alexandriacardinals

Budapest

[St. Gellert on the Buda side of Elisabeth Bridge.  Not surprisingly, he’s on Gellert Hill. We’re in a bus now for a guided tour of the city on Sunday morning.  This brought some consternation to the cruisers who wondered why this didn’t come until our final day in the city?  It was originally scheduled for Saturday, which made sense so we would then know where to go when we were on our own, but Viking worried about a big city bike race on Saturday (we never noticed it?).  Well, I’m sure there was nothing nefarious involved – we truly enjoyed our time in Budapest.]

[We have arrived at Castle Hill on the “other side” of the river, a/k/a Buda.  Rain was threatening and we did get spritzed on a bit.  The white building is Sandor Palace, the Budapest equivalent of the White House – it’s where the president lives.  Not even a fence around it?  These remaining foundations in the foreground are from the 14th century castle keep and are being preserved as such.]

[Tourist groups have to coordinate not running into each other.  We were 1B!]

[Our guide, Anglicized to Steve (as I recall), called this the ugly building as we were walking to Matthias Church.  Because the ground floor was original construction, and the top two floors were what the Communists built on top of it.]

[Matthias Church, hard by the ugly building.]

[Where we were . . . ]

[Where the “where we were” signs were in relation to Matthias Church.]

[St. Stephen (our guide’s namesake?) on his horse at Fisherman’s Bastion, which provides the scenic overlooks of the city.]

[Even to the locals, the guy in the middle is known as “Woody Harrelson.”  😉  ]

[The first of several visages that I have to say I appreciate for the foreground/background symbiotic relationships I somehow managed to luck into.  Loved these views . . . a sunny day would have been nice.]

[The Super documented the plying of my craft!  Either that or she just took some pictures.  Reetz’s expression seems to say, “Oh, for Pete’s sake!”]

[The Parliament on the Pest side of the river.]

[All were clamoring for a photo of these lovely ladies.]

[So much to see, so little time . . . ]

[Matthias Church, which surprisingly wasn’t open on a Sunday morning?]

[Must be something special to be double-teamed by The Biddies!]

[And here it is!  😉  ]

[The Welcome Wagon greeter?  He was at the road divide between Sandor Palace and Matthias Church.  I can’t remember who he was, but I showed him my passport out of respect (or fear).]

[The changing of the guard at Sandor Palace.  All very civil.  I don’t know if the President was there.]

[Who has more fun than The Biddies?]

[Looks like another overlook . . . ]

[Looking down on Chain Bridge, at our hotel, and at the Parliament where that might be our boat on the far right side.]

[We thought about walking to the far end of the castle . . . then opted not to.]

[First Shakespeare, now Beethoven?]

[I seriously do not remember this (another black out moment?), but it appears we’re getting ready to cross Chain Bridge.]

[Street shots back on the Pest side . . . Reetz is checking out the Opera House.]

[Our first view of Heroes’ Square.]

[We circle while looking for bus parking.]

[In the City of Spas, this is the biggie!  Szechenyi Thermal Bath in City Park is the one the Super really wanted to partake of . . . well, on another day?]

[Back to Heroes’ Square, this is a “nice building by the Square.”  I can’t remember what it was and web photo research only came up with “nice building by the Square”?  Oh, and it’s where we parked the bus.  (Editor’s note:  This just in!  Checked on the archer statue out front – the building is the City Park Ice Rink!  Now I remember!)]

[The Palace of Art with BigBus Budapest across the street from the Square.]

[Steve telling us all about Heroes’s Square.  The Museum of Fine Arts is on the opposite side of the Square from the The Palace of Art.]

[Millenium Monument, the column on the middle of the Square, surrounded by, among others, the leaders of the seven Magyar tribes who founded Hungary.]

[In modern times, these guys would be linebackers.]

[The Biddies and me with BUDAPEST!]

In Part II, we will FINALLY board our boat and go out for a final visit of Budapest.

Being a woman is of special interest only to aspiring male transsexuals.  To actual women it is merely a good excuse not to play football.  ~  Fran Lebowitz

Up next:  Boat!

Budapest

Beginning with the usual schmaltz . . . say, was that the A train?

[Not to be outdone by the flak we took for the Paris picture, trying to top it from Budapest!  Yup, still working on that 15 minutes of fame thing.  But it was such a beautiful first morning in the capital city of Hungary, how could we not?]

[Hey, Reetz, does Rick Steves tell us where we can find rooster testicles stew for lunch?]

[Reportedly a celebrated writer of some repute.  His birthday was two days prior to our arrival.  Is a belated card appropriate under these circumstances?]

[“3 Girls and a Dog”]

[A lovely building on the promenade and looking back at our hotel.]

[Anne, the Super, and the “Boy with the Golden Legs” (or is is a girl?).]

