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Today
was an early start with breakfast at 07:30 and we were on
the coaches at 08:30 for our tour of Budapest. Our guide
was Kinga, who was very sweet with a sing-song voice and
very strange vowels, saying "stamp" for "step"
and "hall" for "hole". Sometimes there
was a short pause before we worked out what she was saying.
But it was endearing, rather than irritating.
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| We first drove up into Buda (right hand bank,
and hilly, as against Pest, which is on the other side of
the river and flat). We first went to Mattyas church, with
its multi-colours tiled roof. Inside was fantastic –
art nouveau meets pre-raphaelite. |
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Inside the Cathedral Museum
was the Imperial Crown of Hungary. Beautiful! |
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Outside the Cathedral was
the famous Fishermen's Bastion... |
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...with some amazing views
across the city |
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We then visited the Castle...
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...where we had some more
great views of the Parliament Building ... |
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and then went on to visit
Heroes' Square |
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...with its statues of Hungarian
kings. |
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Then back to the ship for
lunch. In the afternoon, there was a trip arranged to see
the Hungarian cowboys on horses. But we decided that Budapest
had more to offer and went off by ourselves.
We walked to the covered market in Pest. There were some wonderful
fruit and veg. there and of course ubiquitous paprikas and
peppers. We continued on to St Stephen's Basilica, which was
amazing. |
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| Then on to the Opera House, where we bumped
into Bridget. She was hot and flushed after her long walk
and sat down on the marble floor. An official jumped up from
his chair and made her stand up, but did not offer her a seat.
You find people like that everywhere, it seems. Tours were
arranged but as they were £6 and over an hour away,
we gave it a miss.
We got on Metro line number one back to the centre. The
old trains were tiny!
In the central pedestrianised street we found a wine shop
specialising in Tokay. A very hunky and good-looking guy,
who we immediately dubbed as "sex on legs", asked
if we wanted anything. Dismissing the first answer that
sprang all-too-readily to mind, we asked for help in selecting
some Tokay for ourselves and friends. He was very knowledgeable
and also produced samples for us to try. Half an hour later
we emerged with three rather good bottles of wine and a
hot flush. |
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We walked back to the ship
along the embankment, with views of the Chain Bridge and
the trams. |
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We then a drink in a café before returning
to the ship.
Later on that evening we were taken to a gypsy restaurant
where we sat at long benches and were served traditional
meal. You know they say presentation is everything? Have
a look at the delicate porcelain from which our soup was
served... |
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Actually, despite the enamel
bucket from which it was served, the goulash soup was excellent.
The wine, on the other hand was not so good - have a look
at Doug's expression (above, right). And its presentation
was even more bizarre... |
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| Though not as bizarre as when we saw them filling
up these giant turkey basters by sucking up the wine from
a large barrel! There was gypsy music and dancing, too. Then
back on the coaches and time for bed. |
