Budapest for Christmas

Our flight from Rome, via Vienna, to Budapest flew by without a hitch.  Upon arrival, Hollywood and I were happily surprised to discover that Csilla and her father were picking us up at the airport, as our original plan was to take the bus and train to their home.  After a 45min drive, we were welcomed into our holiday home and started our visit off with four shots of Palinka, a Hungarian apricot brandy (Whoa!).  Once settled in, we accompanied Csilla to visit friends for dinner at their place.  Hollywood had fun tossing a few snowballs in the parking lot, and didn’t have so much fun running into a car hitch…  Dinner was casual and tasty, accompanied by the normal Hungarian conversation, with a sprinkle of English for our benefit. 

Bright and early Christmas Eve morning we headed into town, lead by Csilla, to explore.  We traversed the Freedom Bridge from Buda into Pest in a brisk wind, and found safe harbor in the indoor market.  We perused the stalls, checked out the meat market, including the “whole pig” and other uncommon meats, and then bee-lined it for the only stall offering langos.
Langos is a pastry, similar to doughnut dough, which has any number (and kinds) of toppings on it.  Hollywood and Csilla had sour cream and shredded cheese, while I enjoyed the sweeter taste of apricot jam and powdered sugar. 
We then headed back out into the brisk streets to take in the sights.  Pest is full of beautiful old buildings, with domes and spires drawing the eye upward.  We meandered through a Christmas market, sipping on mulled wine while watching a childrens puppet show, and witnessed a giant mop wander down the street!  Well – actually, it was a Puli, a large Hungarian breed of dog.
Our trip home took us over the Chain Bridge and to the base of Castle Hill…oh my, another castle on a hill! Imagine that!  Well, this one was quite splendid, and still in use.  We hopped on the bus and headed home for more Palinka and a light lunch, as we were instructed to save our appetites for the traditional X-mas eve carp soup.
We idled away the early afternoon with studies and reading, and then decorated the tree in reds and gold!  Mid-afternoon the carp was starting its heated marinade, so we all gathered in the garage to salivate to the smells of paprika, and to throw a few snowballs with little Miss Kiliana, Csilla’s niece.
Our hunger was more than sated soon thereafter, with a first course of fish soup broth, and a second course of the meaty fish steaks and other fish goodies.
We then decided to take a nap break before the third delicious course of fried fish, since we were all entering “food-coma” realm!
After our respite and third course, we invigorated ourselves with a couple shots of Palinka and lit the tree – literally, we lit sparklers ON THE TREE!  Exciting and beautiful!  Then we got down to the dirty business of opening presents!!!   As always, it is a true joy to watch a little person reveal happy surprises.

Christmas morning dawned bright and lazy!  Really, one of the most relaxed Christmases I’ve experienced.  We indulged in a bit of food, had a bit of a lie down, read a bit, poked around on the computer, Hollywood did a bit of studying, and we eventually stumbled out the door for a bit of blood flow!  Snuggly wrapped in cold fighting attire, we decided to see our surrounds from a higher vista.  Well, the layers started to fall away as the blood flowed and the hills were conquered.  As usual, Hollywood tried to cool me down with a not-so-well-placed snowball or two, and we decided which of the local homes would suit us for our own abode.  That evening was a quiet affair with the family, more good food and leisure. 
Boxing Day, which we didn’t celebrate, found us venturing back into the quiet city to take in more sights.  Once again, Csilla was nice enough to guide and educate us.  We stopped in to make sure the sermon at the Basilica was being properly conducted…uhhhh.
Then we knocked at Parliament to frown upon anyone who may have been working...no frowns necessary.  Csilla explained to us that the black balls stuck to the walls of a local building were markers of gunfire from one of Hungary’s many revolutions….sobering.
We observed the statues in Heroes Square standing proud as the sun put on a glowing afternoon show.  The bus was kind enough to give us a lift to the bottom of Castle Hill, where Hollywood ran up all of the gazillion steps to be the first to greet the Turul, and we all took in the beautiful views as night fell.

The next morning we awoke to the whispers of Tokaj urging us to visit.  So, since Csilla had been kind enough to set up two tastings for us, we three hit the road for an all-day adventure.  We were joined by Roland, a friend of Csilla’s from Hungary and Cuvaison, at the first winery where we tasted nearly two dozen wines, including a delicious Tokaj dessert wine the region is famous for.

Before our short road trip to the second winery we made a desperate stop in the town of Tokaj to grab some much needed carbs.  Csilla remembered a little place that served great langos, and we were very fortunate to find it open, as most everything else was shuttered.  We then headed to our second appointment and the pleasure of more tasty wines.  With night falling we headed for home with just a few stops along the way.  Csilla delivered a couple Christmas gifts, and we found a lovely restaurant to dine at just outside the town of Mad.  Upon completion of our delicious dinners of venison, pork and risotto, we bid farewell to Roland and headed back to Buda. 
One more day of relaxation was on our agenda in lovely Budapest, but this one took us to one of a dozen hot spring baths.  We spent several hours splashing, soaking, baking and pruning.  From warm outdoor pools with jetting rounds and refreshing falls, to the indoor steaming 32, 40 and 45 degree pools and saunas, we made the most of our last full day in Hungary.

Departure day dawned bright and sunshiny, happy to whisk Hollywood and Princess on to the next adventure.  An afternoon in Vienna was next with a pair in Athens to follow, before the traveling respite of Crete.