The nastiest soup I have ever seen ....

---

Geo: 47.3555, 18.9577

Back to the market. Had an apple pastry - looked great but was mediocre (strudel-like). Cruised to the town of Szentendre. Saw a nude sunbather on the banks of the Danube. Cool because she was pretty hot. Usually nude sunbathers are less than desirable.

Upon arrival - had a langos. Sausage this time - wrapped in dough and fried like a corn dog. Greasy - oil shot out all over my shorts. The town is kitsch-y - lame with tons of souvenir shops. I wanted to leave almost immediately after arriving.

Went to the marzipan museum - also lame, but cool in a twisted kind of way. Skipped the wine museum - maybe a mistake as 700 forints gets you 10 samples plus appetizers. Of course, I may have ended up falling in the Danube after and drowning. Back to Budapest and more internet (taking advantage of it!).

Saw Alanna having a beer in the square at the hostel - had dinner together again. Wanted to try "Menza" - an old style communist cafe that was supposed to be cheap and stuck in the 70's. The area - Liszt Ference Ter was extremely trendy with lots of beautiful people. Everything was outside our price range though still decent by North American standards. Definitely a vibrant area - many restaurants on either side of the street with a small park in the middle.

We settled on the doner kebab shop - excellent! Simple, but a great dinner sitting in the park and chatting. We didn't eat at the restaurants but still basked in the ambience. We decided to have dessert in the area after - settled on an ice cream shop. Pistachio/hazelnut sundae - excellent!

No toilet so I used the one in the bar next door. Absolutely disgusting! Trough style urinal - floaties like you wouldn't believe. Looked almost like soup. Yech .... back to the hostel. Alanna had to get her bag and catch a night train to Belgrade. We said our good byes and it was off to bed for me.

Overall, Budapest was only an average stop for me. Very beautiful but lacked the dynamic qualities that make places like Paris, London, Barcelona, etc. must-see cities. Perhaps if it had the refined elegance of Paris, the vibrancy of London, or the beautiful Spanish women of Barcelona!!!

But it was a great experience hanging out with Alanna. I have met many people that I have enjoyed being with a for an hour or two, but only a handful like her that I could spend an afternoon or day with. Hopefully we can continue a friendship down the road. Goofy, easy-going, and funny. I wish all my hostel bunkmates were like that!

---

Photos

a
Cruising down the Danube to Szentendre. Castle hill in the background.

b
The Chain bridge, I think.

c
The following are shots from the Marzipan museum. Some pretty impressive things they've done with Marzipan!

d
d

e
The Parliament building. The world would be a better place if all politicians were made of marzipan as well. At the least, they'd be more real. And when they expired, you would feel a little-less bad about throwing them in the trash or feeding them to the hogs.

f
f

g
g

h
How creepy ... Michael Jackson!!! The ironic part is that it's made out of white chocolate!!! No kidding!!!
I've also discovered why Michael's nose keeps slowly disappearing ... it's made of marzipan!!! All those kids he loves so much keep eating it. It goes well with their "Jesus Juice", I hear.

i
Mickey and Minnie look like they're hopped up on something good. What kind of example are they setting for the Mickey Mouse club???? How can future generations of the club ever live up to the wonderful examples that Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake have set?

j
The dog on the right is sleeping and sniffing its mother's butt .... tell me, why would it have such a big smile on its face? Maybe the mother's gas smells like marzipan.

p
Liszt Ference Ter - it seems like being young, chic, and beautiful is a requirement to be there. Luckily, I managed to sneak in through the back door!

q
Cool statue - it's like a mix of Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka. Luckily for me, the statue didn't offer me Jesus Juice or ask me to sleepover at the Neverland Ranch.

z
My hazelnut/pistachio sundae .... heavenly ....