Today is our last full day on the river cruise with disembarkation day being tomorrow. We woke up to still being on the Danube River sailing towards Budapest. We had run a little late with some some long wait times at the last two locks as we cruised down the river through Slovakia and then into Hungary. The river was calm and the overnight rain seemed to have cleared.
When we parked up at our dock, we noticed that our AirBnB property was conveniently over the road, a good score for tomorrow’s disembarkation day. We had our last walking tour, which in Budapest is a bit more of a bus tour. The driver explained the history of the two cities of Buda and Pest (pronounced ‘pesht’), merging into one city, but seemingly still divided. Our guide never crossed the river from her native Buda until she was sixteen years old.
The first stop was Heroes Square, one of the major squares in Budapest, noted for its iconic Millennium Monument with statues featuring the Seven chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the Memorial Stone of Heroes. It hosts the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art (Műcsarnok). The square has played an important part in contemporary Hungarian history. Next to the square is a summer lake / winter skating rink, which is reputedly one of the largest skating spaces in Europe and possibly the world … according to our guide. Notably, during the time that the Austrians lauded over Hungary, the square was adorned with Hapsburgs, all of which have been since removed as Hungary sought to assert its own identity.
Following the square we drove in the bus to St Stephens Basilica, the largest Catholic church in Budapest. We couldn’t go in today, because they were performing Sunday Services,. so we’ll likely return tomorrow. We then walked through the city streets noting some ‘hollywood stars’ on the pavement that honour Hungary’s best winemakers (priorities), until we arrived at Liberty Square where they were setting up for a festival. There is a Soviet Monument here that was agreed to be retained when the Russians withdrew in 1999. It is also bordered by the US embassy. There is also a controversial ‘holocaust’ monument in the square, with many believing that Hungary was complicit in the atrocities committed here.
We returned to the ship for lunch. I was hoping for a quiet afternoon, but there was a late cancellation on a tour to the ‘Hospital in the Rock’ which is in the castle district. We’ll be visiting the castle tomorow of Wednesday, so more on that then. The ‘Hospital in the Rock’ is the name given to a hospital and nuclear bunker, built in limestone caves under the Buda Castle. It was designed to accommodate 200 patients, but at it’s peak accomodated 650. There were no photos allowed, but I found the story of how this hospital was able to be operated during the Siege of Budapest in 1945 and during the failed revolution in 1956, to be compelling. Below are a couple of photos I took at the castle before visiting the musuem.
We came back the ship for dinner and despite rain threatening, we were able to do a sail along the river at night to capture some photos of the Budapest skyline at night. Here’s 3 of many photos I took.
This was a great way to wrap up the cruising part of the holiday. The fact that this city can be so beautiful after so much destruction during the russian seige in 1944-5 give me mixed feelings of sadness for the hundreds of thousands who died here, also hope that places destroyed can come back.
We have a couple of days here to discover more… so
Until tomorrow
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