Hungarian barn...

Here's one of the barns we saw in Hungary.  Not too much like our American barns.  I love the thatched roof.

This good looking dude was hanging out in one of the barns.

Linking to Barn Charm!

Hungarian Fences…

One city fence...

One country fence...

Linking to Friday Fences!

Buda and Pest and Odds and Ends...

Just a few parting shots of Budapest, a place I really hope to return to one of these days...

Franz Liszt's hand.

Matyas Church

In Buda looking toward Pest and the Parliament Building.

Inside the Central Market.  I would love having a place like this to shop.

Looks to me like the beginnings of a good goulash.

Exterior of the Central Market.

Dazed and confused.

An unforgettable day in the Puszta…

Not being city folks, Evan and I thought a day in the countryside in Hungary might be a nice break.  So, we decided to take an excursion to the Puszta or the Hungarian countryside.

 

Our first stop was in the town of Kecskemét, where we heard the noon bells ringing from the town hall and got to wander through a market on the town square.

City Hall and its bells.  An outstanding example of Hungarian Art Nouveau architecture.

One of the offerings at the market.  If I could have figured out how to get one of these jars home intact, I may have bought one.  They look delicious!
 

Then we took off for the countryside and a horse farm Varga Tanya, where we went to see a traditional Hungarian farm.

Then we went back to Varga Tanya to catch a Hungarian Equestrian Show.

The first demonstration was of three horses pulling a cart.

These are the two lead horses of a "four-in-hand," a vehicle traditionally used by nobles.

Horsemen were easy to see from a long distance in the Puszta so it was vital for the horseman to be able to make the horse lie down quickly.  This way they were able to hide.  This is a demonstration of the horse's ability to lie down and remain quiet.  The men are wearing a traditional Hungarian garment.

Here is the Puszta Ten.  In the 19th century there was an Austrian painter, Ludwigh Koch, who loved the Puszta and horses.  He painted an imaginary picture with a horseman standing on the back of the last two of five horses and driving them.  He said no horseman could do it in reality.  The Hungarian horsemen said they certainly could and did.  They did it so well that they even increased the number of horses to ten.

Our day ended with a feast of traditional Goulash, this fantastic platter of chicken and fried mushrooms, a pancake with apricot sauce and wine.  Great times!

Floating down the Danube…

Evan and I are home from our travels.  Both of us agree that of the three cities we visited, Budapest, Vienna and Prague, we liked Budapest the best.  The others are no slouches, mind you, but there was something very charming about Budapest.  I’m not sure if it was the beautiful (and sometimes stunning) waterfront, the easy subway accessibility or the friendly people that did it for me, but I really enjoyed being there.

We got in around 11 am their time after flying all night.  So after checking in to our hotel and taking a brief nap, we figured the best way to spend what we could manage of our first afternoon was to take a boat ride.  We actually enjoyed the boat ride so much, that we went back on our last evening there and cruised through Budapest in the dark.  So to get started, here are some pics I took as we floated down the Danube admiring the sights in Budapest.

This is the Liberty Bridge built in 1896 for the Millennium World Exhibition.

The Margaret Bridge has an unusual Y construction.  One branch goes to  Margaret Island.

The spectacular Parliament Building glowing in the evening light.

The Chain Bridge at night.

The Liberty Bridge at night.

The Parliament Building at night.

Evan and I are celebrating that we actually managed to negotiate our way down to the boat with two hours of sleep.