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

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 10 - Budapest and embarkation

 

From Aquincum we took the bus back to the Vasarely museum – this was not something we’d usually go to, but we enjoyed it just the same. And it was free with our Budapest Card. They had some very interesting art on display. Lots of 3D imagery; some examples:

 

 

The museum is relatively small, so it did not take much more than a half-hour to tour. We headed back to the bus then caught the metro home to our hotel.

 

We packed up very quickly and checked out, hoping to catch the tram in time to make the stop for the hourly ferry, which would stop at the pier where River Beatrice was waiting… That looked to be the most convenient way to get to the pier, and a nice relaxing ferry ride sounded good.

 

The #2 tram stops along the river, right near our hotel, so it was easy to get to even with our luggage. The tram was there on time and it is only one stop to the Parliament building, then a short walk to the pier. We were there in plenty of time. The boat arrived on schedule around 2PM... It was the D13 ferry. There are also a few other ferry lines that stop here, but they don't stop at the Drava Pier, so we had to be sure we were catching the right boat.

 

 

So we boarded; it was a relaxing journey and we saw River Beatrice come into view as we approached the pier…

 

 

Then surprisingly, the ferry slowed down, but didn’t stop, and sailed on past the pier!

 

I got up to ask what happened, and the staff said that no one stood up and looked like they wanted to get off, so they didn’t stop! Apparently you have to storm the doors or they don't stop the boat. Who knew?

 

After some back and forth, the crew radioed the southbound ferry, which waited a minute at the next stop for us. So, we were able to get off at the next ferry stop on Margaret Island, jump right on the southbound ferry, and return to the stop that we wanted - just a few hundred feet from River Beatrice. A little more circuitous than we had wanted, but we got there!

 

We walked over to the ship and our crew was in disbelief to find some of their passengers arriving by this route – they said that no one ever arrived in this fashion and they didn’t expect it at all. They wasted no time in grabbing our luggage and escorting us on board.

 

We had just made it in time for lunch which closed at 3. The offerings were a little past their prime by this point but not too bad; as we hadn’t eaten in 6 hours, it tasted just fine… The wines were very nice, though! After lunch we found our butler Boris and got a tour of our suite – looks great, and we're happy to have made it, all on our own, with only a minor hiccup.

 

**

 

We were docked at Drava 2 which is in the middle of nowhere. I looked at the BKK app to see if we could get anywhere without too much of a hassle, and we decided that Heroes Square was reachable. So we headed out around 3:30 and caught an electric bus about 3 blocks from our pier, which took us directly there.

 

We have our safety drill at 6:00 so we can't be out too long, but it was only a 10 minute ride to our stop. Shouldn't be a problem! And even if we miss the boat, we know where it will be for the next day.

[jpalbny]

Thanks, purduemom1 - this is the only way we know how to travel. We get antsy if we sit still too long because we figure we have to go do something!

 

**

 

Sunday, April 10 - Budapest, Heroes Square

 

This is Heroes Square, with a ton of tourists posing for pictures.

 

 

If you can't beat them, join them!

 

 

Here are a few closeup shots of different parts of the Millennium Monument. I think these are some of the Magyar founders of Hungary.

 

 

Some more modern historical figures, and a closeup of the chariot on top:

 

 

This is Mucsarnok art gallery, on the edge of Heroes Square.

 

 

Time to head into the park and knock a few more items off our list!

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 10, Budapest - City Park

 

We were right next to City Park, or Varosliget in Hungarian. There is a small lake where you can rent paddleboats, and Vajdahunyad Castle is on the lake. Neat setting!

 

 

From nearer to the castle, you can see the paddleboats are shaped like cars.

 

 

The castle itself is built as a hodgepodge of different styles. This part looks like a medieval castle.

 

 

And this is a replica of a 13th-century church.

 

 

The different styles are so interesting next to each other.

 

 

We waited for a while but eventually we decided that the picture of the statue with a kid climbing on it was interesting enough. He had no intention of letting us have a picture without him in it!

 

 

We were really enjoying some sunshine this afternoon - it was the first we'd seen all weekend. A few more places to see nearby before heading back to the ship.

[ShannonSC2]

I love your review so far. We are going on our first river cruise in June leaving out of Budapest.

