The parents and our warm December

I arrived back in Berlin on the same day my parents got there!!! It was so good to see them. We got to do loads of things and relax and eat. It was great. We had a huge flat to ourselves for their two weeks here. It was great. I didn't take a ton of pictures but here is what I have. Love these fools. The one on my couch was the first night they were here. The second was when we went to a mall and ate chinese food. Merry Christmas. We saw Handel's Messiah (I only saw half...it's super long and I had an early appointment in the morning). We also made schnitzel. It was bomb. I'm so German now. New Years is CRAY in Berlin. Seriously. Everyone has firecrackers and fireworks and they shoot them at people and cars and everyone is out of control for days before and after new years. It's weird. I still hear people setting off firecrackers in my neighborhood occasionally. I went with some friends to a bridge and set some off (at the sky) and had fun watching the craziness. They don't go high but boy is it loud. I can't explain it well but trust me. It's an insane experience. I walked to my friends' house in fear. Genuine fear. But you should try it! We ran/walked through the Tiergarten. My parents also went to Wittenberg to see Luther's church, house, museum, blahblahblah. They brought me beer and a bottle opener. Boom! We went to Hamburg for a day. We saw water. Inlets rather than ocean but still...it's water that's salty so...pretty special. We just walked around a bunch. It was pretty cold. We made friends and drove and ate seafood. Such adventures. Look at that huge-O statue and those tiny parents. So cute. We had hamburgers in Hamburg (really delicious) and made a night stop at Brandenburg Gate. Not bad, eh? That's all the pictures I have. It was so good for me to have my parents here. I realized how much I've adjusted to life here by having a part of California in Berlin. We had fun. We fought a little. We walked a lot. And it was so good for me to share part of Berlin with my parents.

Tour of Budapest

I got to take a driving/walking tour of Budapest. It's a beautiful city and I would love to go back. It's such an interesting city. There are so many old buildings preserved and very few modern buildings. It's like walking through a movie.

Lion Bridge.

This is Hero's Square. It's not a square.

These are some of the heroes. Also not square. So misleading.

St. Steven's Basilica. I actually felt a little anxious looking up at it. It's so huge it's almost like being high up. That probably doesn't make sense but that's how it felt. Like looking over a ledge and wanting to back away.

This is St. Stevens Basilica inside. It's beautiful. This picture is nothing. That's rude. This picture is not nothing. It's a great picture. It's just not as amazing as this building. Standing in these rooms was incredible and breathtaking.

I really loved this. The look on God's (God? St. Steven? Do we paint God? who knows?) face like the angel is cheating off his paper! I love it!

This is St. Steven's hand. Yep. That's for real. It's a hand in a box. After St. Steven's I got to see a castle/church/hilltop town view. It was beautiful and made me want to come back in the spring more than any other part of the city. It was incredible. So many amazing things to see and museums to go to. Next time maybe. ps-I love that fountain. It's a bunch of men and hunting dogs with a dead deer and a woman with a baby deer (Bambi?). It's just interesting and nothing like what one typically sees in fountains.

Christmas in Budapest

I had a great Christmas. I got to go to Budapest and spend nearly a week with the Hiltibrans. They are a family with six kids. Five were home for Christmas and it was a great week relaxing and playing board games. Felt almost like home.

This is my welcome to Hungary. Beware of cowboys. Yep. Still.

This is John. He is the youngest Hiltibran and he is hilarious. He reminds me of my brother, Kyle. Quietly funny. Kinda sneaky.

Look carefully at this one. Those are two grown people dressed in animal costumes with young children. Just walking around the mall like it's not weird.

Giant squirrel. Aint no thang. Hungry.

I imagine the Google search for "chocolate" came up with "bonbons" and "diabetes" so they just mashed them together to save time. Still in Hungary. Love it.

I know this picture outs me as having the sense of humour of a 12 year old boy but come on...This was a real thing. How do I NOT take a picture of this?

This is the Christmas Market we went to. It was packed and freezing and so lovely. These lights were mason jars. Pinterest is everywhere. Nailed it!

These sweet cakes were dipped in batter and then spun over coals. And then again. I bet they taste so good. I didn't have one.

That's a pig BBQing. So great.

Pipes.

This isn't actually a picture I took but this is Raclette--a French (?) cheese that you melt and then put on top of bread and potatoes and vegetables and all kinds of lovely things. It was our Christmas Eve dinner and it was delicious.

This was our Christmas dinner. So delicious. I love me some ham.

We sat around and played games with family friends. It was so fun to relax and enjoy being together. I had such a nice time that I didn't take any more pictures of the family or my time at the Hiltibran house. Sorry.