Weekend in Budapest

I traveled to Budapest for some shopping last weekend.  I was fortunate enough to be there while Vivvi was in town from Gyula, and I was able to stay with Ellen and Jake in their fabulous apartment.  I went to three different shopping centers, and at each I was in AWE at the Christmas trees and decorations that are already out!!  It’s the first weekend of November – don’t they know the after Thanksgiving rule?  Apparently not.  I am including some pictures from my trip to Budapest.  One is a picture of an outdoor seating area.  I love Hungarians for many reasons, not only are they concerned that you’ll become barren if you’re crotch rests on something cool – they are also concerned about the upper part of your body and provide blankets for your eating experience.  Why not just sit inside instead of freezing your ass off outside and borrowing a blanket?  Who knows.  Another picture is of the hallway leading to Jake and Ellen’s.  They have a fabulous apartment in a great part of Budapest – it was the Jewish ghetto during World War II and still has remnants of the bombing that took place there in standing buildings.  However, in order to get to their apartment, you have to either ascend a huge marble staircase that looks straight out of Gotham City or risk your life on the most insecure elevator I have ever experienced in my life.  Once you get to their floor, you run the risk of spontaneous vertigo as you walk down the hallway to their door.  Once you’re in, it’s beautiful, but getting to their door is a bit hectic.  In the picture, their door is straight ahead at the end of the walkway.  The last picture is of a "fashionable" Hungarian woman I saw in the subway.  Note that her pants change color as you move from the shoes up to the waist... she has a crinkly black shirt and a cropped jean jacket.  Throw in the hat and shoes- and she's a masterpiece.  The last picture is of some young men playing their Rubic's Cubes at the mall.  They were also selling the cubes and other different types of Rubic's games.  I love Hungarians.