This weekend, we launched our 2016 European travel adventures with a visit to Budapest. It ended up more terrifying than we expected …

After our terrifying little adventure into The Labyrinth, we stuck to above-ground explorations. Here are a few of the pretty views.

Parliament Building

Matthias Church from the Art’otel

Chain Bridge

Buda Palace above Chain Bridge

Chain Bridge with Matthias Church

Lukács Thermal Bath

Catfish and “gypsy” music

Tea with palinka, better known as Hungarian Grog

Sandy on a rampart

What we did:

Friday
Got settled at the Art’otel. Walked across the Chain Bridge and had dinner at Karpatia, one of the oldest restaurants in Budapest, followed by drinks at a Belgian beer house.

Saturday
Sightseeing! Hiked up Castle Hill and walked around Matthias Church. Toured The Labyrinth. Ate apple streudal below the Buda Palace. Dinner at Nagyi Palacsintazoja, a pancake house that’s a bit of an institution. Hungarian Grog at Anna’s Cafe on Vaci Utca.

Sunday
Visited the Terror Museum for a crash course on fascism. Walked around the Gellert Hotel and Bathhouse. Popped into Andante Borpatika for tapas and a glass of Hungarian wine — and got treated by the owner to extra samples of wine made from the oldest kind of grape in Hungary and tokaj so thick it was practically honey.

We also happened across a fireworks show over the Danube!