The cruise included two days in Budapest before getting on the boat, and we booked an extra night in Budapest prior to that.
Wednesday 04 SEP
We flew from RDU to London and then on to Budapest, arriving at about 1:00 PM on Wednesday. Both flights were uneventful and changing planes at Heathrow was actually painless, contrary to what I had expected.
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| Approaching the outskirts of Budapest |
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| On the way in from the Budapest airport |
Our cruise accommodations were at the Intercontinental Hotel, and not wanting to keep packing and unpacking, we booked our extra night there. The hotel was right on the Danube, which made it a convenient location, but I didn't care for the $15.00/day internet charge. However, I managed to avoid using the internet at the hotel, thanks to numerous free WI-FI spots around town.
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| The Intercontinental Hotel is the brown building in the middle |
As is our habit on international (and even domestic trips), as soon as we got to the hotel, Brenda went to sleep, and I went out exploring.
Budapest occupies both sides of the Danube. Buda (the west side) and Pest (east side) used to be separate cities, but they combined into a single city in the late 1800's. Most of the commercial buildings and hotels are in Pest, but there are several sites in Buda. Our hotel was on the Pest side, near the Chain Bridge.
After I left the hotel, I crossed the Chain Bridge (an easy walk) to the Buda side, and walked for about a half a mile on the west bank of the Danube.
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| A building next to our hotel |
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| Chain Bridge viewed from Buda |
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| Calvinist Church, on the Buda side |
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| View of Pest (Parliament on the left) from the Buda side. |
Based on what I saw on my walk and on the next three days touring Budapest, there is very little left of Communist Budapest, and the city is almost, but not quite, on a par with most large western European cities in terms of wealth. Most, but not all, of the 18th century buildings (and there are a lot of them) have been restored, and the city is filled with shops, restaurants, and cafes.
After I returned from my stroll, we went to dinner at Cafe Gerbaud, which is famous for its pastries, but also has a bistro with Hungarian food, which may qualify as the unhealthiest cuisine in the world. But for some reason, there are absolutely no fat people in Budapest, except for American tourists.
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| View of Buda Castle (Royal Castle) taken from our hotel |
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| Outdoor dining at Cafe Gerbeaud |
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| Cafe Gerbeaud (on the bottom floor) |
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Vörösmarty tér, one of the many pedestrian plazas in Budapest
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Thursday 05 SEP
Today was devoted to walking around and seeing sights in Pest.
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| Daytime view of Buda Castle from our hotel |
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| Mathias Church, Hilton Hotel, and Fisherman's bastion, as seen from Pest. |
From the hotel, we first walked to St. Stephens Basilica, the main cathedral in Budapest. The church is named for Saint
Stephen I of Hungary, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose right hand is on display in the cathedral (if you like that sort of thing).
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| St. Stephen's Basilica |
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| The rear and side of St. Stephens |
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| Inside St. Stephens |
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| Inside St. Stephens |
Next we headed to the "Jewish Quarter", stopping first at the
Dohany Street Synagogue, which is the third largest synagogue in the world. Unfortunately, our timing wasn't so good--it was Rosh Hashana and the synagogue was closed to visitors.
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| Dohany Street Synagogue |
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| Holocaust Memorial in the back of the Synagogue |
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| Another shot of the front |
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| I haven't decided whether I should be offended by this |
After not seeing the Synagogue, we wandered around the Jewish Quarter, and had lunch at Spinoza Restaurant. My earlier comment on Hungarian food still applies. Unlike a lot of Jewish districts in Europe, the quarter and most synagogues were not destroyed during World War II. There is a lot of rehabilitation of old buildings going on the quarter, but there are still plenty of buildings that look the way the did before the war.
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| An unrehabilitated building in the Jewish Quarter |
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| Yiddishe Mama Mia Restaurant |
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| Kazinczy Street Synagogue |
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| Rumbach Street Synagogue |
From the Jewish Quarter, we walked a couple of blocks to Andrassy Avenue, which is the most elegant boulevard in the city.
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| Along Andressy Avenue |
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| The Opera House |
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| Drechsler House, across from the Opera House |
After our walk around Pest, we went to the Buda side for dinner. After crossing the Chain Bridge we took a funicular to the top of the Castle Hill.
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| About to enter the funicular |
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| View of the Hungarian Parliament from the top of Castle Hill |
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| View of Chain Bridge and Pest from the top of Castle Hill |
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| Dinner on the hill with St. Mathias church in the background |
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| St. Mathias Church |
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| Hungarian Parliament |
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| St. Mathias Church |
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| Fisherman's Bastion |
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| Chain Bridge |
Friday 06 SEP
Today we opted for a "hop-on hop-off" tour on a double-decker bus that went to all of the major sites in Budapest. As the name implies, you can get off at any stop and get back on the next (or later bus). Here are a few shots from around Budapest.
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| Terror Museum, formerly home of Hungarian secret police |
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| Museum of Fine Arts on Heroes Square |
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| Szechenyi Baths--one of several thermal baths in Budapest |
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| View of Buda from Pest |
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| Both sides of the Danube from Gellert Hill on the Buda Side |
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| Buda, from Gellert Hill |
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| Pest, from Gellert Hill |
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| Vigado Concert Hall |
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| Along the waterfront in Pest |
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| One more shot of Chain Bridge and Buda |
Nest:
Szentendre and Pecs
