Friday--Day 1 in Budapest

Friday, August 31st
Budapest, Hungry

          We had to be up early this morning as our tour was to start at 8:30am.  Rebecca had to wash her hair (this takes more time than one would think) as she did not have time to wash it yesterday evening due to   getting back on boat late.  I spoke briefly again with Gerald and apologized for disturbing his dinner last evening.  We got our cruise critique forms last night.  I did not mark the dining or waiter evaluation down because I only had a problem with one individual, and I wanted him to know that.
          Anyway, we boarded buses for a 4 hour driving tour of the cities of Buda and Pest (they are on opposite sides of the Danube.   We stopped a few times for photos and had some free time up in the Castle District.  The Hilton Hotel we are staying at tomorrow night is in the Castle District next to the Matthias Church.  During our free time I went in to check on my room upgrade.  It is a very nice hotel!
          We are really impressed with Budapest.  It has to be one of the most beautiful cities we have ever seen.  One exception may be Salzberg, Austria on a previous trip to Europe.  Our tour guide was very dramatic in telling us about Budapest and its history.  There are 1.7 million people living in Budapest so is similar in size to Vienna.  1/6th of Hungary’s population live here.  Our 4 hour tour was very thorough and covered all the major sights.  It really is a lovely city.
          We were back to ship at 12:30 just in time to eat AGAIN.  They were cooking hamburgers outside which sounded good to about everyone by now.  After lunch we did some more packing and mostly finished it.  It takes a lot less time to pack at end of trip, just throw the stuff in.  At 2:30 one of our boat’s staff took us on walking trip to Vaci Street.  It is a pedestrian street lined with shops and cafes.  We did not buy anything but enjoyed people watching.  I have to admit Hungry has a lot of attractive young women.  One of our group tripped and fell flat on her face resulting in bloody nose.  Another in our group was a gynecologist so he helped with that.
          This was last dinner of the cruise so I have coined it, “The Last Supper”.  After dinner we were entertained for over an hour by a local Hungarian group of musicians and dancers.  They were VERY, VERY good.  After that we went up on top deck to see the lights of Budapest.  Awesome!!