Said goodbye to Budapest this morning and hopped on a five hour train to Salzburg. Sofie has now read seven books on this trip. Life with a Kobo addict. She was buried in it for most of the ride.

Once we got in and dropped our stuff, we headed to a palace where they have these trick fountains all over the grounds. We all had a blast. The kids kept getting sprayed and kept going back for more.

We also found the Sound of Music gazebo, which brought back lots of memories from when they put their play on with the girls. Had to get a photo obviously.

Wrapped the night with some more good food and beer before calling it a day. Salzburg is off to a good start.

That Thai massage from yesterday did the trick. Woke up feeling like a new person. Grateful for the little Asian lady who twisted and pulled my body in all sorts of directions. Did some work while everyone was still sleeping, and it was probably 10 am by the time we actually rolled out of the condo. Grabbed coffee and pastries on the way out and decided today was the day we'd finally check out the Buda side. Turns out one side of the river is called "Buda" and the other is called "Pest." You learn something new every day.

We walked up to Castle Hill and toured around the church, then made our way to Fisherman's Bastion. So beautiful up there. Postcard views everywhere you look. I keep finding myself drawn to the history here. Walking through these streets and wondering what life was like in 1945, 1950. You look at the apartment buildings and wonder who lived there, who was forced to leave. Europe has so much WWII history layered into every block and I'm absolutely drawn to it.

Hospital in the Rock

Chad found the Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker Museum, tucked underneath Buda Castle. A hospital and nuclear bunker used in WWII, carved into the rock. It was a guided tour and this family does NOT like guided tours, but all four of us really enjoyed this one. It was really interesting. They wouldn't let us take any pictures inside (though if you google it, some rebels managed to sneak a few and post them online). The only photo we got was Sofie and I wearing nurse cloaks because the temperature in the underground tunnels is around 15 degrees C. Scary thought, what people had to live through down there. You really hope history doesn't repeat itself.

After that we headed back down the hill, grabbed buns, meat and cheese, and jumped on the metro back under the river to the Pest side. Lots of meetings today so the coffee shop became the office for three or four hours.

Wrapped up the day with Hungarian goulash again for dinner. Felt like the right way to cheers our stay in Budapest. Tomorrow we've got an early morning train to Salzburg.

Grabbed coffee with Kristin after breakfast, then she headed off for a Thai massage while I went back to hang with the kiddos and see who won the CrossFit Games.

Once everyone was ready we ventured out to the Pest side for a proper walkabout and to snap some photos. Found out pretty quick that Budapest is more expensive than we initially thought. Almost paid $40 for a bowl of goulash, which, no. Lunch plans kind of fizzled after that. Grabbed gelato and a chimney cake instead, then spotted a burger spot called Simon's and went for it. Took forever but it did the job. Headed back to get ready for some work meetings.

Found a coffee shop to camp out in and knocked out some work. Then the real payoff: headed out for a proper Hungarian dinner. Goulash, Hungarian stew, chicken paprikash. It was amazing.

This whole thing started because I looked up F1 races on a whim and realized the Hungarian Grand Prix lined up with dates we were flexible on. So we booked flights to Budapest. Did a bunch of research and decided grandstand seats were worth the money over general admission. Pricey for two adult tickets, but we grabbed cheaper kids tickets which made it a little more bearable. And honestly, sitting where we ended up? No regrets. We could see the start/finish line and all the pit stops. Bathrooms without line ups. Water refill stations. The seats were incredible.

We took public transit out at 9 to get there for 10:30. The race wasn't until 3, so we had hours to wander the fan zones, do some shopping, soak it all in. Picked up some buns, cold cuts, and cheese from Aldi for snacks. And of course we bought some gear like a real F1 fam.

The Race

I'm having a hard time articulating it. The fan experience, the lead up to the start, everything was so amazing. The sounds can't be explained. It's a feeling you have to feel for yourself. We each picked a driver to cheer for. Sofie picked Norris. Lukas picked Max. I was cheering for Antonelli. And Chad went with Lewis Hamilton. The finishing order? Norris won, Max came second, Antonelli third, Hamilton fourth. Top four in the exact order we picked them. Sofie was losing it. We watched the podium ceremony right from our seats.

Getting Out

Leaving the venue was chaos. Getting there had been super simple, about an hour. Subway, train, free shuttle. The way out? The line for the shuttle was insane. Imagine a ski hill lined up in a zigzag all the way to the top. We started walking and ended up beating the shuttle buses that passed us. They all sat in traffic. We walked 2km to a train station, cut up the side of a hill as a shortcut while everyone else waited in line. Waited about 10 minutes, got on the first train that pulled up. First ones off, walked to the subway and caught the one that was just leaving. At one point we asked how much for a taxi back. 150 euro. No thanks. We left the venue at 5:15 and got home at 7. Not too shabby.

I'll be honest, I'm a big sports guy but I've never really watched or kept up with F1. I think that has changed now.

Around noon we hit the road toward Budapest. About an hour into the drive we crossed the Slovakia border, and maybe half an hour after that we were into Hungary. Three countries in under two hours. Pretty simple drive, honestly. We also grabbed a few burgers from a place called Pickle before leaving Brno, which held us over nicely.

Dropped off the rental car and got to the Airbnb. Very, very Hungarian. Huge apartment decorated like your old Hungarian grandmother's place, lol. A bit out of style but super clean, which is really all we care about. Perfect location too. Groceries store right downstairs, three coffee shops close by, everything walkable. Kristin has been crushing the travel details and this one was no exception.

Langos and Late Night Walks

After chilling for a bit we went out for our first langos. Fried dough with sour cream and cheese. We got a Hungarian one with bacon bits and another with chicken paprikash. Yum. Delicious.

Later we went out for a late night chimney cake and gelato. One of the hotels nearby has an F1 racer staying there, so there were crowds gathered outside looking for autographs. Headed back to the apartment to try to catch up on the CrossFit Games. We're still two days behind.

Tomorrow is a big day. Our first ever F1 race.