Danube Bend, Hungary 2007 - Travelogue
Wednesday 22nd August
Wednesday saw us on the coach for a full day in Budapest. Having finally located our tour guide for the day, Zolton, at the eastern end of the Elizabeth Bridge the coach took us back across the Danube to Öbuda (Old Buda), where our first stop was to be the Fishermans Bastion.
As we left the coach and walked to the bastion we passed Matthias Church with it's diamond pattern roof tiles and gargoyle laden spire and the Holy Trinity column which was erected to commemorate the victims of two plagues. The Fisherman’s Bastion was built in 1905 and named after the guild of fishermen responsible for defending this stretch of wall from enemy attack during the Middle Ages. It's seven turrets represent the Magyar tribes who once populated the country. The bastion offered a spectacular view Budapest and the bridges which cross the Danube.
It was then on to Buda Castle, which now houses the National Gallery and Historical Museum of Budapest where we stopped for many of us to have an ice lolly to cool down. It was then a short journey down in a lift to where the coach was waiting to take us back across the Danube.
The next part of out tour was much more relaxing as it didn't involve any walking. We took a river cruise up and down the Danube, under its many bridges. This gave us a completely different view of many of the famous sites, all accompanied by Zolton's continuous commentary.
After the cruise our next stop was the restaurant for lunch. The restaurant had formerly been a military caserne (barracks) in the 19th century and then later a tobacco factory. Today it also contains it's own brewery and we could see the beer vats whilst we ate.
After lunch it was then on to look at Saint Stephen's Basilica, which at 96m is the tallest building in Budapest, before having a short time for souvenir shopping.
Our day was not yet over as we said goodbye to Zolton as our last stop was to be the planetarium. We were not however going to look at stars, but were to see s spectacular laser light show set to the music of Pink Floyd. Despite the fact that all of the Scouts and some of the leaders were not even born when Dark Side of The Moon was released in 1973 the music stands the test of time and everyone enjoyed the mesmerising show.