When in Budapest

My first proper day of touristing today!

I caught the tram along the river and crossed into Pest for the first stop of my morning, the Market Hall. Designed by the company of Eiffel and obvious to see the similarities in the architecture. It was a feast for the senses with food stalls on the ground floor and every kind of craft and souvenir on the first floor. After that I meandered towards St. Stephen’s Basilica, stopping off to see if I could find Eva’s books in the bookshop - I did! I had a delightful beer in the sunshine and then, somewhat mistakingly, had a chimney cake for lunch. It was utterly delightful but left me in a sugar daze and totally full.

More wandering up the impressive Andrassy Street towards Heroes Square but I ran out of time to have a proper look and had to jump on the metro back to the city to meet Agi.

We haven’t seen each other in about 9 years, since she left Shrewsbury. She drove us up to a good viewing point and we caught up on the last few years whilst looking out on the city as the sun went down. Not really knowing how much of a carb coma I was still in, she took me to a famous little bakery and ordered *everything* from the menu for me to try. It was all delicious but I vow to eat nothing but vegetables for the foreseeable future. From there we drove up to Gellert Hill where she showed me her flat that she’s been renovating and then to another view point over the city before driving me home.

A fun day - exhausting, bread based and brilliant.