hungary – Maryland Meshugas

Day 4: Where We Head Out Of The City To A Small Town, An Art Museum, Christmas Market And Chocolate Cake.

Many Cobblestones Are Involved

December 20

Today is the day we transfer to the ship, the Viking Tor (or Thor). After we had breakfast made sure our bags were out in the hallway before 10:00 a.m., all 5 of us in our group boarded a van for the same excursion to Szentendre (Saint Andrew), a town about 40 minutes from Budapest. The group was pretty small, so we had a van instead of a big tour bus. These vans are great, because they are easy for me to climb up and climb down.

The town seems to have one main street. Our tour guide told us all we had to do was follow the cobblestone road to find our way back to the bus.

Szentandre is a classic small town in Hungary. Some of the population is actually Serbian in origin (Eastern Orthodox) and some Hungarian (Catholic). We wouldn’t know the difference, that’s for sure.

The little booth is the beginning of the Christmas Market. More cobblestones.

We slowly made our way towards the Magrit Kovacs museum. I know I had never heard of her. She was famous in Europe in the first half of the 20th Century for ceramic art, at a time when the concept of “ceramic art” wasn’t a thing.

There actually is a remnant of the Jewish community still in Szentandre. This street is the entrance to the Jewish quarter.

When we arrived at the museum, we discovered that it was actually a house converted into a museum; therefore there were a bunch of steps and no elevator. I’m always at a loss when cruise ship excursion descriptions can’t seem to include this kind of info.

But our tour guide, Nickie, was able to talk to the museum staff, and they opened up a back door for us so we could enter without steps.

Here’s a link to some detailed info on her life. Magrit Kovacs was an artist who decided to turn ceramics (normally considered “just pottery” and therefore not “art”) into a true art form. Her work is amazing! Her bio says she was “born into a Jewish family” (I never really know what that means), but many of her works have a strong Christian theme. By the time the Nazis came to power, she was so famous that somehow they dared not murder her. This is pretty amazing, since that never stopped the Nazis before (e.g. they were after Einstein). She was essentially under house arrest for the duration of the war with a big yellow Star of David on her front door.

These are some of her works that we saw in the museum:

The people she portrays almost always have a little smile

The smiles disappear after her mother dies. This is a portrayal of Magrit and her sister with their mother on her deathbed

During the Soviet occupation of Hungary, she was instructed to create this map of the world that is missing the US.

After the museum, we went to a coffee shop and had a drink and some cake, which turned out to be “lunch”. We had time to wander around the town for a bit giving us the opportunity to contribute to the local economy, which we did. We walked back to the bus along the smoother-surfaced street down by the embankment of the Danube.

Now it was time to head to the ship. We made good time until the last mile, where it was backed up a bit.

It’s great to back on board a Viking ship!

We unpacked and tried to figure out what was going on with the excursions via the TV app. Nothing made sense. We went to the front desk and started asking questions of the young guy waiting there. He immediately sensed he was over his head and called for the Program Director Mario.

We’re guessing that because this is supposed to be a Christmas Market cruise, and many of the markets close by December 24, Viking did their best to rearranged things to maximize the Christmas experience. The end result is massive confusion.

The day we’re in Krems (12/24), we’re not doing anything in Krems, but going to a cathedral in Melk. Mario said there’s 65 steps to walk down to get from the parking lot to the church. We thought he was joking. He was not. We predict that about 1/3 to 1/2 the ship will not be walking down 65 steps (and then have to walk back up). Though Mario mentioned there is a path down, but it’s all cobblestones. And then the church itself has steps, though *maybe* the elevator will be working. This does not sound hopeful.

The day we’re supposed to be in Passau we will be going to Salzberg, because the Christmas market in Salzberg is still open.

Linz now has an included walking tour that wasn’t listed a month ago, and definitely not over the summer when we were deciding on our excursions. We had booked a private walking tour in Linz (though Viator still hadn’t confirmed they were actually providing a tour guide while happily taking my money). We all agreed there was no point in doing both, so we canceled the private tour.

Also, a new Budapest Christmas Market and St Stephen’s church walking tour was added for Saturday afternoon. Since the morning “Panoramic Budapest” tour in the morning is pretty much the same as what we saw on the tuk-tuk tour AND it starts at 8:00 a.m., Janet, Susie, and I opted to not go on that one. Andy had a castle hill hike scheduled anyway, and Tom said he was going on the panoramic tour so he could go into the church at the top of that hill. Many hills, many churches!

I think we have it figured out? It remains to be seen.

Tomorrow: last day in Budapest

Days 1, 2, and 3 (Though Days 1 and 2 Are Actually Just One Very Long Day (As Is Tradition))

Where We Have A Relatively Easy Time Getting to Budapest (A Pretzel Is Involved)

And I’ve Already Given Up Trying To Pronounce Anything In Hungarian

Days 1 and 2 (12/17 and 12/18)

Our flights to Budapest were relatively uneventful. Something stupid always happens, but luckily the stupidity was relatively minor. We had booked oodles of time for the layover in Munich, so when the stupidity manifested itself (eg. Lufthansa changed the gate 3 times, each time sending me an email (G0d forbid, why not a text) in *German*, which, alas, I cannot read with any kind of proficiency), there was plenty of time to fix or work around it.

Good news! We were able check the box for “German pretzel”.

