Uniworld River Beatrice, 4/10/16 Budapest to Passau

[dusty1117]

Tuk Tuk tours stop end of October due to weather. Budapesttuktuk.com. Very responsive. Got our docs today.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Jazzbeau, I didn’t write it down before we left.

 

That was a flashback to my days dealing with VM Mail and other IT systems that require a new and different password every 90 days. After you ran through all the ones you might possibly remember, most people stuck the current on on a post-it on their monitor. IT tried to impose tight security, and ended up with the opposite! ;)

[jpalbny]

Enjoying the jet lag today...managed to sleep until 5AM which was pretty good.

 

Jazzbeau, you are right. We both work for the Government and their strong password requirements are ludicrous. No human can remember these passwords. Luckily we've been slowly moving to PIV (chip card based, with a 6-digit PIN). Waiting for the rest of the world to catch up!

 

***

 

Saturday April 9, continued:

 

Back in Budapest, we took a quick ride to the top of the funicular and we were soon enjoying the panoramic views over Pest. Even with the threatening clouds, the view was quite nice!

 

Buda Castle sits on the Right Bank of the Danube, between the Chain bridge (upstream) and the Elizabeth Bridge (downstream).

 

Here are a few views looking upstream towards Parliament with a part of the Chain Bridge visible:

 

 

And one more for good measure. My tour guide is patiently waiting for me, index card in hand, planning her next move!

 

 

Looking downstream, the white bridge is the Elisabeth Bridge [Erzsébet híd], named after the Empress Elizabeth (AKA Sisi).

 

 

The River Beatrice is docked at the berth just beyond the Elizabeth Bridge today. Pictures of that later!

 

This is a nice pier that's convenient to town and lots of sights, and I wish they'd stay there. Unfortunately the ship is moving tonight, for two reasons. One, they'll be doing the evening cruise down the Danube to see all the landmarks lit up nicely. Two, they'll be moving to another pier a bit further out of town where it's easier to deal with buses and all the luggage that is inherent in turnover day. We're not on the ship yet - we embark tomorrow...

 

Here is a map that illustrates the two docking points:

 

 

So, our job today is to figure out how to get to the pier. Drava is not on any easily reachable public transport line - at least not the ones that run by our hotel. I am too cheap to pay for a taxi, since we have our Budapest cards, which are good for unlimited public transport until they expire Monday at 5PM. I'll have to take a look tonight at whether the river ferry runs to that area.

 

But for now, back to exploring Buda Castle! And yes, all of the gold stars are places that Chris has on our to-do list...

Edited April 21, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

From the Pest panorama, we wandered the Castle grounds on our way to the museum. Here is the Turul Bird at the top of the funicular. It is a symbol of the Hungarian Nation and this is just one of many statues that you can find here:

 

 

In the courtyard, there is decorative stonework and some statuary.

 

 

This window frame looks so dramatic, covered in vines and on this cloudy day you wonder if the Addams Family lives here!

 

 

We headed around to the back of the Castle to the museum, but it wasn’t open until 10, so back around the top of Castle Hill for a bit while we waited. Chris made a new friend, and we got to see the Mathias Fountain:

 

 

Still needed to kill a few more minutes so we looked around for more vantage points. So far it hadn't really rained and we kept our fingers crossed...

[Got2Cruise]

Awesome pictures and commentary. Thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed review.

[purduemom1]

JP and Chris, loving your review and reminiscing about our time in Budapest. By the way, I read your blog about the cancelled river cruise and must say you two certainly made the best of the situation-lemonade from lemons!:D:D

[jpalbny]

Got2Cruise, thanks. This cruise has been a long time coming. We had been looking at it for 4 years!

 

purduemom1, we were quite happy with our time in Budapest and we'll have great memories too. That 2013 trip was such a fun time though! I can't believe that we got to so many places. It was a little crazy.

[jpalbny]

So it still wasn't 10AM, and the museum wasn't open yet...

 

There is a vantage point on the other side of Castle Hill (facing away from the Danube) but the view isn't as good there, we didn't think. So I won't post any pictures of that. Here's the main courtyard in the back of Buda Castle. Mathias Fountain, from my prior post, is on the right-hand wall out of this picture.

 

 

And the Turul bird again, from a different angle. Its neck is cocked at a funny angle and I had a hard time getting it in the right profile.

