Budapest

This morning we left the boat. It was very sad saying goodbye to our waiter, Gabriel, and our Cruise Director, Marion.

Marion had booked a car to take us to our hotel at 9:30 am, but he was there an hour early and we realised that he had our luggage in the car and was prepared to wait for us till the allotted time! Marion helped us talk with him, and we paid the 20 Euro that had been arranged and he took our luggage to the hotel and checked it in for us, and we instead took the free shuttle ferry across the river to the Pest side and spent the morning looking around the shops. They didn't open till 10 am, so we had to fill in a bit of time first.

We went our separate ways, but met up around 12:30 pm for a cool drink, not needing lunch after the big breakfast we'd had on the boat. David and Steve shared a gorgeous-looking club sandwich. Then we slowly made our way to the hotel on foot, with Steve doing the navigating as I was exhausted. It was a sweltering hot day, around 28, we think. My ankle (that I'd broken before Christmas) has been very swollen and quite sore at times, and my achilles tendon has been incredibly sore sometimes too. So, walking to the hotel in all that heat after walking around all morning was taking its toll. I've been making good use of my walking pole, especially where there are cobblestones or steps, and it gives good support. We arrived to find our bags were already in our spacious rooms in the elegant and up-market Corinthia Hotel that is the number 2 rated hotel on Trip Advisor for Budapest.

After an hour's rest, we wandered a little way along the street. The guys sat and had some lovely and very cheap beers in a sidewalk bar, and Jan and I headed to a coffee shop. Then we headed back to the hotel for a wonderful swim in their lovely 15 metre indoor pool in their luxurious spa area, followed by an amazing 20 minutes in a jacuzzi that gave my feet an incredible massage from its powerful jets of water.
















We headed out for dinner in an outside area of an adjoining restaurant. We were lucky to get a booking. The evening was perfect - warm, and no wind at all. The food was absolutely amazing, and very reasonable, and the service was outstanding. They were excellent in their understanding of gluten-free, too. The only thing to spoil it a little, was the woman at the adjacent table, who lit up a cigarette a few times. We certainly notice the huge number of smokers in Europe.

Tomorrow we catch the train for a 7.5 hour journey to Prague, where we will be staying 3 nights. We really love Budapest as a city.

Budapest

This morning we sailed into the Hungarian capital around 9 am. It certainly was a great photo opportunity from the sun deck. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the Danube with the amalgamation in 1873 of right-bank towns Buda and Obuda, with Pest on the left bank. Budapest has around 2 million people living there. Hungary has been a member of the EU since 2003, but does not yet officially have the Euro.

We had free time for the morning, with lunch back at the boat at 12 pm if we wanted it. So, we walked across the Elizabeth Bridge to a wonderful pedestrian shopping area on the Pest side. Everything was clean and tidy, there were lovely little Squares scattered about, and baskets of flowers hanging from the lamp posts. The prices looked quite good, too. We had a good walk around, and saw a few shops to go back to tomorrow when we have more time. We also walked to the Central Market, where there were lots of stalls selling fruit and vegetables, meat, fast food, and souvenirs. We were not tempted to buy anything. We walked back across the Liberty Bridge to our boat.

After lunch we had a 4 hour tour around the city, mostly by bus. We got to our first stop, where our cruise director and an ambulance had to be called to a lady who has that flu/virus that has been doing the rounds for the whole trip. She was taken to hospital but returned to the boat in the evening. Apparently someone on one of the other buses also needed to have a taxi called to take her back to the boat because she was ill. A doctor had apparently been at the boat last night. Sure hope we don't catch it!

First we visited the Castle district on the Buda side of the city and had absolutely wonderful views from the Fisherman's Bastion landmark. We also saw the Royal Palace and Mathias Church. The old Ministry of Defence building has been left in the state it was in after WWII, with bullet holes all over it.

An excellent stop on the Pest side was at Heroes Square, adjacent to a wonderful city park that we only drove past.


We drove past the zoo, the circus, and an amusement park, as well as some of the buildings housing thermal pools/spas. There were museums as well. We also passed the Parliament, and some interesting newer buildings including some university buildings (saw the Economics department). The streets were all clean and tidy and many were lined with trees. The older buildings looked tidy and I felt quite at home here. My favourite city so far, I think.

