Budapest - shop till you drop

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Hi there

We are spending our last few days in our final stop Budapest before flying back home.

The people in Budapest are worlds apart from Slovenia and Croatia. The Croats and Slovenes are generally slim (even by asian standards) and dress well. But here in Hungary, the people are bigger in build, more portly in size (did i tell you i was a giant in Slovenia and Croatia but a dwarf in Hungary...).

And they are less friendly too, maybe people in big cities are less friendly. I find the Slovenes the friendliest, then the Croats (that is my two cents worth of opinion). English is also not as widely spoken and understood in this country, as compared to the other 2 countries.

But things here are much much cheaper. It is a shopping paradise for me, i have long heard the reputation of Budapest being the place to shop for souvenirs, especially the famous Central Market. So I have reserved all my money for the shopping spree. Whatever tempted my wallet in Slovenia and Croatia, i put off buying in the hope of getting the same for less in Budapest. The Central Market is a landmark here, it is a big 2-storey building which could easily be mistaken as an old musuem from the exterior. The ground floor sells fresh meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, bread, confectionary and wine. The second floor sells traditional hungarian souvenirs, toys, leather bags, linen etc, you name it they have it.

There are so many things to buy here, you can spend literally the whole day here shopping. Another place i would recommend is Vaci Street, which is just across the road from where the Central Market is. Vaci Street is where Folkart Centrum is located, it is a high end and overpriced shop selling hungarian folkart souvenirs. But Folkart Centrum aside, there are lots of cafes and souvenir shops lining the street, but if you are looking for common souvenirs, its better to buy from Central Market rather than Vaci Street as its cheaper there in Central Market.

Food here in Budapest is also very cheap. We had the traditional paprika chicken at a popular local restaurant, it was such a huge serving, you can forgo soup and dessert and you will be full. That cost about 2000 HUF or Forint, including coffee and 10% service charge. That is only 8 Euro or 16 SGD for 2 persons. But on the other side of the scale, having afternoon tea (just a piece of cake and a cup of coffee each) at the famous Gerbeaud Cafe at Vorosmarty can set you back by 3000 forint.

So far we have visited the Matthias Church, the Fisherman Bastion, the statue park, the Central Market, the Jewish Synagogue. We still have not seen a lot of other attractions cos Budapest is so big, but time is running out. We have to do our last minute shopping.....

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