 

What kind of camera did you use? Your pictures are amazing!

[jpalbny]

ShannonSC2 - thank you. We're both using point and shoot cameras, and a few are cell phone pictures. I don't carry my DSLR as much as I used to, though I do think that it takes better pictures.

 

Back to Budapest!

 

**

 

Sunday, April 10 - City Park, Budapest

 

After looking at the Castle, we wandered the grounds some more. We didn't expect to see a statue of George Washington here!

 

 

Here's an interesting monument, I thought. It commemorates the 1956 uprising. It starts out as a few scattered steel bars poking up timidly through the concrete pavement, but as you approach the front of the monument the steel bars become taller and more densely clustered. Eventually they fuse into a sharp point that definitively rises up out of the concrete as a polished monolithic wall, towering over your head.

 

 

I thought that this represented the strength of many people coming together as one, and showed that they were an unstoppable force when they worked together. Or maybe I'd had too much wine with lunch...

 

We ducked down into the M1 Metro line for a picture of the old station. This is Continental Europe's oldest metro line, built in 1896, and is a UNESCO world heritage site. We didn't ride it, but the station was cool.

 

 

We headed back to what I thought would be the bus stop home, and had a gut-check moment. The bus we wanted wasn't listed on the bus stop, and when I looked overhead, I saw why...there were no electric cables on this side of the street, so the electric trolley bus only ran one-way to this particular stop. The alternate pathway back to the pier must make a stop on a different street!

 

I sniffed out some free public Wi-Fi and found the right stop 2 blocks away and we were home shortly. Glad for smart phones and apps. We were back in plenty of time for the safety drill, and we got to the lounge a few minutes early to prepare.

 

 

After the safety drill, everyone immediately bolted for the restaurant to go to dinner. We weren’t too hungry yet, because of the late lunch, so we relaxed in the lounge sipping wine and chatting with another couple who were also in no hurry for dinner. I could get used to this!

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 10 - Budapest by night

 

We eventually wandered over around 8PM for our first dinner, and enjoyed some shipboard versions of Hungarian specialties. There was a crepe stuffed with cheese and chicken, followed by soups (beef paprika for me, and root vegetable for Chris). The entrees were beef goulash or paprika chicken. We reversed entrees from what we'd had with yesterday’s lunch and enjoyed them equally, though I will admit right away that the entrees served in the city were a little spicier than those served on the ship.

 

 

Wines were a dry muscat from Tokaj, and a Hungarian Cab Franc.

 

After dinner we headed over to the lounge and I asked Chris whether the musical duo looked familiar - as in, were they the same duo we'd had on our 2014 sailing? So we danced a bit and puzzled over this for a bit more.

 

At 9PM we had set sail southward, back towards the better docking spot just south of Elizabeth Bridge. From the lounge, we had nice views of the buildings all lit up – similar to what we’d already seen, but pretty nonetheless. The view was pretty, we didn't have to put forth any effort, and we enjoyed a relaxing evening.

 

Every once in a while we popped outside for better views. Here is Parliament all lit up for our enjoyment:

 

 

An overview of the Danube, looking south towards Castle Hill on the right, and the Chain Bridge ahead. Gellert Hill is far in the distance, over the middle of the Chain Bridge.

 

 

And a closer view of Buda Castle.

 

 

After their first break, we found out that the musical duo was in fact the same duo from SS Antoinette back in 2014, and they had wondered about us too, because we were out on the floor dancing so much. So we had a nice time reminiscing while enjoying the view from the nighttime sailaway.

 

Late to bed but slept well – one more day in Budapest tomorrow! Though we've done a bunch so far, there's plenty more to see. We'll head out on our own rather than take any of the included ship's tours.

[jklc123]

Wow! You have a lot of readers, with good reason. I'm so enjoying seeing places we did not venture out and see. Of course we should have spent more time there post-cruise, but we headed back to Vienna as we knew the ship wouldn't spend enough time there to do it justice.

 

So now I'm waiting to see if you two hit the Szechenyi or Gellert Thermal Baths!

[Got2Cruise]

Chris with her wine. Relaxing. That's what RC is all about. Love the illuminations. Our cruise does this too on the first night.

