Christmas in Budapest 2

The second day in Christmas Budapest will be much more relaxed. We will visit the Christmas markets again, shop for souvenirs at the Grand Market (Központi Vásárcsarnok). In the afternoon, we will visit the Fisherman's Bastion and end the day at the Hungarian Parliament.

Budapest - Christmas ice rink in Városháza Park

We get up early again, but despite all the breastfeeding, changing, sleeping and breastfeeding again, we don't go out until 11 o'clock. Right from the start we repeat yesterday's early evening. We head towards Astoria metro station, where we indulge in our third trdelnik. Then we continue to Városháza Park and walk along Deák Ferenc útca to Vörösmarty Square. This time of day there are much fewer people and we can finally see the various stalls. The food stalls are of course the most interesting, as they are insanely overpriced. Prices around 350 CZK per meal. Boiled wine around 200 CZK. By order of the town hall, stallholders are obliged to sell one meal for 1500 HUF (100 CZK). We go to verify the lesson with this information. Indeed we find me-na "Hungarian sausage with potatoes". Which doesn't sound bad at all, so we have one as a test, which certainly doesn't win us any sympathy from the market vendors. They rip off tourists by selling them large portions by weight and throwing in more expensive mulled wine. And then there are the socks like us, who know what and how and weren't happy about it. Anyway, the Hungarian sausage turned out to be peppered kabanos, but the potatoes were with onions and they were delicious.

Budapest - Christmas Market in Vörösmarty Square

Budapest - Christmas Market on Deák Ferenc tér

Budapest - Christmas Market in Vörösmarty Square

Budapest - Social food for social tourists

After the gastronomic insert, we leave this tourist trap and head down Váci utca to the Grand Market (Központi Vásárcsarnok). It's head to head here, with Czech and Slovak dominating. We're here to buy Hungarian sausages and urchins. You can also buy spices and souvenirs on the first floor. There is also an excellent dining room with traditional dishes. There is an Aldi supermarket underground and they also sell pickled vegetables. I recommend buying sausages from the market as they are much better than what is sold in the shops, unless you visit a butcher's shop.

Budapest - Building of the Great Market Hall (Központi Vásárcsarnok)

Budapest - Grand Market Hall (Központi Vásárcsarnok)

From the market we get on the tram and go back to the apartment to feed and change the baby. After this ritual, we take the tram 4/6 again and go to the Széchenyihegy terminal. From there, we walk (you can also use the minibus) uphill to the Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya), which is located by the Ma-tyas Temple. There are also small Christmas markets here, but the dominant feature is the view over the whole of Pest.

Budapest - Fishermen's Bastion (Halászbástya)

We go back to Széchenyihegy and go to the Mamut shopping centre to use the toilet again. We're tempted to have dinner at Spar to go, but on a Saturday afternoon like this, the offerings are minimal. So we take the tram, cross the Danube on the Maria Bridge and walk to the Hungarian Parliament (Országház).

Budapest - Hungarian Parliament Building (Országház)

From the Parliament we take the tram to the Elizabeth Bridge and from there we walk directly to the apartment, where we have to pack for tomorrow's journey before going to bed.

Budapešť - Alžbětin most (Erzsébet híd)

Budapest - Gellért Hill

Our train leaves at 7:30 in the morning, which means a wake-up call at 6:00 to make sure we get everything done without stress. We get on the tram before seven. This way, in the mornings and on Sundays, the intensity of the connections is not so high and the tram runs once every ten minutes. We ride a few stops to the station and then board the already prepared train. The six-hour ride was uneventful and we arrive in Ko-lin only a few minutes late. Now we just need to change the train to Mladá Boleslav and that will be the end of our second family trip abroad.