Today was an exciting day as we changed venue from our hotel room to our shipboard suite on the Ms. Joy to begin our meandering upstream journey on the Danube River. We abandoned our suitcases in our hotel rooms to the care of Tauck (our tour company), trusting that we’ll reunite with them mid-afternoon on board ship.
Great Market Hall
We made our way to the Great Market Hall, a huge covered market first built at the end of the nineteenth century. It had been completely destroyed during the war, and remained a carcass for several years until the city decided to restore it during the 1990s. The open, three-story, steel structure covers a 10,000 square foot hall and reminded me of a train station. The top floor overlooks the main floor and is a ring of booths dedicated to souvenirs, handiwork, and eateries. The main and lower floors have permanent stalls offering a full range of produce, meats, spices, sweets, and of course a full selection of paprika. Unlike the open markets in Southeast Asia, this facility is well-organized, with permanent vendors, in pristine conditions. Frankly, it was overwhelming. We soon lost interest in buying a selection of paprika, since most are available in the US. The variety of meats, sausages, and prepared dishes were endless. There are no animal body parts that was not available – a good case for living a vegetarian life. As we walked up and down the aisles, I could just feel my cholesterol level increasing and my arteries beginning to clog with second-hand fat, enticing me to pop an additional statin into my mouth. As we readied to leave the market, I spotted a makeshift booth where they were squeezing fresh orange juice. That seemed like the best antidote. It was by far the most delicious orange juice I’d ever tasted – I felt cleansed.
Meat for all tastes
Returning to our tour bus, we drove across the Chain Bridge to the top of Castle Hill, located about 160 feet above the Danube, to visit the Buda Castle affording a good view of the Danube River and Pest. A perfect site for defense purposes, several castles had been built, destroyed and replaced over the centuries, starting in 1243. The most recent reconstruction began in 1950. The current castle consists of several wings around St. George Square and borders the national library and two museums. The castle is mainly symbolic, since no monarch has lived here since the 16th century.
Matthias Church
Inside Matthias Church
Moorish influence on the church ceiling
The key attractions are the Catholic Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion. The Baroque-style church was completed in 1269 and was used as a mosque during the Turkish era. The interior, while basically Baroque, displays several elements of Moorish influence. In the courtyard next to the church is an equestrian statue of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungry who reigned from 1000 to 1038. Remember, he was the victor of the first and only Hungarian military battle. This achievement was rewarded with a gift of a crown by the Pope.
St. Stephens statue
Matthias Church courtyard with the Fisherman’s Bastion and its towers in the background
Viewing walkway on the Fishermen’s Bastion wall
The Fisherman’s Bastion was the location where the fishermen’s guild constructed a defensive barrier in the Middle Ages. The current wall, including seven towers, was completed in 1902. While interesting, the main attribute is the spectacular view it affords of the Danube and the city. Almost directly across the river is the Parliament building. The perspective from the castle drives home its enormous size, which is hard to grasp when walking next to it. We could also spot the large Ferris wheel (a scaled down version of the London Eye) next to our hotel.
Parliament building viewed from the Fishermen’s Bastian wall
Just around the corner from Matthias Church, our guide pointed out her nomination for the ugliest building on Castle Hill: The Hilton Hotel. She obviously had some very strong feelings. It was completed in 1976, architecturally inharmonious with the other buildings on the hill. She and many of the nearby residents are rankled by how it was approved. The story is that Conrad Hilton wanted to build a hotel on Castle Hill but was not willing to pay the high cost of a architecturally compliant building. He asked his ex-wife, Zsa Zsa Gabor to help him secure approval. Zsa Zsa, born in Hungary, and crowned Miss Hungary of 1936, used her charm and influence to help him. His project was approved. (I tried taking a photo, but my camera refused!)
Streets of Castle Hill area
House of Houdini
Walking on the cobblestone road, we passed the House of Houdini – basically a museum exhibiting Houdini memorabilia. Houdini, born in Budapest, never lived or visited this house which opened in 2016 (he died in 1926 while testing one of his ideas). The house serves as a gathering point for magicians from throughout the world.
Ship’s Captain Roselie is welcoming us to come aboard
Toast to the trip as we get underway
We boarded our bus for the last time and made our way back over the Danube to board our ship. Our ship, the Ms Joy was launched in 2016, is 443 feet long and 39 feet wide. It is a beautiful ship with first-rate accommodations. Once we were on board, we found our suite, filled with our luggage. We hurried to settle in before making our way to the Sun Deck to capture the sites as we cast off and to raise a glass of champagne to a great and safe journey. Just a short distance up river, we were rewarded with yet another view of the Parliament building. This side is definitely the ‘front’, with its full grandeur on display. How fortunate we are to experience this.
Up and close to the Parliament building from the Danube
Soon after passing the Parliament, we were ‘invited’ to attend the mandatory, not-in-depth safety briefing by the captain and his crew. My take away was – the river is not very deep, you probably won’t drown, and there are life preservers on the Sun Deck. Most surprising was learning that we would be going through 13 locks along our way.
Since we had not held back indulging in the tasty Hungarian cuisine, all the rich food was beginning to take its toll. Barbara discovered that the Hungarian’s answer to this problem was to take a digestive after dinner. Which one? Well, there is only one known to be effective: Pálinka. She discovered that the ship’s little store carried it and immediately purchased a couple of small bottles. Pálinka is an apricot liquor or bitter with an alcohol content of no less than 37%. The Hungarian have a saying: “Pálinka in small amounts is medicine, in large amounts a remedy.” Our guide explained that the ritual to drinking Pálinka “as a remedy, is to fill a shot glass, look at it and scrunch your face up in anticipation, you throw it back, and then slam your empty glass down on the table.” I tasted a thimble-size amount – I didn’t scrunch my face. Hmm! I will definitely stay on the medicinal side of the consumption scale. Did it work? I can’t say for sure…but I felt better the next morning. Perhaps sleep was the real medicine.
As the day ended, we continued our overnight trip to our first stop: Bratislava, Slovakia.
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