[jpalbny]

Wow! You have a lot of readers, with good reason. I'm so enjoying seeing places we did not venture out and see. Of course we should have spent more time there post-cruise, but we headed back to Vienna as we knew the ship wouldn't spend enough time there to do it justice.

 

So now I'm waiting to see if you two hit the Szechenyi or Gellert Thermal Baths!

 

Sorry to disappoint you! Unfortunately, we didn't get to any of the baths. We toyed with the idea of going to one on the afternoon / evening that we arrived, but since I'd had some minor surgery on my shoulder a week prior to leaving, I didn't want to soak it in water. Chris was happy to come up with dozens of other things to do. Guess that will have to wait until next time!

 

Luckily, this was not our first trip to Vienna. We spent 2 nights there in 2013 during the River Cruise that wasn't - the Danube cruise that got canceled because of the June 2013 flooding. So, our 2 night, 1 day stay in Vienna this time was a nice revisit.

 

Chris with her wine. Relaxing. That's what RC is all about. Love the illuminations. Our cruise does this too on the first night.

 

Yes, the illuminations cruise at night was great. Even though we'd seen the same sights for the two prior nights while we were out and about, it was still fun to see them again from the Danube. Budapest by night is really pretty, and the feeling of being out on the river at night is special. It was also nice to move from that dock out in the hinterlands, back in to the center of town.

 

That picture of Chris relaxing is a rare one. We're usually running around like mad - well, she's running and I'm trying to keep up! :) Though she is smiling in the picture, I am sure that she was thinking, "Why did we have to come back to the ship for this darn safety drill? I could have stayed out another hour or two!"

Edited April 28, 2016 by jpalbny

[Cruiseskier]

JP,

Great post with a lot of information. My wife and I read you Rhine (2014) a few days ago. After reading and seeing all the pictures, we booked a Uniworld cruise for Sept (Rhine).

[dusty1117]

Difference of opinion. Do men need to wear sport coat every night. There are 22 in our group

[jpalbny]

Didn't have much time today but I did manage to scan and upload the daily programs, as well as an overview sheet listing all of the available excursions. This link will go to a folder which has the individual files for each of the daily programs.

 

Hoping to post our last day in Budapest tomorrow!

[jpalbny]

JP,

Great post with a lot of information. My wife and I read you Rhine (2014) a few days ago. After reading and seeing all the pictures, we booked a Uniworld cruise for Sept (Rhine).

 

Thanks very much. You will have a great time on the Rhine cruise! We can't wait to get back to that area.

 

Difference of opinion. Do men need to wear sport coat every night. There are 22 in our group

 

Need? No, certainly not every night. There are only two remotely dressy nights - the welcome and farewell gala dinners, and even then, sport coats and/or ties are OPTIONAL.

 

Can you wear one? Sure, some did, some didn't. I brought one because we had the room for it in our suitcase, but could have gone without. Our three Uniworld cruises have been casually elegant.

[dusty1117]

Thanks for info. Great. Reading. 3 weeks to go

[tamsno]

Thanks for your time, great pics and info. Like your style. I leave in 4 weeks for first river cruise Tauck AMS-BUD with extra overnight in Budapest at the end so eagerly have read this and your other river journeys.

 

In Budapest I know you used chip and pin, would chip and sign also work in restaurants and shops? I know not in ticket machines and like all Europe. Were Euros widely accepted or should I definitely use forint and did you notice the usual number of ATM's? Thanks again and journey on!

[jpalbny]

Thanks for your time, great pics and info. Like your style. I leave in 4 weeks for first river cruise Tauck AMS-BUD with extra overnight in Budapest at the end so eagerly have read this and your other river journeys.

 

In Budapest I know you used chip and pin, would chip and sign also work in restaurants and shops? I know not in ticket machines and like all Europe. Were Euros widely accepted or should I definitely use forint and did you notice the usual number of ATM's? Thanks again and journey on!

 

My credit card is technically a Chip and Signature. It works fine at attended places such as restaurants, shops, etc throughout Europe and everywhere else I've tried it. In restaurants and shops, the payment terminal will print a second receipt and prompt for a signature.

