The last day! How did it creep up like that? We sailed along the Danube - now in Hungary - and during breakfast approached Budapest (pronounced Budapesht). It's two towns with Buda, green and hilly on the right hand side and Pest, flat, Parliamentary and populated on the left hand side.
That's Parliament House above, a huge building. Soon after we berthed we boarded buses and were turned loose in the shopping centre of town. I couldn't really get into it with the money so different and the memory of my Vienna shopping spree still fresh.
After lunch another guided tour, this time starting at the Matthias Church in Buda.
It is very beautiful outside. Nearby is the Fisherman's Bastion, a rampart with views over the river to Pest.
And a handy Starbucks. I used the WC on the way back to the bus: 1 Euro!!!
The gentleman on horseback guards the loos to make sure you pay up.
Several statues later in Pest we entered the Concert Hall of the Blind School for a piano concert.
They deliberately made the Blind School beautiful so the students can have it described and feel valued.
The concert was fantastic and I don't know the performer's name, only that he is a professor of music. He started with a Bach fugue on the organ,
moving to the piano for Beethoven and Liszt, organ again and finally a piece of his own improvisation - "from my own head."
These cultural experiences are called Scenic Enrich and are a good point of difference from the many other river cruise lines.
We are moored piggy back with another ship so to get ashore we have to walk through their reception. But during dinner tonight we took off on a twilight dinner cruise up the river past Parliament and back to the exact same spot we left. The exact same couple is lying on their bed watching TV.
A lovely end to a lovely day. Now we have to pack and tomorrow morning early we're off to the airport to return home.
No comments:
Post a Comment