2013-11-11: Day 47 – Parental Day 4
As I may have alluded to previously much of Budapest is closed on Mondays. Much, but mercifully not all.
A spot of breakfast at Gerlóczy Kávéház and then on to visit St. Istvan's Basilica. The "donation" box on arrival is perhaps incorrectly labelled given that there is a priest stood next to it enthusiastically gesticulating and cycling through languages making it as abundantly clear as one can without actually saying the words that should you choose not to donate you are wasting your time in a place of religion as you are already doomed to the foulest pits of Hades.
I suspect there should have been more punctuation in that last section.
The highlight of the Basilica is a severed hand in a box. At least you assume it is as it's dark. You aren't allowed to use flash photography and there's a box to put more money in that turns a light on in the box for two minutes.
It's an impressive building to be sure but it reeks of rampant commercialism but done in a covert and duplicitous manner that religion really shouldn't be involved in. Despite my complete lack of religious inclination this saddens me.
From one religion to another and a visit to the Dohány Street Synagogue, largest in Europe and second largest in the world.
Far more upfront in there commercial interests by selling genuine admission tickets and there is a museum inside and other exhibitions so there is plenty to see and I now know that you can add Yamaka to the list of things that my head is the wrong size for.
Onwards we go to the Grand Central Market and a hunt for tat. There's absolutely tons of it and shopping was achieved with only a small quantity of questions along the lines of "where did we come in?"
We finish the trip with some food, langos wrapped around a, slightly disappointingly, thin sausage (second langos in two days and I am proud) for me, cake for them and finally find a dark beer to broaden Farv's Hungarian beer horizons.
And with that... it was time to collect possessions and head for the departure lounge.
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