DRT Day 13: Cloudy with a chance of shopping

We knew the weather today was not meant to be great. First there were the thunderstorm warnings which morphed into just plain rain. So we decided to stick to the Pest side of the river and see if we could avoid the worst of whatever Mother Nature decided to throw at us. We also needed to start working our way through the food we have left so we really needed to have egg and cheese sandwiches even if it isn’t Monday. Once refreshed and refueled, we made our way out for the day.

First stop involves some history: St Stephen’s Basilica which happens to be right near where we are staying. Unlike the Mattias Church we visited yesterday which was built in the 13th century, this neoclassical behemoth is barely a hundred years old. The church was designed from the start to be a tribute to King St Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian kingdom, and it even has a reliquary with his 1000+ year old hand. (Ugh) Nevertheless, it’s sheer size is impressive so we took our time ambling (another new walking speed we are learning!) about before heading up to see the treasury and the tower. The treasury isn’t much to write about unless you like over-the-top embroidered chasibles and lots of silver stuff. The tower, on the other hand, has incredible views of the entire city, both the Buda and Pest sides. It seems to me that most of the appeal for various attractions on either side of the river is the view of the other side of the river!

It was time to change gears from clerical to commercial so we wandered down one of the main shopping streets to the Central Market. Like Pike’s Place market in Seattle but the fish is replaced with Paprika! A large, two story building that was stuffed to the rafters with stands selling everything… But mostly paprika. Our cooking guide Marti told us that the first floor was all food stuffs and was meant for the locals. The second flour has all the Hungarian tchotchkes for the tourists. We had a wonderful time comparing paprika prices (and scoring some to cook with at home) before heading upstairs to see what touristy things we might absolutely need to take home.

We did find a hand carved, hand painted wooden Santa figure that will add to our growing collection of Santas that we display at Christmas. They were everywhere but we found one that met our (mostly monetary) requirements. And of course the vendors only take cash… So we had to break our ‘no local cash’ rule and take money out of the ATM. Now overly flush with Hungarian florints, we made our purchase and escaped the increasing heat in the market.

But our planned conspicuous consumption was not yet done! We had one more quest to fulfill: record stores! We have already successfully scored some great vinyl in previous stops so we thought we’d see what Budapest might be able to offer. Google indicated 3 well reviewed shops so we wandered about and hit all of them. 🙂 We were quite successful in one, scoring Pretenders, J. Geils, and Billy Joel. We may have now reached maximum vinyl that can safely be transported home so it’s a good thing we are nearly done with our trip!

The promised rain had started to make itself known so it was time to get our purchases back to the flat. One quick stop at the all GF bakery to purchase some filled croissants for lunch (cheese, ham, and sausage) and we had a lovely international indoor picnic as the rain began: Slovak beer for Frank, Czech beer for me, and the Hungarian (GF) interpretation of a French pastry. Aren’t we global?

As we are pretty much churched out, we decided to make good use of our transport passes and see the various monuments dotted around the city. As the rain slowly moved out, the sun started peeking through and the temperatures (and humidity) began to climb. We were hoping that enough of the public transport options would have AC to make this plan work well. First stop, the Millennium Monument in Hero’s Square. We hopped on the M1 underground line to go just a few short stops and were immediately disappointed by the open window in the carriages and distinct lack of cool air. Hopefully, the monument will be worth the extra sweat. Described as iconic for its statures of ancient chieftains and Hungarian leaders, it is also the home of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Unfortunately for us, it just looked like another construction project with scaffolding everywhere. I’m sure it is normally quite moving, but unfortunately not today.

It was time to head to the river for another moving monument: Shoes on the Danube. We hopped on a bus and a tram to get to the riverside monument. These are iron versions of shoes that would have been worn by Jews in 1944 and 1945 as they were lined up on the bank and shot by the fascist Hungarian Red Arrow Party. There are candles and flowers and ribbons that adorn the various footwear and it is sad to be reminded of such a dark period in human history.

To get regrounded, we walked along the river a bit further and admired the famous parliament building. Touring this impressive structure is said to be a highlight of any trip to Budapest but alas it would not be for us. Such things require advance planning and we had done none. Still the building is impressive even from the outside. Another tram took us back to our neighbourhood where we found a lovely wine bar to have a drink and a snack before dinner. We learned about orange wine which is what you get when you leave the white grape skins in contact with the juice – similar to how it works with rosé. And then it was off to the evening meal – a completely GF restaurant recommended by Marti, our Coeliac cooking instructor. I wish I could rave about the food but it was just okay. I love going to places where I can eat anything on the menu without lots of discussion and negotiation. But I also like interesting dishes and these really weren’t those. Another exhausting day in the books, it was time to head back to relax with some Olympic fencing (not our choice) and ice cream.

Data for today: