Christmas Market

I had a pretty good weekend; I got a job offer, a phone call from my mom and grandma, and I finally made it to the Christmas market.  Yesterday I got a Christmas card from my grandma as well.  My family will be sad to hear about the job offer because it means that I can afford to stay here until June.  It will be nice to be able to afford to do a little traveling.  Krakow in a week, and (tentatively) Rome in February and Geneva in April.  However,  I just found out we're only a train ride from the area of Romania know as Transylvania.  That's right, just 500 kilometers from Dracula's castle.  I think that calls for a weekend trip for sure.  I mean, this is the real deal, not that "Twilight" B.S.  Anyway, it was nice to talk to mom and grandma.  It's difficult being away for the holidays, so it's nice to hear some familiar voices and get caught up with how the family is doing.

From what I understand, there are a couple of different Christmas markets in Budapest, but I went to one of the bigger ones at Vörösmarty tér. There are a bunch (50-75) of little log booths set up in a huge square in the middle of the shopping district. Some are serving foods, such as meats, vegetables, hot wine, baked goods, etc. It smells like a delicious version of the state fair. Others are selling various hand-made wares, such as dolls, wooden chess sets, metal ornaments and candle holders (made on-site by a real-life burly blacksmith), pottery, glassware, etc. It is quite a neat experience, but I can't help but feel that it's at least partially a show put on for tourists.

We finally got snow here today. To be fair, there were flurries the other day, but they didn't stick. Today we got maybe a quarter to half inch. By late afternoon it had mostly melted from the streets and sidewalks though. It's finally getting cold here (below zero degrees Celsius), but I'm getting conflicting stories on what to expect of the weather. Some people tell me that in recent years it hasn't snowed that much, others tell me that they've heard we're in for a lot more snow this winter. Weather here is a guessing game, just like anywhere else in the world. I guess some things never change. I don't start my job until the new year. 2010. I can hardly believe it. It seems so futuristic every time I say it. Anyway, JM and I will be visiting Krakow soon, so I should have some good stories and pictures from that trip. I hope that wherever this blog post finds you, you are well.


-E