October 17, 2015

October 17, 2015

                    

We have the whole day in Budapest, before departing for home tomorrow. At 12 C and cloudy, there is a chance of sunshine later.  It is our earliest start at 8:15 for four hours of touring through historic Buda, built on a hillside and modern Pest (pronounced “Pesht”) which is on flat ground on the other side of the Danube River.

We ate breakfast in the Aquavit Terrace rather than going to the dining room, there was only one other person there.

The groups were off on their tours on time.  Our guide, Suzsie, explained the history of Budapest as we travelled to Castle Hill. There are many thermal spas in Buda and have been for centuries. Like some other cities the area was first inhabited by the Celts, then the Romans. Buda was part of the Roman Empire, but not Pest since the river was the boundary. Then the nomadic Magyars arrived and settled until a Mongol invasion in the 13^th century.  They decided that to safeguard themselves it would be best to build a fortress on the hill.  The end result was a walled castle complex that included a town within the walls. Hungary eventually became part of the Hapsburg Empire, but in 1867 the name was changed to the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In 1878, Buda and Pest joined together to become Budapest.  Buda means water.  We crossed the Chain Bridge with its lion guards to get to the Buda side, which houses about a third of the 1.5 million population of the city.

The bus stopped at the Fisherman’s Bastion, one of the castle’s gates. The group walked along Castle Hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from Fishermen’s Bastion to Matthias Church, (officially Church of Our Lady). As we walked toward the church, an old Soviet car was parked prominently by the curbside.  We were told that people had to order the small “paper and plastic” car, a Trabant, four years in advance and it was not a safe car.  There are still some buildings from the 14^th century which have had their exteriors reconstructed with original colours.  There was a pretty three storey building with an orange and yellow design on it.  Matthias was the first king crowned in 1026 and is also St. Stephen.  The crown was given to him by the pope who officiated at the ceremony and was happy that the people were be converting to Catholicism.  We entered the church, which was completed in 1247, as the boys choir was practicing for Sunday’s service.  The interior is bright and is beautifully decorated on the walls, pillars and ceiling.  It had been transformed into a mosque in two days, when the Turks had captured Buda.  All the human images were removed and the walls and ceiling changed to just white for the victory celebration of the Turks.  When we left the church we had 45 minutes of free time to wander in the old town streets. We found the old Maria Magdona Tower with bells in the tower, the National Archives building of red brick and a 1486 tower incorporated into the modern Hilton hotel. Then we were back in the bus and drove over to Pest.

Pest means oven, as in brick oven. When the Hungarian tribes, known as the Magyar and a nomadic people, conquered the area, they thought it unusual that these people were living in brick buildings. We passed a pond which in winter is an outdoor skating rink and had a lovely one storey building to change into your skates. The Hungarian Parliament building is the third largest in the world, second largest in Europe after Romania.  The competition for a plan was so fierce that the plans for the second and third place buildings were also built on the opposite side of the square from the chosen design.  They are all attractive buildings.  Hungary celebrated its millennium in 1896 with many new buildings; some had a special tile on their roofs made from a mixture of pyro granite and porcelain. The yellow metal bridge over the Danube River was designed by Eifel, the designer of Paris’ Eifel Tower, it is known as the Margaret Bridge. Another bridge, the Chain Bridge, was completed in 1848 and was the first bridge in Europe over the Danube River.  We drove along Andrássy ÚT and saw the National Opera House and stopped at Heroes’ Square to learn about Hungary’s historic leaders. The monument was finished in 1896 in honour of Hungary’s Millennium.  Our tour was almost over and we returned to the ship four hours after we started.  Steps 6, 568

After lunch, the temperature was 14 C and the sun was trying to penetrate the cloud, Claus took people on a ten minute stroll to the Market building, something like Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market.  Then, we could explore as much as we wanted.  After meandering among the aisles and floors of the market, we walked along Váci Utca shopping pedestrian road for blocks, which when we returned to the ship we had walked about 8 km this afternoon. There was no rain but the sun had been hidden by clouds and it looked like a shower could occur before dinner.

Final Briefing from Claus wishing people safe journeys home and reminding to put luggage out in the hall at prescribed times.  Dinner was a Hungarian Theme, for our final dinner with our evening companions for the past 14 dinners.  Wine and beer were served to start, with a piece of sausage wrapped in pastry as the two bite starter. We ordered either Hungarian Farmer’s Plate – a slice of salami, ham and some pickles, or Vanilla Poached Scallops on Avocado Tartar as appetizer, next for the entrée we both chose was Beef Goulash. Then for dessert we ordered Tokay Wine Mousse & Caramelized Walnuts then shared a small slice of Dobos Torte with coffee.  With dinner finished it was time to say good bye to the New York couple who will be off the ship early to catch their 6:30 a.m. plane.  The rest of us will see each other at breakfast.  We promised to keep in touch. This evening there is a Hungarian Folk band in the Lounge at 9. Some of the songs were familiar.  We danced to a couple of tunes when Jerzoy returned to the piano and then called it a night.

Final steps total = 21,253 almost 20 km.