Budapest, Hungary // choir tour edition

Grand Budapest Hotel is one of my favorite movies, Budapest by George Ezra always gets stuck in my head, so obviously Budapest is one of my favorite cities.

Thank goodness I got to spend one more day in this treasure chest of a place.

We rode the bus from Salzburg to Budapest, and jumped off the bus for our concert. Our choir performed at St Michaels Church, and it was standing room only!

Hungarians love American gospel music, so the crowd went crazy after our spirituals! I have really enjoyed all of our audiences on tour so far, we have gotten really lucky with turn out and support for our choir!

After our performance, my mom took me to a restaurant she found when she explored the city during our rehearsal!

We ended up eating a four course Hungarian meal, complete with four different wine tastings and live gypsy music! Definitely one of my most memorable meals in Europe so far, we definitely treated ourselves! (We had so many forks!!)

I only winced a few times trying the wines, I think that means I am becoming a grown-up?

The highlight of dinner was definitely the live music. A duet played violin and piano, and they blew us away! They played lots of traditional Hungarian and gypsy songs, as well as jazz standards and songs from musicals! When the violinist came over to our table, we asked him if he knew any Frank Sinatra. He immediately started playing "Fly Me to The Moon," and I sang along to the instruments! I like to say I had my Budapest solo debut at dinner that night! We bough the duet's CD, and I'm excited to listen to it to remember this night!

The next morning, my mom and I woke up early to record me singing a cover of Budapest in-well-Budapest!

We tried a few different locations for filming, and ended up getting the best sound up at Matthias Church, overlooking the Budapest Parliament Building on the Danube River. (I'll post the video soon!)

We ended up coming back to Matthias Church on our tour later that day, and got some amazing pictures! We were thankful for a sunny day after all of the snow, and enjoyed a beautiful day touring the city!

Matthias Church is a Roman Catholic church built in the 14th century! It is one of the largest medieval churches of Buda!

Budapest has some of the most impressive and well-preserved architecture I have seen in Europe! It has more than just the baths!

Smiling because we didn't have to wear snow boots!

Cool panoramic shot our choir director got of me and some of the girls!

Budapest with the buda-best!

You could never tell we were related by looking at our heights!

The whole gang

How breathtaking is this city? Taken from Buda, looking across the river at Pest!

Street Art

Had traditional Hungarian gulash for lunch! Much spicier than the Czech version, and has more potatoes! I have yet to meet a bowl of gulash I haven't loved! Definitely learning how to make this back in America!

I'm not going to lie guys, our tour guide in Budapest was pretty much the worst. We would drive in our bus along the historical streets and she would point out the night clubs instead of the things culturally and historically significant. She didn't take us to the Buda Castle or Parliament, the two most famous buildings in Budapest. My favorite moment was when she took us to Gellért Hill for the views, and didn't take us to one of the most popular statues in the city 200 feet away. Of course, while people were taking pictures, my mom and I decided to find it before we got back on the bus! Tina always uses the YOLO tactic, and we have been able to see so many awesome things!

The Liberty Statue or Freedom Statue honors those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary.

Locals in Budapest call it "the world's largest beer opener!"

Don't worry, we got an even better view and picture!

We ended our tour at Heroes Square! The most famous square in Budapest, Heroes Square was built in1896 to mark the thousandth anniversary of Hungary! The statues commemorate the heroes and important figures in Hungarian history.

We ended our time in Budapest with a cruise of the Danube!

Cheers to an incredible time in Budapest!