a week – and couldn’t BE more excited!
It’s our first time visiting Australia and while doing our pre-game research / planning / drooling we discovered that, sadly, our knowledge of Aussie colloquialisms was limited to dated Crocodile Dundee movies and Outback Steakhouse commercials.
Realizing this had to change, we hit the Twittersphere and asked a simple question:
Hey #Aussie friends! Doing a post about going to #Australia-could you tweet us a word we need to know & definition? We’ll spotlight you!
We had NO idea that women are not supposed to use “mate”! This information is quite well received – Veronica does NOT want to misuse the term when skydiving onto the beach in Coolum – who knows what may go awry? Safety first, we always say. (We not only had a successful skydive, but ended up on Aussie TV because of it!)
It would have been tragic not to know this one – seriously. We’re worthless without our morning cuppa. We want to be fully awake when we feed crocodiles (!) in Gold Coast. (Yep, successful croc feed accomplished – all limbs accounted for, barely!)
Thanks Emma! Though we’re a bit confused about the sango/sanger discrepancy. Is this a Perth/Sydney thing? Which do they use in Queensland? Emma has more in store for us later…
Let’s practice: Maybe not. That’s a real mouthful of words, and all of our attempts at putting them together into a sentence seem to come out like some sort of crazy, down under mad-lib. (Not putting those words together was a good choice – the fun-loving folks in Gold Coast would have had a field day with that!)
We ciphered out budgie smugglers (there is a lot of scary slang for these from all over the world that we won’t repeat here!) – speedos. But servo, bottle-o or g’donya mate?
Let’s practice: G’donya mate! You stopped at the servo AND picked up the grog at the bottle-o?
We THINK we just said: Good for you buddy! You stopped at the gas station AND you picked up a pint at the liquor store. Well, David said the “mate” part. 😉
WHEW. Good stuff. We could have gotten into trouble not knowing that. After cuddling koalas in Brisbane, we never know what we might say! (We DID get to cuddle koalas! Everything we’d dreamed it would be – and more!)
Perhaps Queensland herself is worried we might be buying too many rounds as well, because they tweeted this:
YOUR TURN: Do you have any more slang to round out our education? Any travel tips for Australian newbies? Thoughts on us jumping out of an airplane (we do, but are afraid to vocalize them!)?
Underbrink’s Bakery is a trip back to a simpler time when baked goods were made with care, by hand, from scratch and with really cool vintage equipment.
Owner and baker extraordinaire, LeRoy Rossmiller the self-proclaimed Nut Roll Nazi, maintains old fashioned ways. He showed us all of the inner workings while delivering a running commentary popping fresh with humor and sarcasm.
Since opening as a traditional German bakery in 1929, this little shop near… CONTINUE READING >>
No trip to Quincy is complete without a visit to Underbrink’s Bakery, and a trip back to a simpler time when baked goods were made with care, by hand, from scratch and with really cool vintage equipment.
Since opening as a traditional German bakery in 1929, this little shop near Quincy University has been doing just that.
In 1990, the current owner and baker extraordinaire, LeRoy Rossmiller, took over with a commitment to maintain the old fashioned ways. He showed us all of the inner workings while delivering a running commentary popping fresh with humor and sarcasm.
In a nod to Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi,” he calls himself The Nut Roll Nazi.
WATCH: It’s all in good fun (or is it?) Get verbally abused by the Nut Roll Nazi!
The staff’s new babies get their turn in the mixer!
In the customer area, with its display cases that were well worn by the time we were born, LeRoy showed us some of his prized artifacts.
There are hulking antique Hobart mixers, campy trinkets and nic-nacs, and autographed pictures of stars — even a president, all with a slight dusting of flour.
Through the back of the shop we entered the kitchen, where all of the magic happens. Every surface was covered with dough, before or after baking.
There were sweet rolls and “snails” being formed, cookies getting decorated, and cakes being iced. Huge bags of flour, hundreds of eggs, and giant boxes of shortening stood at the ready.
There are no shortcuts, LeRoy explained, the dough must be prepared two days ahead of time in order to bake properly.
Next he showed us the quintessentially low-tech ordering system, a bunch of notes clothes pinned above a table, all the while muttering about dealing with customers.
Veronica attempts to sneak a lick of buttercream frosting.
Behind the character it’s obvious he loves his work and it shows, not just in this phenomenal little shop, but in the outstanding cakes and pastries that come out of it.
By the end of our visit, his gruff demeanor had sweetened to the point that he let us try our hands at icing and nutting some of his famous rolls. Then he presented us with the specialty of the house, angel food cupcakes.
