Budapest is dominated by the Danube (unlike Vienna). Our room in the Butterfly Home B & B is on the corner of a building looking out on the river and the Liberty Bridge - a splendid view.
We spend almost all of our stay on or alongside the river. We catch the trams that run on each side of the river to the end of their routes and back again. We go on an after dark-cruise to see the bridges and magnificent buildings along the river all floodlit. We catch a public transport ferry - as with the trams we go to both ends of the route before finally alighting on Margaret Island, the large island at the upstream end of the city. We return from a day trip to Szentendre (historic town made home by many artists) by boat. We cross the river on foot via the Liberty Bridge several times, stopping to watch the huge amount of traffic - vast cruise boats that go the length of the Danube, medium boats that take Budapest tourists on short cruises, ferries, private motorboats, working barges. Peter is fascinated by the way they avoid collisions and by the docking manoeuvres in the strong current - always facing upstream regardless of direction of travel, so requiring a 180 degree turn at every ferry stop when going down river.
It is hot in Budapest, even hotter than it was in Vienna, with two days when the temperature gets to around 36 degrees. We get into the habit of returning to our air conditioned room for a rest toward the end of the day, then heading out to eat in the evening, when it is cooler but still too warm to need anything other than a shirt/top. On the really hot days we head to the baths, spending a whole day at the Gellért and visiting the Szechenyi as part of a day-long visit to the enormous City Park. Although the Szechenyi is the more famous, we much prefer the Gellért. For a start it is in walking distance of the place we are staying. It has a bigger indoor pool than the Szechenyi, and the water is cool to cold, whereas in Szechenyi the indoor pools are small and heated. The big outdoor pool at Szechenyi is unshaded, so on a really hot day it isn't so pleasant. And it is much more crowded and doesn't feel as clean as Gellért. One feature of the indoor pool at Gellért I like is that there are no lanes - instead there is a swimming direction - you swim round the pool on an oblong course. You don't run into people swimming in the other direction, and if you get behind someone slower you just pull out and overtake. So easy. Another nifty feature at both baths was a small spin dryer in the changing area, just big enough for one pair of togs, which made them almost dry in about a minute - very nice when you're carrying them home in your backpack.
Our other water-related excursions include taking a pedalo round the ornamental lake in front of Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park (relaxing when we were in shade, otherwise rather hot) and going into the Lajta Naval Ship Museum (travelling with Peter involves a lot of ship museum visits). This is the oldest remaining river warship, which fought in various battles on the Danube in late 19th and early 20th century. These ships were based on an American design called a monitor ship, and sit very low in the water so that they are a small target. They initially had a single gun in a rotating turret, more firepower was added over the years. Even though it is hot and cramped below decks, we stay for some time as the museum is very well set up with interesting and informative documentation. It includes the life histories of the three commanders of the vessel, which make one very aware of how Hungary has so often been on the wrong side of history. All of them were clearly brave and good captains, one was executed for participating in a rebellion and two died in exile, discredited because they fought on the losing side in a war.
It is hot in Budapest, even hotter than it was in Vienna, with two days when the temperature gets to around 36 degrees. We get into the habit of returning to our air conditioned room for a rest toward the end of the day, then heading out to eat in the evening, when it is cooler but still too warm to need anything other than a shirt/top. On the really hot days we head to the baths, spending a whole day at the Gellért and visiting the Szechenyi as part of a day-long visit to the enormous City Park. Although the Szechenyi is the more famous, we much prefer the Gellért. For a start it is in walking distance of the place we are staying. It has a bigger indoor pool than the Szechenyi, and the water is cool to cold, whereas in Szechenyi the indoor pools are small and heated. The big outdoor pool at Szechenyi is unshaded, so on a really hot day it isn't so pleasant. And it is much more crowded and doesn't feel as clean as Gellért. One feature of the indoor pool at Gellért I like is that there are no lanes - instead there is a swimming direction - you swim round the pool on an oblong course. You don't run into people swimming in the other direction, and if you get behind someone slower you just pull out and overtake. So easy. Another nifty feature at both baths was a small spin dryer in the changing area, just big enough for one pair of togs, which made them almost dry in about a minute - very nice when you're carrying them home in your backpack.
Our other water-related excursions include taking a pedalo round the ornamental lake in front of Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park (relaxing when we were in shade, otherwise rather hot) and going into the Lajta Naval Ship Museum (travelling with Peter involves a lot of ship museum visits). This is the oldest remaining river warship, which fought in various battles on the Danube in late 19th and early 20th century. These ships were based on an American design called a monitor ship, and sit very low in the water so that they are a small target. They initially had a single gun in a rotating turret, more firepower was added over the years. Even though it is hot and cramped below decks, we stay for some time as the museum is very well set up with interesting and informative documentation. It includes the life histories of the three commanders of the vessel, which make one very aware of how Hungary has so often been on the wrong side of history. All of them were clearly brave and good captains, one was executed for participating in a rebellion and two died in exile, discredited because they fought on the losing side in a war.
More on Hungary and its history to come in Budapest Part 2, what we did when not in, on, or above water.
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