Mon. June 15-Budapest, Hungary: This was our day to explore Budapest, where we
arrived before breakfast. I got up first and opened the curtains to see the
stunning sight of the Church of the Caves (also called the Stone Church) across
the Danube, which looks like it has been carved out of the rock hill.
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| The arrow shows Budapest's location |
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| WE were moored just beyond the Liberty Bridge |
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| View from the window of the Church of the Caves (Stone Church) |
After
breakfast the buses took the group on a long bus tour of Pest, which is the
flatter, more commercial side of the Danube. In heavy traffic we made our way
around to many of the most popular sights including the Jewish Synagogue, the
Zoo, the Circus, the Old Farmers' Market, the pedestrian walkway, Memorial
Square and more. But it was a little frustrating because we didn't get out to
truly see anything. Pretty much everything in Budapest has been rebuilt many
times because the city has been destroyed by all the occupying forces. Our
guide was more outspokenly critical of the Soviet Occupation than other guides
have been and she used the same line we had heard before and we would hear
again: "The Soviets liberated us from the Nazis but then they forgot to
leave for 40 years!". She talked about how drab the city was under the
Soviets, with everyone wearing gray clothes and even the brilliant limestone
buildings turning gray because cleaning them was considered a waste of money.
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| Spires of the Liberty Bridge |
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| Budapest street view |
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| Lion of the Chain Bridge |
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| The Royal Palace |
After an hour or more we drove up to the Fishermen's Bastion, near the Royal
Palace, built by, but never inhabited by, the Habsburgs in old Buda. The buses
parked near the old gate and the guide took us up the street on a walking tour
to the St. Mathias Our Lady Church with its magnificent spires and colorful
tiled roof. We climbed up on the winding Fishermen's Bastion where the
fishermen sold fish and also kept an eye on the levels of the Danube, far
below. It is a wonderful view and we had a sunny day to enjoy it. The whole
area is a UNESCO Heritage Sight, as is the riverfront below, so renovations are
strictly limited and the old city looks as it has for hundreds of years, with
no sky scrapers. Given about half an hour on our own, Marv and I chose to get
off the main street and found a sidewalk cafe where we could buy a Dobustorte,
a wonderful chocolate multilayer cake with a caramelized sugar wafer on top, to
share.
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| St. Mathias Our Lady Church |
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| Gargoyle against the brilliant sky |
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| Tiled roof on St. Mathias |
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| View from the Fishermen's Bastion |
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| Marv and Peggy with Budapest and the Danube behind us |
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| Marv with our Dobustorte |
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| St. Mathias spire |
The group returned to the ship for lunch. We met Sim and Phyl in the
Captain's Club for the lighter, quicker buffet lunch, then the four of us
walked the short way (in rain and hail!) to the Farmers' Market to explore and marvel at its three
levels of meats, fish, vegetables, crafts, cafes, etc.
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| Rain and hail in Budapest |
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| Some hail was the size of small marbles |
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| Friendly jars of pickles |
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| Veggies!!! |
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| A small portion of the market |
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Longous stand. The long line made us turn away. Alina later told us that
Americans are too polite. You just push your way in and order. |
A trip had been arranged
to tour the Synagogue we drove by in the morning and the four of us went on it.
The beautiful building was designed by two famous architects about 150 years
ago but neither of them was Jewish so it has much in common with Cathedrals,
including several side apses, a Rose Window, a big organ, and two raised side
lecterns that are never used. Our guide told us all about the interior,
including that it wasn't destroyed during WWII because the Gestapo used the
choir/organ loft and a third level loft as their headquarters, so Germans
didn't bomb it, and the Allies didn't bomb it because they knew the Jews who
were confined to the Jewish Quarter were right there. Because Hungary was at
first allied with Germany the 700,000 Jews who were exterminated died late in
the war and in only about 7 months. Many of the Budapest Jews died because they
were cut off from all supplies so they died in and around the Synagogue of
exposure and starvation. We walked through the Memorial Garden there and then a
different guide took us through the small Museum next door. The Museum was
opened in the 1930s and contains a lot of donated items. When the Germans were
coming to Budapest, a Catholic Priest took all the valuable artifacts and Torah
scrolls to the basement of a hospital and kept them there safely until the end
of the war, when he returned them, anonymously, to the Museum. It was a
sobering visit that we were happy to have made.
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| The Synagogue |
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| Synagogue Interior |
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| Close-up of altar |
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| Dome above |
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| Memorial in the garden |
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| Garden memorials |
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| Preserved scroll of the Torah |
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| Silver Tree of Life |
Back on the ship there was a
final dinner and our table got two anniversary cakes complete with sparkling
"rockets" on top. We were celebrating our 42nd anniversary a day early
and Sim and Phyl were celebrating their 42nd two days early!
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| I sat by Sim and Marv sat by Phyl so we put the cakes in the middle |
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| My giant piece of cake |
After dinner the
Captain "repositioned" the ship to a port farther from the city
center where it would be easier to disembark. In doing so we got a tour of the
city lights that are just gorgeous. Every bridge and all the historical
buildings were fully lighted and the river was full of sparkling reflections.
One of the most beautiful was the Parliament Building that was built directly
across from, and larger than, the Royal Palace as a sort of "In Your
Face" kind of move. It was all so magical! In our room we found a bottle
of champagne that we were too full to enjoy so we packed it, along with
everything else, to enjoy later in the trip.
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| Parliament Building |