Meet LeRoy Rossmiller. It’s all in good fun (or is it?) Get verbally abused by the self-proclaimed “Nut Roll Nazi!”… CONTINUE READING >>
LeRoy Rossmiller, took over Underbrink’s Bakery with a commitment to maintain the old fashioned ways. He showed us all of the inner workings while delivering a running commentary popping fresh with humor and sarcasm. In a nod to Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi,” he calls himself The Nutroll Nazi.
Hong Kong is the world’s most vertical city, with two hundred and ninety-three buildings higher than five hundred feet – sixty more than second-place New York City.
Travel with us as we explore the wonders of this great city – all while taking advantage of a mass transit system that serves eleven million people a day… CONTINUE READING >>
We had chased the sun around the globe, making for a full twenty-four hours of uninterrupted daylight, and not only were clueless as to the time of day, we didn’t even know what day it was.
We think it was tomorrow.
Lucky for us the Panda Hotel is one of the largest hotels in Hong Kong, so we easily found a bus that took us right to the front door, and the staff knew just what to do with a couple of seriously jet lagged GypsyNesters… put them in a room, stat.
Perfect, that way we could wake up in the morning and hit the ground running.
So would that be the day after tomorrow?
Exploring Hong Kong in Transit (really cool transit!)
In the light of day, we were fully awakened by the towering height of the city.
Hong Kong is the world’s most vertical city, with two hundred and ninety-three buildings higher than five hundred feet – sixty more than second-place New York City.
It is also the fourth most densely populated area on Earth, just behind Macau, — which is right across the bay — Monaco, and Singapore.
Tip: For getting around, an Octopus Card is a MUST! Use for public transportation fares and much, much more.
By all accounts, the best place to gaze upon all those skyscrapers and people is from the top of Victoria Peak.
For us that meant getting across the harbor to Hong Kong Island and then up the mountain. Great, that would give us a chance to experience three of Hong Kong’s transportation legends, the Star Ferry, the ding dings, and the Peak Tram Funicular. All three have been meeting the needs of the city for over one hundred years.
Mass transit is huge in Hong Kong, in addition to those three classic modes there is an extensive system of rail, subway and bus routes that combined carry eleven million people daily.
That’s ninety percent of all the city’s travels, which is the highest such percentage anywhere.
We began our public transport trek by hopping on the metro, a thoroughly modern subway system that we could have taken us all the way across the bay.
But going under the bay would have been a colossally dumb idea. We would have missed out on what travel writers have voted one of the ten most exciting ferry rides in the world, the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor. We opted to disembark near the pier on the Kowloon side.
For a just over two Hong Kong dollars — that’s pocket change, about thirty cents U.S. — we climbed aboard the vintage 1965 Silver Star and enjoyed one of the most spectacular urban views on the planet.
No wonder the line’s dozen classic old boats carry up to twenty-six million passengers each year.
Getting Our Ding Ding On
Once we were on the island, a short walk took us to the tram line.
The trolleys are affectionately known as “ding dings” for the bells they seem to be constantly ringing.
A whole fleet of double decker street cars rolls endlessly back and forth along the north shore of Hong Kong Island, which is the most bustling part of the city.
Best seat in the house: We always tried to snag the upper deck front window!
Because the fare for these wonderful old trolleys is also a mere pittance, we jumped on and off several times, whenever something caught our eye.
If You Don’t Have Your Health…
Toward the western end of the line, we bailed out at Queen Street.
This area is famous for ancient Chinese medicines, traditional herbal remedies, and tonic foods such as ginseng and bird’s nest.
These are real nests, taken from swiftlets, and can cost up to $5,000 a pound. Needless to say, we did not make a purchase.
We wandered up and down Wing Lok and Ko Shing Streets looking into shop after shop filled with strange and exotic items that are believed to promote health, vigor, and long life.
With life expectancies in Hong Kong among the highest in the world, who are we to argue?
Close by is Des Voeux Road, known as Dried Seafood Street. We were amazed by the offerings, truly works of art, every one.
The skyscrapers shoot up straight from the sides of the hills.
How do they do that?
We still had one more stop planned for the day and luckily we were near the terminal for the the tram that goes to the top of Victoria Peak.
Back in 1888 the tram began carrying passengers up to the exclusive residences on the mountain. The rich and famous lived up there to escape the heat of the city below, and the area is still home to many of Hong Kong’s high rollers, but more tourists than home owners ride this old funicular these days.
Unfortunately we had dilly-dallied around to the point where we were running out of time and decided to forego the lines at the tram and caught a bus up the mountain. The steep, narrow road with multiple switchbacks made this the second craziest bus ride of our lives, but the views along the way were well worth any anxiety.
At the top we briefly checked out the Peak Tower and Peak Galleria, before taking a little stroll along the Peak Circle Walk.
We think that this trail offered the best views of the incredible cityscape below.
