Budapest- more exploring and departure to VIENNA

We opted to join the Budapest City Tour and Christmas Markets morning excursion.   We drove up to Matthias Church.   The current building was built in the 2nd half of the 14th century.   It was the coronation site for Franz Joseph 1 of Hungary and Empress Eisabeth (of Austria).   Yesterday we had a sunny day to get pics of this church from the outside.   Today, we went inside.

Just outside the church is Fisherman's Bastion :

We got back on the bus and headed down the hill and across the Danube to tour the Pest side (East side), the flat side of the city, the main part of the city.

But first .. a little info.     Jim/Carol .. in addition to Budapest being known as the 'Paris of the East'  and the 'Pearl of the Danube',  it is also known as the 'City of Spas'.    Similarly to Thermopolis, Wyoming, this area has many many hot springs.  One of the reasons the Romans first colonized the area and established their regional capital - Aquincum, so they could use the thermal springs.   The Turks expanded the baths in 1541-1686.   Today there are many spas that cater to residents, visitors from the countryside and tourists.

We headed East on Andrassy Avenue, a grand boulevard connecting Erzsebet Square to Heroes' Square, approx. 2.5 km.    Many shopping areas and beautiful residences are along the way, including the Hungarian State Opera House and a reminder of the dark side of their history : the House of Terror Museum!

Our guide on the bus was excellent at giving us all of the information about these sites.

at the end of the avenue was .. Heroes' Square.

On the way back downtown we drove through the Jewish District.  It is having quite a revival of the neighborhoods.   This is Dohany Street Synagogue.

We were dropped off for some last minute shopping at The Christmas Markets before we got back on board for a 12:30pm departure up river.

yours truly at the BUDAPEST letters at the edge of the market

We hustled to get back on the ship for our departure.   We went up to the sun deck to take some pictures and say goodbye to Budapest.

It was lunch time .. worked up an appetite!

local specialty: 'Hungarian Porkolt', prime beef goulash, nokedli, gherkins, sour cream .. yummy!

view from our balcony as we motor up to .. Vienna

We continued to motor upriver.   Our 'Daily Cruiser' mentioned that we would be going by the town of Esztergom and its basilica around 6pm.  Sunset is at 3:59pm.  It would be dark and about 40-deg.!   I put a coat on and ambled upstairs to the upper, outside deck.  Brrrrrr!   Can you believe I was the only one up there?    duhhhhh ..   but ... I was rewarded with a neat experience.   Check out this sequence of pics :

we were approaching on the Danube

This has been the seat of the Catholic Church in Hungary for more than 1000 yrs!   Here's what it looks like in the daytime :    (internet photo)

Fun to see these special places at night time!   We're still cruising on the way to Vienna.   7pm-   time for dinner in the main restaurant.   Here's some pics of our meal:

soups: cream of sweet corn  &  apricot julienne

slow roasted mangalica pork tenderloin, bikaver jus, potato crisp, garden vegatables, celery mousseline

desserts: baked curd cheese pancake and hazelnut ice cream with vanilla sauce, and I had .. coffee ice cream, apricot brandy, whipped cream, wafer bar

We will motor all night and cruise along .. Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria.  We will arrive in Vienna at 2pm.