Budapest

i wanted to visit budapest primarily to see a friend who lived briefly in singapore and has since moved back. but also, i have been told time and again that budapest is beautiful and there is a lot to do and see. initially i thought of doing a little side trip to vienna too, and luckily i didn't go ahead with this crazy idea. there was enough in budapest to keep us busy for five days.

johanna, a friend who visited budapest recently, told me a lot of things about the city. i consulted her with the location of the apartment i booked, what the easiest things to do and see are given my broken foot and how transportation in budapest is like. i booked an apartment that is very close to the city center and to the metro stations because apparently taxis are not very reliable in budapest. for our arrival though, i booked welcome to budapest transfer services instead of taking the direct bus from the airport which stops fairly close to the apartment. of course this service is more expensive than taking the bus, but you get to sit comfortably in a nice car and tamas enthusiastically shows a presentation of budapest top attractions, historical sights, fun activities and even local cuisine. 

we arrived late afternoon so i didn't make any plans for the evenings and wanted to just take it easy. we walked around the vicinity in search for dinner. lovro saw the wheel and asked that we take a ride after we eat. it took more than half an hour to queue, for such a short spin, but probably worth it since the little one had fun.

the next morning i arranged for a visit inside the parliament building. i heard that the century-old structure is the third largest parliament building in the world. sitting at the bank of the danube, it is quite a sight to behold especially at night when it's all lit up and seen from a cruise along the river. up close, it was grandiose.

the selling point of the guided tours in this building is the crown jewel - which of course was not allowed to be photographed anyway. as expected, lovro didn't care for that tour. all the gilded stuff was nothing exciting for a 4 year old. in fact the main hall was glistening too much that i couldn't take proper pictures. that, or iPhone camera isn't so great. my photography skills are out of question of course. 😂

we met agnes afterwards for lunch. and from where we ate, she suggested to visit margitsziget or margaret island. it's a nice little park right at the danube, in between buda and pest. it's definitely a nice place to visit for locals and tourists alike. we hung out by the music fountain and awaited the hourly show. it was nice and chill and a good time to let our hair down. literally. 😆

then we searched for something fun for lovro. there was a playground for kids, and a small petting zoo. we spotted those silly-looking big-haired chicken and felt bad for laughing out so hard. they look so funny! we also saw some storks that were apparently injured and could not fly anymore so they just hang around the zoo. they looked so regal.

there are a bunch of interesting things to do in the park. right by the entrance you could see bicycles and motorized small vehicles for kids to rent. while it's not a big park, just merely 2.5 km, it's definitely more fun for kids to be mobile. we also saw people going for a run and others just at the benches enjoying the sun. as we walked to leave we spotted the flower garden and commanded dear lovro to take our photo.

in the evening we took a cruise along the danube river. while touristy, it was actually quite enjoyable to see the Bridges of Budapest and of course the Parliament Building all lit up at night. this has got to be the most popular tourist attraction in Budapest - there were countless boats going back and forth and i even spotted a humongous cruise ship.  

the next morning was bathing day! what visit to budapest will be complete without a trip to széchenyi baths? even though it is a thermal bath complex and summer days have been so scorching hot - we still got to go! the only caveat of going there with an uncooperative toddler is that you don't get to see the entirety of the complex! so i basically didn't get my money's worth - especially since it wasn't cheap to get in - but i was glad to have been there at least.

Melting in Malta: Playmobil Fun Park

one place that i was excited to visit in malta for lovro's sake was playmobil fun park. lovro has a bunch of playmobil toys and i know he'd get a kick out of being at the place where they're made. although they don't do factory tours anymore, there is a big play area with different themes that feature their product lines like pirates, knights, rescue, etc. 

we went a day prior to the date i have initially planned to visit. i was having a headache that day, and there was no way i could do our usual walkabout in that heat. so i thought why not do an indoor activity, and this had to be it. we took a cab from our apartment to playmobil (our typical mode of transport for most of this trip) because taking a bus would have taken us more than an hour. lovro was immediately excited when he saw the giant playmobil knights lined up towards the entrance!

first thing that awaits you when you enter the building is a big store of playmobil products. the cashier then asks if you are visiting the play area, and then you can pay there. otherwise some families just come to check out the store, but for only 2.40 euros it's almost impossible to not let the kids have fun inside. being there was great for me because lovro wants to play on his own, and there is free wifi inside. not to mention that it's air-conditioned! it was a good way to still get something done for the day while i mind my wobbly head.

playing was exhausting, so we had tea break. they had playmobil cupcakes of course. cute and yummy! next to the cafe is the party area for when there are birthdays and celebrations. 

there was in fact a particular area in this play park that lovro had been itching to see but i told him it was too hot to play outdoors: the pirate island. i showed him photos prior to the trip, and he does own a pirate island set, complete with pirate ship, a few pirates and officers, and all sorts of pirate swag. i finally let him play around 4pm.

lovro has a card game called pirate snap and one of the pirates is called "lucy the lookout". i believe i had the same hair style as her, so i asked lovro to snap a photo of me, with a young pirate and "polly the parrot" 😃

it was still hot at this time, so after he was tired of it we went back inside for some more playtime and to cool down. he made a friend and they played for a good while before it was time to go. 

while waiting for our cab, i browsed through the store to see if anything's interesting. as it was world cup season, they are selling football figures. too bad they didn't have belgium ones! what a shame!

we spent about 3 hours at the fun park and even though it was a bit out of way (it is closer to the airport and a bit far from the center) it was definitely worth the trip. if you're going to malta with a kid, then you know you gotta go.