Vykovar, Croatia

Dobra Večer  = good evening in Croatian

     One side of the river is Serbia, the other Croatia.  All of it at one time was Yugoslavia.  More than that I can’t begin to explain.  We came to check on some boat paint.  From Vukovar we’ll return to Serbia and will soon stop in Belgrade. 

Budapest Email # 1

“We can’t return we can only look behind From where we came….” Joni Mitchell sang those words about life in general but they do seem to capture how I feel about our travel along the rivers.  By the time we arrive in Turkey I’ll certainly know lots more about Europe than I did before this trip. 

     One needs to visit Budapest more than one time and/or for more than 4½ days.  We saw lots, missed lots.  Budapest makes it on several “most beautiful cities” lists.  I certainly thought Jerusalem was beautiful, especially watching the sun rise over the old city.  And Florence also would be on my list.  Budapest in the early evening with the sun beginning to set certainly was lovely.

“Straddling the Danube River, with the Buda Hills to the west and the Great Plain to the east, Budapest is a gem of a city.  Budapest’s beauty is not all God-given; man has played a role in shaping this pretty face too. Architecturally, Budapest is a treasure, with enough baroque, neoclassical, Eclectic and art nouveau (Secessionist) buildings to satisfy anyone’s appetite. Overall, though, Budapest has a fin-de-siècle feel to it, for it was then, during the capital’s ‘golden age’, that most of what you see today was built. Nearly every building has some interesting or unusual detail, from art nouveau glazed tiles and neoclassical bas-reliefs to bullet holes and shrapnel scorings left over from WWII and the 1956 Uprising that still cry out in silent fury.”  http://www.lonelyplanet.com/hungary/budapest#ixzz37nH2Nioc

Randal and I did three walking tours covering most of Hungary’s history as well as Budapest’s Jewish history; and all in 6 hours!

Classic walks with a lot of sights and stories on both sides of the river. Our tours in English are held every single day, throughout the WHOLE YEAR!

NO RESERVATION NEEDED, JUST SHOW UP!

ORIENTATION TOUR :  FROM PEST TO BUDA: TWO CITIES IN ONE WALK!

Departure: 10:30 every day – Duration: ~2.5 hours

Meeting point: in Deák tér – in the middle of the square, under the clock, at the grey satue (at M1-M2-M3 metro exit) –

Itinerary: Danube Promenade – Szechenyi Square – Chain Bridge – Clark Adam Square – Royal Palace (outside) – President’s Palace – Castle Quarter – Matthias Church (outside) & breathtaking panoramic views of the Danube and it bridges

Cost: no fixed price – BASED ON TIPS

Dora was our guide.

Our tip: If you like this tour, you can continue with the ESSENTIAL PEST TOUR!

ESSENTIAL PEST TOUR :  FAITH-TERROR-COMMUNISM

Departure: 14:30 every day – Duration: ~1.5 hours

Meeting point: in Deák tér – in the middle of the square, under the clock, at the grey satue (at M1-M2-M3 metro exit)

Itinerary: Elisabeth Square – Saint Stephen’s Basilica (outside) – Liberty Square – Soviet monument – Imre Nagy Statue – Parliament (outside) & sites of the Communist dictatorship and the 1956 revolution

Cost: no fixed price – BASED ON TIPS

Orshe was our guide.

Attention! Our sign and leaflets are RED, NOT BLUE!!!!

http://freebudapesttours.hu/index.php?menu=2  is the website of the tour company. 

The STANDARD Jewish quarter tour

   This tour is recommended for visitors who wish to get acquainted with the Budapest Jewish quarter, but are short of time. The Dohany street great synagogue is a must see among the top ten sights of Budapest. The tour continues then with a walk in the Jewish district. The walk includes the Goldmark Hall, the Jewish Community Center, the Gozsdu Courtyard, the Carl Lutz memorial, the Mikvah, the old-new Király street bustling again with commercial life and a great number of fascinating old buildings. Experience the unique, special atmosphere of this multicultural district of Budapest. While walking among the ruined and modern buildings you learn the story of the Hungarian Jewry, the Budapest ghetto and the Hungarian holocaust. This is a stroll along narrow streets best explored with the help of a professional guide expert in Jewish history.

The tour includes:

– professional guidance

– entrance to the Dohany synagogue

– entrance to the Jewish museum

– visit of the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park with the Weeping Willow Tree holocaust memorial

– entrance to the new permanent exhibition: Gate of the Jewish District

– a walk in the Jewish district of Budapest

Duration: 2 hours

Departure: 10:30 every day from the Dohany street synagogue (No tour on Saturdays and holidays)

Price: 6500 Forints/adult, 5200 Forints/student so not free like the other tours

http://www.greatsynagogue.hu/jewishquartertours.html

One reason donations are asked for rather than charging of fees, no taxes collected from donations.  No record keeping or anything.  Our guide Dora warned us St. Stephens “required” donations so you have to pay or they are not very happy with you and let you know.  Someone has to pay for the upkeep of these places so fees seem okay with me if they’re reasonable.  But mostly we just walked around and looked at the city which is basically free.

This email is just an intro.  I’ll write more about my favorite sites in the next few emails.

Built between 1884 to 1904 to symbolize Hungary’s austomy with the Austro-Hungarian empire, the neo-Gothic building is based partially on the British Parliament.  It’s the largest building in the country.  The building is 268 meters long with 691 rooms.  The capola rises 96 meters.  The architect was Imre Steindl.   Info from the City Walks Budapest map.

The Chain Bridge linking Buda and Pest

Fishermen’s Bastion