Yeah, Gods, very funny.....

Well, it seems the gods overheard me saying yesterday that I would be going home today and decided to do something about that. In a manner I could have done without. Can't go into details but we have to stay here for a further four days. Unbelievably fortunately the next people to book this lovely apartment we're staying in don't come in until Wednesday 25 November, so that's when I've rescheduled our flight for. Sadly, TLH leaves for a business trip to Sweden on 24 November so we will truly be like ships passing in the night. Still, can't be helped.

I'd already packed all my stuff and everything and I'll be buggered if I'm going to get it all out again, so I'll literally be living out of a suitcase until then.

However, what this does mean is that, in order to pass the time, I can do you yet another posting.

As it was supposed to be our last afternoon yesterday, I decided to put a padlock on the Padlock of Happiness sculpture with my and TLH's names written on it. I found this really rather romantic and such a shame that TLH couldn't be there with me (we're not terribly big on romance in our house so this was a bit out of the ordinary for me). If you're coming to Budapest with your own Best Beloved, why not do the same (just remember to bring a padlock with you!). The sculpture can be found in Erzsebet Ter which is on Jozsef Attila utca, very close to Vorosmarty Ter.





Also, the Christmas Market opened in Vorosmarty Ter, so we popped along for a look.

My parents have been to Christmas markets in Germany before and were totally underwhelmed by them - 'just a lot of mulled wine and gingerbread', they reported, so I wasn't holding out much hope for this one.


How wrong I was.

For a start, there was a little low stage on which Hungarian musicians played traditional music, not exactly gypsy but not far off it. It was very different to western folk music but toe-tapping all the same:

Around the outside of the square, many of the little wooden chalets have people cooking and selling varied foodstuffs in large pans. Some I could recognise - chicken here, pork there - some I had no idea about but the smells were delicious, a mixture of frying meat, mulled wine, cinnamon and candyfloss (although no-one was selling any candyfloss - I could just smell that sweet smell).


The rest of the chalets were taken up with craft stalls of various kinds - jewellery, honey, candles, picture frames, mirrors, fused glass clocks, clothes, fur hats, basketmaker, book binder, felt slippers, puppet theatres, wooden toys (including some incredibly un-politically correct toys for boys of wooden tomahawks and rifles) and so much beautiful pottery and ceramics that I was almost overcome. I bought three little tiny dishes for christmas presents for relatives back home but I so wish I could get much more in my luggage:


I was particularly taken with the ceramics made by a lady called Andrea Vertel - the faces on the birds and animals were so full of character. I picked up a leaflet from her stall and she has a website - I recommend a quick visit:


See what I mean? All fabulous stuff - so if you find yourself anywhere in the vicinity between now and 29 December, you could do a lot worse than check out the Christmas Market in Vorosmarty Ter.