[We’re heading inland now, off the promenade, and appear to have come upon Varoshaza Park.]

[For the food fanatics . . . ]

[And, Aha, we found it!!]

[I thought it said turn left at the rooster testicles stew?]

[Now I believe this area is considered Deak Square, which includes Varoshaza Park (as I understand Hungarian maps).  Hungarian is like no other language . . . probably the closest is Finnish.  Go figure?]

[We’re walking along a major avenue of Deak Square, which includes a multi-story tribute to the French fry.]

[The first mayor of Budapest, Karoly Kamermayer . . . and his very popular bistro!  🙂   ]

[More of the sights and sounds around Deak Square.]

[This was a Serbian Orthodox church.  We decided to take a look.]

[The Great Market Hall, over 100 years old and over 10,000 square meters under one roof.  And more hanging weenies for the hanging weenie crowd.]

[OK, maybe a bit of overkill here.  We were taking the trolley from the hotel to Margaret Island, and it made a swoop around the Parliament building.  Didn’t know how much more we would see of it, so wanted to give it fair and balanced coverage.  It’s significant in that it’s a beautiful building, the 3rd largest Parliament in the world, and the family Gross would be taking the tour there.]

[We have exited the trolley and are now hiking across Margaret Bridge to Margaret Island. It’s a great day to be a Margaret.]

[The entry to the island park after a rather lengthy pedestrian walkway to get there.  OK, quarter of a mile.]

[What better way to see the island . . . a quadricycle!  All we were told was don’t go on the grassy areas.]

[And my task from backseat left was to capture the color of the area.  🙂  ]

[The entire trip took about an hour.  The Super managed to avoid every pedestrian in her path along the route.]

[Although we had taken the trolley to get here, we decided to walk back.  This is where living in one of the few countries not under the metric system bit us.  We thought 420 km equaled about a half mile!  Anyway, the top photo is walking up “the ramp” out of the park, and the rest are on Margaret Bridge with the Parliament behind us.]

[Parliament, the Olympic rings in Hungarian colors, the Parliament’s dock (?),  and Matthias Church on the Buda side of the river.]

[This is why we’re glad we walked, though it was a too warm, sunny day.  ‘The Shoes.”  A monument to Jews who in WWII were ordered to take off their shoes here and were then shot so their bodies would fall into the water.  It is quite a moving tribute.  We thought we would see this on a later bus tour, but the site was just acknowledged as we drove by.]

[A little rest on the way home is good!  😉  ]

[Chain Bridge.  On the far side left you can see the funicular to the top of the hill.  We had hoped to take it later, but it wasn’t open for the season (?) yet.]

[Flowers and the Super with a friend.]

[“Danube Wind,” an outdoor sculpture on the promenade near our hotel.]

[After a long day of hiking and biking (was this the day Karen registered 7 miles on her pedometer?), a little vino and antipasto on hotel’s front outdoor terrace.  Life is good.]

[Now we’re heading out for dinner.  It’s Budapest Spring Festival time!  Little did we know!  We’re heading to another restaurant recommended by the hotel in the Varoshaza Park neighborhood.]

[Kathy’s moment . . . ]

[We zeroing in on it!]

[The restaurant is Cyrano, the diners are us (Rita and Karen took a pass from the late night dining), my dinner was duck breast in lentils, the Super had pasta with Gouda cheese (she had the antipasto earlier, so this was enough – she pronounced it “very good”), and . . . dessert!]

[The nighttime stroll through the park . . .]

[Followed by a nighttime stroll on the promenade.  Not too shabby.]

[Our hotel.]

I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.  ~ Leo Rosten

Up next:   A boat?

Road Trip

[What, I hear you say?  I thought this was a boat trip?  We’re leaving Prague now for an 8-hour bus trip to Budapest – going from Czech, through Slovakia, to Hungary.  It’s about 330 miles, but with a couple stops, including one for lunch, and an unintended one for an hour on the “interstate” for no discernible reason (we passengers weathered it well), it’s a full day drive.  Here we’re saying good-bye to our next-door neighbors at the Prague Marriott.]

[Driving out of Prague – Honeywell tossed in for “Weakie.”]

[This is Brno, the 2nd-largest city in the Czech Republic, population about 370,000. It is close to the country’s eastern border, and we would soon be driving past Bratislava, Slovakia.]

[Mistletoe!  A parasite that seemed to be in the trees everywhere along this route.]

[A rest stop?  Don’t remember.]

[The Super liked the wind turbines.]

[These yellow fields of rapeseed are everywhere.  They produce canola oil that is now principally used to make bio-diesel fuel.]

[Using paid professional actors to show how to deal with the “pay-to-pee” policies that exist throughout Europe.  Here, we even had to exit through turnstiles.  Bring plenty of change!]

