erica, two
After relaxing at home most of Friday, Erica and I woke up early Saturday morning to go to Ecseri Piac, a flea market on the outskirts of Pest near the airport. It is apparently the largest in Central Europe, and one I've wanted to visit since I arrived in Hungary. It was still cloudy and bitter cold - not the greatest weather for shopping at an outdoor marketplace. But we kept our fingers tucked into our sleeves and shuffled through the endless aisles of tables and booths cluttered with an overwhelming medley of dusty knickknacks. A lot caught my eye - beaded necklaces, silver rings, Herend porcelain, fur hats, typewriters, vintage sunglasses. It was hard to decipher which items were authentic and which were knock-offs, and even harder to ask. One vendor had hundreds of vintage film cameras, but discouraged by the language barrier, I didn't attempt to find out if any of them worked. Just before we decided to leave, our fingers and toes frozen numb, I found a red, crystal glass ashtray that looked like it was made by Herend, but I couldn't tell for sure. I bought it for a 1,000 forints or about $5.
We shivered in my Lada and drove back to downtown Pest. I showed Erica Heroes Square and we found a cafe on Andrassy utca for cappuccinos and hot, chicken broth soup. As we headed home, the sun finally came out, so I decided to bring her up to Janos-hegy and Erzsebet kilato for a bird's-eye view of Budapest. We drove up the winding mountain road, and strong, welcome sunrays flooded the inside of my car. Erica's iPod was playing, and we talked about Portland, Ore., and New York, N.Y., and music and love.
After dinner, we had a "girls' night out." We toasted to Baltimore at the bus stop (Erica accidently said "To Baltimore!" instead of "To Budapest!" as we sipped our cans of Dreher beer), and from Moskva ter, we caught the tram to Ulloi utca. I brought her to Kis West-Balkan first, and later, Nagy West-Balkan. We were out really late.
Sunday was another day for napping and relaxing. We all went out to the Persian restaurant Shiraz for dinner, and lingered at the table for hours. I wanted to savor my last night with one of my best friends.
In the morning, we drove to Ferihegy Airport and I said goodbye to Erica, a perfect guest and perfect friend who I've loved since I was 5.
Communist paraphernalia at Esceri Piac
Pit stop
(photo: ES)
That's my Lada!
(photo: ES)
Erzsebet kilato
Girls' night out, Nagy West-Balkan
