We often take the Hop-on Hop-off Bus to see the major sights in a city. On Monday we board the Big Bus a few blocks from our apartment to see the loop. It takes us to see the major buildings within the center of the city and provide commentary on the history and significance of what we see. At Hero's Square, the largest square in Budapest, we leave the bus to take a closer look. The statues in the Square include the seven chieftains of the Magyars (native Hungarians). It is the entry-way to a large public City Park.
We stroll into the City Park and enjoy the exterior of the Budapest Agricultural Museum, which is a copy of the Vajdahuntad Castle in Transylvania, Romania. Originally it was built of cardboard as a temporary exhibit for the Hungarian millennium exhibit of 1896. It was so popular that it was made into a permanent building. The museum is closed on Mondays so we cannot go in, but today there is a crew filming a scene to an upcoming movie. Interesting!
We continue on the bus, making a large loop and decide to get off at the Central Market when we are start to get hungry. We walk through the fruit & vegetable sellers as well as the butchers in the market. There is street food available on the second floor, but we want a more relaxed meal.
We cross the street and bump into one of the vendors at the seemingly omni-present Budapest Card kiosks. He asks if he can help, then suggests that we skip the nearby restaurants which cater to tourists and instead walk 4-5 blocks to a pedestrian street with restaurants favored by locals. We arrive at Ráday Út and are delighted. There are restaurants with outdoor seating along the 4-5 city blocks. My meal of chicken paprikish and William's beef stew with local dumplings are extremely satisfying. Once again, so much for watching our diet!
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