Oct 24, 2011

We had many kilometres to travel through the night but the last lock held us up for an hour with three boats ahead of us the outcome being we didn’t make it into Budapest when we had anticipated. Not all bad news however…..instead of having to decide between packing and catching the shuttle boat across the river to the city meant we wouldn’t have a reasonable time to explore so we packed instead.

Budapest..….along with most of Hungary has had a very difficult past. To quote our tour guide this afternoon they have averaged on a 25 year basis being liberated from successive regimes by the next one for many many years. The last ones were the Russians who once they ‘liberated’ the place ‘fell in love with Budapest’ to quote them and stayed for 40 years. No matter where we look we are grateful that in Australia we have such a ‘short’ history.

The city itself is quite beautiful though struggling under the huge burden of refurbishment costs. We visited the old city (The Buda part of the city…...think of Albury Wodonga here, two cities one each side of a river making up one city Buda and Pest) with buildings showing the visible scars of bullet holes and missing chunks from walls from the Russian invasion. Even in the Pest side of the river which is more modern there were many bullet holes visible in walls and although it had been built to look like Paris and Venice (and many of the gracious streets reminded us a lot of Collins Street in Melbourne) it looked tired and in need of a lot of work and I felt sorry for the Hungarian people…..such a legacy to work out from under! We loved our visit to the Opera House which was just spectacular!

After dinner tonight we left our moorings for an illuminated cruise up the Danube River and it was quite spectacular. Where today I had a sense of observing ‘a grand lady not at her best, tonight the Hollywood cameras were out with their ‘soft’ lenses and we saw her in her true beauty and potential…..just a treat. I hope the Hungarian people can restore this beautiful city to its true glory and I wish them the best.

Shock horror….we leave the ship at 4.30am in the morning for the airport and fly to Rome for our connection, even so early not without breakfast, such is the exemplary care of the staff for all in their care. It has been such a lovely trip!



These are the Parliament Buildings which we couldn’t explore today as Parliament was sitting. With the Hungarian history I am just grateful they still have the buildings. Our boat is 135 metres long and these buildings would have to be at least three time that. Very impressive.



Part of the Chain Bridge..…one of the oldest though restored after WWII as all bridges were destroyed then. ‘Chain’ in Hungarian also refers to a necklace which was understandable seeing it all lit up on our illuminated tour tonight.



St Mathias Church. Quite beautiful. The tiles on the roof are a Hungarian invention..….a lightweight colourful glazed tile.



Part of the ‘Fisherman’s Bastion’ supposed to protect the fishermen’s workplace / river in times gone by..…though from the hill surrounding the Palace where this is situated it is hard to figure out how they would have done that. There are a series of ramparts between towers many of which have been converted to restaurant spaces overlooking the 'Pest' side of the city. Would be lovely on a fine day.



The Heroes Square dedicated to many heroes past and this is also where the statue of Stalin was erectd but toppled by the Hungarian Resistance and Budapest Citizens when the Russians were overthrown.



The Parliament Buildings again but through an arch of the Fisherman’s Bastion across the River Danube in the rain. Ah well….the limited photo opportunities meant fewer choices had to be made. Sorry I couldn't provide some relief from buildings with some greenery!

Bits and Bobs:



A little play on words which appealed to me..…sorry it is so blurry but it was taken from the coach!