Friday, Budapest--Day 2

The goal of the day (since I was spearheading) was to see a LOT of tourist sites, and we were so tired by the end! If I were to do this day again, I'd just wander around to see things, instead of stressing to find specific sites. We did that in Prague, which I loved, but Prague was also set up in tighter areas. Anyway, the first thing we went to see was the Central Market! It is the biggest indoor market in Budapest, and Grace and I spent hours in there getting lost and buying everything. 

 Paprika is really big in Hungary, so there were a lot of these stands for tourists to buy. I bought a toothpaste looking thing that's supposed to have paprika paste inside, but I'm a little hesitant to try it. Paprika toothpaste??

 Inside the market! Everything was so cheap too... we couldn't help but buy things!

And we had langos! It was like pizza but with weird toppings. 

We were tired and heavy with a lot of shopping bags, so we went back to the hotel for a break, and then adventured out again and took the metro south towards the Danube River. That metro was so great!! So fast, clean, and cheap. I love seeing the different metro systems in the different cities. 

We went to Cafe Gerbaud which was recommended on the map we had, and it was SO GREAT. I think Grace and me are really big cafe lovers. 

It was really beautiful with high ceilings, luxurious curtains, marble tables. And we got the BEST ice cream dessert ever. It was caramel with this crispy cookie and this delicious macaroon with the best ice cream... I'm drooling now. The coffee was eh. 

That is true happiness.

After we got rejuvenated, we stumbled across an Easter Market, and it was so cute! There was a really great cover artist singing, and she did a rendition of "La Vie en Rouge," and it felt like I was in a movie with a great soundtrack. There were all these little stands, and we got some great bigos, which is beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and onions. Yum. 

By that time, it was getting pretty late and cold and windy, but we were determined to go see some of the major sites, so we popped by the Chain bridge...

the parliament building...

St. Stephen's Basilica...

and the opera house. 

And then we ran home because it was freezing!!