I really don't want to leave
Trip Start
Dec 08, 2011
1
7
8
Trip End
Dec 19, 2011
Budapest, Hungary
Monday, December 12, 2011
The tour was going to mostly consist of being on the bus, so I had considered not going. I'd already been on two wonderful tours, why go on another when I could spend a day trying to check off items on my 'Budapest To Do' list: go to the Gerbeaud Cafe, see the Great Synagogue, shop at the Christmas market, etc etc. Sophia, our tour guide for the previous two days had said 'Oh, but Heroes Square is so beautiful! You must see it!' It was too far to walk to, and I had enjoyed her tours so much I decided I might as well take her recommendation and go.
One thing I do enjoy about bus tours is the quick glimpse of the city you get to see. We passed many of the buildings that were built for the millennium celebration that I otherwise would never have gotten to see because of how far away they were from our hotel. We passed Gundel, a very expensive and well known restaurant, along with a beautiful ice skating rink. We didn't get off the bus until Heroes Square. All the heroes were unknown to me, but the statues were interesting. Ancient warriors from eras of Hungarian history were displayed majestically at the end of a giant square. On either side of the square was an art museum, one for modern and one for classic. Across the street was the ice skating rink, and when we were given a free moment I rushed across the street to take some pictures. There were also some gypsies trying to sell some shawls and guide books, and with some passengers they became slightly aggressive. We had been fore warned by our guide so we knew enough to ignore them.
When Budapest was celebrating its 1000th year of being conquered, they built a ton of buildings to commemorate the occasion. Including Heroes Square and the two museums on either side, the Museum of Fine Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Also built in that time period in that immediate area was the ice skating rink, a zoo, and who knows what else.
Back on the bus, we crossed from Pest over into Buda. We passed even more beautiful houses that are now condominiums, no longer single family homes, and into the Jewish Quarter. The Great Synagogue looked beautiful, but we didn't stop. In Buda the bus climbed up the great Gellert Hill to the citadel where we had a beautiful lookout over the Danube into Pest. It was a hazy day, so the view wasn't the clearest. Then we rode up to the Fisherman's Bastion and Mattihas Church, which I was also tired of. The church was dark inside, and had interesting patterns on the walls, but overall it wasn't my favorite. Nothing can beat the Frauenkirche in Dresden, in my personal opinion. There is a strong possibility that that will always be my favorite church, architecturally and coloring wise. Outside the church we had two hours free time, so I was unsure what to do. If we had been in Pest that would be a different story, but since we were in Buda I didn't know what to do with myself. I ended up going all the way through the Fisherman's Bastion, which I hadn't done before and took loads of pictures of Pest. When I got to the end, I looked over at the square and there were two men in medieval dress with a falcon! Cool, but only for a photo op. No falcon-doing-tricks show.
I was at a loss. Two hours on my own in a place I had already seen anything of interest. I decided to do what I did in Bad Schandau: 'take a walk on the wild side', or, take a walk down where the grass and trees are until you find something else to do. I walked down Fisherman's Bastion towards the hotel, then turned around and walked towards the Castle. I walked and walked, but never in unfamiliar territory. On our trek to the Library, Ms Jones and I had seen one side of the Castle, but I wanted to see the side closest to the Danube. The side over looking Pest. (Looking through my pictures, I'm not overly impressed with how they turned out, except for the ones taken using the 'toy' setting.) I hurried back to the bus, stopping to take some pictures when I thought time allowed.
We had lunch on board the ship, and then came what I had been waiting for. Free time in Pest! Our program manager took us on a short walk from the ship to the Christmas Market to show us how to get from one to the other. We hadn't been on the walk for two minutes until I realized I had forgotten my camera and my hat. I continued with the group to see where the market was, and lo and behold, it happened to be right in front of Gerbeaud! I walked quickly back to the ship, grabbed my hat, camera and took my map of Budapest to the 'front desk' to ask about walking from the Basilica to the Synagogue. Best way to get there, are there any bad areas, etc. When I asked about potential bad areas the girl gave me this look like I was crazy and completely dismissed the idea that there could possibly be such a thing as a 'bad area' ('Oh no no no'). My bad I guess.