 

Most of the time (probably 90%) the card also works in unattended kiosks. Many times I am prompted for my PIN, which has always worked, even though my bank specifically says that the card is not Chip and PIN and can't be used that way. I've used it at all sorts of unattended machines, all over Iceland, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in the past 2+ years. I did not ever have a reason to try using it at an unattended machine in Budapest, though.

 

On the few occasions when the card has been rejected outright, the machine rejects the card before ever asking for a PIN.

 

So, in our experience, we can usually make the card work in unattended kiosks. I know that others have had different experiences. All you can do is try!

Edited April 29, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 11 - Budapest

 

So, today the ship offered a few tours but we preferred to head out on our own. We had planned from the beginning to do this, and one of the things that every review said was to tour the Parliament building. We bought tickets online from home the day before we left. This website (http://hungarianparliament.com/tours/) had information and a link to a site where you can pick your time, date, and purchase tickets online to be printed at home. Easy!

 

We slept reasonably well this morning but still were awake earlier than necessary. We had a light breakfast before heading out. From our dock it was about a 2 minute walk to the #2 tram stop (Március 15. tér) and since it was Monday, the trams ran every 4-5 minutes. It was a quick ride with no changes, and we were at the Parliament building by 8:20, for our 8:45 tour A little too efficient! So, we had 20 minutes to wander around outside and enjoy the views across the Danube.

 

 

Here are a few segments of the building:

 

 

 

From this close, it is impossible to get the whole building in one picture!

 

This is a building across the square, the National Ethnographic Museum. Lots of beautiful architecture here.

 

 

A few statues caught our eye as we approached the visitors center.

 

 

We headed down into the visitors center to wait for our tour to start. If it's as interesting on the inside as it is on the outside, it should be a real treat!

[jpalbny]

In the nice, new, modern visitors center we assembled for the tour, but our guide was a few minutes late. We headed through security (metal detectors for you, and X-rays for your bags) and then picked up our QuietVox devices.

 

Off we went, starting in the basement level. This guy was guarding the way:

 

 

After climbing a few flights of stairs (there are elevators for those who can't climb well), we entered into a long hallway with a nicely decorated ceiling.

 

 

At this point we didn't hear the guide very well, but I think that she said that this chamber was only for show. The Parliament was built back when there was a bicameral legislature, and not it's unicameral. So this chamber is no longer in use...IIRC.

 

 

The grand staircase - we didn't get to climb it, as it's only for ceremonial use when visiting dignitaries are here.

 

 

Nice ceiling. A little fuzzy in the low light.

 

 

We got to see the Crown Jewels of Hungary, including the crown with the bent cross (legend says it was damaged while forcibly retrieving it from a locked box for a coronation ceremony, after someone lost the key!), the sword, the orb, and the scepter which is over 1000 years old. The crown jewels have resided in Fort Knox at one point; after WW2 they were held there for safekeeping and returned in the 1970s. No pictures allowed, but here's a website with more information and pictures!

 

On the way out there is an exhibit with lots of information about the construction of the Parliament building, as well as profiles of some of the big players from that day. We didn't linger to read too much of that, as there were places to go and things to see! This fellow was making sure that we returned our Vox Boxes, though.

 

 

Beautiful building, and nice to have done despite the fairly high cost of 5400Ft per person. A bit overpriced for what you get, and the tour felt a little rushed, but this is the only way to see it.

Edited April 30, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 11 - Budapest, Parliament to Liberty Square

 

From Parliament, we headed out for a leisurely walking tour of northern Pest. But first, one last look at (part of) the Parliament building as we are leaving. There's a reflecting pool here, and the grounds provide a very nice view, though it's still too close to get the whole building into one picture frame even from here.

 

 

We strolled over to Liberty Square where it was most surprising to see a statue of Ronald Reagan. He is honored here because of his role in the collapse of communism. I like how the dome of the Parliament building lines up with the street, and makes a nice backdrop to this photo.

 

 

Also in Liberty Square, there is a monument honoring the Soviet soldiers who died during the siege of Budapest in WWII. The liberators were not loved for long, as witnessed by the monument to the 1956 uprising that we saw earlier. Strange how the liberators can so rapidly fall out of favor.

