Oct 2 - Exploring the Buda of Budapest

It’s a Monday morning. Overnight, we sailed from Bratislava to Budapest, Hungary. This is now the third country in our seven-country tour. We were in Budapest on the cruise we did in 2016. The moonlit sail up the river a short way and back again, looking at the beautifully lit buildings and bridges, while sipping champagne and listening to classical music on the upper deck, remains as one of our all-time favourite travel memories.

In 1837, west bank city Buda and Pest on the eastern shore of the Danube became the modern city of Budapest. The city today is studded with UNESCO heritage treasures. The Roman, Hun, and Ottoman empires all made their marks, but Budapest had its Golden Age under the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the outbreak of World War I.

Budapest has Europe’s third largest parliament (it looks like Westminster in London), second largest synagogue, and largest hot springs anywhere. The UNESCO listed boulevard of Andràssy Avenue features the neo-Renaissance State Opera House.

Hungary came under Habsburg rule at the turn of the 18th century, later joining with the Austrian Empire to form Austria-Hungary, a major power into the early 20th century. Austria-Hungary collapsed after World War I, and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon established Hungary's current borders, resulting in the loss of 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, and 32% of ethnic Hungarians. Following the tumultuous interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Postwar Hungary became a satellite state of the Soviet Union, leading to the establishment of the Hungarian People's Republic. Following the failed 1956 revolution, Hungary became a comparatively freer, though still repressed, member of the Eastern Bloc. The removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria accelerated the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and subsequently the Soviet Union. On 23 October 1989, Hungary again became a democratic parliamentary republic. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004.

Our choice of activities for today is a hike to Buda Hill. This will keep us strictly on the Buda side of the Danube River. We are docked just steps from the city centre. We traveled by bus to the top of Buda Hill and met with our tour guide, Nora. The view over the city are spectacular from there. There are no buildings on Buda Hill because underneath it are the city's water treatment facilities!

We walked down, down, down and then up, up, up again to get to the Castle District. There is no actual castle there with old furnishings. The buildings now house the National Art Museum, the National Library, the President's offices, the Prime Minister's offices and other government services. The political system of Hungary is rife with corruption, to the severe detriment of the educational and medical support systems. Money is being poured into building new buildings that look like old buildings, the contracts of course being granted to family and friends of those controlling the government purse strings.

We stopped for a morning break at St. Stephen's Cathedral, a magnificent structure with an intricate roof design done in three different colours of tiles. Fortified with gelato (there are gelato shops everywhere here...), we continued on back towards the ship, seeing Budapest's only waterfall and the entrance to the former palace gardens.

That put 13,000 steps on - time for lunch! Photos to come....Read more