 

 

This bird statue was perched on a wrought iron gate outside the castle. Whose ring has he stolen?

 

 

The gate itself was pretty too. It looked like a very ornate spider web.

 

 

We went back to the Hungarian National Museum exactly at 10 and got right in. It was pretty interesting and we spent until about 12:30 there. Even better, entry was free with our Budapest Cards! So I paid an additional 600 HUF for a photography ticket, and took a few pictures. The photography ticket is an odd thing that in our experience is more common in Eastern Europe. At any rate, it wasn't much more than $2 so it didn't break the bank.

 

They had a number of exhibits including a temporary one that went into way more detail than I've ever heard about some medieval connections between the cities of Budapest and Warsaw. The old cellar was interesting and the chapel was as well. We figured out that the vine-covered window in my last post is the chapel. Here is a cleaner view of the windows from the inside.

 

 

This outfit didn't look like a comfortable one to wear on our walking tour.

 

 

All of these European History museums are similar in ways. When they weren't busy fighting foreign invaders, or trying to extend their empires, it seems that the various "noble' houses of Europe have spent centuries devising new methods of, and reasons for, killing each other. Part of human history I guess. But for us, it puts the current terrorist attacks in perspective. This is nothing particularly new here. Migrations, wars, shifting borders...all these things have been going on for centuries. It actually makes me feel lucky that I'm visiting now and not back then.

 

We're still not too hungry after that big breakfast; that, combined with the time change, and it feels like it's still way too early for lunch. So we'll make a few more quick stops and grab some food when the time seems right.

Edited April 22, 2016 by jpalbny

[ewizabeff]

I'm enjoying your report! I can tell by the way you describe your hotel, public transport, meals, and getting to landmarks before they open that you travel very similar to the way we do. :)

[jpalbny]

Satuday, April 9, continued:

 

After spending some time in the Hungarian National Museum, we walked back across Castle Hill to the Golden Eagle Pharmacy museum for a quick tour. This was a small place with only 3 or 4 rooms, and we were in and out in about 15 minutes. There was a discount - 20% - with the Budapest Card. A few interesting exhibits, but pictures don't capture much. Here's an old still that was used somehow to make medicine...and a monstrous mortar and pestle!

 

 

We thought about lunch from there, but instead we ran over to St. Mathias Church for the climb up the tower. There were some nice views and no major precipitation yet. This looks out over the multicolored tile roof of the church, across the Danube to Parliament. Fishermans Bastion is on either side.

 

 

Looking north, we could see Margaret Island and beyond the bridge, on the Left Bank (right side of the picture, as the Danube is flowing towards us), is where the ship will be tomorrow (we hope).

 

 

Another shot of Parliament, and my hungry tour guide:

 

 

By then we needed some lunch, so we headed for a place we’d seen last night in between the Church and the Hospital on the Rock. The Cafe Miro had a covered outdoor patio and the place was reasonably crowded. We found a table on their patio - like in Germany, you don't wait to be seated; just walk in like you own the place and grab a table. We had chicken paprika, and beef stew, both served over buttered noodles that looked remarkably like spaetzle. With a few glasses of local wine, of course! Entrees ran about $10 each and wine was $4-5 per glass. Not bad for a touristy part of town.

 

After lunch we walked further north on Castle Hill to the Magdalene Tower, which is all that's left of a former 13th-century church that was bombed in WWII. So much lost...

 

 

That was all we had planned to do on Castle Hill. We were making pretty good time; it was only about 2:30. From here, our choices were to head to other museums and stay indoors, or go up Gellert Hill for more outdoor activities.

 

We decided to chance it while the weather was still holding, and grabbed the 16 bus down the hill to see where it would take us. I haven't memorized out all the public transport routes, but I have a cached city map in my cell phone, and I know generally where I want to go, so we should be able to eventually get there if all goes well! All part of the adventure.

Edited April 24, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

I'm enjoying your report! I can tell by the way you describe your hotel, public transport, meals, and getting to landmarks before they open that you travel very similar to the way we do. :)

 

Yes, I got the same sense from your blogs. We usually come home from our trips needing a vacation...relaxation? What's that? There's always time to rest later, but right now we're in Budapest, and there is so much to see and do!

