After lunch in Budapest on our last full day, I went for a walk with my sister-in-law Huguette who led me on an excursion to the Central or Great Market Hall of Budapest. I had no great desire to go here, but I did want to get out. Christiane was still not feeling better and she urged me to go. It did not take much urging. There was lots to see along the way.
There were a number of picturesque buildings along the way which we stopped to photograph, even though we did not know what they were. A guide would a have been nice. Huguette refused to walk across the bridge to see things from the other side of the Danube. I was not sure why, but she was adamant. So I acquiesced. I did not think I should leave her alone.
We saw some lovely churches. Unlike many in our group, I still did not have enough of churches. The churches are beautiful. I just wish their religions were more beautiful too. Especially, in Hungary, the Christian churches are very unwelcoming to people who are a little different from the majority. For example, they do not welcome gays, lesbians, or trans. This attitude, among so many Christians, based on obscure and dubious interpretations of inconsistent passages in the Bible, seems to me to be very un-Christian. Nietzsche once said the worst thing about Christianity is Christians. What can be so wrong with different sexual practices that it warrants such division? It brings to my mind a statement by that wise American philosopher Homer Simpson who prayed to God that He would make him go to church more often so that Homer could become more judgmental.
Sorry I forgot what this building as. I just thought it was beautiful.
This building was across the street of the market.Sorry I have forgotten what this building was. But I thought it was beautiful.
The Market was originally built in 1897 and is near the Danube River a few blocks from our hotel, near the Liberty Bridge, in Fovam Square. If the tiles on that building look familiar that is because they were the same as the ones used on Matthias Church. Like so many other buildings in Budapest it was heavily damaged in World War II, but it has been repaired.
On the ground floor fresh produce and cheese are sold. On the second floor there are food stands.
The market also offered souvenirs like traditional crafts, embroidery items and handcrafts. Many shops sold packages of the famous Hungarian paprika and Tokaji. The market basement is where the fish mongers can be found.After a short stroll through the market we started walking back to our hotel along a different street. It was great just to walk through a small part of Budapest. Nothing special, but I loved it. Sadly, Christiane was still feeling bad so she stayed in the hotel. No wonder she didn’t enjoy the trip a lot. Nothing feeling well destroys a trip. She did not feel like going out with our friends so we had come to like so much, so I decided to stay back with her as the others frolicked. Instead we had a great dinner together: Chips and Diet Coke. Dining in style.