On Friday, December 12, 2014 we took the train to the nearby city of Gyor to check out the annual Christmas Market. (and to eat at the newly opened Kentucky Fried Chicken at the ÁRKÁD Mall. What a fun day we had!

Far left, this is the kind of Christmas tree the city of Gyor had for street decorations this year; Left, while walking around Jer spotted this dress for sale outside a shop that looked very much like the steampunk style we love; Right, for some reason there was a big crane at work but we didn't go closer to see what it was doing; Far right, one of MANY wine stalls we saw, many selling both bottled wine and also mulled wine.

Far left, another wine stall; Left, Jer loved the look of this portable oven which was making "langalló" - something similar to a Hungarian version of pizza; Right, another interesting portable oven; Far right, as you can see.. this stall was selling various types of marzipan.

Left, this stall was selling 'kürtős kalács' or chimney cakes; Center, several different kinds of these cakes. These are so good! To watch a video showing how they are made click HERE ; Right, a street view.
 

Far left, another... you guessed it! Wine stall, this one selling only various kinds of mulled wine; Left, since this area of Gyor is walking streets there are more and more cafes and restaurants that have built decks out onto the street for outdoor dining and drinking. Jer quite liked the look of this one; Right, a setup we have seen other places of some Indian people from South America who play flutes along with music discs and have various kinds of "native" type stuff for sale (the lady who had been playing the flute was gone when Jer snapped this photo); Far right, a stall selling various kinds of Hungarian meat related products such as various types of sausages and even "cracklings", basically fatty bits of meat fried in its own fat till crispy.

Left, another street view; Center, this really cool metal rooster was hanging above the door to a puppet theater aptly called (in Hungarian) The Iron Rooster; Right, Gyor's version of the Love Locks that have plagued the city of Venice in recent years. The locks placed on bridges in Venice were causing harm as they were done without permission or limit, but this metal frame was made for people to put locks on in the city of Gyor without harming anything. Pretty cool!

Left, almost finished with our tour. These market stalls are across the street from Gyor's city hall, on the main street; Right, the city hall itself, quite a beautiful and imposing building.

Far left, Józsi getting our tickets for the journey home; Left, a shot of the inside of the train station. The train waiting just outside was the one we were going to take; Right, a bust of a Hungarian man named Gábor Baross (July 1848-May 1892) who was the person mainly responsible for building up the railways in Austria-Hungary. If you'd like to read a bit more about him you can click HERE ; Far right, Józsi waiting for the train. Since it was a Friday and early afternoon the train was very crowded with both high school students going back home and university students from Budapest going back home for the weekend. The train was packed, but since ours was the third stop it wasn't too bad.

Left, finally back at our station! We took the stairs up to get over the tracks in order to take some photos from the top; Center, looking back to the southeast towards Gyor and Right, looking northwest where an older lady and young man who were in our train car were walking down among the tracks. We wouldn't do it, but obviously they were locals living in one of the houses just to the right of the tracks, just beyond where they are walking in this shot. This trip was over, and then it was out to do weekly shopping in the villages before heading home to relax. Quite a busy day!