 

Wait until tomorrow's blog when I describe how we got to the ship. The staff who witnessed it were quite surprised. :D

[Ritabob]

Wait until tomorrow's blog when I describe how we got to the ship. The staff who witnessed it were quite surprised. :D

 

It's not fair keeping us in suspense !!!!

[jpalbny]

Sorry Ritabob. I'm working this weekend and have not had as much time to work on my blog as I'd like. I'll get there...

[mimmy52]

Aargh, JP, we're left in suspense! I can't imagine what would impress the crew. By the way, I like the idea of index cards that your tour guide uses.

[jpalbny]

mimmy52, Chris makes the index cards and it's my job to locate all of the sites in Google Maps and get there. It's a good team effort!

 

**

 

April 9, Continued...

 

 

So we grabbed the 16 bus down Castle Hill to see where it would take us...hoping that it would be in the direction of Gellert Hill. It went southward, down the back side of Castle Hill and then eventually turned in the wrong direction. So we jumped out at a tram stop, then hopped a tram that deposited us at the foot of Gellert Hill. This is taller than Castle Hill, but no funicular! It's the shoe-leather express for us if we want to climb.

 

Luckily there were lots of opportunities to stop and enjoy the view. This is about 1/4 of the way up, overlooking the Elizabeth Bridge:

 

 

It was a nice walk up Gellert hill – lots of intersecting switchbacks, and no way to really get lost. We made it to the Citadella and took in the views from there.

 

 

Similar to the views from Castle Hill but a more southerly perspective. From near to far, the Elizabeth, Chain, and Margaret Island Bridges.

 

 

Up atop Gellert Hill is the Liberty Statue. It's a memorial to the war dead. Lots of people here enjoying the views, climbing on statues, etc:

 

 

 

After enjoying more panoramic views we trekked all the way back down the hill to the Semmelweis museum. He was the physician from the 1800s who was ostracized for the radical thought that he and his colleagues should actually wash their hands between seeing patients, so as to not spread diseases between patients. The horrors! Interesting museum, and another 20% discount with the Budapest Card.

 

Though this time I had to be a little persistent. I showed the card, asked for the tickets, and the attendant wrote up a full price receipt. I again showed the card, and pointed to the price list showing the discount, and with some grumbling she voided the old receipt and wrote a new one. Odd...

Edited April 24, 2016 by jpalbny

[ural guy]

jpalbny- Appreciate the pics and write-up. We'll be in Budapest for 3 nights pre-cruise in September.

 

Impressed by your first day use of public transportation, from buses to tram to get to hotel, followed by a bus ride up to Castle Hill to get to a museum within a few hours of landing. I've been looking at the Budapest transit map, and it looks a bit like spaghetti.

[jpalbny]

ural guy, thanks. It was fairly easy. Three tips:

 

1. Their website (bkk.hu) is reasonably good, and they have plenty of information in English, thankfully.

 

2. I also had downloaded the greater Budapest area into Google Maps on my phone for offline use, so that I'd always know where I was in real time when on a bus or tram. My phone's GPS will locate me on the map, so no worries about getting lost, going the wrong way on a bus or tram, etc.

 

3. There's an app that you can put on your smartphone and use to plan routes when you have a WiFi (or other) data connection. It's called BKK. We'd plan routes in the hotel and then head out. There are a few free hotspots in town that you can connect to in a pinch, as we had to once, to find our way.

 

I have been able to do this in pretty much any city - this is my usual MO, not unique to Budapest. Regarding our ability to hit the ground running on the first day, I had cheated, and looked up both routes (airport-hotel, hotel-museum) before leaving home.

[Marigold252]

ural guy, thanks. It was fairly easy. Three tips:

 

1. Their website (bkk.hu) is reasonably good, and they have plenty of information in English, thankfully.

 

2. I also had downloaded the greater Budapest area into Google Maps on my phone for offline use, so that I'd always know where I was in real time when on a bus or tram. My phone's GPS will locate me on the map, so no worries about getting lost, going the wrong way on a bus or tram, etc.

 

3. There's an app that you can put on your smartphone and use to plan routes when you have a WiFi (or other) data connection. It's called BKK. We'd plan routes in the hotel and then head out. There are a few free hotspots in town that you can connect to in a pinch, as we had to once, to find our way.

