Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 14/27 - Budapest, Hungary - We stayed on the Pest side and Arlona had her own pest
It was nice to not have a schedule today. We awoke and started dressing when all of a sudden, it got darker. Another Viking ship was docking alongside us. I looked out our window and saw a pair of hands reaching up to close the drapes in the other ship. Hmm...time to close ours, I guess. Oh well, we had the view yesterday.
After breakfast, we hopped the public transit tram south to the Central Market. The Central Market is akin to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Lots of people, lots of shops selling the same products, interesting food, all under one roof. We had heard that the tram is free for those over 65. We figured that with the exchange rate, we were close enough. Doing some research later, I found that it is free for those over 65 and residents of the European Union. Oh well, it was an honest mistake on our part. The market was only a few stops south of our ship's docking location.
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| This interesting catholic church, Gellért Hill Cave, was across the Danube |
The tram stop was at the Green Bridge, one of the seven bridges over the Danube here in Budapest. In my opinion, it is a beautiful bridge.
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| The market building is very deep |
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| The top floor is mostly goods, the ground floor is mostly food, and the lower level is an Aldi market |
After some wandering and purchasing a t-shirt for me plus earrings and a pendant for Arlona, we needed a sit-down and something to drink. Lucky for us, there was a local eatery across the street that I think had ties to Hungarian royalty.
We hopped on another tram and took it to the area near St. Stephen's Basilica. We heard about a local treat called a chimney cake - dough wrapped in a spiral and flattened, then cooked and covered in different toppings. It can also be filled with ice cream.
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| We opted for an unfilled, cinnamon-covered one - it was tasty |
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| There is interesting architecture everywhere you look in Budapest - Fonciére-Palota |
We arrived at St. Stephen's and walked around. There was quite a line for the inside tours so we elected to skip that.
We made the half-mile walk back to the ship, soaking in the sights.
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| The Budapest Eye Ferris Wheel |
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| Herend Tree of Life sculpture, made from Herend porcelain |
Back on Lofn, we had lunch. Arlona was antsy to see more but my knee was not cooperating. She headed out while I stayed on the ship to start this blog. She rode the tram north from the ship to the Parliament building. She continued on to the Margaret Bridge and Margaret Island.
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| Kossuth Lajos Square and the Parliament |
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| Kossuth Lajos Monument |
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| This European sparrow stopped by for a brief ride as we sailed out |
Unfortunately, as we watched the sights go by, a small bee flew into the back of Arlona's dress. Startled by the feeling of crawling, Arlona swished her hand, causing the bee to sting her. She felt the area, and as luck would have it, got the stinger out with her fingers, just by happenstance. Still, it was painful and we're hoping that it heals quickly. This wasn't the "pest" we wanted today.
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| Statue of Gyula Andrássy next to the Parliament building |
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| Our last view of the beautiful Parliament |
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| Margaret Bridge |
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| Margaret Bridge |
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| Margaret Bridge pillar |
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| Pozsonyi Road Reformed Church |
As we continued sailing north, we sailed away from the population center as the light began to fade. We met a new couple tonight and joined them for dinner on the Aquavit Terrace. After a nice dinner and conversation, we decided to call it a night and headed to the room.
We will be sailing most of the day tomorrow. We're scheduled to arrive in Vienna, Austria around 7:00 PM tomorrow.
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