April 12, 2018 ~ Budapest, Hungary

April 12, 2018 ~ Budapest, Hungary

This has been our last full day on the ship as we will debark early tomorrow morning for our transfer via long bus ride to Prague.  As I reflect on this journey I am filled with images of blue skies and fluffy white clouds, contrails criss-crossing against a brilliant sky.  I see church steeples in the hundreds against those azure skies, architecture in the gothic, romanesque, rococco styles.  Cobblestone streets - so narrow - opening up into market squares where peddlers sell their wares and street musicians perform.  Crowds of tourists jostle for position all striving for the perfect photograph to capture the moment - all of whom will struggle to remember just which church; which building; which statue they captured in that precious moment.  And all around me are people smiling, overwhelmed by the beauty and the amazing history behind each place - each photograph.  My head is a jumble of historical facts, but I come away from this experience with a new appreciation for the resilience of the European people.  Nowhere has that come clearer to me than in the last few days as we heard so many stories about the Austro-Hungarian Empire that was dismantled by the allied forces after World War I.  We heard about it in Vienna, and we heard more about it today in Budapest.

Again our day began with brilliant sunshine and blue skies.  How fortunate we have been with this weather!  It was actually quite warm today ... I venture to guess that it approached 80 degrees this afternoon.  Breakfast, as usual, was a small spoonful of scrambled eggs and a large portion of mushrooms -- I will be missing these breakfast mushrooms once I go home.  Our guide, Eszter, greeted us warmly for our walking/bus tour.

Our guide, Eszter

Our ship was docked on the Pest side on the river, just upstream of the Chain Bridge connecting Buda and Pest.  There are 8 bridges - six of them for cars, and two for pedestrians.  Once again, we are visiting a UNESCO World Heritage Sites - buildings along the banks of the Danube, Buda Castle, and Andrassy Avenue make up this site.  

We began with a long bus ride around the sites of Pest.  High up on a hillside we saw Szabadság-szobor (Statue of Freedom), which was erected in 1947 to commemorate Hungarian liberation from the Nazis following World War II.  It is located on Gellért Hill and is about 55 feet tall and made of bronze.

Statue of Freedom
photo credit:  Wikipedia

We also circled Hősök tere (meaning "Heroes' Square" in Hungarian ), a major square at the end of Andrassy Avenue.  

Heroes' Square
Photo Credit:  Wikipedia

Most of the architecture is from the middle of the eighteen hundreds, and we passed many examples of buildings from this era.

Eventually, we crossed the bridge over to the Buda side.  Immediately we noticed the hillside.  Here we got off the bus and walked through the village.  

Buda Castle

   

Another Freedom Statue

At it's base it reads, Szabad Hazaert meaning "to be free"

Map of Buda

The two oldest homes in Buda

St Matthias Church

Jeff took this photo capturing the roof of St. Matthias Church

King Stephan's Monument in front of Fisherman's Bastion

The Turkish influence can be seen in this gallery where the women would worship, separately from the men

I loved the different doors everywhere we went!

More doors!

One of the things I loved most about St. Matthias' Church was its cultural heritage. It is a Roman Catholic Church originally founded by Saint Stephan, King of Hungry and built in Romanesque style in 1015.  The building was destroyed by the Mongols in 1241, and there are no archaeological remains of this original church.  The current building was made in the late Gothic style in the latter part of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century.  Several coronations were held in this church, including that of Franz Joseph in 1867 and the last Hapsburg king, Charles IV in 1916.

During about 150 years of Turkish occupation, a number of modifications were made to the church, which can be seen in several of the stained glass windows and in the construction of galleries for the women to be seated in while the men were seated below.

We returned to the ship, and after lunch took a walk down to see the Shoes on the Danube Memorial.  In 1944 Hitler overthrew the leader of the Hungarian government and replaced him with Ferenc Szalasi who shared Hitler's ideology.  Szalasi established the fascist, anti-semitic Arrow Cross Party known to terrorize the Jews in Budapest by beating and killing them.  Shoes were a valuable commodity during World War II, so victims of the Arrow Cross militiamen were forced to remove their shoes at gunpoint before being shot and falling over the edge into the freezing waters of the Danube

The memorial is a moving tribute, so simple in its concept, and hauntingly elegant in its design. In all there are 60 pairs of 1940s style shoes of all types and sizes and sculpted out of iron.  You might see the loafer of a business man, a pair of workboots, a woman's pair of heels, the shoes of a toddler, or a baby.  No one was spared, and this memorial is a reminder to all who view it of the souls who were lost during a horrifying time in history.  Memorials like this one, it seems to me, give us pause to reflect and remember ... and to commit ourselves to the mantra, "never again."

* * * * *

After dinner we had a special treat.  Our Captain took us on an illuminated tour of the city.  My pictures do not do it justice, but it was incredibly beautiful.  What a wonderful end to a spectacular day!

Buda Castle and St. Matthias Church

The Parliament Building

The Riverfront at Night

The Chain Bridge

Once again, a perfect end to a beautiful, history-filled day in Budapest, Hungary!  And a perfect end to a fairytale cruise on the Rhine, Main, and Danube Rivers.

Tomorrow ... a long bus ride through three countries (Hungary, Austria, Slovakia) and our arrival in the fourth country ... Prague, Czech Republic!