A day in Budapest

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Budapest, Hungary

Our tour group is going to stay in Budapest three extra days, so after leaving the ship on Sunday and checking into the hotel, they headed off on their separate ways and I’m taking a day of rest.

Waking up the next morning my back had eased tremendously. I knew no doctor in his right mind would recommend cancelling my trip with the symptoms I’m presenting, but I wanted to be on the safe side, so Micky made the arrangements for a doctor to come to the hotel. (I told you she’s a great travel agent!)

When he arrived, he looked younger than my grandchildren and spoke English with a heavily weighted Germany accent. Fortunately Micky and Frank both speak fluent German so they would interject questions in German after he told me something in English. Bottom line, I get a shot in the hip, and prescriptions for a painkiller, a nerve energizer, and a muscle relaxer.

I’ll lump all three days in Budapest in one blog...rest, rest, morning stroll, lunch, HOHO (hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city) and saying good bye to the tour group.

So, now that we’re up to Tuesday let me continue with how the day went.

The Hilton Hotel where we’re staying has a lounge area where they serve pastries and coffee for breakfast. Fortunately the Hotel also has a full service restaurant where I get my now-standard eggs, meat, and bread.

Fortified for the day, Frank, who has been to Budapest before, reconnoitered the area around the hotel. There’s an excellent war museum just a couple of blocks away so we head out. On the way there is a building with an extraordinary decorated roof. It’s some kind of a governmental building and is built on the style of the Fisherman’s Bastion, a famous landmark with lots, emphasis on lots, of steps. Just around the corner from the government building is a partially rebuilt church with only the bell tower remaining of the original. Pictures in front of the museum show the church before the war with beautiful Gothic architecture, after the war as a bombed out shell, and rebuilt as it standstoday. A grim reminder in front of the building housing a museum chronicling the destruction of the city.

After meeting the rest of the team for lunch at a restaurant called “21,” (excellent as usual - had my favorite - Wienerschnitzel) we took a taxi to the downtown market housed in the old train station. It took about 10 minutes for me to go on complete sensory overload! Two floors of nothing but shopping kiosks selling everything from produce and groceries to chocolates and liquor. I stopped at one of the kiosks about 25 yards into the market and bought a miniature bottle of Swak. That’s apparently a licorice flavored aperitif guaranteed to leave you just like the name sounds. I haven’t tried it, but the group came back with stories of chugging shots of it.

Souvenir shopping complete we decided to get a HOHO Hop-On-Hop-Off) bus tour of the city. I had such a good experience with the HOHO in Basel on the Rhine Cruise I was really looking forward to it. What a disappointment. The audio system cut in and out and was often describing things we had already passed as though they were coming up. So, back to the hotel for a good night’s rest, after a group ‘debriefing’ over your favorite beverage.

Learned a new one. Mezzo Coke. It’s Coca-Cola mixed with Fanta orange juice. Sounds yucky, but is actually pretty good. Makes Coke (Dr. Pepper fan) and orange juice (not a real lover) into something that makes both not only palatable, but actually...repeating myself...pretty good.

Tomorrow we part company with our companions and Frank and I head out for two weeks on our own. Our plan covers going back through Vienna on our way to Garmish, then Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt before heading home on the 23rd.

Pictures: The day in Budapest.

Reflection: Although looking at the picture count in my albums shows I took more pictures in Budapest than anywhere except Vienna, it actually has been my least favorite of the cruise so far. Both are pretty much alike with incredible monumental and ornate buildings from every era. However, there was something oppressive about Budapest that I couldn’t put my finger on. Having said all of the above, everything on the cruise, including Budapest, has been...pick your own superlative. What a blessing to experience all this.