To Market

We enjoyed, but did not love, our first Christmas market experience.  (Spoiler alert -- we absolutely adored last night's market in Vienna, but you'll have to wait on that).

Chain Bridge is very cool to cross, and we picked up more and more people walking with us toward the common goal -- the Christmas markets on the Pest side of the Danube.  Our first stop was the Christmas Fair and Winter Festival at Vörösmarty Square.

Our first stop at the first stop was for our first taste of gluwein, which is mulled wine.  Well, it was the first taste for Carol and I -- Torie had it before.  Well, it's possible that we've had gluwein at a Christmas Party in the States, but none comes immediately to mind.

Carol got plum gluwein, while Torie and I went with the blueberry.  You probably know that gluwein is mulled wine, but if you didn't know that, now you do! Ours was piping hot, while Carol's was lukewarm at best.  Hotter is better, and so is blueberry!  There was not much flavor, nor much alcohol in the wine, but it was worth trying.

The Christmas market was jammed packed with people.  Like hard to move around jammed-packed.  We were there for the Christmas decorations, but there were not a lot in the stalls.  There was a lot more stuff you would buy for Christmas presents.  The food stalls looked amazing, although we did eat in a restaurant after a while.

Fashion Street was just off the square -- there were lots of expensive stores, and a Ritz Carlton.  The lights on the buildings and the various lights/fake trees made for an attractive block. 

We then headed to the other main Christmas market in Budapest, at Basilica Square (there are small markets in various areas of the city).  That was a more enjoyable experience, as it was not quite as crowded. 

Torie really wanted to have chicken paprikash for dinner.  We tried one restaurant where she thought her group had eaten a year ago, but without reservations there was no room.  We found a nice restaurant, Hilda, on a side street. 

There were plenty of open tables, but apparently those were reserved.  We sat at the bar and enjoyed dinner, and beer (not Carol, of course -- she had her g & t).  Torie said the chicken paprikash was not as good here as the one she had a year ago. 

Back to the Christmas market by the Basilica -- the lights were fabulous.  We had chimney cakes (not the real name).  Torie had the cinnamon/sugar and Carol and I split a raspberry.  The cinnamon/sugar was better, but both were good.  We wandered around a bit more before heading back across the river to the hotel. 

After flying overnight across the pond, a two hour sleep, and eight and a half miles of walking (pretty good considering we didn't walk much in the morning because of travel), I was exhausted.  Nine hours and fifteen minutes later, I woke up.