To
all of our friends and faithful readers, Happy New Year!
In several European countries, the custom is to welcome the
new year with the pig motif. In Asia 2014 will be the Year of the Horse,
although the official celebration is still some weeks off.
Wherever your home is in the world, and however you welcome it,
warmest wishes for the coming year.
For us 2013 ended with a trip to Budapest, Hungary to celebrate the holidays with Dave and Megan, who had rented an apartment for the month of December. Budapest is fascinating, of course, but celebrating the holidays in a new city "with the kids" is a joy we've missed for a few years. Both the "kids" and the city delivered. It was a delight!
Champagne Before the Christmas Eve Roast Duck with All the Fixin's
News & Notes
It's easy to recommend Budapest as a destination for any serious traveler. There's Old World charm, including architecture from every recorded period ...
Basilica and Central Budapest
a tasty central European cuisine, including everyone's favorite, sausages ...
Pork Choices at The Christmas Market
and an extraordinarily complex history ... Hungarians trace their arrival into the Carpathian Basin to AD 896, and celebrated the millennial anniversary of St. Steven's founding of Hungary in 2000.
Hungarian Parliament Building On the Danube
Check out the more complete Budapest page.There were fish in the markets, fish in the Danube, and fish in the beauty salons! Megan and J indulged in their first piscine pedicures. (The fish, Garra rufa, nibble off the dead skin.) Watch these busy little guys at work.The verdict: it felt like tiny soft brushes, and left their feet nice and smooth.
J Serves As The Morning Snack
Vancouver also has its share of holiday fun. We spent a great weekend with Shelley and Ken Burr checking out the fancy trees, gingerbread constructions and light displays. It was nippy but we kept going with the occasional nip of gluhwein from the Christmas Market. Click here for a video showing the 3-dimensional quality of the lights at the VanDusen Garden Christmas Lights Festival.
Vancouver's VanDusen Gardens Blooming with Holiday Lights