Danube Bend, Hungary 2007 - Travelogue

Saturday 18th August

Saturday morning was more relaxed as we stayed at the house and had a crazy games morning. This included such well known sports such as beach ball penalty shootout and inflatable darts!

It was then off to catch the midday ferry which was to take on a cruise up the River Danube to Esztergom. The river forms an important trade route so we passed a number of large barges sailing up and down the Danube with their cargos.

Once we arrived at Esztergom we headed first up the steep steps of fortress hill to the basilica where we stopped for our lunch. The basilica is the largest church in Hungary and the third largest in Europe. As we arrived at the basilica there was a wedding just finishing. Once inside we were able to look up at the 71.5m high dome and admire the alterpiece depicting the Virgin Mary which is the largest painting in the world painted on a single piece of canvas. As we exited, another wedding party was just entering.

We then walked back down to the town where we had about an hour to buy some souvenirs before having to be back to catch the ferry back to Dömös. When we had got back we had enough time before the evening meal for another dip in the Danube. This time the water level was a lot lower so that we were able to walk out almost half way across and the water was still only up to our waists.