The tour of Budapest was interesting. Communist influence in some of the buildings is obvious, being flat and uninteresting. The city is renowned for its hot springs and spa baths. The Danube splits Budapest in two - Buda on one side and Pest on the other. Buda is very hilly and Pest is flat. They say there are two sorts of people in Budapest - those who live in Buda and those who wished they lived in Buda. There are some very expensive houses on the hill overlooking the Danube. Zsa Zsa Gabor's old house was there along with the piano player Liszt. The river is the major attraction with many cruise boats like this one coming and going each day. 12 moored here today but there must be dozens travelling each night as they cruise to Amsterdam and back.
The guide this morning told us that Hungary has always come second - every war, the second longest river in Europe, the second largest Parliament House, the second oldest Cathedral, the second oldest bridge, etc etc.
We leave for Vienna late this afternoon before a Hungarian evening with their food and dancing. If the wine flows like it did last night, it will be a good evening. I noticed that many did not catch the buses at 9 am this morning - must be the change of diet !!!!!
This cruise is the highlight so far and we have not even left the dock yet. This Scenic Tours "Jewel" was only launched in Feb this year, so is almost brand new. Have met many nice people and the staff are exceptional. The majority of the tourists on board are Australian, with a couple of Canadians and New Zealanders.
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