Budapest Day 5 Tuesday, 1 June 2010

A rainy day in Budapest. We were anchored on the Buda side of the Danube within sight of the famous Chain Bridge.

We had a bus tour of the city visiting Heroes' Square, viewing the beautiful parliament building (the second largest in Europe as it served the Austria/Hungry empire), the Rudas Thermal Baths at the foot of the Elizabeth Bridge and the Buda Castle District. We visited St Matthias Church and the Fishermen's Bastion and enjoyed the beautiful views over the city.

In the afternoon we caught the commuter ferry to the Pest side of the Danube and explored the city centre. We were hoping to visit the central market hall; however, ran out of time as we sailed for Vienna mid afternoon.

Prague to Budapest Day 4 Monday, 31 May 2010

We travelled from Prague in the Czech Republic to Budapest in Hungry by bus. We stopped for lunch in Bratislava the capital of Slovakia.

Bratislava is situated in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River and is the political, cultural and economic centre of Slovakia. It is a pretty and ordered little city with bronze statues everywhere including the charming workman coming out of a hole in the road.

We continued to Budapest and boarded the Scenic Ruby a beautiful ship with well appointed and comfortable cabins. A Czech highlight dinner (with plenty of goulash and dumplings) was followed by entertainment from Hungarian musicians and dancers. Our captain then took us for an evening cruise around Budapest to enjoy the magnificent lights of the city.

Prague Day 3 Sunday, May 30 2010

We revisited Old Town Square for some photos and shopping and enjoyed the atmosphere of the cobblestone streets and the architecture of the buildings.

The Czech people are very friendly and welcoming to tourists. Many of the older Czech people speak German as this was formerly taught as a second language at school, the 30-40 year olds speak Russian as a second language and the youth speak English as it is now taught as a second language in schools.

We headed off on a river cruise and lunch about 10 am and had a traditional drink, Becherovka, as we boarded the ship. The cruise down the Vltava River was a a wonderful way to see Prague from another perspective. We saw centuries old buildings along with with Art Deco and modern buildings including the 'dancing building' called Fred and Ginger. It was controversial when built; however, it does fit in. We also saw a centuries old church, damaged in WW2 which had modern spires. We saw the metronome which replaced the statue of Stalin on the hill overlooking the river, The Petrin Tower (a small copy of the Eiffel Tower) and encountered our first lock. It was interesting to see the lock fill and the boat sail through.

In the afternoon we walked around the Jewish quarter finishing at the Hard Rock Cafe. We found that tickets to many concerts were on sale as each cathedral, castle and hall hosted a concert. Bach, Vivaldi, Pachelbel's Cannon in D and Dvorak featured.

We enjoyed a highlight Czech dinner at the hotel with traditional Czech dancing and music and then walked to the Old town to see the gas lights and ended up at a local bar to drink Absinthe which is popular in Prague.