Budapest Diary - Day 3

“She’s too scary!” Said Snag, looking at the little princess. “I prefer the statue of that girl with the dog”. I was on familiar territory now, walking down the riverside towards the Szechernyi Lanchid. As we crossed the Danube, Snag finally agreed that this was indeed the bridge featured by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his movie. But she was far from happy!

She: “But why did they say in the movie that it was Rome?”

Me: “Because they think the audience is stupid! Nobody would have visited Rome so much during those times to know”

She: “But why couldn’t they simply say it was Budapest?”

Me: “Who would know about a place called Budapest? Even our Admin team doesn’t know there’s such a place. They asked us where it is!”

On seeing the Funicular Railway going all the way up the castle, she got scared. The fear lasted until I forced her to stand up in the train and take a look at the receding view of the bridge down below. The grand palace looked less beautiful than the last time around, thanks to the wooden stalls set up on all sides. They were everywhere – on the front, in the courtyard and all around the Matthyas fountain, taking most of the beauty away from the majestic structure. But Snag seemed mighty impressed!

“They should give me this palace to live!” she remarked

“How will you maintain it?” I asked

Pop came the reply! “The maintenance, they can keep to themselves.”

But she was hardly impressed by the paintings, remarking as to why they only painted in dark colours and about war! “I am not going to step into any more Art Galleries now!” she fumed. There goes the next three museums!

We had lunch at the small restaurant (with high aims, as the bill indicated). The chef whipped up something “off the menu” for me, when I asked for “something Hungarian”. According to Snag, it looked like Thayir Saadam with Sambar (of course, if only colours determined everything). And indeed the gravy tasted a lot like Indian Curry, except that instead of the spices, they had used Paprika – on which the Hungarians swear oath.

There was nothing much I had to buy from the folk fair. I had already done a hell load of souvenir shopping from my previous trip. The “not-so-good” tablecloths seemed overpriced. And the other stuff, I already had. Curiously, the glass paintings were completely absent! I still managed to buy a couple of trinkets. But the best of the day was the delicious Hungarian Funnel Cake that Snag spotted being sold all over the place. The funnel cake is a hollow cylindrical cake, made by wrapping dough spirally over a rolling pin. After baking, they are coated with a choice of powders – chocolate, nuts, sugar, cinnamon, you name it…it was piping hot and delicious.

At the end of the day, Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion were disappointing. Major portions of both the places were closed for renovation. The little spires of Fisherman’s Bastion prompted me to try out some experimental shots. “So what’s so great about black and white photos?” questioned Snag. “Creativity!” I remarked. Frankly, I could not think of any other reply. By the time we were on the Lanchid, the photography bug had bitten her.

“I am proud of my photos. I am really good at this!” she squealed. “I can probably sell these photos”

“I won’t buy them” I said “And don’t try to blackmail me into it, saying that you wouldn’t solve any messages if I didn’t!”

“Now that’s a good idea to think about!” she smirked.

Did I dig my own grave?