To Market to Market

Monday, we started off with a morning stroll with a Starbucks coffee down to the Market. A wonderful place full of gorgeous and yet ridiculously inexpensive produce (that's just under 300 florints to the dollar and pricing per kg)

 and meats

along with baked goods and so many paprikas we couldn't pick without coming back to the room to translate the different kinds. (sweet, pungent, spicy, etc)

We even navigated through the upper floor's tourist trinkets stands and had the requisite langos with sour cream and cheese. (Sort of a sweet pizza shaped donut with toppings.)

In the basement, were the fish mongers and the pickle sellers. And they pickle EVERYTHING here. Not just cucumbers and peppers and sauerkraut. But look at this:

Kittens! Oh no!
 

The Lights, Master, The Lights

Sorry for the poetic license. But the lights of Budapest are simply amazing. Last night we took the trolley out to the Bridge stop at Magrit Island just north of here looking back. Never saw the moon but the sky glows just the same. I cannot even imagine their electric bills to light up the world like this.

Two quick images as we break now between the Market and the Parliament tour this afternoon.



And zoomed in

Buda and Pest

Well, lest anyone worry that the night train from Krakow to Budapest turned out to be a bad idea....all is well. We arrived safe and sound with no problems at all. The compartment was a smidge smaller than I remember the sleeper compartment being on the night trains in Egypt. But then again, they are probably just the same.

No matter. We settled into our new airbnb and set out to explore this city which is certainly a more robust place than Krakow was. It is a balancing act between trying to always be looking up in order to appreciate the architecture and yet looking down to navigate the cobblestones when appropriate. Being the savvy travelers that we are, we quickly located the Danube and the Chain Bridge with Buda Castle Hill on the opposite side. Pretty during the day but obviously at its most stunning at night with illumination.

Here's one of the Lions from the end of the bridge with the hill behind:

 

 

And the classic picture, postcard shot of the bridge with the palace behind:

We enjoyed an amazing dinner of goulash and paprika chicken and Hungarian wines. So all in all a good day in spite of being tired from our travels.

This morning we headed off to the hill to explore and to look back at the Pest side. Not nearly as stunning and still covered in low clouds. But the temperature got up to about 60 degrees so there was NO complaining today. 

St. Matthias Church was pretty enough even in the overcast:


And the Parliament was still impressive:

And then the skies actually turned blue. No, really blue. So here's closer picture of the parliament to prove that miracles do happen:

 

Tonight we are heading back out with hope in our hearts that maybe the full moon will make an appearance and that we can catch a glimpse of it above some landmark. Fingers crossed.

 

I'm Just Waiting On a Train

Our last couple of hours here in Krakow hanging in the train station waiting for our overnight train to Budapest. Our biggest challenge right now (besides staying awake) is using up our remaining Polish money. I went into the grocery store and bought fruit and cookies and two big bottles of water and two fancy chocolate bars and blew through a cool $5US.  Michael is off now seeing if he can make a bigger dent.

Meanwhile to recap the day. We slept late. Had a leisurely breakfast and then brought our bags here to the station to store them. (Convenient even if surprising that one can still do that in this day and age) Then we caught a tram to the old Jewish quarter to tour the museum at Oskar Schindler's old factory. We had passed on going to auschwitz so felt like we should at least visit this museum covering the years of the German occupation.  Always sobering.

Then since we were finally blessed with some blue skies and sunshine we headed back to the square for a late lunch.

And here we are.  Pleasant dreams. More tomorrow from Pest.

Baby Its Cold Outside

Day two: Krakow.
Really still a lovely place. Even in the cold.
Before we left, as I was bitching about the heat in Anguilla, I asked Michael to remind me not to bitch about the chill in Europe. Granted, I wasn't really expecting quite this degree (pardon the pun) of chill, but nevertheless, I am trying to do my best to buck up under multiple layers of clothing. So here I am at Wawel Castle NOT bitching about the cold:
\

 

 

And here is the castle itself...(try to imagine a sunny sky...we really tried)

 

 

 

And here are the pretty horses on the square:

 

 

 

And here is the secret to staying warm:

 

 

A nice flight of flavored wodka.

 





 



The Salt of the Earth

Greetings from Krakow where our first 24 hours have been dreary and cold and drizzling. But what a lovely city nonetheless. Our little airbnb apartment is one block from the main square, a square that is every bit as pretty as an Italian piazza. I imagine, and hope I will be able to confirm that it is even lovelier in the sunlight.

We figured that a dreary day was perfect for catching the train out to tour the Wieliczka Salt Mine where the temperature underground was a relatively balmy 60 degrees so I actually had to peel some layers off. Learned lots about salt mining and came away with three questions that I will have to research at some point if I ever remember. (1) why doesn't all the metal corrode inside a salt mine? (b) Did the horses that lived their whole lives underground suffer from vitamin D deficiencies? and (3) Was tourism really a big thing in the mid-1800s?

As we ponder those mysteries here are some photos:

Here's a little bit of what held the world above our heads.



And here's an altar in the cathedral ...everything carved out of the gray salt walls.



And how about a chandelier made of over 2,000 pieces of cut salt?



And then at the end of the day we found a kitchy little local restaurant and had our first goulash and pierogis....all of this for $12 total, not a piece, total. Ummm Ummm. Ummmm.


 

And up next....

Testing the posting system again as we are getting ready to head out on our next adventure tomorrow. Krakow, Budapest, Salzburg, Vienna, Prague and Tromso, Norway. I must be getting old. Well, of course I am getting old. But I must be feeling older because I am a bit homesick at the thought of being away for so long.

So homesick and excited.

Meanwhile, here’s my latest post on my ‘regular’ life blog just to whet your appetite since it relates to this trip.

http://whaddyadoallday.com/?p=762

More later.

Happy trails.

 

visit www.whaddyadoallday.com for tales of real life on a desert island