Great Central Market Hall, Budapest - Rubics Cube in Hungary!

More shots from ... Grand Central Market Hall!

Located: Near Pest end of Liberty Bridge
Opening hours: Monday: 06.00-17.00, Tuesday-Friday: 06.00-18.00, Saturday: 06.00-15.00, Sunday: closed
Add: Fővám tér, Pest end of Liberty Bridge, trams 2, 47, 49
Metro: Nearest metro station is at Kálvin tér (M3 blue line)

Hungarian Paprika and a vege that looks a lot like ... ginseng!

Unicum is a Hungarian herbal bitters, drunk as a digestif and apéritif.
The liqueur is today produced by Zwack according to a secret formula of more than forty herbs, and the drink is aged in oak casks. During the Communist regime in Hungary, the Zwack family lived in exile in New York and Chicago, and Unicum was produced using a different formula. After the fall of communism, Péter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed the production of the original Unicum.

We loved visiting the Central Market :-)

The 2nd floor is full of little food stalls, serving ... sausages! Slurpp...

It was packed with people, so we promptly squeezed our way through to the shopping area on the same floor.

The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toys in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that year. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes have sold worldwide making it the world's top-selling puzzle game. It is widely considered to be the world's best-selling toy.

Giant colour pencils!

Hungarian bears!

Hungarian handicraft ...

Remember .... we do NOT accept any complaint, after leaving the cash desk!
Typical Hungarian customer service, ha!

Great Central Market Hall - Near Liberty Bridge, Budapest

Located: Near Pest end of Liberty Bridge
Opening hours: Monday: 06.00-17.00, Tuesday-Friday: 06.00-18.00, Saturday: 06.00-15.00, Sunday: closed.
Add: Fővám tér, Pest end of Liberty Bridge, trams 2, 47, 49.
Metro: Nearest metro station is at Kálvin tér (M3 blue line)


Here's where I spent my favourite few snappy-happy hours in Budapest over three weeks, the market. Lighting was tough, but shooting on f/2.8 - f/4.5 and 1/40s - 1/80s, I managed these shots. As always, I had my trusty Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 with me, and my Nikon D80 too.

Lets go inside!

Bottle after bottle of local Hungarian wine

Interesting veges! Pumpkins and radishes?

History from Budapest-tourist-guide.com

At the turn of the 19th-20th century, after Budapest was formed by unifying Buda, Pest and Óbuda, the city begun flourishing and expanding.
The chaotic outdoor markets could no longer adequately supply the growing number of inhbaitants with fresh produce. The city leaders decided to build covered market halls similar to those in Paris and other Western European cities.
Construtction of the Great Market Hall started in 1894 according to the design of Samu Petz. In 1896 a few days before the handover fire destroyed about half of the roof.
After repairing the roof the market opened on 15th March 1897 together with the other four Budapest Markets, built at the same time.
Budapest's Great Market Hall belonged to the most modern indoor markets at that time, with up-to-date lightning and refrigeration. Originally the vendors shipped their products into the hall through a network of indoor channels. They aren't in use anymore.
The Great Market Hall was reconstructed between 1991-94. Beautiful Zsolnay tiles cover the enormous roof structure, that make it the most spectacular element of the building from outside.
Strings of red paprika :-)

Giant Hungarian salami ... 6 feet!

Porcine objects of desire!

Foie gras, anyone?

Wah ... more pork. Shiok!

All shapes, sizes and types of sausages!

Parazs Presszo - Thai Hungarian cuisine, Budapest

Google map: Click here for restaurant directions
Add: 1067 Budapest Szobi utca 4, Budapest, Hungary
Tel: +361 950 3770

Thanks to Zub and bbG for bringing me and my team to this Hungarian-Thai eatery!


Good beer ...


Nice dishes on the menu, at reasonable prices ... round about 15-20 Euros per head including a beer or two :-)


BUT ... beware, the service can be indifferent. To be safe, ask to speak to the Thai co-owner, she is much nicer! Thai? I chose Oihsi Green Tea from Thailand ...

Ah ... definitive Thai starter, Tom Yum Goong.

Chopsticks in Hungaria ...

Really good fried rice! Oops, Kao Pad I mean ...

My Pad Kaprao Moo Sarb ... pretty good!

Pad Thai was okie ...

Hey, its my Pad Kaprao again, this time without the rice ... told you the service was a little odd. They insisted we ordered it twice (I don't think so) ... but I was feeling generous, and had both portions :-)

Foggy day in Budapest - Me and my Nikon D80

This is Budapest ... not in its best light, on a cold miserably foggy and wet day!


Sure is a miserably wet Sunday...


Check out the Hungarian flag with the middle carved out :-)

The parliament on a really gloomy day!

The most poignant visit in the 6 hours we spent at Budapest...

Shoes on the Danube Promenade

To the memory of the victimsshot into the Danubeby Arrow Cross Militiamen in 1944-45

Shoes on the Danube is a memorial to the Budapest Jews who fell victim to the Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest and depicts their shoes left behind on the bank when they fell into the river after having been shot during World War II.