Budapest Castle District

For the past week, there are many folks on the ship who are getting sick. Steve woke up this morning not feeling well. The morning started with a speaker that came on board to talk about authoritarianism in Hungary, starting with the Orban coup in 2006. The EU has now responded by cutting funding to Hungary, but it’s too late at this time in her feeling.

There was an optional tour to a Unicum distillery, we chose instead to take the tour company provided busses up to Budapest Castle district. There was a long line for Mattias Church, so we didn’t go inside.

The Statue of Saint John of Capistrano commemorates the Italian Franciscan friar’s pivotal role in the 1456 victory at Belgrade against the Ottomans. He is considered a national hero in Hungary for his contribution to saving Christian Europe from Ottoman expansion.

The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene was badly damaged in World War II, only the tower remained. It faces Capistrano square. The church is being restored and will open next year.

In Capistrano square, there is a Sculpture of the Coronation Mantle of Hungarian Kings from the coronation of King Stephen in 1031 in the square in front of the church. The original is in the museum in the Castle, but it’s hard to see the embroidery now.

We took the 12:15 bus back to ship and ate lunch, with a short nap after lunch.

Then we walked the short distance to the Gellért Hill Cave Church on the west end of the Liberty Bridge.

Then we took the streetcar over to St Stephen’s Basilica.

As we walked back to the meeting point, we passed the Ferris Wheel in a park.

We caught 5 pm bus back to the ship. The ship had decorated for Halloween, some crew were dressed in costumes.

After dinner, the captain did a cruise on the river through Budapest at night.

Then packing and get to bed as early as we can since we have 2:45 am luggage out and a 3:15 am bus to airport.