Budapest, Hungary

David and Page arrived from Maine via Paris, J and Jackie arrived from Frankfurt via Los Angeles, and Meg, Gary, Dave and Beth arrived from Switzerland where they were visiting friends and we all met up on the Viking Idi- our “home” for the next 14 days as we travel down the Danube and Rhine.  Our ship, a river longboat is quite luxurious- we will be well taken care of for the next 2 weeks! Our ship is currently moored on the Danube, just beneath the Chain Bridge- first permanent bridge over the Danube. Our evening started with a briefing for all 100 of the ship passengers in the lounge followed by an amazing dinner. We had Vanilla-Poached Scallops on Avocado Tartare and a Roasted Eggplant and Garlic Soup for our first course and our main course choices which we all tried at least one were a pan- seared rump steak with duchesse potatoes, a pan seared river trout with lentils, a vegetable ragout, and wasabi-yogurt sauce, and a rigatoni pasta with gorgonzola, pine nuts, spinach and apples. And for dessert we several of us tried the Hungarian 7-layer Dobosz Cake, a Tokajer Wine Mousse and Carmelized Walnuts, and a refreshing raspberry sorbet. Glad we are doing a lot of walking each day as they feed us too well!

This morning we awoke to a wonderful breakfast buffet – oh my. Some many things to eat and so little time- every imaginable fresh fruit, cheeses, salmon, eggs, Hungarian sausages, potatoes, forest berry smoothies, granola! We were out and about this morning on a tour of the city- Buda on one side of the Danube (the hilly side) and Pest on the other side (flat side). The highlight was Matyas Church, built between the 13 and 15^th centuries. Much of the original detail was lost when the Turks converted the church to a mosque in 1591. In the 1700’s it was restored to a Neo-Gothic style but still has a lot of the Moor patterned art inside- an interesting combination- a Moorish Catholic Church! The patterned walls, stained glass, murals, sweeping arches, alters, statuary- all exquisite! The Christians built it, Turks took it over, and then it reverted back to Christians. So indicative of  Hungarian history being at the crossroads of the Europe – everyone came through here at one point.

Driving back on the Pest side of Budapest, we passed the "Shoes on the Danube Memorial. These copper shoes are placed along the stone wall along the River Danube Promenade and honor the Jews who were killed by the Nazis during World War II when they were ordered to stand on the wall, take off their shoes, and then were shot so their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The copper shoes represent the shoes that were left behind from the Hungarian Jews who were killed. A lot of very sad stories about Hungary during the Nazi occupation, followed by the take over of the Soviet Union where communism reigned until the late 1980'swhen the Iron Curtain fell apart and Hungary became a Democratic country.

After lunch we walked through the shopping street- a pedestrian only street full of shops and restaurants and then over to a large indoor market and marveled at all the fresh produce, particularly the different varieties of peppers, all kinds of meats of which body parts they came from, we were not sure (and would rather not know!), sausages, and spices- especially the famous Hungarian paprika. We all bought paprika as well as other ingredients to make authentic Hungarian Goulash as well as Goulash soup.

Another fabulous dinner then up on the top deck of the ship at 9:00 to set sail down the Danube- fabulous view of the lights of this beautiful city- the parliament building, the bridges- enjoyed with a glass of warm mulled red wine. As we sleep tonight, we will travel down the Danube and wake up in Slovakia tomorrow!

Our Viking River Boat- Idi, docked on the Danube with pictures taken from the Chain Bridge.

Our first night briefing in the lounge.

David at the Hero's Square

A relic from the Soviet era- an East German car made from a wood composite with engine in the front. If it got in an accident, it exploded!

The Matyas Church on the Buda side of Budapest

Another view of the Matyas Church

A Magyar warrior wannabe!

 Inside the Matyas Church

Exquisite Moor patterns on the pillars- notice the warm earth tones and reds which were used to make the church feel more inviting.

 Looking up into the vaulted ceiling of the church

 More beautiful Moorish patterns

 Beautiful patterned tile floor of the church- Moor tesselations!

 Pattern work on the walls, including the raven which is part of the Hungarian Coat of Arms

 Hungary's Coat of Arms

 One of the outside doors to the Church

The Hungarian goulash was delicious!

J, Meg, and Beth - comparing notes on our walking tour.

As we walked along the street we noticed they have the prettiest man hole covers!

We walked over to a large indoor market where the city residents buy produce, meat, and spices (paprika was sold everywhere!) on the main floor.  Up on the top floor were local crafts. The fish (including tanks of very large live carp so packed together they could barely swim)  and sauerkraut were kept on the underground floor where the smell was pretty strong!

Trying to figure out how they can get that large sausage back to the US in their luggage!

 Lots of beautiful Hungarian peppers.

We gathered on the top deck at 9PM with a glass of warm mulled red wine to start our journey down the Danube to Bratislova, Slovakia. The lights of the City were spectacular as we cruised by. The bridges lit up at night were exquisite. This is the Chain Bridge we were docked along side.

 The building sof the city were spectacular at night.

The Parliament Building lit up at night over a full moon! This is the largest Parliament building in Europe. You can see some of the tiny specks at the top of the photo- light reflecting off birds swarming above catching insects attracted to the light.