Central Market, part 2!

Hi guys,

So, my mom is visiting town, and one of the first places I wanted to take her was the Central Market.  It's been one of my favorite places to visit here in Budapest, and is just a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Instead of taking the subway straight there, we decided to take the tram to Gellert, which is right across the river from the market hall.  To get there, we walked across the Green Bridge (yes, it probably has another name, but that's what everyone calls it--can you guess why??):

Here's an establishing shot of the market hall, I realize now I didn't include one last time.  It's a gorgeous building (especially the tilework on the roof, don't if you can see that in the picture):

We got a late start, meaning that by the time we got there I was already hungry.  So first thing, headed straight upstairs to the food stands.

While we were tempted by some of the other offerings . . .

. . . there's really no competition for fresh-out-the-oil langos:

(as you can see, I'd already taken a few bites before I went, "oh right, blog, pictures, my bad")

There are so many cool things that you can only find in Hungary.  For instance, you can get tinned foie gras. Like, quality pate.  For cheap.  Tell me that's not awesome:

Also, delicious cookies.  And yes, your eyes do not deceive you, those ones in the middle are smiley-face cookies:

 . . . which are rivaled in ridiculousness only by smiley-faced stuffed pickled peppers.  Yes, you read that correctly:

Oh, by the way, I found the honey!  Maybe only Seattle people understand this, but it's my firm belief that it doesn't count as a market unless there's honey:

Hungarians do like their peppers.  Don't know what they'd do without them:

 (assorted dried paprika as well--definitely bringing some of this back as souvenirs and presents)

Oh, and before some smart guy comments that peppers are a New World crop and thus clearly the Hungarians had to go without at some point . . . I remind you that so are tomatoes and potatoes, and nobody bothers the Italians or the Irish about that :P

Anyways, that was only the start of our long day today, but I think that should be enough for one post.  Thanks for reading!  Later,

Noah out