Budapest Christmas Market

 We did a bit of research before we headed out to the Vorosmarty Christmas Market regarding what food we HAD to try!  Thankfully, we arrived on an empty stomach!

 We did not mess around!  We started off with our chimney cakes!  

These were even bigger than the ones in the metro!

 Lincoln wanted to try vanilla and sugar this time.  It was good, but the cinnamon was still the best.

 We made a quick loop of the food and we were seriously overwhelmed!

 We did pass on the rooster testicle stew.

 We did try the sausage and potato pancakes!

 They put sour cream and smoked cheese on the pancake.  YES!  

 We also tried hot apple cider.

 Budapest has the best Christmas market food I have seen! 

They also had TONS of handmade gifts.  These were lavender packets.

 Glass flowers.

 This market started getting really crowded so we decided to walk to the 

market by the church we saw earlier.

 I am so glad we did because we ran into these at a market on the way!  A group of British ladies were so interested in our "crisps."  They even offered to take a picture for a chip!  When Nate said sure, they laughed and said NO!  We were kidding!  

 This market was big too, but not near as crowded.

 Ice skating!

 Marzipan!

 We were too full to try these, but they were flat bread with sour cream and cheese.  

They looked good!

Overall excellent Christmas Market!  Budapest may be my favorite one!  

Buda Castle

 Our hotel was on the Buda side of the Danube.  

 We were able to walk to the castle on Saturday morning.

 A pretty church on our walk.

 We passed the Chain Bridge.  The first bridge that connected Buda and Pest.

 We were feeling energetic and decided to walk up the hill instead of taking the funicular!  

We had much prettier views that way!

 We were also much warmer now!

 We happened to walk up on the changing of the guard.

 I read about the Labyrinth or dungeon at the castle.  It seemed like a fun idea!  One part of the Labyrinth was completely in the dark!  You only had a rope to hold onto!   

It was creepy, but we all had a blast!

 At the end of the Labyrinth was a grave marked Dracula.  

 We had a traditional Hungarian lunch at the castle of goulash and chicken paprika. 

     
                       We all wanted to go to the Christmas Market that evening so we went to the 
                                                hotel and took a rest before the evening!

Budapest, Hungary

 We decided to take advantage of the Hop On Hop Off Bus since it was so cold!  

We stopped at Saint Stephen's Church first. 

 They were setting up a Christmas Market across the street.

 I think I have a picture like this from every church we've visited in Europe!  

Sit down while you can boys!

 After riding around the city for awhile, we stopped at the Budapest market.

 We went straight upstairs to look at the FOOD!

 We ordered a stuffed chicken breast and a cabbage roll.   Everything was so good!

 We walked around and bought some Hungarian paprika.  

 Nate wanted a bowl of goulash to warm his soul before we started the afternoon.

 We walked to the bus stop.  Unfortunately, we just missed the bus.  

We had to stand outside for about 40 minutes!  It was cold!!

 At least we had good view of the castle.

 Ahhhh warmth!!  Unfortunately, it lasted about 10 minutes and then we had to switch buses.

 Our next stop was Budapest Fine Arts Museum to see the Rembrandt paintings.

 We even lucked out and saw some Monet paintings!

 Hero's Square is right across from the museum!

 We had a FULL day!  We stopped for sushi!

Nate remembered a crepe place across from the metro stop near our hotel.  We all enjoyed a crepe.

Our hotel was across the river from the Parliament building.  

The building is pretty during the day, but absolutely gorgeous at night!