It's so hard to recreate all of the amazing reactions we had to being in Budapest. The Internet problems and desire to get out and explore kept me from taking detailed notes of all that we did.
On our first full day, we had breakfast in the lovely Executive Lounge overlooking the magnificent views of the Danube which, when we awoke, looked like a mirror reflecting all of the buildings and bridges on its still surface. It was really hard to leave our room with the lovely views in all directions. But...off we went with Rick Steves' Budapest in hand sure that, since we found the restaurant last night, we would be able to find our way to the Great Synagogue this morning. Attached to the Synagogue is the Jewish Museum which we also had on our list of places to visit. Touring these buildings was like walking in history. Since Jews were banned from the city in the 18th century, they established a Jewish quarter outside of the old city boundary and built their main synagogue there between 1844-59. It is the 2nd largest synagogue in the world and held 3000 people. The two towers symbolize the two columns of Solomon's Temple. During WW II it was used by the Gestopo who had offices in the balcony area. The restoration occurred in the 1990s and was funded partly by a foundation set up by Tony Curtis who had Hungarian roots. According to our guide, there were many other Jewish American philanthropists who contributed to the foundation.
Our morning was spent exploring the synagogue and it's grounds including the cemetery and monuments to those who died at the hands of the Nazis. We, especially enjoyed, our private tour of the relics collected in the Jewish Museum. Our guide was an elderly woman who lived in Budapest during the war and shared her childhood and family memories. She also shared the fact that there is an organization that helps families discovered documents about their ancestors in Hungary and told me how to get in touch with them.
We were a bit overwhelmed by all that we had learned and the emotions of this experience. So....we headed to the Great Market Hall to see this very old market and to have a traditional lunch. The market, constructed in the 1800s after the original was damaged by fire, was reconstructed between 1991-94. It is a working market where locals come to shop for fresh produce, spices, garlic and meats. Strings of red paprika and garlic, salamis, sausages, and fresh pastries and Hungarian wines were sold from a large number of booths downstairs and the upstairs consisted of a cafeteria styled restaurant and many booths selling everything from pizza to stuffed cabbage, etc. We each tried a new dish (whose names we didn't know). Art ended up with cabbage stuffed with turkey and rice and I had a stuffed sandwich which was delicious stuffed with ingredients I can only guess at - Hungarian is a tough language, many of the booth workers did not speak any English (sometimes a younger person who did was the one who dealt with customers) so we picked by pointing and did OK. After lunch, we decided to walk back to the hotel via the Vaci Utca which is a shopping street that runs from the market all the way to our hotel. Needless to say it was a long, tiring and rewarding day and we were ready to have a nap and shower and dress for the welcome dinner we were attending in the evening at the National Academy of Sciences - a short walk from the hotel.
First Evening and First Full Day in Budapest
We rested, dressed and met our fellow cruisers in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel at 6 PM. We walked the 2 or 3 blocks to the National Academy of Sciences (although they had buses available for those who didn't want or or were unable to walk). Dinner was in a glorious room fit for a very formal, elegant dinner. We met some of the Tauck staff and were greeted with trays of Champagne and lots of butler passed appetizers, then we were seated at round tables of 8-10 to a table. I was excited to meet the only other person who had posted on the Cruise Critic web site for this trip (Don and his wife, Carole). They turned out to be our 'pals' for this trip sharing many meals and lots of onshore excursions with us. We were seated with several couple with whom we had chatted during pre-dinner drinks and the fun and great food began along with a wonderful 4 piece string quartet. During dinner, one of pieces that they played was Hava Nagila and when they realized that we and several couples at our table were familiar with the song (from our animated responses), they played a few other pieces just for us!
All in all, it was a great way to create a positive and funfilled atmosphere as a beginning to our trip! We were ready to get started. Pictures from our welcome dinner
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