 

I have been able to do this in pretty much any city - this is my usual MO, not unique to Budapest. Regarding our ability to hit the ground running on the first day, I had cheated, and looked up both routes (airport-hotel, hotel-museum) before leaving home.

 

Have you tried City Maps 2 Go by Ulmon? Just curious as I saw a recommendation for it.

[jpalbny]

Marigold252, I haven't used that app. Google Maps is easy to use on my Android phone and has the added benefit that I can look up places on any other computer, add the to my saved places, and they sync to my phone's map.

 

***

 

Saturday, April 9...still!

 

The weather was still holding so we walked across the Elizabeth Bridge - from this perspective, Gellert Hill looks huge! Guess it was a good climb.

 

 

And here we saw the River Beatrice up close – waiting for us to come on board tomorrow!

 

 

This pier is in a great location but I can see from this picture that there's nowhere to park buses, unload luggage, etc. So I understand why they have to move a bit out of the way tomorrow for embarkation. Just wish it wasn't such a pain to get to!

 

 

Unfortunately it was a little breezy on the bridge. One of our index cards blew away at this point and is lost in the Danube…Luckily I have all the sights stored in my phone, and Chris has them pretty much memorized too - but it was a little sad to watch it flutter down off the bridge and plop into the river!

 

Off to some sights in Southern Pest – Vaci Utca, which is a shopping street with some interesting buildings. We ran into the Spring Festival, where we grabbed a few chocolates and cappuccino for a snack. Finally we headed back to the waterfront, where we got another view of Castle Hill in the late afternoon "sunshine," such as it was.

 

 

This building is on the Pest side; it's Pesti Vigado, a concert hall.

 

 

From here, we jumped on the 2 tram which runs along the left bank (Pest) and headed back to the hotel for a few minutes to recuperate. It had been a busy day and losing the index card had thrown us a bit. We needed a minute to regroup and figure out what was on it, so we didn't miss things that we'd planned to see. Luckily it was a card for some sites out of town, so we knew what was there and really didn't need it.

 

After our break, we decided to head back up Castle Hill for a few more secondary sights that we hadn't taken the time to see this morning. The weather was still remarkably dry considering the crummy forecast. As we left the Four Seasons, here's a shot of the lobby. I don't know what those strange metal sculptures are, but we loved the glass atrium!

 

 

Onward - we were feeling energetic still - must have been a good strong cappuccino! We weren't ready for dinner yet so we're figuring it will be a late night. Back to the 16 bus, and once more up the hill.

[jpalbny]

We took the bus back up Castle Hill to the Hilton Hotel, which was only built in the 1970s. But, it incorporated the ruins of an old church and a Jesuit monastery, and this wall shows some of that older construction. They supposedly have a bar with a great view but we didn't bother stopping in. This bas-relief on the outside is a replica of an older piece, supposedly depicting King Matyas.

 

 

We went to Fortuna Passage (nothing useful here). It looked like there would be touristy souvenir stores here during the busy season. But for now it was closed up and pretty empty.

 

 

Then we walked down Castle Hill by a different route, to Batthyany Ter for views of Parliament and St. Anne’s Church here. There were lots of boats heading by, looking at the nicely lit-up buildings on both banks of the Danube. That will be us tomorrow!

 

 

We jumped on the tram one more stop, to the Capucin Church and the Fountain located in Corvin Ter.

 

 

It was after 8:00 now and we were still not very hungry for dinner, but figured we'd better start thinking about eating. We walked down the street Fo Utca (nothing special, but it was built over a Roman Road), back to the Chain Bridge, crossed over, and headed past our hotel to St. Stephen's Cathedral. Chris had scoped out a wine bar here, and we were definitely thirsty! Hopefully, a glass of wine will give us an appetite!

[jpalbny]

Finally we made it back over the Chain Bridge, past our hotel, and onto Szent István tér, where we could see the church.

 

 

As we got closer the views got even better.

 

 

We found the wine bar, DiVino, and settled on their patio for a few pre-dinner drinks. Lots of Hungarian wine to choose from, and to be enjoyed while sitting on the terrace looking at St. Steven’s Cathedral. No table service though; you have to go in and order at the bar, then bring your glasses out yourself. And they charge a 500 HUF deposit on each glass. But the setting was nice! And the name was a cute play on words, considering that it was next to the church.

