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Published: September 6th 2010
Chain Bridge
This was view from my bed out the window. Day 12-Budapest, Hungary
8/28/10-Saturday
We docked this morning early. I knew we were docking due to the way the boat was motoring. We were lucky in that our room was on the port side and when we looked out our window we were seeing the best view of Buda, the part of the city to the west. In fact, the view from my bed was right at the Chain Bridge with the Buda Castle (Royal Palace) in the background. At night, the bridge is well lighted creating a beautiful view.
We started the day with a city tour by bus. We stopped at the neo-gothic Matthias Church. The church was named after King Matthias. Legend has it that, in the thirteenth century, he was called to return to Budapest by his mother using a raven with a ring in its beak. The raven-with-ring is now part of the family crest. Look for it in the photos.
The church was located on a ridge overlooking the Danube and Pest. We had a clear view of our ship, the River Concerto and the Parliament Building.
This was to be a busy day. The driving tour took us from 9:00
Matthias Church
Look for the Ravan with the ring. to 1:00pm. After driving around Buda we crossed the Danube to the Pest side. We drove out to Hero’s Park and then back to the center of Pest. We stopped at St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest’s largest church. It was only a short walk from here to return to the ship.
After lunch, we had the afternoon off. Jackie and I took advantage of this by doing a full afternoon of touring by ourselves. We took a subway out to the renown “House of Terror.” This building was home to both the Nazis and later the communist secret police. During the German era, nearly 400,000 Jewish people were deported to Auschwitz, many thousands were killed in the streets, and others executed in this building. Making matters worse, the secret police continued the use of the building to torture and execute Hungarians during the communist period.
During the day, we saw many weddings. I guess Saturday is the favorite day for marriage.
Tomorrow, we have another day on our own. We want to buy tickets for a tour of the Parliament early plus Jackie and I plan to take the funicular up the Buda ridge again.
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Dianne
non-member comment
Budapest
great shots, again, Tommy - your hungry man had a very nice warm coat on, so he must not be staving?!? Also, it is AMAZING that you got that entire wedding party to pose for you.... LOL! I'm sure you were standing behind the real person taking the pix!! Was your river cruise a "Viking Boat" - I'm on their mailing list and I've seen this same tour you are on - the boat is beautiful and I'm sure you enjoyed the cruise! - Keep em coming...