Today I really
knew I was visiting Central Europe in winter! It snowed all day long so walking was cold, damp and
slippery! I took the metro to the
Andrassy ut, the Champs-Elysee of Budapest and walked up it for about a mile
and a half. I stopped into the
Opera house but the tours only happen late in the day and I didn’t want to wait
around for it. After walking up
and down Andrassy, I took the tram over to the New York Café on the Grand
Blvd. It is an old, very classy
restaurant/café, originally built in 1894 and was, during the first half of the
20th century the hang-out for writers, playwrights and
musicians. It is an absolutely
gorgeous, neo-baroque and neo-Renaissance Hungarian interior. Its also pretty pricey, so I just had a
latte and bowl of butternut squash soup, which at least warmed me up. But it was worth the price of
admission, as they say, to see the grand interior and at least it was warm!
Then I took the
tram and metro over to the Parliament area. I had to wait outside in the snow to be let in to the ticket
gate. They only let folks in two
or three at a time. After I got my
ticket I had about half an hour to kill and as the snow was coming down
steadily and I was cold, I walked across the street to the Ministry of
Agriculture building where, under the outside awnings, was a Friday outdoor
market. Farmers from local rural
areas come into the city on Friday, year round to sell their goods. There were all kinds of produce- meats,
sausages, jams, jellies, pickles, baked goods, soaps, wines, cheeses. Although it was cold in the open air it
was at least sheltered from the relentless snowfall. I was beginning to feel chilled so treated myself to a cup
of hot mulled wine, which definitely took off the chill! Then I went back across the street for
the Parliament house tour.
The Parliament
is truly gorgeous. Gold gilt
everywhere, plush carpets, ornate frescoes. The building is enormous but only half of it is in use now. It was built originally for a bicameral
parliament – house of lords and house of commons. Once the communists took over Hungary the house of lords was
disbanded and even now, only one house exists, the house of commons. The tours are given in the old house of
lords which is a mirror image of the commons, apparently. The guide said they use that part of
the building now for conferences.
I wouldn’t mind attending a conference in that place!
After the tour,
I went across the street to the Museum of Ethnography. They’ve got a great
collection of artifacts from Hungarian folk culture dating as early as the 14th
century. I spent a couple of hours
going through the exhibits, which were fascinating. Then I returned to my apartment via metro to rest a bit and
grab a cup of tea before going to the dock for my evening Danube cruise.
At 6:30 I took a
cruise on the Danube in an enclosed, heated boat. The walk up there from my apartment was a little
hair-raising! I had to walk along
a multi-lane boulevard with traffic whizzing by as I maneuvered a very narrow,
very dark, and tonight, very slippery walkway down to the pier. The boat ride was lovely. All the buildings along the river are
lit up at night, as well as all the bridges and as we passed the various
buildings we learned their history.
We also got a drink for the journey so I enjoyed seeing the evening
lights on the river accompanied by a glass of champagne!
After the boat
ride I walked down to a pub my landlord had told me has the best goulash in
Budapest. It’s a short walk from
the apartment and given the cold, snowy weather I didn’t feel like walking
far. He’s not kidding about the
goulash! The pub is called the
“For Sale Pub.” It’s dark, with
raw wooden beams on the floor, which is strewn with straw and peanut shells. The walls and ceiling are cork and
people have stuck all kinds of drawings, notes, and notices all over the walls
and ceilings. I went up to the
second floor for dinner. All the
tables have candles. The goulash
was listed as an “appetizer” but when I ordered and was going to then order an
entrée, the waiter warned me that the goulash was generous and I might not want
another dish. He was right about
that !! Honestly, the portion they
serve for one person could feed a family of six!! It comes in a huge casserole dish. And Tomas is not kidding when he says it’s the best. It was absolutely delicious. Goulash is not a stew, which is what we
tend to think of in the US. It’s
actually a soup – a spicy veal or beef broth with lots of vegetables, potatoes,
noodles etc. It was the perfect
dinner for this cold, damp, snowy day.
In fact, I can’t imagine eating the goulash in the summer so I’m glad
I’m doing this trip in winter! I
had a glass of white Hungarian wine with the goulash, and a hefty portion of bread
to soak up the broth and still left at least half of what they served me. Wish I could have taken the rest
home. It would have fed me for the
rest of the trip!! And that
delicious, filling meal was a whopping $11.00. You can eat well and cheaply in this city.
So now, sipping
my G&T, I’m getting ready for bed.
Walking around in the cold, snowy air all day has me good and
tired! I’ve included pictures of
the New York Café, the Parliament, inside and from the boat and my bowl of
goulash! More tomorrow!!
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