[The interstate lunch stop was not fast food.  Actually, home-made cafeteria style eats – quite tasty.]

[The Hell, you say?]

[But it ever so humble, there’s no place like bus.]

Budapest

[And here’s where we’re heading, Budapest, the capital of Hungary.  That’s Buda on the left, highlighted by Buda Castle (many following photos), and Pest on the right, where we stayed (the Marriott Hotel on the far right).  That’s Chain Bridge connecting the two.   [Photo on loan from Wikipedia.]]

[Our first views of Budapest through the bus windows.  In the immediate above photo is our hotel – the Marriott right on the Danube!]

[OK, now we get off the bus . . .  having already seen Buda Castle and Chain Bridge several time.  😉  ]

[The view from our room (Buda Castle) . . . and our room.  Not too shabby.]

[Excited to be here!  Let’s just step outside the hotel on the riverside and look up and down the promenade.]

[And finally we’re joined by the rest of our party – Kathy & Bert, Anne & Bill, spent their pre-cruise days in Vienna while we were in Prague.  Our first night together ISO a fine eating experience . . . and it was just a couple blocks from the hotel.]

[And it was super-duper!]

[My pheasant breast!]

[This is Reetz’s . . . looks good, whatever it was.]

[And this was the Super’s, but she doesn’t remember?]

[We kind of had our own room, as a party of eight.  The main inside room to our right was full, so we got this little outdoor patio place.  It was perfect!]

[I’m going to play a hunch here . . . desserts?]

[The nighttime walk home was  . . . decent?  😉  ]

The trick is growing up without growing old.  ~  Casey Stengel

Up next:  A day in Budapest.

Prague

[Our last full day in Prague.  We were on our own.  Because Reetz and Karen were a day late arriving, they missed the previous day’s guided tour of the city.  So, on this morning, they were able to hook up with another group from the across the street Hilton for a guided tour.  The Super and I then thought the morning would be a good time to look into Wenceslas Square.  We began our walk as usual, but instead of turning right at the Powder Tower we went straight ahead on what was a major commercial avenue.]

[We reached the “square” where we encountered the perennial and international class field trip.  And for a bit of background, the “square” is not really a square but a several block long boulevard.  And two – spoiler alert! – Wenceslas was not really a king as the song says; he was merely a duke and a saint.  🙂  ]

[Looking up the boulevard square, the National Museum marks the end in the distance.]

[The Prague equivalent of Mickey’s Diner?]

[A hockey player of some repute, even on this side of the Atlantic.]

[A wonderful boulevard . . . though it appears we’re about to be engulfed in a wall of humanity!]

[The Super and friend . . . and the photographer even figured out a way to get in the picture.]

[A typical Czech restaurant.  I know that because the sign says a “Typical Czech Restaurant.”  In America, they’re usually called “Mom’s.”]

[Approaching the National Museum and the statue of St. Wenceslas on his horse.]

[Better lighting looking back on whence we came.  The Super seems to appreciate that.]

[“Good King (err, Saint) Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen . . .”  ]

[Love the palate of building color – this is looking right from the museum when facing back down the boulevard.    ]

[From the National Museum steps.  Great view!]

[Just so you know exactly where we are.]

[So long, good Wenceslas.]

[The Super liked the colorful fowers . . . remember, we’re north of Winnipeg here.]

[Back down at the other end of the boulevard, this is the avenue we walked up to hit the square as that’s Powder Tower in the background.  Three days here now, we could be Prague tour guides!  😉  ]

[An internationally-renowned sidewalk cafe.]

[We continued straight, instead of heading back to Powder Tower, in the direction of Old Town Square.  Along the way we encountered an open air market.  As Arnold would say, “We’d be back!”]

[Another wonderful pedestrian only thoroughfare.  We did not know any of the people in the foreground.]

[We saw this restaurant on a pre-trip video.  We went in but it was extremely humid with the aroma of boiled vegetables.  Though they have outdoor seating in the back, we opted not nosh there.]

[The Super made me do it . . .]

[In the afternoon, Reetz and Karen were back from their morning tour, so we decided to take them where we had just been.  For the first time, we went in the Municipal Building which had fancy restaurants on both sides of its lobby area.]

[The “Darling” limo was still hanging around . . . ]

[SHOPPING!!!!]

[I told you, “We’d be back!”]

[The ladies all went in here . . . I never thought I’d see them again!]

[To know it is to love it, back in Old Town Square.]

[Do you believe in magic?]

[Heading back home through Powder Tower . . . ]

[And by the mosaic of the Municipal Building . . . ]

[To an outdoor nosh at Cacao, just around the corner from our hotel.  We saw a super model eating this all by herself at an adjacent table.  She noticed our interest and told us what it was.  A coconut cake, whose name I think was Raffaelo, was delish even as shared with the Super.]

The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.  ~  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Up next:  Budapest.