Budapest

The sun was shining when we got up, but it clouded over and was raining by noon. We got out before that and walked over to the Erzsebet bridge for a view of the Danube.

View of the Danube from Pest

                                                            
View of the Pest side from the Liberty Bridge

University library
Then we headed down the Vaci Utica (VAH tsee UT –zah) to the Market Hall. 

View from the balcony

The lower floor is all food -butchers, bakers, green grocers and the like. Not as varied as the market in Jerusalem, but interesting. There is also a balcony that runs around the outside that has lots of tourist items for sale. Embroidered tablecloths and blouses, felt work, T-shirts, souvenirs, leather goods, etc. I bought a felt box and a small embroidered mat.

                                                                

One side of the balcony is devoted to food stands. Lines are long and everyone seems to be having the goulash soup. The width is so narrow that people have to stand at the tables. We hear German, French and English as well as the Hungarian – probably other languages as well, but those are the ones I can sort out. 

After about 1:30 the rain starts to really come down so we head back to the hotel to work on blog posts.