July with the Perlas

Well, the elevator at our apartment was broken today, so my “Grocery store-then-Park” plan was foiled.  It is one thing to carry a 20+ pound baby down seven flights of stairs, but a whole other thing to have to carry groceries back up.  Plus no trip the park is complete without at least four blankets and a bag full of toys (and by bag I mean the ginormous XL LL Bean tote that was given to Jack by the Wagners- we love it!).

So since we were stuck inside (and Jack played happily in his playpen for a moment, while Strela slept on the couch) I took this opportunity to catch up on the blog.

July was marked by a jam-packed visit from my parents.  It was their first time to Europe in about ten years, I think, and their first time to Austria.  If you know us well, you know that we sure did our fair bit of eating throughout the trip and my dad was good at picking out new places.  Here we are at our new favorite place, an Austrian Beisl that served delightful hot pretzels upon arrival.  We have been back many times since.

The weather was quite warm for the visit, but the hottest weekend was the one we spent in Budapest.  We truly loved the city and its sites, even though it was oppressively hot.  We even had to get in the hotel pool to cool off.  Sadly Mike stayed behind in Vienna (by the way, I almost typed Praia) with Strela, so we will definitely have to get another family trip to Budapest underway ASAP.  It's only a short 3 hour drive, so I have a feeling we will check that off our list soon.  Here is Jack in his luxurious train seat and in the pool with Grandpa.

Though we aimed to try many Austrian and Hungarian wines during the visit, the weather was so insanely warm, that we didn’t even want to drink!  We did enjoy some cold beer and “Soda Zitrones” at all our various jaunts.  Soda Zitrone has become the Perla Signature drink- so simple, I do not know why they do not serve it everywhere in the States.  It is just sparkling water with a generous amount of fresh squeezed lemon juice.  Some places will add a sprig of mint or other citrus fruits, but it is the most refreshing way to enjoy cafes outdoors when the temperature is nearing three figures in Fahrenheit.  I still can’t get used to the Europeans saying, "It’s going to be 35 on Sunday!" in horror.

Though we tried to fit in some site-seeing, it was really just a pleasure to spend time together.  Other highlights of the trip include my mom teaching Jack to clap his hands (here he is practicing) and watch Jack "crawl" around (he now does actually crawl on all fours, but just as of a few weeks ago).  

For more photos of the touristy activities and sights, see our Flickr page at flickr.com/mralles.