 

 

We grabbed dinner at an Italian place (TG Italiano) on the way home, and enjoyed mussels with Pinot Gris and Forint, then shrimp pasta with rose and duck breast with red peppercorns and pinot noir. Finally it was time to head home after 11:00! What a long day, but what a great time! And tomorrow, we embark the River Beatrice...

Edited April 25, 2016 by jpalbny

[Host Jazzbeau]

We found the wine bar, DiVino, and settled on their patio for a few pre-dinner drinks. Lots of Hungarian wine to choose from, and to be enjoyed while sitting on the terrace looking at St. Steven’s Cathedral. No table service though; you have to go in and order at the bar, then bring your glasses out yourself. And they charge a 500 HUF deposit on each glass. But the setting was nice! And the name was a cute play on words, considering that it was next to the church.

 

When we were in Pamplona on what turned out to be the university students' big night out [Thursday, since no classes on Friday] the street was lined with people who had taken glasses out from the wine bars. On Friday morning, the street was lined with the shards from many of those glasses. Hence the need to charge a deposit!

Edited April 25, 2016 by Host Jazzbeau

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 10 - more Budapest

 

We both slept fitfully tonight, waking up far too early. It probably wasn't the late dinner; just the usual second night syndrome… The body clock is fighting going to bed because we got too good of a night's sleep last night! Nothing to worry about as we have late check out confirmed, and there is no rush to get to the boat, but that’s how it works with us.

 

After trying to sleep for hours we gave up and got up around 6:30 then went to breakfast at 8:00. They were slower today; Chris had the Hungarian scrambled eggs and I had an order of blueberry pancakes – they were about the size of my palm, thick, and dense, like the Scandinavian pancakes ebelskivers, but bigger. It took a while to get our bill and we weren’t out until after 9:00 this morning. Guess we got a leisurely Sunday breakfast!

 

We walked from our hotel to the Metro, took the M3 line north a few stops to Arpid Hid, then got on the 34 bus to Aquincum - yet another Roman ruin. Not a bad ride, though the app told us to get off one stop too soon. Luckily I was watching my map, and figured out the correct stop, which was right at the gate of the museum.

 

The museum here was relatively small and had the usual exhibits about the history of the site, and some of the nicer artifacts were kept on display indoors. A theater mask:

 

 

A few statues, one in stone and one in bronze. I think the one on the left is the goddess of discord, who threw the golden apple which started the Trojan war.

 

 

Love the Roman mosaics. Wish we could make one in our home.

 

 

Assorted funerary steles, etc.

 

 

And a reconstruction of a dolphin fountain, outside the museum. The original is kept on display indoors.

 

 

Off to tour the rest of the site.

Edited April 26, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

The Aquincum site is not a major Roman ruin by any means; much smaller than Pompeii or even Heruculaneum. The grid of streets and building foundations is obvious but in many parts, not much else. They do have one interesting thing here; up on a little hill is what appears to be one of those viewing scopes. If you look in it, however, it's a projection of what the settlement looked like when all the buildings were intact. Nicely done!

 

Here's a bath house with a nice mosaic floor.

 

 

And the foundations of another building; you can see the suspended floor. That was so that hot air could be forced under, for heating. This must have been the high-rent district.

 

 

These looked like ovens but I don't think they were. Probably drains or something less exciting.

 

 

A partial reconstruction of the public bath. The raised floor with space for heated air underneath is typical.

 

 

A Mithraeum - there were several here. A shrine to the god Mithras, these were typically located in basements.

 

 

This "peristyle house" was obviously reconstructed somewhat. The pillars look lonely without a roof to hold up.

 

 

We finished by about noon. As it was a small site, it didn't take too long. Not the most exciting Roman site we've seen but worth the admission charge (free) and something fun to do.

 

From here we had to cross a busy 4-lane street to get back to the bus stop for the journey back towards our hotel.

 

**

 

So, we have our hotel room until 4PM if we want to stay there that late. No point in boarding the ship too early. We've decided that if the timing works we'll try to take the public river ferry boat that stops right near where River Beatrice is docked. And as an extra bonus, the fare is free (included) with the Budapest Card.

 

Since we had extra time, we took the bus part way back before getting off near Margaret Island, to visit the Vasarely museum.

Edited April 26, 2016 by jpalbny

[purduemom1]

You two certainly know how to make the most of your time! Enjoying your review-thanks for taking us along.

Sharon