River Cruise 2018 Day 2

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We awake much refreshed by a good night's sleep. Our first task is to order tickets for the hop-on, hop-off bus and arrange for a tour of Parliament, the must-see building of Budapest. We are disappointed to find that the tours of Parliament are already sold out for today, and that Parliament itself is closed for a special event the next two days. That means we will not be able to see the inside of Parliament. But we do purchase our hop-on hop-off bus tickets for 48 hours. Next is an excellent buffet breakfast at the hotel. We are learning to appreciate Hungarian bread in particular, always hearty and toothsome. The local cheese is also excellent.

We walk once again to the Oktogon and take first the blue line, the yellow line and then the red line all the way around. We take lots of pictures and take note of which of the many stops we would like to explore further. Highlights viewed from the bus include, in no particular order: the afore-mentioned Parliament building; Andrassy St., the city's most famous street, that at one point passes the former Soviet embassy and KGB headquarters; Heroes' Square at the end of Andrassy St., with its Millennium Monument; the impressive city park behind Heroes' Square with several man-made lakes (this is the park we saw on the way in); the Market Hall; the Great Synagogue in the Jewish quarter; and the State Opera House. All of these are found on the Pest side, which is relatively flat. As most people know, Budapest was formed in 1873 by the fusion of two cities on opposite banks: Buda on the west and Pest on the right.

The Buda side is much more hilly, with two major escarpments rising from the river. At the top of the southern one, called Gellert Hill, sits the Citadel (19th century). The hill is named after the first Hungarian Bishop and the driving force behind the Christianization of Hungary 1000 years ago. Poor Gellert was martyred by being thrust into a barrel and rolled off the cliff. The second escarpment is Castle Hill, surmounted by the Castle Palace and Matthias Church.

Because Budapest was formed by the union of two cities on opposite banks of the river, the city's bridges are understandably very important, and each has a distinctive character and history. The first bridge to join the two halves was the beautiful Chain Bridge, designed by Englishman William Clark and built by Scottish architect Adam Clark in 1859. Stone lions guard the entrance on both sides of the river. The Margaret Bridge next upstream was named after Margaret Island (more about Margaret later). Downstream of the Chain Bridge is the Elizabeth Bridge, built in 1964. There are three other bridges downstream.

We take a short hop on the yellow line to connect to the "water line," a boat tour around the harbour on the Danube River. We enjoy a beer as we're waiting to board. Nice to get out on the water and see many of the sights we saw earlier from the perspective of the Danube. The trip up-river is very pleasant. Budapest is stunning from the water. On the Buda side, we have great views of the rocky crags of Gellert Hill, crowned by the Citadel and Monument to Freedom. At the left at the base of the hill is the Gellert Bath, one of the huge thermal baths the city is famous for. Further along in Buda is Castle Hill, topped by the eponymous castle. The gem of the Pest side is the famous Parliament, standing right on the river bank.

I make the remark that the Danube is not really blue, as the Strauss waltz would suggest, but more greenish. I am overheard by a couple of young Italian ladies who assure me that it gets bluer farther upstream, and one shows me photos from her phone as evidence. We'll see.

On the way upstream, we pass under the Chain Bridge and the Margaret Bridge, the latter which halfway across touches the tip of Margaret Island. Who was Margaret? She was the daughter of the 14th-century King Bela IV, who promised his daughter to God in exchange for deliverance from the Mongols. God obliged, and Margaret dutifully entered the convent on what is now called Margaret Island. She eventually became St. Margaret. Today, the island is dedicated exclusively to recreational use. Cars are forbidden, and aside from two hotels, there are no dwellings.

We disembark to explore. Imagine an entire island that is a park! Delightful. Many families with children and young lovers are strolling around. You can rent pedalled vehicles of various sizes, from single bikes to 8-person pedal cars. It is quite warm by now, and I leave Violet to rest a bit as I forge on to the ruins of Margaret's convent, which I have set as my target. (Previous blog readers will know that I get an unhealthy thrill from ancient ruins.) The convent, a fairly large structure in its day, is now a series of broken half-walls made of stone. A walking path meanders through the ruins.

Back to the landing to catch the next boat back. On the return trip, a large contingent of drunken young Germans occupy the upper deck, and most non-inebriated passengers take refuge with us on the main deck below. The lads are singing what I presume are German drinking songs, but then I realize it is actually Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody that they are mangling. "Nothing really matters..."

Back to Octagon on the yellow line. It's now 6 pm and time for supper, so we select another restaurant in the area, this one with a more causal, hipster vibe. The food is really good. I have a panko'ed loin of Matrika, a kind of Hungarian wild boar, served with vegetables and "doughnuts," round pieces of fried bread to sop up the sauce. Violet has a pork loin that she enjoys very much. Home-made soup to start and Hungarian beer to end make for a great meal.

Back at the hotel we unwind and clean up. A good day.

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Photos

Budapest street scene
Budapest, Hungary

Budapest from the Danube
Budapest, Hungary

Parliament from the Danube
Budapest, Hungary

On Margaret Island
Budapest, Hungary

Chain Bridge
Budapest, Hungary

Comments

[Marie]

Your blogs
It didn’t want my comments yesterday... I will say like Andrea: “Dave is a captivating writer”. That’s a fact. Your blogs read like a good book. I am lost in them, travelling with you!! Look forward to the next chapter. Hugs from me xoxo