Budapest - Day 4

After the palinka mistake the night before, we had a late start on the fourth day. I had a headache that faded with Tylenol, but Matt's head was pounding with no relief. He ended up feeling off most of the day, but did a great job of soldiering on with the rest of us.

I took the following photo from our balcony while Matt rested in bed. I liked the contrast of the old building against the newer one.

Coffee was a must

I had read about a remaining fragment of the ghetto wall from WWII, which was enclosed in a courtyard but could be viewed through a hole in the gate. My map showed it was just one street over from our hotel, so after breakfast, we went searching. Unfortunately, according to Google maps, the building that surrounded the landmark was boarded up and seemed abandoned.

Disappointed, we decided to go souvenir shopping at Central Market Hall, which is the largest and oldest indoor market in the city (opened 1897). It's a three story building, with vendors of meats, produce, spices, and souvenirs.

From our walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside the entrance

Again, outside the entrance

Inside, we decided to go upstairs first so the kids could pick their souvenirs. The walkways between stalls were narrow, and by the time we got all the way around, Matt and I were getting cranky about the lack of space. But the kids found what they wanted (though we had to tell Miles that he couldn't buy a weapon).

All decked out for Christmas

Add in just a few more customers and it gets pretty tight

Back on the main floor, there was plenty of room to move and breathe. We briefly shopped around before heading out (we didn't visit the basement, which had butchers, pickles, and fishmongers). I loved just window shopping, but we were getting hungry.

View from the top floor

Once we were outside, we got a proper view of the front of the market. The tiled roof reminded me of Matthias Church near Buda Castle.

And we saw another small Christmas market across the street.

Matt had heard of a fantastic restaurant from a coworker, and it wasn't that far, so we walked there to have lunch. It was in a little alley, down in the basement...

... but a very cozy atmosphere, and the food smelled amazing.

However, they did not take cards, and since we had just spent most of our cash at the market, we had to move along.

We chose a small restaurant a few doors down, and we ended up with a very nice lunch.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel for a rest. The kids showed off their souvenirs and played, and Matt and I took it easy.

We stayed in for a while, as we just didn't feel like doing much (I might still blame the palinka for this).

At dinner time, we tried a little Israeli restaurant that looked good online. We all shared a few starters, and everything we tasted was wonderful. The kids especially loved the dumplings and hummus (as well as writing on the walls).

The most exciting part of the night was when Lily lost her front tooth at dinner! She carefully packed it away to take home for the tooth fairy.

Back at the hotel, we had a relaxing evening, then went to bed. The next morning it would be time to get back to the UK.