Budapest is absolutely beautiful, and has been one of my favorite places in Europe since I visited it several years ago. Originally two cities, one on each side of the Danube (Buda and Pest), it was brought together into one in 1873 when the Chain Bridge was built. Buda is the older and quite hilly side of the city, with about 80% of the trees; Pest is the flatter and more commercial side. There is a lot to learn about Budapest, including the fact that it was the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for a time, and also that the central area is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Budapest (city) has a population of about 1.8MM, while the Budapest Metropolitan Area has a population of over 3.3MM, meaning that it is about 30% of the entire Hungarian population.
So now, in blog time, it's Monday 24 October. There was an included excursion that many of us on the ship chose to be part of - called Panoramic Budapest. It included rides on a bus to several key spots, including Heroes Square and Buda Castle, and of course walking around in parts of the city.
Pictures in and around Heroes Square:
This is a small castle near Heroes Square, built as a pavilion for the 1896 millennium of Hungary. It originally included a mix of various architectural styles from all of the most famous Hungarian buildings, but was constructed of non-durable materials such as plywood and papier-mâché. The pavilion was called Vajdahunyad. After the celebration the structure was torn down, but people had liked it so much that it was rebuilt in the same spot, but this time of stone. The new castle was completed in 1908.
Pictures from the Buda Old Town:
(By the way, Ruzwarm is the oldest confectionary in Budapest, founded in 1827. It still has the original cherrywood counter, and has been family-owned throughout its life. I had an amazing sour-cherry strudel there and my friends were equally happy with their choices.)
Pictures of Matthias Church, also in this area:
This area sits about 550' above the Pest side of the river, but we didn't have much of a view most of today - it was a drizzly, foggy day. However, it did finally start to clear so I managed to get a couple of pictures:
The Atla had actually left port at 8am and we met back up with it in Esztergom where we reboarded, already well on our way to Austria and our two-day stop in Vienna.
We spent some time in the Lounge for a drink, a presentation on the life and works of Mozart, a toast from the Captain and other executive crew to welcome us on board, and our port talk to hear about the options and activities for the next couple of days. Then to dinner and after that a fun [music] trivia competition.
Tomorrow, Vienna!
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