Christmas Day in Budapest

Basilica of St. Stephens
Hungarian State Opera House interior galleries

Opera House Exterior

Christmas Day was amazing. It was a dreary day with a slight drizzle, but we left the hotel late morning and headed to the Hungarian State Opera House for the Nutcracker Ballet. The opera house was a spectacular old (as usual) building, that was incredibly ornate. We felt like we were in the setting of the Phantom of the Opera. The ballet was really a treat…even for hockey players. The sets were incredibly realistic and the costumes were colorful. The orchestra was in the pit and played Tchaikovsky’s musical score. We learned that the The Nutcracker has undergone many changes over the years and not all performances are the same. Even the names of the characters may be different. In this version, Clara is called Mary and there are no sugar plum fairies or flower fairies. This show was broken into 3 acts with 2 intermissions, something that most of us were unfamiliar with. Maybe this was beneficial for hockey players that are used to 3 periods of play with 2 breaks! In any case we forced a little culture on the group and you may notice your boy is a bit more refined upon his return. Maybe season tickets to Bravo will be on his wish list next Christmas.

We then drove to a few historical sights around the city including Hero’s Square and St. Stephens Basilica. There we saw the mummified hand of St. Stephen which was a big draw for all the boys. Ok, so maybe they aren’t that refined! The building was massive and of course beautifully ornate like most churches we have seen.

Back at the Hotel Gellert, the boys took advantage of a couple of free hours to hit the thermal baths (more on that from Ben Hymes). Then we loaded up the bus and went to dinner at a restaurant called The Cave. It was a traditional Hungarian spot with great food and some customary music and dancing. More on this from Sonny Magrino