Budapest-Margit Island/West Side mall/Folk show

This was our last full day in Budapest.  Once we were up and ready to go all four of us headed into town - in the car! First on the agenda was attending the church Michelle and Norm go to.  It is in an old theatre and was in English and then tranlated into Hungarian. The translator was very good.  Once the service was over we had lunch at an egyptian restaurant just up the road - we all had gyros and a glass of tea (curtesy of the owner).  I am happy to report that the tea in Hungary has been up to Elda's standards so she is a happy girl and for the most part getting her tea quota.

At this point Norm left us girls to be about our business and the three of us got on the tram and went to Margit Island where we took another tram to the other end and walked back through the park.  They have peddle carts and motorized versions (in kid sizes too) that you can rent.  They even had some made to look like vintage cars.  The island has everything from a running track, jogging path surrounding it, a pool/water park, variety of other entertainment options, along with the usual "park amenities".  There are some lovely flower gardens in the middle and depending on the time of year other seasonly events happen here - right now they have an outdoor market.

Next stop once we had our Sunday stroll in the park was checking out a Budapest mall (West Side).  The shoes/boots in Hungary was gorgeous but unfortunately they are not reasonably priced in any way.  Apparently malls are the same the world over - a bunch of overpriced stuff you don't really need.  We ended up having dinner at the food court in the mall as we were going dircetly to the Theatre once we left it.  Again unfortunately we discovered food courts are the same the world over as well. There were a lot of options; all with a  Hungarian flair.

The theatre we went to to watch thhe Rujka Folk Ensemble was very elaborate.  There are a ton of little theatres throughout the city but from the street you wouldn't know they even existed.  So much is hidden behind plain facades.  The performance was excellent - both the dancers and the live orchestra.  Watching the orchestra play was just as entertaining as the performance itself.  They were very in sync and played it up with a lot of sudtle humour.

So with one more metro experience we said good-bye to Budapest transportation and drove home via the Citadel so we could experience the views of the city, bridges, etc. all lit up at night.