Budapest: Hitting the ground running

After two full weeks of interesting experiences and of being waited on hand and foot, including unlimited food & drink nobody wanted to leave the ship.
Everything had been so well organised and coordinated during the entire two weeks. Despite there having been some 70 coach trips and 50 tour guides to organise everything had gone like clockwork without a single noticeable hitch.
Our final day was similarly well organised. Some people were going straight to the airport to catch flights at various times to various destinations, some were extending the APT tour by travelling with them by bus to Prague. Then there were others, including us, who needed taxis to hotels in Budapest.
All this got pre-booked several days beforehand and it all happened exactly as scheduled. The only stipulations were that we had to be out of our cabins by 9am and off the ship by 1pm.. Drinks and snack food were available the entire time. There were many fond farewells as people went on their separate ways while promising sincerely to keep in touch.
The weather was absolutely perfect for exploring the city, so even while we were waiting for our midday cab we decided to take a nice relaxing stroll along the river bank. The lighting was perfect for photographing the buildings and other scenery of this stunningly beautiful city. It looked cleaner and brighter than when we had last visited, and there was far less by way of cigarette butts and other rubbish lying around. We managed to get some really good shots with the new camera and without the usual masses of tourists getting in the way, as had been our continuous experience over the previous five weeks.
Our taxi arrived as scheduled and dropped us off at our floating hotel. The receptionist was most apologetic. Our travel agent had booked the first three nights but hadn't requested a room facing the river. We had booked the final three nights ourselves and, knowing how much quieter and more scenic it was to be looking across the river to the famous Hungarian Parliament, we had paid a little bit more for the river view. Due to them being heavily booked she told us apologetically that she couldn't give us a river view for the first half of our stay and that we'd have to change cabins after the third night.
The converted river cruiser, now a hotel, is moored in a prime location. It seemed to us though to be a little more tired and shabby than when we'd stayed there two years previously.
After unpacking we took a wander to reacquaint ourselves with the area . We wandered over the Margaret Bridge to the Pest side and brought ourselves seven day transport passes. Previously, apart from some illegal tram rides we had walked everywhere, but we since found out that the penalties for travelling without a ticket are quite severe. Furthermore we wanted to travel further afield this time so the transport passes made good sense.
Budapest has an excellent public transport system, provided you speak Hungarian and/or know where you are going. For anyone else it is quite challenging. Despite this we did manage to get ourselves to Heroes Square where the zoo, the famous baths, the lake and the gardens are. We wandered round there for quite a while, enjoying the scenery and soaking up the atmosphere of the place. Miraculously we then managed to navigate ourselves back to the hotel via metro, tram and on foot.
After a bit of a rest at the hotel we headed out again and grabbed ourselves a Hungarian meal. Both of us chose the paprika chicken with potato dumplings and a refreshing cucumber salad. Very enjoyable, very filling and really quite cheap.
We then took a nice slow walk back across the Margaret Bridge. The nighttime views from the bridge would have to be among the most stunning of any city in the world. All the bridges, all the major buildings and all of the monuments are tastefully floodlit with subtle orange lights, and the overall effect is stunning.
Now, a word of caution for the wise. If you are ever visiting Hungary then try your very hardest to stay healthy and avoid their ambulance service at all cost. We were about 100m from our hotel when a woman rushed up to us and in broken English asked if we knew the phone number of the ambulance service. She said her partner had fallen down some stairs and was injured. We quickly checked to make sure it wasn't a trick and sure enough there was a man lying on the ground obviously in pain and with some blood coming from his mouth. We rushed to our hotel and asked the duty manager to call an ambulance. Instead of doing so, he insisted on accompanying us back to where the man was lying. This got Brian a bit cross as he seemed to be doubting our word.
The fellow then phoned the ambulance and was talking to them on the phone for ages. It turned out that they needed to know the victim's age, weight and much more, including the nature of the injuries and the circumstances of the accident before they would despatch an ambulance. Even then, it took a good 20 minutes before it finally showed up. We felt very sorry for the two people who were visiting from Italy for just a few days. The night manager explained that he knew what was going to happen and that was why he insisted on attending the scene, so that he could answer all the questions. Peace was restored. By the way, the number to call is 104. Pretty hard to guess correctly.Read more