Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Budapest: Day 2

Today we strolled the main pedestrian street of the city Váci Utca. The street was generously lined with decorative storefronts, cafes, and restaurants. Over head were bridges of Christmas lights between the buildings. It was pretty cold out, so I picked up a small bottle of Unicum, an herbal Hungarian bitter, to ease the winter temperature. We went to Központi Vásárcsarnok (Central Market Hall) and spent hours exploring this bazaar for fresh tasty bites, drinks and hand-cafted gifts. My eyes were instantly drawn to the bold cast iron skeleton of this structure and the light that poured through it. We ate some very filling nokedli, drank Traubi and ended with a warm cabbage strudel. We made our way back towards the famous Karácsonyi Vásár (Christmas Market), a spectacle so festive that it could replenish anyone's faded holiday spirit. Like the Central Market Hall, there were so many mouth-watering choices. We settled for a warm chimney shaped cinnamon pasty called kürtőskalács that was prepared over a glowing brick oven. After taking a nap to rid us of our jetlag, we went back out and had dinner at Central Kávéház, an inviting neo-classical-with-deco-flair styled restaurant with kind service and excellent food. So far, we've only scratched at the surface but so far I love this city.

1 comment:

Ray Hernandez said...

Sweet Im Glad to hear from you guys even if its through the blog! It must be so kool to bhe out there 1000's of miles form here! But remember we miss you guys back home so dont go staying in Europe now Brenadan nad Elizabeth LOL!! Have fun and take care out there!