The morning of our second day in Budapest, we had to do something we hated. We had to get off of Viking Gulveig. That sucked. We truly loved being on board and made many new friends among the crew and the other passengers. Our stateroom was wonderful, the ship beautiful, and except for one horrible lunch dish, the food was excellent (more about that later this week).
After getting tossed off the ship, Viking was nice enough to give us a ride to our hotel. We were doing the Budapest Extension with Viking, and they were putting us up at the Intercontinental Hotel. From the ship, the “luxury motor coach” ride to the hotel took just about exactly…3 minutes. Seriously, we could see the hotel from the ship. It took us longer to get on and off the bus than it would have taken me to walk directly there. It was just on the other side of the Chain Bridge.
Sadly, the rest of that day was wasted to some extent. The hotel didn’t have rooms ready for us, and having our carry-ons with us, as well as Kathleen really being tired and having (as she said) “hit a wall,” just needed some rest. So when we got to the hotel, our new tour coordinator, Anita, offered the entire group a short walking tour to get oriented to where we were; Kathleen decided to stay in the lobby on a nice couch and read while I went and heard what Anita had to say. Anita walked us about ten blocks from the hotel and showed us how to get around. I have to say that both our pre-cruise tour coordinator in Prague (Vicki) and post-tour coordinator in Budapest (Anita) were amazing to work with. Just took care of everything we needed. Anita even acted as our Concierge by finding us reservations for dinner on the last night we were in Budapest.
After Anita finished her tour, I realized that I needed to get back to Kathleen to give her a break from the bags and discuss what to do next. She was OK with me going off to take photos and then come back, and we could have lunch. So off I went to find the local public market. This was NOT a Christmas Market. This was a huge building that housed just about everything you could want to buy, from soup to nuts (not to mention meat, spices, dishes, clothing, etc.) This was where the locals shopped, and we visitors took pictures (although I did buy some paprika here for myself and Kathleen’s daughter Michelle). Let me drop in the photos I took on that walk right here so you can see what I am talking about. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
After this little foray into a part of the city we had not seen before, I went back and found Kathleen talking to our new friend Carol. The three of us decided to get some lunch in the very nice lounge right there at the hotel. The food was good, especially the goulash soup that Kathleen and I shared.
After lunch, we were finally able to get into our room, where we saw this…
Yes, boy and girls, this was the view out our ninth-floor hotel room window. I took this photo the next night, but suffice it to say that we NEVER closed the curtains (except when we wanted to nap and keep the light out), and this view became our companion all the time, even serving as a night light. After a normal room in Prague and a horrible room in Nuremberg, we had finally won the room lottery with this view.
Other than the view, the hotel was just “fine.” It is much more modern in the public areas and older (more in need of an update) in the rooms. Our room was a good size, had that view and could really use an update. It also had a bathtub instead of a shower, which Kathleen hates. She is the short person in our family, and that means that getting into and out of a VERY high tub is a pain. This one was VERY high. How high? It was sooooo high that I kept bumping my foot when I got in, and getting out was like climbing down a ladder. Except for the location and the view, we would probably not have stayed there. But that view was so amazing, that we probably would go back.
We had dinner that night in the hotel with Jamie, Steve and Carol. In the evening, the restaurant that serves a buffet breakfast converts to a sit-down establishment with Lebanese food. You can either order Lebanese or from the lounge menu we tried at lunch. Everyone at the table went Lebanese, and we weren’t sorry. The food was OUTSTANDING…and very inexpensive. I would have to say that unless you were lunching at the Four Seasons (as Steve and Jamie did since they were staying there to burn more of that Future Cruise Credit), this was the most affordable city we had visited since Lisbon.
After dinner, we had booked our last tour with Viking, “Budapest by Night.” We were still burning Future Cruise Credit, but to be honest, if I had to do this tour again, we would (and SHOULD) have skipped it. We met our tour guide, Lazlo, and boarded a bus that took us around some of the same stuff we had seen the day before while on the ship’s tour with Barbie, but in the dark. Then we headed to the Buda side of the river so everyone could get off the “luxury motor coach” and take pictures of the Parliament (that I had taken the photos of that I showed you yesterday). That did get Kathleen and I in one of my pics (above), but that’s about it.
Then they drove us up the hill toward Fisherman’s Bastion (we got off the bus about fifty feet from where we had the day before) and Lazlo walked us through a construction area (that surprised him by being there—it was like he hadn’t walked this tour in years), down a bunch of steps and two elevators (he kept saying “he hoped were open” and if they hadn’t been he needed to carry us down the steps), past a couple of sculptures and did just enough damage to Kathleen’s knees that she could barely walk the next day…for us to see nothing really that interesting. Just to kill time.
Then we got back on the “luxury motor coach” and killed some more by driving about a mile (we could see our hotel room across the river), having us disembark at a restaurant that looked like it was staying open just for us, grab a half-full glass of sparkling wine, sit in a tiny booth and drink it. Then back on the bus and back to the hotel. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME. And Lazlo was a horrible guide. Told worse jokes than I have ever told (I know, hard to believe) and just dragged us around. He was nice enough to help a woman who was by herself go down the stairs, but my point is, we should NEVER have been on those stairs anyway.
Even though we had gone less than three miles from hotel to hotel, we ate up almost two and a half hours. What a terrible way to end a pretty good day. I did take a few decent photos on the tour, so here they are. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
And that was Day 2. We didn’t get to bed until 11:00, and Kathleen’s knee hurt all night, which did not make for a really great Day 3 when we had some great plans. See you there soon.
Great cooking is about being inspired by the simple things around you – fresh markets and various spices. It doesn’t necessarily have to look fancy. —G. Garvin
Well that looks like a “Real Market” for sure. Great pics.
The pictures of the market reminded me of the one in Lyon. Did they have poultry with the heads still attached??? Nice photo of you and Kathleen. Also liked “Pi”!!!