Gateway to the Black Sea--Part #11:Budapest

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. 

The arrow shows Budapest's location

WE were moored just beyond the Liberty Bridge

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. 

Spires of the Liberty Bridge

Budapest street view

Lion of the Chain Bridge

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. 

St. Mathias Our Lady Church

Gargoyle against the brilliant sky

Tiled roof on St. Mathias

View from the Fishermen's Bastion

Marv and Peggy with Budapest and the Danube behind us

Marv with our Dobustorte 

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. 

Rain and hail in Budapest

Some hail was the size of small marbles

Friendly jars of pickles

Veggies!!!

A small portion of the market

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. 

The Synagogue

Synagogue Interior

Close-up of altar

Dome above

Memorial in the garden

Garden memorials

Preserved scroll of the Torah

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! 

I sat by Sim and Marv sat by Phyl so we put the cakes in the middle

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.

Parliament Building