Budapest

The included feature of Budapest was a bus tour of Pest followed by a stop at the Buda “castle”. Since Kate was taking a ton of pictures, I will just provide commentary and let you go to Kate’s google page (https://photos.app.goo.gl/SFQh7Ypfb1WZgcDx7) for actual pictures.

Hungary, until after WWI, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was started when the Magyars, pushed out of modern Russia by other tribes, settled in what is now Hungary in 895-6. They peaked under the Austro-Hungarian Empire during their anniversary circa 1896. There was a huge building boom where they laid out broad avenues through Pest with great houses being built. Even though a majority of the grand buildings were damaged/destroyed during the war, most of them have been lovingly rebuilt since.

Given that it was cold & rainy and I only had an unlined thin jacket, both Kate and I sprung for dark blue Helly Hansen jackets (sold onboard) and they were well worth the nosebleed prices.

We loaded up the busses at 8:30am and headed out for a tout of Pest. The streets are well laid out (compared to Prague. We drove around the old Jewish quarter and down Andrássy út (Andrássy Avenue), known as the “Champs-Élysées of Budapest”.

After the tour of Pest, the busses drove us up to the Buda hills, to the Buda Castle. We debarked and walked around the area. There is actually a community, stores, etc. up on the hill. We got a tour of the Cathedral up on the hill. During the 150 years of Ottoman occupation the church was converted to a mosque and then re-consecrated to a church. We had about an hour and a half after the church, so we wandered around and Kate bought some paprika at the grocery store.

After the castle, we rode the bus back to the ship, arriving in time for lunch. We get underway this afternoon, about 6: 00pm.We will transit overnight to Vienna.