The Christmas Market

I am so excited because the Christmas Market opened yesterday in Varosmarty Ter. That's the square where the high-priced fashion stores are located as well as the Gerbeaud Chocolate Company's shop.

We went for the first time last night which was the first day it was open. But it was raining and since we live here, Corwin talked me into coming back when the weather was nicer. Today it was not raining, but snowing! It was fairly cold in the mid-30s.



So we went back today to have lunch and look around. Boy was it fun. It's like the folk art market they had at the Castle last August, but now it's cold and snowing and not 90 degrees! I much prefer today's weather but I can't say the same for Corwin. However he warmed up to the idea when we found the hot mulled wine booth. Later we learned that there are many of these spots. You can just see the wine crock pots in the lower, middle right of this picture and the sausages cooking in the very lower right corner.

You get a mug full of hot, mulled wine for about $5.50--$2.50 for the mug and $3 for the wine. You can return the mug for a refill or refund--your choice. Corwin chose 3 refills and felt a whole lot better about shopping. In fact he thought he prefered this to sitting at a football game in similar weather. Hot, mulled wine would do a lot for football.



They were also cooking all over the market. Here you see sausages, but they also had stuffed cabbage, pork cutlets, thin fried beef steaks, shish-ka-bob, french fries, breads, rolls, pickles, slaw, pastries--you name it.



All over the market, whether you were shopping or sitting down to eat, you could hear the singing and music from the stage. The people changed every 30 minutes or so, but each group presented traditional Hungarian music.



Then we walked closer to the large tree. It's covered with ornaments that are about 10"-12" in diameter. They don't look that big here, but they are. It's a big tree. The boots and hearts are cut out of a vinyl fabric and stuffed.



There are several creches around the square, but this one, under the tree, is my favorite. It's all made of felt. The sheep are the best, but the wooly shephard's coat is neat too. This creche is about 3'-4' tall.



One booth had the traditional pastry that looks a lot like a really large (8"-10" long) creme horn or creme curl. First the lady in the booth next door rolls the dough.



Then she cuts it in a patern so that it will wrap around the mold.



Then she winds it around the mold.



Then she rolls it so the seams seal themselves. These are handed to the people in the next booth with the charcoal fire.

They spin them as they bake. You can see the ones at the top are more brown and almost ready to eat. When they are done, they slide off the mold. There was a long line waiting every time I came near this booth.



I could barely get close enough to take the pictures because there were so many people in line to buy the pastries. I haven't tried one of these yet, but I plan to when the line isn't so long.
Note: We went back again today, Sunday, November 23 and had one of these. They taste like really good sweet dinner rolls. They are brushed with oil or butter before they put them over the coals and then sprinkle them heavily with either sugar, cinnamon, or walnuts. It was delicious!

There were so many booths it's hard to describe them all, but here you see baskets,

carved trays from the burl of the wood,



sweaters, sox, slippers,



knitted hats and scarves,



pottery,



more pottery,



mistletoe which grows wild in the trees,



marionettes,



lavendar and herbs,



felted hats and other items,



more felted hats,



These trays were carved in the shapes of deer, cows, sheep, horses, and pigs. We were trying to figure out if we could get one of these home. They are about 24"-30" long.



It wasn't too crowded today, but still busy.

By the time I left it was almost 4pm which is when the sun sets here and it was getting dark. Corwin was in the metro station where he had been for a while. It's much warmer down there!

I'll be back again and probably several times before Christmas eve day when the market closes.

We plan to go to Barcelona for a weekend in early December. They have a Christmas market too! Stay tuned....