(Note: the following is my growing list of must-have foods in assorted countries).

Italy = gelato
Spain = paella
France = chocolate crepes, onion soup
Germany = pretzels
Hungary = ?
Austria = ?

Anyway, we arrived right on time and were promptly picked up by the Viking rep. Once at the hotel, we received the usual Viking briefing for their location extensions.

One couple who was with us on the ride from the airport seemed to be getting off on the wrong foot, by declaring that so far on this trip their interaction with Viking had been a disaster (they were picked up and the airport on time and arrived at the hotel?). Our observation was that this couple was just not really hearing what the Viking rep was saying (possibly an artifact of sleep deprivation and looming jet lag). They had told us this was their first ever river cruise, so perhaps that added to the mix. Stuff always happens (this time, some excursions on the cruise itself were rearranged generating a bit of confusion), Viking always fixes it, and you go with the flow and have a great time.

Anyway, eventually the rest of our group of 5 arrived. Three of us went on the 4:30 “orientation walk” provided by the Viking rep. It was pretty helpful.

We had dinner at the hotel – our first taste of Hungarian food, which I already knew I liked. The chicken paprikas sealed the deal.

I did have to deal with the issue of the “pillow top” bed before I could pass out. Apparently now all hotels in the immediate universe have these beds that come to my waist, making it physically impossible for me to climb into them. However, this time I had brought with me a tiny folding step, which works like a charm. Just way too much work to be able to go to sleep.

Day 3 December 19

Janet had booked a private 1/2 day “tuk-tuk” tour of Budapest for today. A tuk-tuk is basically a motorized rick-shaw. It looks like a motorcycle with some seats stuck onto it. It’s open air, so we were all bundled up.

If we look like we’re a little bundled up, it’s because we are. I’m wearing many layers.

Our guides were Gabriel and Gabriella.

First we went to Hero’s Square, built at the end of the 19th century with monuments and statues representing Hungary’s long history. New fun fact: “Hun” in Hungary comes from the Huns invasion over 1000 years ago (as in Atila, the Hun).

Millennium Monument/Hero’s Square – 7 Hungarian kings (St Stephen on the left)

Seven Tribal Chiefs (Millennium Monument/Hero’s Square

Gabriel our tour guide said that during the Communist era, the Soviets replaced some of the statues with Soviet “heroes”. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the original statues were put back.

Continuing on our way, we drove by the Széchenyi thermal baths. Apparently, Hungary is second only to Iceland as a capital for thermal baths (and without the volcanoes and earthquakes).

Our next stop was the Vajdahunyad Castle, built for an expo at the end of the 19th century. It does absolutely nothing other than look amazing. We did contribute to the Hungarian economy in the Castle’s gift shop.

Onward to the Hungarian State Opera House! We were able to go inside to the lobby, where we looked up at the fantastic ceilings.

From this angle you can see up to the 2nd floor

Our tour guide said that if we took the official Opera House tour, the last 10 minutes is a mini-opera performance. We figure that would be about as long as we could stand (not opera fans here, sorry not sorry).

Up until now, we had been touring Pest (where our hotel is located). Pest is very flat. Now we were heading into Buda, which is the 180 degree opposite of “flat”. On the way to the bridge, we passed by the Dohány Street Synagogue, one of the largest in Europe. Not sure we’ll have time to tour the inside during this visit, but it’s on The List.

We drove across the Liberty Bridge. It was originally named the “Franz Joseph” bridge, but at some point the name was changed. It was built as a part of the Millennium expo at the end of the 19th century. Our guide, Gabriel told us he really doesn’t like the name “liberty”, as it has nothing to do with anything.

Eagles perched with golden apples, and the royal crown insignia in the middle of the span

Immediately on the other side of the bride is this fabulous church built into the rock – the Gellért Hill Cave Catholic Church. An extraordinarily unique church, it first opened in 1250. It has survived conquering armies, wars, you name it. It reopened as a functioning church in 1989 after the fall of the Soviet Union. The temperature stays at about 72 degrees F all year round with no active heating or cooling.

I think that’s Saint Stephen on the right

Most modern addition to the church – look at the intricate carvings!

Our last stop was the Buda Castle grounds/Fisherman’s Bastion in the Castle District.

Buda Castle/Fisherman’s bastion – good thing we drove up to the top.

The tower that’s all that is left of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene destroyed during WWII

By now it was getting pretty late. We were all both frozen solid and hungry. We headed back to Pest over the Széchanyi Chain Bridge, the oldest bridge connecting Buda and Pest.

Széchenyi chain bridge Budapest Hungary. Opened in 1849 – the first connection between Buda and Pest.

What a fantastic tour! We have Gabriel’s card with his info for future reference.

After we defrosted a bit, we went for a late lunch at a restaurant recommended by the Viking host. A hot bowl of Hungarian beef goulash soup did the trick!

Though we had to make sure we tried a chimney cake – there was a little vendor across the street from our hotel, so Andy got one (chocolate sprinkles) for us to share. It was huge!

This evening we went on a Viking excursion for a Folklore dinner/performance. The folklore performance was very good, but as usual, the food provided at a mass-meal event was not that great. But the streets at night are beautiful.

Time to pack up, so we can leave our bags outside our door before 10:00 a.m. tomorrow -.

Tomorrow: More Budapest and Transfer To The Ship

Tag: hungary

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