November 20, 2010: Joe, Sonia, and Deb leave Hungary; Palace of Arts; Winter Festival continued

November 20, 2010: After I met Joe, Sonia, Jack, and Deb, we decided to go to the Museum of Applied Arts which is not far from Joe and Sonia's hotel. The museum was built in 1892 and contains very beautiful and old furniture, porcelain, and clocks. It also holds the world's second largest collection of Turkish carpets.

Museum of Applied Arts

There's also an exhibit of Rubik's cubes (Rubik is a Hungarian professor). Also, there were a number of groups of children engaged in learning meditation and visiting the museum.

Children meditating at Museum of Applied Arts

Museum of Applied Arts Rubik cube collection

After our visit of the museum, we meandered to the central market for shopping and browsing. Then, it was to Raday utca for lunch. A good time was had by all. Then, Joe and Sonia left for the airport while Jack, Deb, and I went to their hotel at Nyugati so that Deb could print out her boarding pass for tomorrow's flight back to the US. Then we walked downtown. On the way, we passed a beer cart that's powered by the drinkers of the cart who pedaled the cart down the street.

Beer cart pedaled by beer drinkers

Nothing like drinking and driving! Jack, Deb, and I walked to the Winter Festival which was in full swing. Here are some pictures of some of the stalls.

Winter Festival -- Hungarian blue cloth

Winter Festival -- Rooster testicles anyone?

Winter Festival

Winter Festival

As in many other Hungarian festivals, there was also live entertainment including dancing, singing, and gypsy music.

Winter Festival live music

After roaming through all the stalls, we decided to go to Deb's last dinner in Hungary. We meandered to St. Stephen's Basilica to find a restaurant in that area. A man named Laszlo approached me with a restaurant coupon worth 20% off at the Strudel Restaurant. He more or less guided us personally down a long block to make sure we didn't get lost, telling us all the wonderful things about this restaurant as we walked. Deb and Jack were in hysterics hearing him strong arm me to this restaurant. He held the door for us until we were "safely" inside and told the host about our 20% discount. The restaurant was actually quite nice. The menu, although a bit on the expensive side compared to other restaurants listed very interesting meals and with the 20% discount, the prices fell in line with other restaurants. Deb and I each ordered the duck with mango chili chutney and wild rice. Jack order the black cod with potatoes. We also had a half liter of white wine and had a great time talking until our meals arrived. And, I must say the wait was worth it. The duck was very tender and not at all greasy, a problem with duck dishes in other restaurants. The chutney really hit the spot and the rice was enhanced with some sort of broth to add flavor. For dessert we each ordered a different strudel. Mine was apricot, Jack's was sour cherry poppy seed, and Deb's was apple poppy seed. They were probably the best strudels I've ever eaten (I was given a bite of Jack's to compare to mine). The pastry was paper thin and the inside was very tasty. Coffee was served with it and it really set off the dinner.

Dinner at the Strudel House (Duck)

What a great way for Deb to leave Hungary! We really had a great time talking with each other. In the mean time, I made plans to go visit Jack in Nyiregyhasa in December. We parted and I returned home to find an e-mail from Greg Boone, another CETP teacher who said he and his girlfriend are in town and want to have lunch with me tomorrow. I called him and we'll be meeting tomorrow at noon. What a busy weekend!