I woke up to discover that we were well on our way to Budapest already. Slovakia was on the left bank of the river, and Hungary was on the right. Very picturesque!
We had our disembarkation meeting at 10 AM, where we learned the process for the following day. We will need to have our suitcases packed and in the hall by 3:15 AM, which is also when our breakfast starts. We will be leaving the ship at 4 AM. YIKES! At least we won’t be alone to catch our 6 AM flight. We will be in good company with many fellow ship passengers!
Sandor is from Hungary, and so he came up on the sun deck and gave a talk from the wheel house so that we knew what we were seeing. We passed the Esztergom Basilica, which is the tallest building in Hungary.
Captain Roger was in really good spirits today, and he came by and chatted with Aunt Peggy and I for several minutes about our experiences on the cruise. Then Aunt Peggy asked if we could take some pictures with him, and he was completely obliging. He even bent down for the picture with me, which was cute!
We passed Margaret Island, and soon we were coming upon Budapest, which is the capital of Hungary. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of right (west)-bank Buda and Óbuda with left (east)-bank Pest. Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, it has extensive World Heritage sites.
One of the bridges was under construction, and we could see some of the work that was being done on it as we passed underneath it. We passed the Parliament building, which is the third largest Parliament structure in the world. It is a lovely building.
Along the river, we could see a lot of the landmarks. There were a couple of statues in the hills like the one memorializing the missionary that was martyred by the native peoples when he introduced them to Christianity.
We double-parked the ship next to another one and then headed to lunch.
That afternoon, Aunt Peggy and I went along on the bus and walking tour of Budapest while my parents caught up with some missionary friends in Budapest. There are lots of bridges that connect Buda with Pest and vice versa. We drove by Heroes' Square. I so desperately wanted to get out of the bus and stop for pictures, but it wasn’t happening.
On the Buda side, we stopped and a bit. Our guide pointed out the façade of a building that still had bullet holes from WWII. The building is just now being renovated. We walked up to St. Mathias Church. Officially named as the Church of Our Lady, it has been popularly named after King Matthias, who ordered the transformation of its original southern tower. The church is lovely on the outside, but inside, it is a bit dark and gloomy.
The Fisherman’s Bastion (or the Halászbástya) was right next to the church. It is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style. It was designed and built between 1895 and 1902 on the plans of Frigyes Schulek. The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages.
I ended up taking LOTS of posed pictures for everyone else on the Fisherman’s Bastion. It was a good location for a panoramic view of the city. And everybody wanted to pose in a shot with Parliament on the Pest side across the river, etc.
We then had some free time to do some shopping or look around some more, and so Aunt Peggy and I visited a couple of shops together. I bought a couple of small souvenirs and discovered that Carla’s forint were too old and were no longer usable in Hungary, which is kinda funny.
At one point, I saw Sandor making his way back up the hill toward the Bastion, and he was the most jovial I had ever seen him. We crossed each other on the sidewalk. He gave me a wave, a big smile and a wink as he made his way along. I totally had to laugh at that. The guy who I couldn’t get a smile from for weeks was transformed. I guess, you get the Hungarian back home in his native land, and he’s a different person. I love that!
We headed back to the boat by bus. Tonight was the Captain’s Farewell Dinner, and so our food was extra special. We had selected some of our favorite people to sit together for our last big meal together. It was sweet and sad at the same time! Marilyn and George had already left the ship, but they were missed.
The food was extra great, and the whole crew came streaming through to say their farewells. It was awesome. We finished off our meal with baked Alaska! YUM!! I tried to take some lessons from our executive chef’s presentation skills and decorated mine rather carefully with the sauce!
After dinner, we changed docking spots for our early AM disembarkation crowd (that’s us). We got to see the lights of Budapest, and it was dreamy. It was great to see the same landmarks all lit up for the night when we had toured or driven by the same places earlier in the day.
The crew brought up champagne and served it to us up on the sun deck. It was a wonderful end to our trip! I went around saying my goodbyes to my new friends, many who are staying on the boat until it reaches Bucharest in Romania. I collected some business cards and email addresses, and there are many people that I hope to keep in touch with. I think making friends on the cruise has been the biggest surprise to me, and probably one of the most special things about it all!
Favorite Thing or Funny Moment
- Me: Getting a friendly response from Sandor. Sure, now that I’m leaving tomorrow, he wants to be friends. HA!
- FEELING: Sad about tomorrow’s departure!
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