Starting a Camino in Budapest

We arrived in Budapest yesterday.  This is the beginning of a long journey from Budapest to Santiago da Compostela. In two three month trips we hope to make our way to Santiago from Budapest. This year we will travel through Hungary on the Via Pannonia , Slovenia on the Jacobova Pot, Italy on the Via Flavia and the Via Postumia , finally heading into France to link up with the Chemin d’Arles. This will take us roughly halfway to Santiago and we can return to Arles next year to complete the journey. Gord will be making his way on foot and I have the assistance, once more, of grandma Friday, my folding bicycle. 

We spent out first full day in Budapest with our friend Denys, who we met on the Via de la Plata last year. There are not many pilgrims on this route so we decided to gather our own. Denys came down from Cologne to join us for a week or more. Ewa from Poland is joining us on our second day to walk for a couple of days. We met Ewa in 2013 in a little Tuscan Village on the Via Francigena. 

Budapest is a wonderful city! We spent the morning at the Market Hall shopping and eating . The three floors have everything from  handicrafts to pickled peppers stuffed with garlic. After looking around we stopped for a lunch of goulash and chicken paprikash on the top floor. We just followed our nose. 

In the afternoon we walked over to a Turkish bath to soak in a four hundred year old domed pool. Then we crossed the river a second time to visit the wonderful and friendly Pilgrim office before finally heading back to our apartment for a late dinner.