Come lunch-time, the Christmas market was the place to be. Mulled wine—gluhwein—was everywhere.  But which booth would we choose? We decided to eat first. Because Budapest food is very tempting fare.

Pulled pork doesn’t ordinarily come to mind when someone says Budapest food.  But there it was. I had to look at this little fellow while we waited. As usual, when confronted with what eating creatures really means, I considered vegetarianism.

But not yet.  These sandwiches were our lunch and OMG INCREDIBLE.
Goulash, Gulash, potato, patata–it was everywhere. Because of course, it is Hungarian.

Steaming pans of Budapest food smelled wonderful.

We had to cross a few streets and saw this car, painted with a nature scene. Completely painted:

But instantly were back in marketland, among stalls of food
For dessert, we had to have these. The price is in the Hungarian foin. They aren’t big on the Euro.

We watched ours being cooked over red-hot coals, rolled in cinnamon. I can’t remember when I’ve had a more delicious dessert.

I just thought this was lovely. The colors, the design, all of it.

We decided to walk off the beaten path, and away from the main market, we found more stalls.

And we found The Hungarian Hell’s Kitchen, which was a stall with friendly people serving tea and mulled wine.

The wine is steaming in the copper vat, which made it seem all the more festive.

We had to have it. Another fantastic “find” that went down way too easily. M had two and I took sips of his, figuring I was so sleep deprived that any more and I’d be on my ass. Literally. We could see how a few of those would disappear quickly on a cold day without even realizing how much we’d had. So I’m going to try some of the mulled tea soon. HERE IS the wine recipe;

You can see that we were making short work of it.  I say I only took sips, but maybe they were gulps.

These dogs were also interested. Or maybe it was their owners.

M. knows I’m a fan of the TV show, Hell’s Kitchen, where I have picked up many good cooking ideas.

“Why don’t you buy a mug?” he said.  But I have lots of mugs and cups. I took this photo so I wouldn’t have to buy a mug.

I wasn’t sure if she was a dragonfly or a Hungarian Christmas angel, but she was happy to pose.

Oh, the pastries!  We resisted these.

And the bread.

Oh the pastries! These meringues were HUGE. We didn’t get any. But they were so pretty!

This is…wait for it…wait for it….Hungarian Gulash. Or goulash. Or whatever. It was tasty!

We found the British embassy around the corner from our hotel.

M pointed out the “we-mean-business” barricades.

These were on our hotel room desk when we arrived. I had no idea how long they’d been there, so we passed.

Paprika is made from these, oh yes it is!

Handbill on a pole on our way back.

In case it’s your birthday, here’s a greeting in Hungarian!

The old city is awfully pretty. How about a little history?

Budapest has some 1.7 million people and is the merging of two cities that span two sides of the Danube: historic Buda and the more modern Pest.  It’s called the Paris of Central Europe for good reason.  Baroque, neoclassical and Art Nouveau all come together.

The massive Royal Palace. Very imposing.

St. Stephan’s basilica…he is the patron saint of the city, which is largely Catholic. St. Stephan was actually King of Hungary.

The archangel Gabriel is very popular. He apparently appeared to Stephan in a dream and offered the crown to him. So we see him everywhere holding the crown of Hungary.

St. Elizabeth’s. Elizabeth is a common name here.

It’s easy to forget this was a communist country in the early part of my lifetime. But here are some bullet holes from the 1956 Hungarian revolution. Soviet tanks came in and won bigtime.

I’m not a big fan of pastries in the shops, but this charming cafe was our last stop in Budapest:

A final cappucino and then…

…we said goodbye to Budapest–but only for now–because we want to return….and now, off to Vienna, one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen.