Another plus for our accommodation is that it is across the road from the market, which we visit twice.
It's a huge undercover market on three levels (Aldi in the basement). At ground level the stalls are grouped by type, veg here, sausage there, etc. Most of the area is full height to a glass roof, but there are galleries all round with four crossing the hall. Here there is one area of cheap takeaway food, and the rest is non-perishables, mostly of the souvenir variety. One wonders if there are enough people on the planet to buy all the "I love Budapest" t-shirts and embroidered tablecloths, not to mention vests, shirts and skirts. Then there are the matryoshka dolls, jigsaws and Rubik's cubes (he was a Hungarian). What they don't have is men's bathers, which we need because Peter failed to pack same and they are needed for the baths. Eventually we find a cheap pair ($15) in a souvenir shop in the Vaci (pedestrian street nearby), after P has refused to pay about $75 for a Tommy Hilfiger pair, or half that for a pair in an Adidas sale.
We return to the market next morning to buy me cheap sunglasses to replace a broken pair and to take in one of the free concerts that are on at odd times and odd places in the summer in Budapest. In the market we listen to a terrific gypsy band - two violins, double bass and cimbalom. First violin and cimbalom player were both virtuoso standard. Note that even gypsy bands no longer wear embroidered vests - these guys were in shirts and slacks, turning off their mobiles before starting to play.
It's a huge undercover market on three levels (Aldi in the basement). At ground level the stalls are grouped by type, veg here, sausage there, etc. Most of the area is full height to a glass roof, but there are galleries all round with four crossing the hall. Here there is one area of cheap takeaway food, and the rest is non-perishables, mostly of the souvenir variety. One wonders if there are enough people on the planet to buy all the "I love Budapest" t-shirts and embroidered tablecloths, not to mention vests, shirts and skirts. Then there are the matryoshka dolls, jigsaws and Rubik's cubes (he was a Hungarian). What they don't have is men's bathers, which we need because Peter failed to pack same and they are needed for the baths. Eventually we find a cheap pair ($15) in a souvenir shop in the Vaci (pedestrian street nearby), after P has refused to pay about $75 for a Tommy Hilfiger pair, or half that for a pair in an Adidas sale.
We return to the market next morning to buy me cheap sunglasses to replace a broken pair and to take in one of the free concerts that are on at odd times and odd places in the summer in Budapest. In the market we listen to a terrific gypsy band - two violins, double bass and cimbalom. First violin and cimbalom player were both virtuoso standard. Note that even gypsy bands no longer wear embroidered vests - these guys were in shirts and slacks, turning off their mobiles before starting to play.
The second concert was in the open air in the afternoon on Margaret Island - the extremely unusual combination of soprano sax and string quartet. String quartet was good, all female. Sax player does the arranging of classical pieces for the combo and again was virtuoso standard, the arrangements are showpieces for him.
Third concert was on the steps of St Stephen's Basilica - three percussion players playing assorted chimes/xylophone type instruments, plus a solo flute. Virtuoso playing again by all four, with the percussionists looking like they were having fun as well.
In all the cities there are concerts everywhere that are classical pot pourri (or is that pop pourri?). In Vienna it's all Strauss and Mozart. In Budapest and Prague it's some or all of Pachelbel's Canon, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Brahm's Hungarian Dances, Ave Maria (either Gounod or Schubert) - you get the idea. We avoid them in Vienna, but relent in Budapest because the program has only one Vivaldi season and an Ave Maria, and the other bits and pieces are less hackneyed, and because it's in St Stephen's which is a very grand church. The small string group play beautifully, but the soprano who sings a couple of numbers struggles with the acoustic, which has a serious echo. Before the concert we go into the church to find a mass in progress in English with African music. Who would have thought it?
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