Wednesday, November 6, 2019, Budapest, Transfer to Hilton Castle District, Szendendra Excursion, Hungary
It’s interesting that while we were on our excursion yesterday, Viking did a little ship shuffling, so our ship went from being on the outside against another ship, to being on the dock directly. So now we have a shoreside view of the flood protection walls and walks that run along the Danube.
Ben got absolutely drenched last night walking across the Chain Bridge in the rain. Water was running like a river down the sidewalks. The Danube has been at a low water level- not low enough to prevent the river cruise boats from running, but low enough to cause them to slow and be more cautious regarding sand bars and other potential obstructions in the river bed. These rains may correct that situation.
Many cities along the Danube have developed elaborate flood protection schemes. In the 1800’s, Pest, the low lying part of Budapest lying to the east of the Danube, was largely destroyed by a massive flood. Very little remains of medieval structures there, whereas in the Buda hills, medieval structures survived floods, only to be blown up during WWII. Today’s Budapest Parliament is behind two flood walls. The first is just above where the river cruise boats are tied up to, and consists mostly of an earthen dike topped by walkways and in areas, a roadway. Above this is a more hardened wall, which in places, have removable panels to preserve views and access, but which can be dropped and bolted in place when waters are rising.
We spent last night packing our suitcases this morning, were able to have a normal breakfast since our transfer to the Budapest Hilton Castle District hotel was scheduled to occur at 9:45am. Many fellow passengers had to have their bags out by 2am for 3am transfers to the airport because flights to the USA from this part of the world occur during the very early morning hours.
Viking makes transfers fairly painless. After breakfast, we set our suitcases in the hallway, and then headed up to relax in the library. There were about 20 passengers who were extending in Budapest, so we had plenty of company.
In contrast to the downpour we experienced last night, the sky’s were clear and the air crystal clear this morning. The temperatures remained in the upper 50’s which was comfortable to be running about in. Porters carried all the suitcases up the steep gangway and had them lined up outside the bus.
We walked up to the Parliament Building along the river. The monument of the shoes along the Danube is along the way.
When the time came to board, we pointed out our bags, and watched the porters load them into the bus. Then it was a very quick trip across the river and up the hill to the Buda Hills Castle district.
We walked up to the Parliament Building along the river. The monument of the shoes along the Danube is along the way.
When the time came to board, we pointed out our bags, and watched the porters load them into the bus. Then it was a very quick trip across the river and up the hill to the Buda Hills Castle district.
The Budapest Hilton Castle District is actually immediately next door the St. Stephen’s Cathedral. We hadn’t walked around the backside of the cathedral, but had we done so, we would have run right into the hotel. It was very easy to walk around the Fishermen’s Bastion, which lies out immediately in front of the hotel, creating a front porch.
Viking had a hospitality check-in in a lower lobby, like in Prague. We used the bathrooms and then reboarded a bus for our optional excursion to the outlying city of Szentendre, which translates to St. Andrews. This is a small city about 30km north of Budapest.
As we headed north out of Budapest, we drove past a huge complex of Soviet era housing. Our guide described the architectural style as Neo-Uglism.
Our guide today did betray a belief that when Hungary emerged from under Soviet occupation, it was a little too eager to adopt open markets because foreign corporations soon owned everything in Hungary, from factories, chemical plants, grocery stores and businesses. He lamented how few businesses are actually Hungarian owned. Of course, all those corporations came to Hungary to take advantage of the relatively less expensive labor market, but Hungary’s unemployment rate is not nearly as good as it’s neighbors, The Czech Republic and Slovakia to the north and west. He estimated it to be around 12%.
Lying between the Soviet era housing and the Danube are extensive Roman ruins, including parts of an aqueduct and remains of an ancient thermal bath. The Romans left around 450AD with the ebbing of their empire and the arrival of Atilla and his Huns, who would eventually end up settling for good in Hungary.
The town of Szentendre is situated on the banks of the Danube. There is a medieval old town that rises over the city, peaked with a rather run down Roman Catholic Church. There is a school just around the base of this, and it was interesting to see all the school children playing in the cobble stoned courtyard in front of the church at the top of the hill. This was apparently their school playground.
The cobblestone streets radiate out from this point and down to the river. There are many little shops peddling leather goods, embroidered goods, wood carvings and lots of elegant woolen clothing. There are also coffee shops and restaurants.