 

 

We saw a few nice bank buildings, but they are tall and the streets are narrow, so it was hard to really appreciate them. This is the façade of the Post Office Savings Bank. There are better views later, but it reminded me a little of Gaudi's architectural style.

 

 

We ducked into a local market at Hold Utca (the market is called Belvarosi Piac) to do some shopping. This was a quiet and relaxed shopping experience; it was still early and the market was not busy at all. I got some hot paprika to take home, and a tasty dried sausage which we proceeded to nibble on after we got back outside. After all, it had been almost 3 hours since breakfast!

 

 

From here, a visit to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. This time, we'll skip the wine bar and actually go inside the cathedral!

 

 

Maybe we'll climb the tower too... I hate to admit it, but our legs are really feeling tired! Saturday was a very active day and we're still feeling the climb up Gellert Hill. We logged almost 30,000 steps on Saturday and another 18,000 yesterday. We've been going non-stop since we got off the plane Friday evening and I hope we can make it to all the places we have on our agenda for today!

Edited April 30, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

So we headed into St. Stephen's Cathedral. The main portal has carvings that depict the heads of the 12 apostles.

 

 

The dome; no way to climb up here that I can see.

 

 

In the Chapel of the Holy Right Hand is the mummified right hand of St. Stephen, Hungary's first Christian king, and he whom the chapel is named for. Yes, we did see it but no pictures to post. A little creepy looking at a 1000-year-old piece of mummified flesh. Here's St. Margaret (as in Margaret Island, later today) on a stained glass window, and a font at the entry to the Chapel.

 

 

So we decided to take on the tower. I will confess that we took the elevator halfway up the before walking the rest of the way. The tired legs had finally caught up with us... We had a nice view towards the Danube - our (former) hotel is at the end of this street.

 

 

Time to scope out a few more sights. Though it's relatively sunny, there is still a fair amount of haze in the air. So we decided not to go out of town and take the chairlift up to the Elizabeth Lookout - which would have been our plan had the weather been clear. We figured it would be best to stay in town and knock a few more things off our list.

[mimmy52]

Did you take a picture of the mummified hand? I'd be interested on seeing it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Did you take a picture of the mummified hand? I'd be interested on seeing it.

 

If you get the chance, be sure to see the play A Behanding in Spokane. I saw it in NY with Christopher Walken in the lead, and it was terrific. But [spoiler ALERT] the big prop surprise is a suitcase full of mummified hands. You'll love it!

[jpalbny]

Did you take a picture of the mummified hand? I'd be interested on seeing it.

 

No - the lighting was not conducive to photos. It's in a heavy enclosure which is in a niche in the wall of the chapel, so it's fairly dark. You can put some coins in and light it up but I didn't have the right denominations, and no one else did it for us, so we settled for a picture of the hand's container. It's in there. You can see it if your eyes adjust to the dark but it doesn't photograph well.

 

Jazzbeau, that play sounds interesting, to say the least!

 

Edited May 1, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 11 - Budapest, St. Stephen's Basilica

 

We wandered around the tower, enjoying the view.

 

 

From this vantage point, we had some nice perspectives of a few landmarks. Here's the Royal Postal Bank from my prior post. I hadn't realized that it had such an ornate roof, because you can't see that from up close at street level. It's a beautiful building! The one just in front of it is the Hungarian National Bank, with all of the statues on the roof.

 

 

Parliament, of course.

 

 

And Buda Castle.

 

 

By now it was only a little after 11:00 so we pushed on - there should be time to knock off this part of town before lunch! Getting out early for the Parliament tour had left us in good shape; we should be able to get a lot done today.

Edited May 1, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

After enjoying the panoramic view from the tower, we headed down Andrássay Ut which was beautiful. A tree-lined, wide street with turn of the century buildings on either side. We stopped at the opera house.

 

 

A few views of the interior of the opera house:

 

 

You can take tours but they're not until afternoon, so we hadn't planned to do this. One more shot before moving on.

 

 

We were intrigued by this beautiful old building across the street from the opera house. I couldn't figure out what it was by the signage, and Google doesn't know either. But we thought it was pretty.

 

 

Still not even noon yet, so we'll keep going until we get hungry. At this point we've made it about halfway back in the direction of the ship from our starting point (Parliament), so we're within walking distance when the mood strikes!