Mrs. Karlin took a trip to Hungary in December 2009 to visit her son Chris and Meredith. Some of the key things they did included seeing the Christmas market, getting lost luggage delivered on Christmas morning, having Christmas dinner, seeing different styles of fencing on houses, seeing a performance of The Nutcracker at the ornate Budapest Opera House, visiting statues at museums and Parliament Building, crossing the Danube River on the Chain Bridge and riding the funicular, and visiting Meredith's English language school where she teaches and saw student papier-mache artwork. They also toured the historic St. Stephen's Basilica and visited the ornate covered market.