Ready for a rest, we snagged a table on the terrace at the Peak Lookout restaurant. It turned out to be one expensive afternoon snack, but as the old saying goes, location, location, location.
A Symphony of Lights
A traditional Chinese junk sets sail in Victoria Harbor amid Hong Kong’s modern skyscrapers.
After working our way down and finding our way back across the bay, we set out to stake out a prime waterfront spot for viewing A Symphony of Lights.
Every night the skyline on both sides of the harbor comes alive in a spectacular musical laser light show that the Guinness Book of World Records has proclaimed the world’s largest permanent light and sound show.
It was quite an eye and earful but, with darkness upon us, that dazed-and-confused feeling of what day is it? was returning with a vengeance. All we could think about was shutting our eyes.
Plus we had big plans for the next day, really big, as in Big Buddha.
Who’s Your Buddha?
Bright and early we took a train to Lantau Island where we were supposed to catch an aerial tram up Muyu Mountain.
But our tram luck was not with us once again — it was closed for repairs — and busses were supplying transportation up the hill to The Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery.
With one look there was no doubt as to why the nickname Big Buddha has stuck, he’s huge, well over one hundred feet tall. We also got our first look inside a Buddhist temple as we explored the monastery.
After another roller-coasteresque bus ride down the mountain, we had one more celebrated landmark on our to do list. Since 1976 one of Hong Kong’s top attractions has been Jumbo Kingdom, a floating restaurant. Wait, floating? Yes floating, as in a boat moored in the middle of Aberdeen Harbor.
We had dim sum on our minds and luckily made it just in time, since dim sum is traditionally only served until mid afternoon.
If we had missed the food, although several other options were available at any hour, a visit to this recreation of an imperial Chinese palace set afloat was still not to be missed.
Half the awe and fun of The Galapagos Islands is underwater. The sea creatures are just as unafraid of humans as their counterparts on land.
You willget up close. It’s a good idea to learn to swim backwards before you go!
Join us as we snorkel with sea lions, marine iguanas, turtles, spotted eagle rays, penguins, and much, much more! … CONTINUE READING >>
The vessel we called home for our Galapagos adventure, the M/Y (as in Motor Yacht) Yolita II.
Half the awe and fun of The Galapagos Islands is underwater. The sea creatures are just as unafraid of humans as their counterparts on land. You will get up close.
Our first underwater animal sighting! A young stingray at Las Bachas Beach on the island of Santa Cruz.
A Marine Iguana, a species found only in the Galapagos, suns himself near the water’s edge. Seeing one of these guys swim was HUGE on our Galapagos wish list!
Sally Lightfoot (grapsus grapsus) crabs crawl across the jet black lava. They are one of the 100 species of crabs on the islands.
Our first snorkel journey directly beneath Pinnacle Rock.
Just seconds from the shore of Bartolomé Island we spotted this Chocolate Chip Sea Star.
Next thing we knew, we were in the middle of a school of Yellow-tailed Surgeonfish, named for the scalpel-like scales along their tails.
A white tipped reef shark scurried out from under a rock and we were in too much awe to snap a photo, but we did capture this Hog Fish.
To avoid making contact with the adorable sea lions we found ourselves swimming backward from the more friendly of these creatures.
As hard as it was to keep from reaching out and petting one, we tried to keep in mind that a finger might just stay in the Galapagos if we did.
WATCH: Veronica is treated to several minutes of frolicking with a Galapagos sea lion.
Cruising between islands, a pod of dolphins joined us on our journey. They seemed to love riding on the surge of water that the ship pushed out in front… surfing the pressure wave.
WATCH: Dolphins frolic in the pressure wave of the Yolita II
Motoring deep into the mangroves of Elizabeth Bay on Isabela Island, we could see an unbelievable number of sea turtles swimming just beneath the surface, along with spotted eagle rays and a large school of mullets.
Since they were under the water’s surface it was hard to tell what sort of hairstyle they were sporting.
When we snorkeled out into Urbina Bay, also on Isabela Island, we found it swarming with huge Green Sea Turtles.
WATCH: Another exciting swim for Veronica – check out Green Sea Turtles – up close and personal!
Near Genovesa Island, we spied the crazy fast Galapagos penguin…
Off of the red sand beach of Rábida Island, we spotted amazing things – sea stars, surgeonfish, puffers, sergeant majors, angel fish, and a Blenny, “sitting” on the rocks atop his little fins.
YES! The Marine Iguana feeding under water — then swimming back to shore –really completed our Galapagos undersea experience.
WATCH: Marine Iguana feeding in the water!
As we were coming out of the water, a worried mommy sea lion called for her baby. When the baby finally arrives, they have a ridiculously cute reunion.
