December 29 – Szenendre and Gödöllő

Today we are going out of Budapest to see some nearby sights.  But on the way out we had a clear view of these buildings as we were driving along the Danube.

On the drive the driver slowed down as we passed some Roman ruins so we could take pictures from the bus…no stopping allowed.

Our first stop was the town of Szenendre, a little town on the Danube north of Budapest.  The name of the town is based on the Medieval Latin for St. Andrews.  And our guide frequently referred to it as  St. Andrews.  We visited the old center with its cobble stone streets, little shops, and narrow stairs up the hills.

We visited the Szamos Marzipan Museum and shop.  

Marzipan is an almond paste that is usually used in making awesome sweets.  It has the consistency of modeling clay so an artist can use it just like clay.  The good marzipan shops usually have marzipan candies shaped and colored to look like lifelike fruit and other goodies.  

However, the masterpieces here was the museum/exhibition.  All of the items you see in these photos are made of marzipan paste.  The Budapest Parliament building, flowers and cacti, lacey table cloths and chairs, scenes from Disney Movies, life size models of Michael Jackson and Mickey Mouse...and more.  All from marzipan.  What a yummy museum.

And of course, we hit the shop to buy some yummy products.

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More Marzipan Art

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We also visited the Margit Kovac Museum.  She was a famous Hungarian sculptor, and the
museum featured her beautiful work.  It reminded us a bit of some of the works we had seen in Peru. 

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     More Margit Kovac Museum 

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This was one of several pretty churches we saw around town.

We had lunch at a restaurant on the square.  During lunch we got to listen to a trio of
musicians.  A nice treat.

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More Szenendre

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Next stop was Gödöllő where we visited the Royal Palace (also the Grssalkovich Castle).  

Emperor Franz Joseph I 

The palace was famous for being a favorite of Queen Elizabeth of Hungary (also called
Sisi).  They had Sis's coronation gown and a large painting of the coronation that included her in that gown.  

We had a great tour through the palace but didn’t have time to wander the gardens.

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More Godollo Royal Palace       ********************************************************

We were back in Budapest by dinner time. 
A good day.