Our tour took us to a museum of Margit Kovacs, who was a very prominent Hungarian artist who died in 1977. It was apparently hard to make a living as an artist under Soviet occupation, but she somehow managed it. Her works were refreshing and uplifting for the most part. I had not known of her works before our visit, but will be able to instantly recognize it now that I have had a good taste of it. The museum was well organized and interesting.
We then had a Hungarian Coffee Cafe experience in one of the old town’s nicer coffee cafes. We got to pick out our choice of drink and a slice of cake, from a selection of local specialties. That was relaxing and nice.
Hungarian Drobo Cake- YUM!
There was a small museum of Communist era automobiles. Out front was a Fiat that was marketed as a family sedan for a family of 5 that was about 25% smaller than a modern day Fiat 500. It probably had a 2 stroke lawn mower engine under the hood. There was a car behind the fence that looked like a chia-car, covered with a fine carpet of green.
Get your socialist family of 5 in this carbon friendly sedan. Only have to wait 5 years for delivery after payment in advance. Your lawn mower has more HP.
Don’t think Tesla offers “Chia Green” pair scheme.
We took a walk along the Danube, which looks quite rural alongside this small city. There is a very Long Island in the river, and we saw a small ferry loading up school children to cross over.
We returned to Budapest, first dropping off excursion passengers who were actually at the end of their Pre-Cruise extensions, and boarding their Viking River Cruise ship. Viking now has so many river cruise ships that they can’t all fit at their original dock, so the bus had to stop at 3 different docking sites along the Danube until it found the right ship. That took a bit of time, but we did get a bonus city driving tour. We figured that in 2015, our ship had actually been docked at the Liberty Bridge, and not at the Chain Bridge where our more recent ship was docked.
As our bus returned to the Hilton in the Castle District, we could see long stretches of road taped off with security tape. Our guide explained that the city was preparing for a State Visit by Turkey’s Leader Erdogan tomorrow. He was hoping the State Visit wouldn’t snarl traffic too badly, but such things usually mess up the city. Vladimir Putin was actually in Budapest last week, so the city has had plenty of experience dealing with heads of State.
We got our room key and when we pulled open the curtains (still playing curtain lotto) and were pleasantly surprised to be looking right at the St. Stephen’s Cathedral and square. That might not be the view you’d want from your bed in a honeymoon suite.
Window curtain Lottery- WINNER!
When we left for dinner, we turned the corner to find a young man in a blazer standing in front of the elevators. On closer inspection, we noticed that the buttons weren’t pushed, so we pushed the button and the elevator arrived. We went in and asked if he was going down, but he just shook his head and waved us on.
We had dinner at a place recommended by the Viking Concierge just a block or so down the hill, where we had some very tasty and satisfying Hungarian food. Janet had beef goulash soup and “Black Spaghetti”, while Ben had a Hungarian “Chicken Bundle”, which is like a large won ton filled with spicy ground chicken, served in a paprika sauce followed by Hungarian BBQ pork belly with tabbouleh and yogurt eggplant. The local draft craft beer tasted like an amber ale, which was quite good with the Hungarian food. We left the restaurant with full bellies and happy taste buds.
We walked around the Fishermen’s Bastion and took in the views, featuring the Parliament building across the river lit up like a Christmas tree. There was also a small gift shop on the ground floor of the Hilton that we wandered through.
Black Spaghetti- delicious, despite the odd appearance.
We then returned to the hotel lobby, but noticed that there were men posted near every corner of the lobby, and at each end of the lobby lounge and bar. As we got to the elevator, we spotted an earpiece on one of the men and figured out that they were a security detail. Suddenly, we felt like we were in the middle of a Jack Ryan movie. When we got off our elevator, that same man who was there before was still standing at the elevator. He looked like a muscled up young Christopher Reeves. We asked him if he were part of a security detail, and he nodded, and spoke with a heavy Hungarian accent “Yes”. Later, Ben went to get some ice from the ice machine, which is next to the elevator, and our man was still there. But this time, he stopped Ben short of the elevator and said “Please wait here a moment”. At the other end of the hall was another gentleman, also built like a Navy SEAL. A man in a tuxedo and his elegantly dressed wife emerged from a room with two additional security men, and walked down to the elevator. Once they were gone, it was back to business as usual, and Ben was allowed to fill the ice bucket. In retrospect, the Hilton probably prefers that these guys use their bare hands to break people’s necks, rather than shoot or stab them. It makes less of a mess on the carpets.
Tomorrow we have another optional Viking excursion called Budapest Highlights. We hope it will be more than the driving tours we have had already. We will have to reconfigure our suitcases to make sure they comply with Alitalia’s weight regulations tomorrow.
