22 - #TravelTuesday Favorite place you've traveled

🍉🍊🍍

A/N: Honestly, I'm not sure. I don't travel often and my last vacation before this year was eight years ago to Disney World (a trip I'm sad to say I have very few memories of). But I did get to walk out with Mulan and Mushu to their posts. Please excuse the dress, lol - it was my peach pageant one - I actually won. Go figure, right! 😅)

So, I'll tell you about my most recent travel destinations, I suppose. (Be warned, I may bombard you with photos. 😜)

In July (2016) five others and I traveled to Budapest, Hungary and Dârjiu, Romania - toponym Székelyderz (Say-clay-derz || because phonetics make no sense LOL). We even got to see the birthplace of Vlad III - or Count Dracula, coined by Irish author Bram Stoker. I promise you, the real ruler is much more ... disturbing than the fictitious vampire (not that I really can testify to Dracula's story XD). ANYWAY, lol, Vlad III was born in Sighișoara (Sig-his-shore-a), Romania.

(Photo cred: Some Italian woman named Reisama)

Romania: A lovely gentleman, named Akos (our translator), accompanied us while we toured the castle and the village of Székelyderz, where we stayed with families for a week. My mother and I stayed with a family of four. There were two boys, both in their teens. One was thirteen and the other fifteen who knew how to drive a tractor and actually worked!!! Cheezits, first world problem: We're way too privileged! Anyway, while there my group did loads of activities including hiking the Carpathians mountains (of which I got to the top of the mountain first *superhero pose with proud grin*, visiting Salina Turda (a salt mine), and I witnessed a calf (only several days old I'm talking) bought by my host's family. Saddest but cutest thing I've ever seen. After it was untied, I got a selfie of it, too. 😁

Hungary: We stayed in Budapest, two blocks away from the Danube River by the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. Unfortunately, a few people weren't feeling as good during that portion of the trip, but we did manage to go to some pretty neat places.

>>> My favorite place (Hungary): The Széchenyi Medicinal Bath
I'm not a spa person. I don't pamper myself. Period. (Well, actually being on Wattpad is what I call "pampering" 😂) The baths were rather incredible, and I highly recommend you go there if you ever vacation in Hungary. Besides having a number of saunas (scented -- I think I almost died... as in I went into a coughing fit while the room was dead silent. People glared and my eyes were already watering from the herbs. LOL But, if you can handle it, go for it!) There are hot and cold baths there, even an aquatics class for women only. Just a warning I wish someone had mentioned *before* I went lounging in the regular pool area: There were some dudes marching around *ahem* nude... Don't get me wrong, I highly respect how ... secure they are but definitely watch out. LOL

BTW, I even caught some guys playing chess!!! (Doesn't it just look like one of those type of photos for a tour book?! 😁)

A/N: This entry goes out to my Hungarian friend, zszabolcs. Thanks for being such a great host! <3

Köszönöm szépen, Szabi!!! Szeretlek, tesó! Hiányzol. :'(

Translation: Thank you very much, Szabi!!! Love you, bro! I miss you!

[Front row] Me, Szabi, and Akos (the others I will leave unnamed to protect their identities)