On The Move!!: December 2012

Monday, December 10, 2012

Budapest

Our last 2 days of the trip were spent in Budapest. We arrived there after going through the last lock on the trip which was interesting to experience. The engineering of a lock that amazes me. We arrived at Budapest close to midnight - and the city view is nothing short of spectacular! (see pictures on previous post). Budapest is actually 3 cities that were merged in 1873 to become a larger metropolis spanning both sides of the Danube. Buda and Obuda lie on the right bank - and are a landscape of rolling hills that drop off steeply towards the river. Pest occupies a flat expanse that allows the city to flow eastward. Buda has the best views of the city - while Pest is the center of the city's lively metropolis. The two parts are connected by 6 different bridges.

Our first day in Budapest started with a walking tour. First we crossed the Chain Bridge and then took the funnicular to the top of the hill where the Buda Castle sits. It has been demolished and reconstructed several times (you can read about this on Wikipedia). It currently houses 3 different museums and the national history museum. We then walked around Castle Hill where we saw the changing of the guards. We also saw the entrance to the Hospital/ Bomb shelter. There are natural limestone caves under the castle and government at one time built a bomb shelter and emergency surgical center within them with state of the art surgical equipment, xray and it's own power generators that could sustain 100 people for up to 30 days. We also saw the Matthius Church and the Fisherman's Bastion (from where the best pictures of the city can be taken). We caught a public bus that took us back across the Chain Bridge to the inner city of Pest where we walked from the Basilica through the pedestrian streets down to the Market Place- where the locals do their shopping (and the tourists buy their tourist stuff).

After the tour - Andy and I headed off on our own to see other sites in the city. We got to see the Shoe Memorial on the banks of the Danube - a memorial to the Jews who were marched to the banks of the Danube by the Arrow Cross Party (similar to the Nazis) , commanded to take off their shoes, and then were shot on the bank of the Danube so that they would fall into the water and be carried away. It is a touching memorial with bronze cast shoes lying on the banks of the river. It seems that being Jewish or Gypsy was worse in Hungary than most other places in Europe - they were persecuted by the Arrow Cross party, the Nazis, and the Soviets over a period of 60-70+ years. We toured the Holocaust Memorial and the Terror Museum and although interesting - were very depressing. We also toured the Basilica (an amazingly beautiful church), the Dohany Street Great Synagogue, Andressy Street, several different Xmas markets, and wandered in and out of different streets in downtown Budapest.

Budapest is a beautiful city with a lot of history (as are most cities in Europe). We enjoyed every city we visited and traveling by river boat was a great way to take it all in. I'm sure that there is a lot more to see - but with limited time, we thoroughly enjoyed this mode of travel. We did a lot of walking which helped us to enjoy all the foods without affecting how our clothes fit. Sadly - our week has come to a close and we have headed back home. Hopefully the next great adventure is not too far off.

Thanks for reading!

Captain sailing into locks

Lock

Lock just coming up

lock after we starting going down

Andy in Lock on the top of the boat - see doors opening at distal end

ships kitchen

Buda Castle

View of our ship (with snow) and Buda Palace in background

Chain bridge

Matthius Church

Our tour guide - Belacz

Chain Bridge from the Castle

Changing of the guard

Pest from Buda Hill

Example of gun damage from war

interesting building siding

Matthius Church

Plague Monument

Roof of Matthius Church

View from Buda Hill

Budapest Parliament

Fisherman's Bastion

Budapest Market Hall

Produce in Market Hall

Shoes Monument to Jews shot in the Danube

Xmas Market

Shoes Monument

Basilica

Andy and Statue

Basilica

Inside Basilica

Xmas Market

Budapest at Night

Fisherman's Bastion

Amazing coffee shop in downtown Pest

Andy having cappuccino at Gerbeaud's

Our room at Le Meridian

Our room

Andy trying on fur hat

Market Hall

Dohany Street Great Synagogue

Walking through Pest

Xmas Market near Andrassy Street

Andrassy Street

Budapest Opera House

Andy at Hungarian Restaurant

Goat Cheese Salad

Duck breast Salad

Amazing light show at Xmas Market on Wall of Basilica
(best watched in full screen mode - but nothing compares to seeing in person)

Friday, December 7, 2012

Bratislava and cruise to Budapest

It's Thursday - so that means we woke up in Bratislava, Slovakia! The Danube is a natural border between Austria and Slovakia and Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. At one time it was the capital of Hungary when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...and the largest and most important town in Hungary (a suburb of Vienna). When an independent Czechoslovakia was created in 1918, the city got its name, Bratislava. Slovakia separated from the Czech Republic in 1993 emerging as a fully fledged independent nation. Bratislava is the country's largest city as well as the political, cultural, and economic center.

We were given a tour of this city by bus taking us into the hills above the river to see the Ambassador's residences, and the Castle of Bratislava. Under Queen Maria Theresa, the castle became a prestigious royal seat. In 1811, the castle was inadvertently destroyed by fire and lay in ruins until the 1950s, when it was rebuilt mostly in its former Theresian style. The old town (below the castle) was built inside fortified walls. Their are 2 entrances - each at a 90 degree angle to each other (to discourage raids). Our guide pointed out to us many of the old features of the town. Instead of addresses - each address didn't have a number but a sign.....so mail/packages would be delivered to the house with a lobster - or house with a dragon instead of a particular number on the street. The signs were somewhat elaborate.

There are many unusual statues around the old town. The main town fountain has 4 boys holding it up. Initially it was built so that the boys were peeing into the fountain. Apparently, Queen Maria Therese was somewhat of a prude and had them cover that up - so now these boys are holding fish and the water comes from the mouths of the fish (see below). The town was very cute.

Of course the town had a Xmas Market as well as an ice rink. Apparently on the day we were visiting, there was some kind of strike going on at the schools - so the teachers took their pupils to the market and ice skating instead of attending school. (Hmm - interesting that when our teachers strike - they don't take their students with them). It was fun to see all the kids at the market. The kids either had matching hats - or vests over their jackets - or the group pictured below all had similar headbands with Santa Hats. I thought that was a clever way to keep track of your group.

We only had a half day in Bratislava before we left for Budapest. We arrived in Budapest late at night and it is amazingly spectacular to see from the river with all the lights on.

US Ambassador's house in the Bratislava Hills - Hmmm - looks familiar?

Parliament Building

Castle of Bratislava

Downtown Bratislava - just outside old town

downtown

Entering old town over the bridge

backside of old town (with grafitti on bridge)

sculpture in the old moat of the old town

approaching the second entrance which is at a 90 degree angle to the first entrance (to increase security as bullets don't turn 90 degrees

building ornamentation - loved the faces

at the center there is a fresco that adorns the building face. Just above and to the left you can see a cannon ball stuck in the side of the building. After the invasion people were given money to repair their homes if they were struck by cannon balls. So people left the cannon balls in to show they had been hit. Interesting is that the cannons were shot from the river and this building was at a 90 degree angle from the river. Hmmmm - early insurance fraud???