My first stop was St Stephen's Basilica. I had glimpsed it on the short walk to the market, straight down an avenue. The closer I got, the more clear it became that there was another Christmas Market set up in front of the Basilica as well! It was small, but cute. Finding the door into the basilica was a challenge, as there were three doors and I didn't want to look too stupid by pushing and pulling all of them. I ended up following others through one of the doors on the side, passing by a priest asking for donations (we had heard last night that you do not have to pay to get in, you just pay if you want), through a heavy purple curtain, into a darkly lit masterpiece of a church. My camera behaved better than I thought it would in such dark lighting, which I consider nothing less than a miracle. There was a music rehearsal in the front of the church, preparing for a concert in the evening. It was mildly jazzy, especially with the oboe soloists, which contrasted with everything my eyes were taking in. Leaving the basilica I left by way of the priest at the door I had come in and gave him one of my 400 florent bills.
Next, the synagogue. After consulting the map, I walked towards one intersection and, after consulting the map again, I turned around and went the other direction. After about half a hour, I decided I was moderately lost. I went into a shop and asked a girl where I was on the map, and she called another girl over and marked my map and showed me where to go. I walked for a long time, perhaps half a hour. Finally I saw the towers of the synagogue, crossed the streets and hurried to the entrance. It was about 5pm, and I didn't relish being out too much later. I still hadn't been to the cafe and supper was at 7pm. I asked the two men at the entrance if the synagogue was open and one of them said 'yes, tomorrow at 10am.' Smart alec. All that for nothing.
I had considered going back to the Paris Department store and looking through the books, but I couldn't remember how to get there, so when I saw another book store I decided this was as good as any (plus I needed to go to the bathroom). I love going in bookstores overseas and seeing what people around the world are reading. Taste doesn't seem to range too far, as I saw The Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and in the English section there was a LOT of Agatha Christie.
Leaving the book store (Alexandra) and finding my way to the cafe was easier than I would have thought. The cafe takes up a whole block, and the outside is completely lit up. Walking inside, I was a little bit confused. The first thing you see when you walk in is an exhibit of cakes alongside a long counter, on top of which is a cash register, and a display of boxes and a tower of macaroons. There was some seating in that room on my right, but on my left was another room for more seating. I wasn't totally sure if I should order what I wanted at the register or if I should sit at a table and wait for a waitress, so I asked someone. I was told to pick a table and wait, so I choose a table at the far end of the room and sat down, and waited. When the waitress did come, I ordered a slice of sacher torte and hot chocolate. They came separately, first the cake, then the chocolate. The cake was brought with a little chaser of water, which was cute, and the hot chocolate came with another chaser of water and a little cookie. One third of the glass of hot chocolate was whip cream. One. Third. I've never had so much whip cream with my hot chocolate. What do I do? Do I drink it? I took the long spoon they had given me and slowly stirred the whip cream into the chocolate until it was one, and I took a sip. That one sip told me that this is the way to serve hot chocolate. With tons of whip cream and chasers of water. The cake was a little too sweet, but good. When I was done, I went to the cash register and bought Ms Jones a slice of sacher torte and myself a little box of macaroons.
Back outside, I perused the Christmas Market, hoping to find a print of the city to take home, or something unique and interesting, but I found nothing. The smells were wonderful though, so I bought some chimney cake at a stall. Walking back to the ship was easy as well, but I thought that I'd like to take a picture of the shoe memorial. I had seen it when we were on the bus coming back to the ship, and hadn't realized until then just how close they were to the ship. After five minutes, I realized they weren't quite as close as I had thought. I did find them, and just opposite was Fisherman's Bastion. The golden lights were not just on the buildings, but shooting up into the air. When I was finally inside the ship, I couldn't believe supper hadn't been served, nor the lecture started. I suppose the sun leaving the sky so early makes it harder to believe that it isn't as late as it looks.
Later
It's 10pm, and the lounge is full of old drunk people. Ever been in a room with a bunch of old tipsy people? The Viking employee at the piano started singing and an old man in the back shouted 'Karaoke?!' like it was a prayer. Pleeeese no. Some old ladies are calling for 'New York, New York', but he has paid no attention and is playing 'S Wonderful instead. Not that the ladies have stopped participating or anything. If a line strikes them as something they know, they'll sing/shout it out (such as when the word 'AAAAAAAAMOUROUS' came up in the lyrics). Blerg.
There are some who would argue with me on this, saying 'But you do the same thing! We hate it when you sing for those very reasons!' I'll acknowledge that there is some truth in those claims. However, I do it for comical effect and am too sober to do it for hours. These people have the vocal stamina of a thrush. Drunk singing might be my new favorite thing. Listening to them singing 'Last Christmas' two beats after George Michael is kind of hilarious.
