Video Blog - I'm Hungary, and Are We There Yet? (Budapest, Hungary & Vienna, Austria)

Brenna and Ella settle in on the overnight train to BudapestOwen's birthday was the end of July, and since one of his "Tops in Europe" places was Budapest, Hungary (see Owen's Itenerary), we decided to go. We took an overnight train from Krakow to Budapest. It's a 10 hour ride, and I forgot the ear plugs, but oh how romantic to be lulled to sleep by the roll of a train... even if you're then awakened by the screech of the brakes an hour later. Over and Over and Over again...

Arriving in a new country early in the morning with children is a bit

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Flickr Pix Galore

It's late and I really wanted to post something today, but instead of trying to think through my sleepy haze, I'm just gonna cheat a little bit and direct you to our Flickr page. We've got some new photos from Budapest, Vienna and Krakow. Here's one to make the blog a little prettier...Parliament Building, Budapest, Hungary -- It's just as amazing inside!

Video Blog: Welcome To The Krakow Variety Hour (Krakow, Poland)

Not since Venice Beach (pre-kids) or Third Street Promenade (post-kids) have we seen as many good Buskers as we have in the Town Square in Krakow. Wandering the square on our first day we took in accordian duo's, pint-sized girls playing equally pint-sized violins, human statues dressed for the ball, gilded head-to-toe, opera lip syncing artists, and a puppet show featuring an eerily-realistic Michael Jackson and a truly horrifying Celine Dion (Bob thinks that's a redundant statement). We might have just reduced Krakow to the Lawrence Welk Show -- complete with bubbles!

Bob and I decided to sit down and relax, and see

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First Impressions Of Krakow (Poland)

Three things we each like about Krakow at first blush:

Eleanor:

1. There are vegetarian restaurants almost all around town. 
2. Every hour the trumpet plays one half of a song from

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Timocani Trumpet Band at Rtanj Festival: Audio Blog

This post really dates back to July 6 when we went to the Rtanj Mountain festival, but I just got a chance to put the music files together that I recorded of the band. They're an awesome trumpet band called Timocani and when you listen to them play (and yes -- drink still more rakija) it's hard not to feel just a little Serbian.

The Rtanj Festival started as a religious celebration, and morphed into a celebration of the

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