Our last stop on the ship was Budapest, Hungary. After a relaxing morning onboard (doing our best to ignore the fact that we would soon have to pack up), we arrived in the city mid-day. We would be onboard overnight, so we could focus on our day ahead. We had the afternoon for our excursion - “Budapest In Depth City Tour” before our Farewell Dinner. Dinner was followed by a Hungarian Folklore Show in the lounge and then some cruising along the river at night so we could experience the city for “Budapest At Night”. Another full day. We selected the city tour because we were going to be staying on in Budapest for another couple of days, and that would give us a good overview of the city.
We first drove up to Gellert Hill, giving us a wide overview of Budapest. Buda is on the left of the Danube river, with Pest on the right.
On top of Gellert Hill is the Liberty Statue. It stands high over the Budapest landscape. Initially the inscription on the statue read “To the memory of the liberating Soviet heroes erected by the grateful Hungarian People in 1945”. After the Soviets left, the inscription was modified to read “To the memory of those all who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom and prosperity of Hungary”.
Next up, we visited Heroes’ Square, commemorating the history of Hungary.
Across the street from Heroes' Square, our pick up point was the Hall of Art, with this statue outside. I kind of liked the humble humanity of this statue after the grandiose heroes across the street.
Next we drove up to Fisherman’s Bastion, high over the Buda side of the city.
Mattias Catholic Church, with it’s Gothic exterior.
Inside the church, the style is a unique blend of Gothic and Turkish with muslim-type geometric wall painting rather than the normal catholic figures.
The intricate stained glass windows, and the pulpit, built in the late 1800’s.
Statue of St. Stephen, outside the church.
As the day grew dark, we took a quick last look around Fisherman’s Bastion before heading back to the ship.
After dinner, we had a Hungarian Folklore Show. The 4 dancers and 3 musicians put on a very high energy show – lots of fun.
After this dancer did a dance with the bottle of brandy on her head, she went around to several people so they could try the balancing act. Thank goodness we didn’t have to dance too.
We closed out the night with a cruise down the river. This is the palace on top of the hill in Buda.
On the left of the photo is the National Theatre, and behind it (as it changed colours) is the Palace of Arts.
The Buda side of the city, with the Liberty Statue in the far background.
NEXT: (Day 10 & 11) - Budapest, Hungary (2nd & 3rd Days)
Prev: (Day 8) - Vienna, Austria
Danube River Cruise - Oct 2017