40th Birthday Trip to Budapest and Prague With My Parents

My mom has always mentioned that she would love to see the Christmas markets in Europe. Given I’m still making up for missed trips due to COVID, I suggested that we make the journey to Europe this year to see some Christmas markets. My dad suggested Budapest and Prague. Of course perhaps I also wanted to go because I was turning 40 and felt like I deserved a special trip for my birthday. Ten years prior, for my 30th, I convinced my family to go to Hawaii. Stay tuned to see where I go for my 50th! At this age, it feels right around the corner!

I was fortunate to be able to book a flight that shared a layover in Amsterdam with my parents. I was able to meet them at the gate, and then we caught our connecting flight to Budapest. In the summer of 2017 I had gone to Budapest, and it was just as beautiful as I remembered. We were fortunate to have good weather. It was blue sky, a little chilly, but reasonable. I couldn’t complain. We arrived on Christmas evening and walked around near the hotel and found a restaurant to enjoy our Christmas dinner. I had pizza. Very traditional.

December 26th, my birthday. My parents surprised me with a dinner cruise on the Danube. The food was good, the music was good, and the people watching was even better. Halfway through the two hour trip, the boat went back to the dock to drop people off and pick up more people. A very fancy family came on board and was quite upset with the location of their table. They complained to everyone and sat with disgusted looks on their faces. Fortunately for them, they were able to change tables and kindly left a big tip for being so difficult. Lucky for me the boat gave everyone a complimentary glass of champagne. My parents don’t drink so after consuming mine and theirs, and a 40th birthday celebratory drink, I can say it was a great 40th.

We spent our next and final day in Budapest walking around the city. We went to an extremely crowded market, Starbucks, enjoyed the different bridges that cross the Danube, and found a bathroom at the local Marriott when Starbucks was closed. But in all seriousness, Budapest is a beautiful city. I just enjoyed walking around and admiring the architecture and felt fortunate for the great weather.   

We then took the train from Budapest to Prague. It wasn’t my favorite part of the trip. It was cramped, and the journey was long, Since the sun set early, the view was short lived. At one point my mom and I decided to go buy something from the snack car which was at the very beginning of the train. We had to walk through the business class car, the first class car,and the car with personal rooms until we finally found the snack car. We opted for a smoothie which ended up just being bottled juice. I wasn’t surprised. We then had to make our journey back to the economy car, passing through all the comfort classes that we weren’t in.

Six hours later, we finally arrived in Prague. It was late and dark. I had scheduled for a car to pick us up. Unfortunately that didn’t work out too well. Since it was my fault, we will just skip over that part of the adventure. 

Morning soon came, and with that came a big, wonderful buffet breakfast. European buffet breakfasts are amazing compared to what America has to offer. You make your own espresso. They have all sorts of breads, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and even honeycomb. Nothing came wrapped in plastic that had to be microwaved. Thank goodness! We ate and then took the tram downtown to explore.

Being that this was my first time in Prague, I was excited to explore. However, because I was with my parents, we of course had to go to Starbucks. Did we buy drinks just to get the bathroom code? You bet! My one complaint about Europe is the lack of free public restrooms. 

Prague is definitely an old and interesting city. The streets don’t seem to follow an organized grid, and the architecture is very interesting. We spent our days wandering the city and looking at different sights. We watched the famous clock in the center of town. Well, we watched it twice because we missed the action the first time. Well, my dad missed the action the first AND second time. Thankfully there’s Youtube where he can watch it. We crossed many bridges; we went to the castle and ate lunch at a nearby restaurant simply because we needed to use the restroom. Of course we visited the Christmas Markets (as this was the purpose of the trip, or was it?); we ate Italian food (when in Prague), and we went to Starbucks. 

One evening my dad and I went to a black light show. It was quite an experience. We arrived a few minutes early and waited in a line. While waiting I noticed an interesting coat check sign; Please Leave Your Clothing in the Dressing Room. Um, no thanks!  We then entered the theater that was smaller than I had anticipated. It was a small room full of dining room chairs. We chose a row a few from the front. I was hoping the theater wouldn’t be full, but I was quickly disappointed. It was so hot and snug in the theater. Because the floor wasn’t slanted at all, I had a hard time seeing the performance while feeling like a sardine. However, the show was entertaining, and I’m thankful for the experience. 

After a week of walking, sightseeing, Christmas Markets, and Starbucks, it was time to head home. The morning we left, we called for a cab to pick us up at 4:30 am. The hotel said they would provide us with sack breakfasts. The breakfasts ended up being grocery size paper bags with a bottle of water (which you can’t take through security), an apple, a banana, and two sandwiches. We drank our water when we arrived at the Prague airport so as not to waste it. I ate one sandwich and saved the other one for my layover in Paris.

After saying goodbye to my parents in Paris, we went to our respective terminals. I ate my second sandwich while waiting to board my plane and completely forgot about the apple until I was waiting for my bag at San Francisco International Airport. The cute security dog ratted me out. I handed my apple and passport over to the security guard hoping that my global entry won’t get revoked because of an apple. But if it does, hopefully I can get it back before I turn 50! Cheers to a new decade of life.