Thinking Allowed: Vienna to Budapest

And it's over! We managed as a family to walk from Vienna to Budapest, holy cow. It wasn't totally obvious that we'd pull this one off, or that we'd have a good time doing it, but there you have it: never underestimate children. We walked through three countries none of us had ever been to, we developed social theories on the negative effects of having been run by the USSR, we frolicked in sketchy pools, parks and trampolines, and we ate roughly 100 ice creams between us. We also got very lucky in some ways: our derelict stroller did not collapse, Jakob's back stayed manageably wonky, and we didn't pull out our raincoats once in fifteen days!

Our children were relatively happy: they thrived on the individual attention of stories, quizzes and games. Aurora was a complete trooper, walking and scooting over 300km with hardly a word of complaint. Sophia and Tova also did great in and out of the buggy, and Zadie endured dozens of hours in the baby wrap happily enough. Structure was important: treats every 5km, a prize halfway, 'smarts' before storytime, and planned turns on the scooter - these all helped break the day into manageable parts.

Bike trails are definitely optimal for hikers with a heavy baby jogger; busy roads were a nightmare, but we were >90% on calm open levee bikeways, where conversation was easy and tempers were few. We both want to do this again, either walking or biking. Eastern Europe, though lovely, had rather grim, dour people (with some amazing exceptions); next time, we might choose a more joyous, child-loving culture...Italy, maybe?

Looking back, it would have been nice to fit in a couple more zero days. Visegrad, Esztergom and Bratislava were all vibrant cities with much to offer - but our schedule only left us a handful of hours in each one to explore. Our day in Komarno was definitely a highlight, and boosted our spirits for the next few days.

Our last day was a sweet end to the trip. We blazed through a dozen kilometres (or, as Jakob calls them, "miles") by 10:30, and met up with Tamar's parents in Csillaghegy, a cute suburb of Budapest. The girls flew to their grandparents with great excitement (Sophia has been counting this down forever) and were glued to their sides for much of the afternoon. Tamar got a surprise 4km run on Margit Island when Aurora forgot her scooter in a playground, but even so we finished our ~23km day by 4:30 and celebrated with a festive dinner of homemade shakshuka.

Now we get to mooch around Budapest for a few days, then on to the Alps!