Budapest Day 1

We have gotten such a kick out of people posing for their photos that Dan has gotten into the spirit of it. 



Budapest is perhaps the most beautiful city, second to Paris, that I have ever seen. The buildings on both sides of the river are amazing, and the way that the Budapestians (sp?) light up the city at night is spectacular. I think that Dan has better photos and stories than I do. 

We disembark tomorrow morning and while I am excited to go on our own, I will miss having the room made up and people serving me whatever I want at mealtime! The cappuccinos... 

Dan:
 
Yesterday was pretty amazing, even if the cruise was coming to an end. In a change for us, we joined the tour group, put on our little hearing devices, and set off with a tour guide who was sarcastic, well-informed, and funny as hell (remind you of anyone I might know?). She took us by this church, unusual to me only because of the incredible tiles on the roof.


This is a bridge guardhouse on the Chain Bridge, one of 8 bridges connecting Buda and Pest. This is still occupied, and the position is handed down from father to son. Now, however, the current father has only daughters, but one of them has indicated interest.

 
A final shot of the S.S. Maria Theresa (our ship) in a Budapest dock.
 
 
See earlier posts about putting locks on bridges. It's a plague.
 

Beszélsz magyarul? (Do you speak Hungarian?) I do not,  but these two signs are supposedly of similar content. Perhaps. They could be completely different, with the Hungarian one saying "Go home, you English-speaking pig dogs. We wave our private parts at you."


This is the Cave Church and Monastery, located on the Buda side of the river. 
 

The short story is that this church belongs to the Paulist monastic order and is located in Gellert Hill, named for the saint who was stuffed into a spiked barrel and rolled down the hill. Ouch. The church was closed and walled up by the Communists, but reopened in 1989 after the fall of communism. There is more to the story, but you have to look it up. 
 
We visited at dusk, and this place gets kinda spooky.
 




 
This is the Liberty Bridge.
 

This being our last evening on the ship, the entire crew came out (who's driving the boat?) and sang a few Christmas songs to us. Some were getting into it; others were not happy to be up there. I have to say that every one of them whom we encountered was wonderful. I am so glad we didn't have to tip anyone; that would have been very difficult. And expensive.


After dinner, the ship set sail briefly and re-docked downstream. 
 
Budapest seen from the river at night is absolutely magical. My photos cannot begin to do it justice. 
 







 

Here, we are with Lynn and Peter, who live in Adelaide, Australia.

Comments

  1. Mitchell NipperDecember 16, 2025 at 6:52 PM

    What? No waltzing in your video?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 17, 2025 at 1:06 AM

    Lin - Dan has quite a creative mind when it comes to translations!
    Great pictures!!

    ReplyDelete

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