Budapest by Boat and Bus… The Great River Series— Danube #8

/ Curt Mekemson
Today, Peggy and I are going to feature a variety of photos we took as we wandered through Budapest by both boat and bus. Here we are looking toward the Liberty Bridge and Budapest’s classic Gellert Hotel from the Amadeus. The bridge connects the Buda side of the Danube River with the Pest side. The hotel is presently being remodeled by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel chain with plans to reopen it in 2027 as the Mandarin Oriental Gellert Hotel. That seems a like a strange name for a historic hotel in Budapest, but no stranger than one being named the Hilton. Or something like Trump Tower.
Looking at the Gellert Hotel from the front.
The hotel is named after St. Gellert. He was passing through Budapest as an abbot from Venice in the 11th Century on his way to the Holy Land when King Stephens asked him to stay for awhile to educate his son and help convert the pagan Magyars to Christianity, which he did. At least until after Stephens died and a rebel group of Magyars decided they preferred their paganism. Gellert was shoved into a barrel, nails were driven into it, and he was rolled off the mountain and into the Danube, thus gaining instant sainthood.
The Liberty statue, which represent freedom from Communist rule, stands on top of Gellert Hill.
The monument is presently under renovation. I thought that the scaffolding created a unique, almost artistic look. Hungary’s flag is on the right.
Another view of our boat. The cold, cloudy, fall day explains the lack of people on the sundeck.
It didn’t deter Peggy’s brother John and his wife Frances from having their photo taken on the deck, however. Sunshine was teasing us by lighting up buildings in the background.
We took a photo encourage it.
We’ve already included several pictures from Fisherman’s Bastion in our previous two posts, but here are a couple more we liked. An early morning view of the Pest side of the river complete with a ferris wheel.
Later, the sun allowed us the catch colorful roofs beneath the Fisherman’s Bastion on the Buda side of the river.
Our trip to and from Hero’s Square (featured in our last post) allowed us to see several other buildings that caught our attention. This happens to be Budapest’s Great Synagogue. As always, taking pictures from a moving bus is tricky! Trees, power lines, and even windows get in the way, not to mention odd angles. But what the heck, such obstacles just makes the photo more interesting and more real.
A slightly better photo. The Great Synagogue earns its name. It is the largest synagogue in Europe and has one room that can hold 3,000 people. The building suffered severe damage under Nazi and Communist rule. It was renovated in the 1990s with a $5 million contribution from the Hungarian government and a $20 million dollar gift from the Jewish Americans Tony Curtis and Estee Lauder.
A random building photo from the bus’s window.
The Comedy Theater of Budapest provided another opportunity for a bus window shot. We took a lot more photos like this (there is a reason why my photo library is now at 97,919 pictures— grin), but now it’s time for us to return to the Amadeus for an evening tour of Budapest.
Taking photos from a moving bus is a piece of cake compared to night photography without a tripod on a moving boat. I’ll just label this one art. It’s Buda Palace.
We were actually able to catch a good photo of Buda Palace so I will quit while I am ahead and use it to wrap up our three blogs on Budapest. Next up on our Danube River trip: A lesson on how to persuade a horse to sit.

33 thoughts on “Budapest by Boat and Bus… The Great River Series— Danube #8”

  2. Another fabulous city! The structures are so massive! Wow! Loved the roof top picture. I have lived in several attics in Germany and we looked out over the roofs of so many homes. I still live where I look at the roofs…4th floor! Take care!

    Reply

      • Our attic living spaces…the first one was above the Lido Bar in Germany where I memorized all the words from Tom Jones Green, Green Grass of Home. Then, we went up a little in the living situation to an attic above the editor of the Trier newspaper where Erika became a big part of our lives. I remember opening the door of the Lido apartment to the chimney sweep who was dressed in all his glory! Wonderful times. Your travels have brought back many memories for me! Take care!

      • Thanks for sharing, Wendy. Sound like fond memories. What took you to Germany in the first place. Peggy lived there for three years when her first husband was on a military assignment.

      • Peggy and I share the same situation. My husband was in the Air Force but we had such low rank, we lived off base but it was an amazing three years of living in that beautiful country!

    • They are quite different than the large ship cruises, G. More personal and more land focus than ship focus. And one HECK of a lot fewer people. A hundred instead of a thousand, or 4000! And there isn’t anything shabby about the places we have been able to visit, either. Grin. The only down side is their cost.

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  6. I read the paragraph to my husband about how St. Gellert because a saint. His response was “Wow, that’s the definition of ‘overkill.'” Lol. Poor guy. More great pictures, Curt. The synagog is beautiful. You mentioned in the last post about the destruction of some amazing buildings during WWII. I’m glad that some, like this one, have been restored.

    Now that photo of the horse and the trainer… precious. 🙂

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  7. I was fascinated by the rooftop photo. It looks to me like someone has their weather stations up there. It looks like there’s a rain gauge, a couple of anemometers, and such.

    I’d never heard of Gellért. His name was so strange I went looking, and found he was the Benedictine Abbot of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. I wouldn’t have expected that, but those pilgrims did get around. It was even more interesting to learn about Estee Lauder’s connection to the synagogue there. I used to use some of those cosmetics, but stopped. I’m not sure why — it probably happened when I made the move to sailing and the docks — but I’d sure never make another run at them. Pricey!

    My favorite photo’s the closer view of the synagogue. As for the fellow with the horse, there’s something about that long blue skirt (?) and the expression on his face that brought the Church Lady to mind. I can’t wait to read more about that pair.

    Reply

    • European rooftops always seem so much more attractive than those we have in the US. Of course there are exceptions. And Europe is still big on pilgrimages.
      “I made the move to sailing and the docks.” Chuckled at that Linda, don’t know why but the thought ‘free range woman’ passed through my mind.
      Whole post on the horses and riders today. Didn’t want to run it tomorrow when people will either be ecstatic or in deep depression.
      I, for one, am running away. Peggy and I are now in Hawaii for a month hiding out in a small house about a mile from the ocean and 30 miles from the active volcano.

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  8. More gorgeous photos, Curt. The deck on the boat looks pretty wide. Love all of the structures. Did you do any hiking? Oh my that last picture … he best be careful the horse doesn’t “talk back”! 🤣

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