20110907 into Hungary and the town of Kalocsa

Breakfast as usual (omelet, sausage, cheese, coldcuts, oj, coffee). Then computer work with pictures and text.

Then off to the lounge for a talk by the captain on river navigation. It was interesting, in that he answered a bunch of questions regarding draft (two meters, trimmed nose-down), river depth (shallow right now), tank capacities, engines (twin Caterpillar diesels), etc. He has a lot of experience. They don't use GPS because the channel shifts around; advisories are passed out by the Danube commission when needed. Right now, three ships are grounded in the lower river, another illustration of why we could not board at Ruse. There has been rain in Austria and Germany, so the river will be getting more water, but it takes a week for the water to get to where the ships are grounded.

An advisory lecture took place for the people going on the tour extension to Prague (about 31). Then we were part of the lecture for those going to Vienna (about 45). I won't go through it now, I'll comment as it happens.

Now we're waiting for lunch and arrival at Kalocsa.

We ate & docked. The buses came and took the ladies to their optional tour of a horse-riding exhibition and other stuff.

Another bus took us guys into Kalosca. The land around here is extremely fertile. This is the breadbasket of Hungary, and the center of paprika growing and preparation.

So we went to the paprika museum – yes, there is one. It smelled of paprika and bothered my hay fever immediately, so I quickly bought a package of it for D and left.

We wandered around for a while, changed some money into forints, and sat down in a sidewalk refreshment stand. The local Hungarian beer, Saporino, is quite good so we had a few. 

A chiming town clock is located over the place which uses some really strange chime tunes. Its bells are hanging out off the front of the building and are struck by computer-driven solenoids.

Then we went back to the boat on the shuttle. We sat around a small beer & souvenir stand and had another Saporino. A guy on a bike came along and had something to drink. He struck up a conversation with us. We told submarine stories, then found out he's a journalist with BBC stationed in Budapest for the last 25 years. He saw the 1990 war in person, but wouldn't tell us much about what he saw.

He finally told us he's an author of a book and that his name is Nick Thorpe. I'll have to look for it.

We went aboard for the tomorrow-plan and dinner. Then it was crew-doing-the-entertainment night, which was nice and at times completely goofy. Still, it was fun.

Owen Photos      Dolores Photos    

20110908  Budapest, Hungary

We woke with the ship still underway after its expected arrival time. Soon we came into a city outskirts and then the big city. We docked in downtown Budapest on the Pest side of the river in an excellent location.

After breakfast, we hopped into the buses for the obligatory tour, this time to the Square of Heroes, where there are many statues of famous Hungarians. The art museum and the museum of modern art are on this square as well.

Then across town to Buda and up onto the hill to the scene of a 700-year old church (Matthias) with a great view of the city and Danube. Took many pictures, looked in several shops.

The buses took us back (miserable traffic, I could walk as fast) to the ship.

We rested a bit, then hiked into the central district of Pest. D took pictures of St Stephens cathedral, I took pictures of the much less grandiose Lutheran church. We wandered around but didn't find much – lots of hotels, not many shops.

Dinner was nice as usual. The evening event was a dissertation on Hungarian customs, language and history presented by Dr Kate Laurenszky. She was informative and funny – a really good speaker.

We had a nightcap and then drifted off to bed.

Owen Photos      Dolores Photos   

20110909  Budapest, Hungary

We did breakfast, then hopped onto the buses for another grueling day.

First, we went to the palace of the first Hungarian regime in Esztergom. This place has a magnificent church and the reconstruction of the first palace. It's on a bluff over the Danube (of course). Dr Kate was our tour guide for the day and did a great job.

Then we went to the site of the king's wife's palace, down by the river (she was Italian and wanted luxury near the river). Very interesting place, with some reconstruction and some original items.

Then we went to a restaurant nearby that specializes in serving food of the early times, and in period containers. The only concession to the modern era was the silverware. I didn't much like it, but the others seemed pleased.

We returned to the boat, then did our gratuities for the crew and for the tour directors.

The gals had gone off the day before yesterday to find a gag gift for Tom C’s birthday (today). They came back with a tee shirt showing a stick-figure pepper with muscle bulges on his biceps and underneath it were the Hungarian words for their proverb “The pepper is small, but strong.”. Tom wore it today. At dinner, Tom got the full treatment of staff clapping and wandering around the room with a sparkler-topped cage; the procession ended at Tom’s chair and he was congratulated by all.

We had our nightcap in the lounge and went to bed.

Owen Photos       Dolores Photos   

20110910   Budapest, Hungary

Breakfast while the ship moved to the Buda side for easy bus access and provisioning the ship. Provisioning is a “all hands but the captain” evolution. 

Then back to the buses. This time we did Szentendre, a small village that concentrates on fleecing tourists. Many small shops with goodies for the tourists.

Then we returned – the ship had moved back to the Pest side. The afternoon tour walked to the Parliament building and returned later.

We did most of our packing before the captain's farewell drink and dinner. Dressed up a little. The dinner featured filet mignon and baked alaska. Quite good.

After dinner, we went topside with our wines and watched as the captain took the ship downstream through all the other traffic, turned back, ran upstream and docked at the Pest side again. Wonderful views of the night-lit major buildings.

Off to bed to awake early and depart the ship.

Owen Photos  Dolores Photos