Month: June 2016

We checked out of the hotel and took a cab to our new home – the River Princess.

This ship, operated by UniWorld, will be our new home for the next week or so – and go on the Danube River from Budapest to Nuremberg – and then a bus to Prague. Of course there are stops in various places. Our room, while small, covers everything we need – and is a better layout then we have had on other river cruises we have been on.

After checking in, we headed out again and made a special trip to see the Shoes on the Danube Bank.

 

This is a memorial to honor the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

After our visit the skies opened up with rain, lightening and thunder! Fortunately we had been able to stop for a beverage and were out of the rain and were able to call a taxi to get us back to the boat.

The following day (Thursday) I took the bus tour and Janeen took the walking tour. Her adventure took in various public transit options – subway and trolley with stops along the way.

My tour via bus went to first to the Castle District, at the top of the hill on the Buda side of the city and to a visit to the Matthias Church and area.

Saint Stephen found his way to the area of present day Hungary in 1015 and was able to convert the King to Christianity – thus started the Catholic Church in this area. At the top of the hill, is the Matthias Church a Roman Catholic Church with the Fisherman’s Bastion at the heart of the Buda Castle District. The current building was built in the second half of the 14^th century with extensive restoration in the late 19^th.  The roof of the church is very bright – with the roof tiles made from ceramic materials.

This Soviet era car was a result of the Soviet Union realizing they had a large amount of cotton and plastic waste that they didn’t know what to do with. So they sent it to their East German comrades, so they could build themselves a car. The Germans combined the cotton/wool waste with recycled plastic and resin, calling their new solid-ish (and extremely flammable) material “Duroplast”. Some say it was the first ever eco-friendly car, being the first to use recycled materials in its construction.

Driving down from the Castle District, we drove by a World War I Museum with this large sculpture out front.  Budapest didn’t fair well during this war due in large part to their alliance with Austria.

After visiting the area, the bus cycled the Pest side of the city passing by several highlights – WW I museum and an interesting sculpture depicting an artist’s impression of the Iron Curtain.

   

The Soviet Union didn’t leave until 1989 – just a few years ago. With all that has happened over the last 100 years, the resilience of a people is fantastic. We saw interesting sites, had wonderful food, met really nice people and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Now it’s off to Vienna!

 

 

We joined up with our friends Gloria and Jerry and walked over to the hop on – hop off giraffe bus and headed out for the day. This 2-hour bus ride had something like 23 different stops but we only hopped off a couple of times. Commentary covers the sites and some Hungarian history and cuisine,     so it is a lovely way to meet Budapest on a sunny June day.

Our first stop was the covered market, because a hat and mementos had to be purchased along with a food snack or two.  Vendors were selling all kinds of foods – meet stands,     nuts  and   gifts of all kinds.  Janeen and Gloria were on the hunt for a new hat    for Gloria and they both got new a new purse.    Architecture that stands out are the 18^th and 19^th century buildings, but there are plenty of 1000-1600 examples as well.   This building had a lovely mosaic at the top and appeared to have been recently restored.  Our entire route was scented by the blooming Linden trees that Janeen had to find out about.     Having traveled full circle, we found a late afternoon table for a snack and bottle of rose  before returning to the Corinthia Hotel to set our appetites for Italian hospitality and Hungarian recipes as well at Comme Chez Soi.  This Italian flavored restaurant is listed as #1 in Trip Advisor and we had a lovely time!

After dinner, we boarded a boat for an evening tour along the Danube which was lovely.

Tomorrow we check out of our Hotel and board the River Cruise!

Today, after a coffee at the corner Starbucks, we purchased the hop on – hop off bus tickets for 2 days.  Just as the bus arrived it started to rain!  Fortunately most of the bus is covered   so wasn’t a problem but did make taking pictures more difficult.  The bus goes through both Pest (where we are staying) and Buda the area across the river.  Crossing the river we got a nice shot of the Castle  and a bit better once we were heading up the hill to the overlook   We see all of this again tomorrow and again once our River Cruise formally starts.  Once back on the Pest side, we hopped and had lunch at a nice little spot – and watched it rain on and off about 4 times while sitting inside!  .  After lunch, and picking up a bottle of the local wine, we got back to our hotel and waited for the arrival of our friends Jerry and Gloria.  Fortunately the Air France strike didn’t impact their plans and they arrived around 5 and off we went to the New York Cafe for a light dinner.  

