We left Pecs and drove to Budapest today – about 2 1/2 hours. The big city is beautiful, all decorated for Christmas and at about 55 degrees it is perfect weather to stroll around and get in the holiday state of mind. We parked our car and we don’t plan to use it at all for the time we are here.

We had lunch and checked out our part of the city, right on the Danube River. There wasn’t much boat traffic this afternoon and I wondered how busy the river got here.

I was surprised that Budapest has a giant(er) ferris wheel than Gyor so after the sun went down we took a ride to get a view of the city. They seem much more serious about their wheel, with two technicians in a booth operating the controls rather than a college girl pushing a lever. On the other hand, we were not offered blankets as we were in Gyor. It was lots of fun in both places and a good way to see the city lights.

We strolled around and walked right into a giant Christmas market, with lots of food, live music, and interesting gifts for sale. Wow, it was fantastic. We will have lunch there this week, but for now we got a few Christmas cookies.

photos: The city in holiday lights; music at the market; so much food at the holiday market, just one booth of a dozen.