Another stop was the Opera House, where we were given a tour, sat in a box, heard stories about the Opera from a guide, and then were treated to a glass of champagne or orange juice while a couple of opera singers entertained us in the balcony/stairs area. The woman wasn't hitting her top notes too well, but then I'm getting too critical after sitting in on Michelle's singing lessons, but I know what Jean would have thought. :-) Anyway, it was all very nice, but we eventually headed back to the boat, exhausted.

From 6-7 pm there was a Gypsy group performing in the lounge, and I did see most of their entertainment - there were dancers and some great violin playing. David stayed in the cabin to make a start on the packing, as our bags have to be outside our cabin door by 8 am tomorrow, and a taxi will be taking us to our hotel at 9:30 am. We'll be having just the one extra night in Budapest after our cruise. It's been wonderful being able to unpack for the past 2 weeks, but now we'll be back to living out of our suitcases again.

After our last dinner on the boat, we went to the lounge or sun deck to watch the city lights as it got dark. The boat sailed up and down a couple of times, with music playing, and we all enjoyed the beautiful scenery. It was magic. This is a very beautiful city. I'll probably add some more photos here when I've downloaded them and have access to wireless internet again. I don't think our next hotel has that.

Bratislava (Slovakia)

We enjoyed the opportunity for a later breakfast this morning (well, I did anyway) and it was nice relaxing in the lounge afterwards as we sailed down the Danube towards Bratislava. I got my blog entry for Vienna done, but am having trouble uploading photos here.

I was thrilled to find my missing earring from last night, sitting on the reception counter under the lost property sign - I have no idea who found it, or where it was found, but phew.....

At 11 am we had a big briefing from Marion about disembarkation day in Budapest on Tuesday morning. She has kindly enquired about a taxi for four people, knowing that was my preference, so I'm very grateful to her. She said to avoid the taxis in Budapest and Prague wherever possible as they can rip you off big time. But she has a reliable contact she uses for the boat passengers.

We arrived earlier than expected in Bratislava (also known as 'Pressburg'), the capital of Slovakia, or the Slovak Republic. The weather had been gloomy and drizzly all morning. Slovakia became independent of Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s. In 1918 the Slovaks had joined the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following the chaos of WWII, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-ruled Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in1989 and Czechoslovakia once more became free. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993.

After lunch we chose the Tour of Communist Bratislava by coach. The first half of the tour was on an old 1970s style orange bus, then we switched to a newer bus. We covered a lot of the city, including the new Slovak National Theatre, over the New Bridge with its UFO restaurant, the Square of Liberty, the so-called upside-down pyramid building, an Ice Hockey arena which apparently hosted some recent world ice hockey championships (couldn't get a photo, but it looked flash), various slab housing apartment buildings from the Communist times and more. We went up a hill to the Soviet War Memorial (Slavin) where there were great views. Then across to the Castle (that Empress Maria Theresa had built for her daughter, and which was rebuilt in more recent times after fires). The Castle was rebuilt in the Baroque style, although they did find a single Gothic Window which they left in place. The view from there was amazing too.

I have to say that this trip left me feeling depressed and so grateful that we live in NZ. The tour guide told us a lot about the way of life in Communist times, the housing systems, the corruption, the supposedly free elections, the difficulties buying many goods, the rules, treatment of the churches... it was all dreadful. We noticed the graffiti everywhere, everything was looking run down and tired, and I forgot to ask if they had graffiti in Communist times!

With relief we got back to the boat and I couldn't face a walk into town to look at the older section. So, it was back to the lounge to relax. The trip has been so busy, that it's good to have time to just sit.

At 6 pm we had the Farewell Captain's Gala Cocktail in the lounge, followed by the Farewell Captain's Gala Dinner in the Restaurant. We had to dress smartly. The dinner was wonderful. All the staff on the boat were introduced and thanked (including the ones who wash the dishes), it was a lovely thing to do and very interesting to see who did what, especially out in the kitchen. We were each given an APT serviette ring as a souvenir, and our wonderful waiter, Gabriel (from Romania), found some extras for us to make up sets of four.

Entertainment after dinner was by the group, Aphrodite, a group of young women from Bratislava, playing an eclectic range of modern songs on classical instruments - flute, piano, violin, cello, viola. All in all, a very pleasant evening.



At 10:30 pm we set sail for Budapest, Hungary.