market

I am so happy I went to Budapest. At the time, I felt like exams should take precedent and that I was wasting valuable study time. Now, as I write this, I still feel in awe of that beautiful city. We began the morning at the Szépmûvészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts) in Pest. However, before we got to adventure over to the Varosliget Castle, we whisked ourselves away to the marketplace. Before my trip, the only thing I had heard about Budapest was the quality of the marketplace. As it closed at 3:00 (and we had a late start), I didn’t want to take any chances. It was well worth the talk. It had all the groceries, souvenirs, and traditional food I could have wanted in one place (I tried langos- the nearest fried thing, like a good Southerner). Because we were so close to the bridge, we went ahead and walked over it, visited the fascinating cave church (a quick Hungarian history lesson), and then climbed up to the liberty statue. Once back down the hill, we went over to get a daylight look at Parliament (sadly missing the last tour by minutes).

Between Friday and Saturday, I spent so long walking around and were so cold that I decided to take a nice long coffee break and watch the sun go down over Parliament. Then, rejuvenated, I decided we should go to see at least one bath while in Budapest. Budapest is famous for its baths since hot springs flow through the rocks under the city. The waters are said to be very medicinal (though they looked quite normal to me. Next time I will probably pony up the money to swim at Szechenyi, but since I didn’t even have my swimsuit, the bath included in the Budapest city card did the trick. From there, I went to back to Varosliget Castle (which offered an ice skating rink beside it for the season) and explored it by night. It reminded me of the beginning music of Beauty and the Beast. On that account, I made sure not to get too close to any windows, as who knew what might lay inside…

Two quick things:

1. Neon orange stuck out like a sore thumb in Budapest. It worked well in that my friend could find me, but I did not look like a local.

2. For anyone travelling to Budapest in November, regardless of the fact Hungary looks like it is southern of England on a map, you can expect similar weather. In other words, a blazer on its own is not going to cut it. Bring a scarf! gloves! heavy coat!

When you are in Venice, there is nowhere else on earth you could be– the mysterious passages, romantically gloomy water around every corner, picturesque bridges, burly, striped gondoliers, and creepy masque shops (coupled with the overall abundance of leather goods). It’s not the destination for the claustrophobic or the penny pincher, but to the dreamer of unrealized visions? Venice is bliss. Venice is the nearest scratch with reality.

No visit to Venice is complete without a trip to the fabulous Rialto market. While it’s not a prime location for the vintage-seeker, there may be no better place for fresh fruits and vegetables. I was particularly pleased to get three large bags of sun dried tomatoes for 5 euro. In the US, you always pay the same amount for a small jar! Also, if you’re in need of an eel for dinner, this is the place to come (namely because they sell them). While generally I try to err on the side of adventure, on this occasion, I must report a timely abstention.

In the afternoon, we went over to the Jewish area. A little known and sad fact: in 1516, Venice was the first place to ever instate a Jewish “ghetto” (the English appropriation of the word stemming from the Venetian “ghèto”). Today the area remains Jewish, though less than 500 Jews live there. However, as of 2009, the population of Venice dipped under 60,000, meaning that it may be a higher percentage of Jews in the city than you would expect at first blush.