Budapest, Hungary--Castle Hill

 This was to be our last morning in Budapest. We signed up for the panoramic excursion that would take us to the Castle Hill, a vantage point on the Buda side that overlooked the river. The bus took us through much of what we'd already seen on our own and with much better views than from a bus window.

We did learn a few more facts and some history. Our guide was a bit self-deprecating indicating that Hungary always seemed to be on the losing side of anything except water polo one year. They had been oppressively ruled for hundreds of years by many different regimes and parties including the Nazis that they had bought into when Hitler promised them prosperity. 

Shortly after Hitler, the Communists took over and things did not get any better for them until 1989 when most of the countries like Serbia, Bulgaria, etc. won independence. The fall of the Berlin Wall in November of 1989 was a much more impactful event than I realized at the time. It represented much more than just reuniting east and west Berlin.

Once we crossed over from the Pest side to the Buda side of the river, we were able to get a different perspective of some of the government buildings and the bridges than seeing them only from the Pest side. And the guide was right. The Buda side did seem a little more affluent. but then it contained more palaces and castles.

Castle Hill is a neighborhood that contains the Buda Castle but what I loved most was the quaint streets and old architectural buildings. 

Our bus dropped us off at an out of the way spot at the end of the main street and we began our walk up to Matthias Church, a church that has been serving the area since 1017. The roof tiles were most impressive but we learned that they were new ones. The old ones however, were for sale in the gift shop if anyone wanted a unique souvenir.

After following our guide into the church and having a look around, we were released on our own for about an hour. There was a Starbucks in a building behind the church, a very busy Starbucks but not only did it hold out hope for a good cup of coffee, it had a "free" bathroom. Starbucks, we found, offered brewed coffee but rarely had it on hand and ready. We ordered Cafe Mochas instead and enjoyed them immensely.

As we sipped our coffees, we also were on the lookout for the chimney cakes we had seen several times in Budapest but had yet to try them. The stand we found was making the sweet treat over a charcoal fire. Ladies inside were rolling out dough into thin ropes and winding them around buttered forms. Then the dough was set on the charcoal grill to bake for a few minutes. Once the outside was browned and crispy, they would coat it with a flavored sugar. The most popular was cinnamon. The chimney cakes were larger than we wanted but we didn't want to pass them up again. We sat and munched a little then knew we had to move on to get to our bus.

From the Castle Hill, it was an hour and a half drive to where the ship was to meet us. We arrived before it did and had to wait for the lines to be secure before we could board. This was only a pickup point but it would have been nice to have lingered in the little town. 

We cruised the afternoon on the Danube, enjoying the countryside with Hungary on one side of the river and Slovakia on the other. Unfortunately we would not have opportunity to stop in Slovakia.

An afternoon meeting to sign up for the rest of our tours, an official welcome reception from the captain and staff, dinner, and we were ready to drop into bed again. Tomorrow, Vienna.