Tomorrow we will do the hop on bus again hitting more sites – and the weather appears to be great – sunshine and high in the upper 70s!

We left Venice early Saturday morning via water taxi on our way to the airport and Budapest.    When we got to the airport, they put us on an earlier flight to Rome where we had a 3 hour layover until our flight to Budapest.     Once we got to the hotel, the beautifully restored Corinthia Hotel is one of the grandest luxury hotels in Budapest.  An impressive landmark building with an imposing Neo-classical façade and soaring glass atrium.  Our room on the 4th floor is everything we could want.  After getting settled in, we went down to the bar for a beverage and light snack – seems it is football time (soccer) and the bar is all decked out to celebrate the event.

Sunday, we slept in and walked to the New York Cafe for breakfast to start the day.  Stepping foot in the New York Café means taking a step back in time: magnificence and sophistication welcome visitors, enveloping them with the charm of the Belle Époque. .  Beautifully  restored this place was a major focus in the 20’s and 30’s.  After this we walked around ending up walking by the Zsinagoga Synagogue known as The Great Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, this is the largest synagogue in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

After this we walked to the St. Stephen’s Basilica – built in the mid 1800’s and dominates the area.  .  After a cup of coffee, we ventured out and found the Opera House where we had a light lunch and toured the building.  The Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance opera house originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was built in the 19th century using virtually only Hungarian materials. The tour included a visit to the Royal Box, the main floor area and various hallways and bars around the building.

Once back to our hotel, we rested and got ready to go to dinner at a pop up restaurant called Meet & Eat.

  This is operated by Suzie and her parents using locally obtained produce, meets and wines to serve a great meal.  Held in an apartment on the 6th floor it is quite an unusual location – no signage and you have to have the building code to get in.  A group of 14 people – some from Italy, Germany, England, Vermont,Minnesota and of course California.  This was a three course meal paired with local wines starting with a soup  paired with a nice Rose followed by Duck  The duck was so good everyone had seconds!  This was followed by dessert     Conversations went from various cultural discussions, food ideas, where people were from and their jobs to what they were doing in Budapest and how they ended up at this Pop up restaurant.  I was a bit uncertain at first but it was a lovely evening and would do it again given the opportunity.

Tomorrow new adventures in Budapest and hopefully the arrival of our friends Gloria and Jerry.

 

Fresh fish, fruit, vegetables, spices and lots of wonderful things to see. It may not be the biggest market we have ever been through but it certainly was a treat. Whole swordfish,    lots of squid, sea bass and just about any local fish         you can think of was available.

After this we walked along the main shopping street finding several shops to browse and even a couple to purchase one or two things. After crossing over the Grand Canal on the Rialto Bridge,we head towards the Ca’d’Oro for a morning visit.

 

Ca’ d’Oro, correctly Palazzo Santa Sofia, is a palace on the Grand Canal and we can see it from our hotel room. One of the older palaces in the city, it is known as Ca’ d’Oro (“golden house”) due to the gilt and polychrome external decorations which once adorned its walls. The palace was built between 1428 and 1430 for       the Contarini family, who provided Venice with eight Doges between 1043 and 1676. Following the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, the palace changed ownership several times. One 19th century owner, the ballet dancer Marie Taglioni, removed (in what today can be considered an act of vandalism) the Gothic stairway from the inner courtyard and also destroyed the ornate balconies overlooking the court.

In 1894, the palace was acquired by its last owner, baron Giorgio Franchetti; who,throughout his lifetime,  amassed an important art collection and personally oversaw its extensive restoration, including the reconstruction of the stairway and the Cosmatesque courtyard with ancient marbles. In 1916, Franchetti bequeathed the Ca’ d’Oro to the Italian State. It is now open to the public as a gallery: Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro.

After touring the Ca’ d’Oro, we had a light lunch and continued our stroll towards the Jewish Ghetto. At one point, Janeen went off shopping so I found Serenissima for a beverage ,eventually sitting for a couple of hours (she joined me between jaunts out to shop) .

    

Aperol spritzers and G&T finished, we continued on our way finally crossing back over the Grand Canal on the Ponte degi Scalzi bridge         and returned to the hotel, found a garden to have a light meal and then to our room  to start packing for the next leg of our adventure – Budapest!