20240814 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 13/27 - Budapest, Hungary - That's a Buda and a "Pesht"

Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 13/27 - Budapest, Hungary - Day and Night

The Chain Bridge

This morning, we woke up in Hungary's capital city, Budapest. To say it correctly, you need to think "sh" rather than "s" - "Boo-dah-pesht". Budapest is actually two different areas, Buda on the west side of the Danube and Pest on the east side. We visited both today.

Today was disembarkation/embarkation day. This is the end of the Bucharest-Budapest cruise and the beginning of the Budapest-Amsterdam cruise. About 80 of the 180 passengers disembarked today and an equal number embarked and we're already seeing new faces.

It was another hot one with the temperature hitting 99°F. At least the humidity is low so it didn't feel any hotter than that.

We took the included panoramic bus tour this morning. It was a bit of a disappointment. The first part was a ride around the Pest area, taking in the sights. Usually, that means a few stops for photos in scenic areas. Today, it was just quick drive-bys with no opportunity for photos - just a quick glance. We drove by Parliament, The Budapest Eye Ferris wheel, Heros Square, the Jewish Quarter, and more with no photo evidence.

We continued across the Danube to Buda and a ride up to the Castle District.

Stairs below the church we would visit

Ministry of Finance building with the Holy Trinity statue

Statue of St. Stephen I

The Matthias Church or The Church of Our Lady of Buda Castle

Our guide got the entry tickets and we proceeded inside

Nice pipes

We continued exploring on our own and headed over toward the Danube overlook.

Paprika

We boarded our bus for the ride back to the ship.

Parliament

Buda Castle from our Viking Lofn

We were docked right next to the Chain Bridge

The architecture here is incredible

After grabbing lunch on the boat, we walked back north along the Danube to the installation known as The Shoes On The Danube Bank. The installation has metal shoes displayed on the edge of the bank along the Danube. Nazis would bring Jewish and Gypsy refugees here carrying all their belongings. They were told that a ship was coming to take them to safety. They were asked to remove their shoes to protect the ship and then they were all shot and left to fall into the Danube. Their shoes and belongings were taken to fund the Nazi war effort.

We took in the architecture of the area.

This is the church we visited and the overlook where we looked back at this area

We walked over the Chain Bridge and back.

The bridge is guarded on both sides by lions

There were five Viking vessels in port today, three on the north side of the Chain Bridge and two (including us) on the south side.

OK, I didn't take this one from the bridge

But I did take this one from the bridge

Looking north from the center of the bridge

Parliament

Perfectly clear directions

A tunnel on the opposite side

Looking back toward the Pest side

The Castle Hill Funicular 

Zero Kilometre Stone - it marks the center where the branching roads start in Budapest

Looking south from the center of the bridge

I can see our room from the bridge

Our Lofn (right)

The boats were docked just a few inches apart

We arrived back at Lofn and hit the showers. This afternoon, we had to attend the safety briefing once again. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and rather than having to meet on the Sun Deck, the muster stations were moved to the restaurant and the lounge. Wearing a life vest in triple-digit temperatures would have been brutal.

Yes, we're fashion icons

We attended the welcome briefing and then headed to dinner. We ate outside on the Aquavit Terrace and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the Buda hills and the Mathias Church.

As the sun set, the lights of the city came alive.

This evening, we had a second excursion, Budapest at Night. We started at 9:00 PM with a brief drive through Pest before crossing over to Buda and the Castle Hill area.

We got off the bus for a walk through the Castle Garden area, taking in the views of the buildings and over the Danube.

If you look closely, you can see our boat to the right of the Chain Bridge

Parliament

The Chain Bridge - our boat is just to the right

After touring, of course, we were thirsty. Good thing we had a stop built into the tour for sparkling wine.

After a little bubbly, we continued to a prime spot across the Danube from the Parliament building for breathtaking views of this stunning building.

That wrapped up the tour and we returned to our docking area where we were the lone remaining Viking boat in Budapest.

It was a long, hot, but good day here in Budapest. We have no definite plan for tomorrow so we'll sleep until we wake up and figure out tomorrow then.