main gate of the Central Zoo in Pyongyang

me and Thighs Wife went to Budapest/Prague/Vienna for New Years thyme.  guess what?  it was great, and you should go too, just prepare not to eat many vegetables, or see people drink water.  They seem to only drink beer or really strong coffee, but if you’ve been to Europe, you know this.  anywho, gonna break the adventure up by city, into 3 separate posts, so up first is…

Budapest

Everything about Budapest is steeped in the past – either from the monuments they erected in their millennial anniversary of 1896, or during the times of Nazi occupation, followed by the drab architecture of red Communism – and the look and feel of the city shows all this wear and tear.  While they do have Starbucks, this place retains a certain iron-curtained charm that the world now gets to peek behind

TRAINed eye #BudaBest

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Dec 30, 2015 at 6:48am PST

the city is split into two by the river Danube – the hilly Buda to the west and the flat Pest to the east.  if you go, stay in Buda, and stay at the Hilton in the Castle District.  you’ll wake up to the best view ever.  EVERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

wish I could wake up to this view every morning

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 1, 2016 at 4:55am PST

and yer literally in a castle or castle district or something!

and it’s amazing, day or night

and they have statues with giant awesome szósz mustaches

what’s ‘awesome szósz’?  it’s awesome sauce, but since the word for sauce in Hungarian is ‘szósz’ – it’s awesome szósz.  got it?

last night in #BudaBest and already starting to miss the greatest word ever – #szósz #awesomeSZÓSZ

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 2, 2016 at 3:33pm PST

btw – if you want to get to know a culture, seeing art and buildings is a good start, but so is visiting a super market.  in Hungary, since all ‘s’es have a ‘z’ after em, it’s called a szupermarket.  also – anything that has a ‘z’ in it, is followed by an ‘s’.  confuszing.  iszn’t it?

I think America could learn a thing or two on how to betterer name their cat food products #BudaBest

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Dec 30, 2015 at 11:04am PST

but they muss import their pizzas, otherwise this would be called ‘Pizszsa Guszeppe’, no?

and who doesn’t want corn with their salami pizza??

speaking of salami – they love it.  at their central market, every other stall sells salami.  the other stalls sell paprika and dried fruits

what else did we eat?

CHIPS ON A STICK!!

czhips on a sztick. geniusz #BudaBest

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Dec 31, 2015 at 9:17am PST

chimney cakes called kürtőskalács!!!!!

kürtőskalács árë šô bèÿøñd dēlįčîõüś #BudaBest

A video posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Dec 31, 2015 at 8:26am PST

cheese bread delicious things called Lángos, which will have you lángosing for more of dem as soon as you finish eating one

Goodbye and so Lángos #BudaBest. hope we meet again for some more #szósz-y times

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 3, 2016 at 4:01am PST

chicken wrapped in cheese and bacon!!

grilled chicken wrapped in cheese & bacon. btw – Hungarians never go HUNGARY. portions are larger than America's!

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 2, 2016 at 5:44am PST

and of course we were going to eat goulash!!!!  and it lives up to its goul-lashy reputation!!!  I want to make shoes of em and call em goulashes!!!

and of course we went to McDonalds – cause you always HAVE to go to McDonalds in a foreign country to see what’s on their menu – like Falatkák!!  (plus it’s the only place guaranteed to have fountain sodas, and ice)

 

and then we did this thing called Eat & Meet where you go to this apartment and this nice young Hungarian lady and her parents make you a multi-coursed meal and get you drunk on wine and pálinka, and you meet random travelers from around the globe doing the same thing yer doing.  SUPER AWESOME-SZÓSZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

amazing food, new friends and homey Hungarian hexperience, all thanks to @eatmeet_hungary – a must for anyone visziting #BudaBest

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 2, 2016 at 2:29pm PST

and we drank all these foods down with a hot cup of hot wife!!!

hot cup o'wife, mugging for the camera #BudaBest

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Dec 31, 2015 at 8:48am PST

OK, time for a quick break

and onto sightseeing!!!

no ben, all parliament – which is as beautiful on the inside, as it is on the outside

and paid respect to the great Synagogue

holy moly – it's the largest synagogue in all of Europe

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 3, 2016 at 1:57am PST

and went to da Zoo

Elephant House at the #BudaBest Zoo

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 2, 2016 at 8:37am PST

where we found the missing link between chimp and man

the found link

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 2, 2016 at 9:22am PST

and went to da Opera house

everything I know and love about the glorious 9th by Ludwig van I learned from #AClockworkOrange. Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! I was cured all right! Viddy well, little brother. Viddy well

A video posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 1, 2016 at 3:25pm PST

and watched people ice skate in front of a faux castle thing!

Epcot Center is awesome szósz this time of year!!!!

A video posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 2, 2016 at 5:47am PST

and had schmancy coffee at this schmancy cafe

most things with the name 'New York' outside of 'New York' are garbage szósz, but this place is classier than any café I've seen in New York

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 1, 2016 at 3:45pm PST

and checked out a schmancy ye olde movie theater

movie palaces, palaces for the people > royal palaces

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 1, 2016 at 10:13am PST

and brought in the new year at a schmancy restaurant in the castle wall thing!!

me and the wife bended our New Year's like Beckham's spicy wife – POSH!!!! #BudaBest

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Dec 31, 2015 at 5:01pm PST

and went to the opposite of a schmancy bar – called a ‘ruin pub’, which is like a former dump hole, turned into a super awesome szósz bar!!!  the one we went to was called Szimpla Kert, and it was szimply amazsing!!!

lounging around at my new favorite bar on earth, which is like #SleepNoMore meets aweszóme szósz meets Hungary Hungary Hippo

A photo posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 1, 2016 at 9:20am PST

and the best thing we did?  the thing locals AND tourists all do – go take a bath!!!

whirlpoolin' dervishes

A video posted by Thigh Master (@thighmaster) on Jan 2, 2016 at 2:54pm PST

we will never go hungry again, but we’d totally go to Hungary again, even if a lot of the food looked like this!!!!!!!

Salvador Dalí paints a rhinoceros, in front of Vermeer’s la Dentellière (The Lacemaker), at the Vincennes Zoo, April 30, 1955

 

a little Blackbuck, an Indian Antelope, gets some loving care and a mid-day snack in a special care section of the Columbus, Ohio Zoo.  The antelope was born April 19 and is shown getting a bottle from Mrs Georgia Bolin, May 12, 1969 [ebay]