Where My Feet Took Me

This morning, I stepped out of my building with the intention of going to the grocery store. Instead, when I reached the grocery store I kept walking. I didn't have anything planned for the day except lesson planning and studying Hungarian, so I decided to take a short walk. The short walk turned into a long walk, and I ended up wandering around the city for most of the afternoon. I didn't have a destination in mind, I simply went where my feet took me.

First, I wandered down Váci utca, the main pedestrian shopping street in Budapest, and enjoyed the sight of endless colorful shops and the sounds of tourists from all over the world. One of my favorite things to do in tourist destinations is listen for languages. In Vörösmarty ter, a big open square, I sat for a while and heard people walking by speaking German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, Polish, and (naturally) English. I also stumbled upon these two majestic horse heads created from aluminum cans. Houston is home to the Beer Can House, and Hungary is home to the Beer Can Horse Heads. 

The end of the shopping street led me to the entrance of Széchenyi Lánchíd, the famous chain bridge that spans the Danube and is guarded by imposing lions. Our tour guide during orientation told us that the man who sculpted the lions boasted that he was so confident in the perfection of his creations that he would jump off the bridge if anyone were to discover a flaw. People looked and looked for imperfections, but could find nothing -- until one day, someone finally found a mistake: the lions had no tongues. The sculptor had no choice but to jump off the bridge into the Danube. Of course, this story, like much of the stories Hungarians tell about their history, is likely rooted more in fiction than in fact, but it makes for a good tale.

Still, the bridge is beautiful, so I walked across it to the Buda side of the city. I thought about riding the funicular up to the top of Castle Hill and going to the museums inside the castle, but on such a beautiful day, I wanted to stay outside. Instead, walked over to the zero kilometer marker. This marks the "heart" of Hungary, so mile markers (or kilometer markers) all over the country use this as a reference point. Unfortunately, right as I took this picture, a lady bent over to care for her baby, which didn't make for a great visual composition -- but I love that the little boy is pointing and laughing at the situation.

Not wanting to climb any hills that day, I turned around and returned to the Pest side of the city on the other side of the bridge. I couldn't figure out how to cross the busy street, and my search for a crosswalk led me to another pedestrian street. I walked by Central European University and stumbled upon something absolutely wonderful.

Right by Szent István Bazilika (St. Stephen's Basilica), there was a crowd of people. My glasses are not currently at the right prescription, so I had to get closer to find out what it was... and imagine my sheer joy upon discovering it was a dessert festival! Since I hadn't yet made it to my original destination (the grocery store), I was hungry! 

So of course, I bought myself a coffee, and then set about exploring the isles and isles of chocolates, cakes, cookies, macarons, truffles.... yum. One stall in particular gave me a good chuckle -- the Angol Csemege, or "English Sweets". It was an odd mixture of American and British junk foods, with a good ol' American flag up just to reinforce the theme.

After eating my fill, I decided to check out the basilica. (When I told my friend Rachel about this, she said "Finally, you went to church!"). The inside of the basilica was ornate and absolutely stunning. I couldn't explore much of it, though, because there was a service going on, so tourists were contained in one smallish corner. A foul-tempered candle-seller-person periodically shush-ed the increasingly noisy group in various languages. Leise! Silence! Silencio! etc. I was impressed with his multilingualism, less impressed with his grumpiness.

By this time, it was getting late in the day, and I still needed my groceries, so I turned back into the direction of my apartment. By a struck of fate, I walked right into the best grocery store I've found so far! Spar had everything I needed and more, and I left the store with a few extra items that weren't on my list. On my way back home to my apartment, I also happened upon a few stalls selling crafts. I bought a little heart-shaped ceramic dish, which will both keep my rings contained and also remind me of my unplanned day of exploration of the city. I didn't finish my lesson plans or study Hungarian, but I'd still say it was a productive day.

A productive day of impromptu exploring!