Budapest - Last Days and on to Vienna

Friday May 23

Budapest

After checking out and putting our cases into storage we left the hotel and walked along the edge of the Danube towards Parliament, passing many cruise ships moored to the bank.  After about a kilometre, not 200m as the hotel staff told us, on the water’s edge, we came to a sculpture

Memorial to slaughtered Hungarian Jews

comprising about fifty pairs of footwear made from metal, men’s, women’s and children’s of all styles.  This is in commemoration of the Jewish people that the Nazis made to strip off and machine gunned them and allowed them to fall into the river.

Missed the turn !!

A little further along in the river we saw a yellow bus chugging along, it’s not every day you see a bus in a river.

We then walked back to the Chain Bridge to cross to the Buda side and after waiting in a queue for a while we boarded a funicular to take us up to the Royal Palace and the Castle.  After climbing all the hills yesterday we decided to shout ourselves to a little comfort.  This was originally built in the late 1800s and was steam driven, each carriage has three levels and each level takes four passengers, so this explained the long wait, as on a warm day many people obviously decided it was easier to ride rather than face the long walk to the top.

Hungarian Parliament by night

We arrived at the Castle just on noon and a squad of eight soldiers, led by an officer and a drummer marched into the forecourt and proceeded to relieve the two sentries on guard outside the Castle.  After changing the two sentries the squad then went through a series of marching and rifle manoeuvres, spinning their rifles, with bayonets attached, passing them to one another and other exercises with their rifles.  This reminded us of similar exercises that we have seen on the TV broadcast from the Edinburgh Tattoo.  After about 15 minutes they marched off and we then walked around the front of the palace for a while before descending by the funicular and walking back to the hotel to wait to be picked up

Changing the Guard - Different?

and taken to the ship Amalyra which is to be our home for the next thirty days.

Saturday May 24

Budapest

Opera House boxes

This is our sixth day in Budapest before sailing for Vienna.  At 8:30 we boarded a bus to be taken on a tour of Budapest, this is for the passengers who arrived yesterday and hadn’t seen the town.  After driving around the older part of town that we had walked through earlier in week we arrived at the Opera House and entered for a tour.  This was built during the reign of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.  It is built in the style of many of the 19^th century opera houses with several levels of private boxes with much gold leaf and marble, the stage area is actually large than the auditorium and during our visit the stage hand were assembling the scenery for tonight’s performance.

During the first performance Franz Joseph walked our part way through and never returned, it is suggested that he was peeved because it rivalled the Opera House in Vienna.

Back on the bus we continued along Andrassy Ave, to visit Heroes’ Square but were directed away by the police as a large parade of the Hungarian Army was taking place in the square, disappointing for those who had never visited the square.

We then crossed the river to the Buda side this is very hilly compared to the Pest side which is built on a plain and drove up to the palace area and walked around to St Matthias Church, the coronation church, situated just inside the walls of the Fishermen’s Bastion.  This is so named as many years ago the various trade guilds were expected to contribute to the city’s defences.

Returning to the ship which sailed at 12:45 and for the last four hours we have been sailing alongside heavily wooded hills with many homes built right down to the river’s edge, a very pretty sight.  Being a warm day there are a lot of people enjoying water activities or just sun-bathing.

Sunday May 25

Vienna

Vienna in 1440 became the resident city of the Habsburg dynasty. It eventually grew to become the de facto capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. Hungary occupied the city between 1485 – 1490.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman armies were stopped twice outside Vienna. A plague epidemic ravaged Vienna in 1679, killing nearly a third of its population.

In 1804, during the Napoleonic wars, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the 1814 Congress of Vienna. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Vienna remained the capital of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city was a centre of classical music, for which the title of the First Viennese School is sometimes applied.

During the latter half of the 19th century, the city developed what had previously been the old city walls into the Ringstrasse, a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and a major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically. In 1918, after World War I, Vienna became capital of the Republic of German-Austria, and then in 1919 of the First Republic of Austria.

From the late 19th century to 1938, the city remained a centre of high culture and modernism. A world capital of music, the city played host to composers such as Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler and Richard Strauss. The city's cultural contributions in the first half of the 20th century included, among many, the Vienna Secession movement, psychoanalysis, the Second Viennese School, the architecture of Adolf Loos and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. In 1913, Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin all lived within a few miles of each other in central Vienna, with some of them being regulars at the same coffeehouses.  Within Austria, Vienna was seen as a centre of socialist politics, for which it was sometimes referred to as "Red Vienna.

Today we had a half day tour of Vienna driving around the “Ring Road” past all the magnificent palaces and mansions built in the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries, when Vienna must have been the centre of European culture and certainly one of the largest and richest countries.

Winter Palace

We were then dropped off in St Stephen’s Square and walked past several Winter Palaces, the library and the Spanish Riding School and then paid a quick visit to St Stephen’s Cathedral before walking along the pedestrian shopping streets.  Luckily for the men in the party, it was Sunday and all the shops with the world famous labels were shut so their credit cards were not punished.

Returning to the ship past many of the old buildings, the Opera House, University, many churches and palaces and several gardens which were originally reserved for the Royal Family, these gardens now feature statues of the many famous composers and writers.  Back on board we had an early tea before leaving for a concert.

Driving back into the city we arrived at the Palais Liechtenstein which has been owned by the Liechtenstein family since 1694 when it was purchased to provide a residence in Vienna for them.  In 1836 to 1847 the interior of the palace was remodelled in the Rococo Revival style at a cost in today’s terms of 120 million Euros.

During WW II the palace was damaged by a plane crashing into it and it was superficially repaired before being converted into offices.  Between 2008 and 2013 the palace underwent the largest restoration project in Vienna in modern time, being carried out on the principles of monument preservation and restoration. 

Today it has been restored to its original splendour, complete with the most magnificent chandeliers and candelabra.  A lot of the old fittings were found in cellars and attics and a scrap of carpet was found which enabled a replica to be woven.  These together with19th century photographs enabled a faithful reproduction of the interior.  It was to this magnificent restoration that we came to be entertained by a 13 piece orchestra playing works of Joseph Strauss II, Johann Strauss II and Mozart and members of the Mozart Boys Choir and some opera singers singing works by Mozart and some arias from other operas.

In keeping with many Viennese concerts, the evening finished with the orchestra playing the Blue Danube Waltz and the Redetzky March, accompanied by vigorous clapping by the audience, a wonderful night.

We then returned to the ship for a supper of Apple Strudel.

Monday May 26

Vienna

Shonbrunn Palace

Today we had several tours to choose from including a visit to Bratislava, as we hadn’t been to Schonbrunn palace since 1986 we chose this tour.  The palace is still in its original glory having been spared bombing during WW II when the decision was made not to bomb cultural buildings, however towards the end of the war, Churchill ordered the bombing of many of these buildings hoping to hasten the German surrender.  It is not known whether the squadron ordered to bomb Schonbrunn palace were incredibly incompetent with their bomb aiming or were lovers of European culture as only one bomb hit the palace and it was a dud.

Schonbrunn palace was used by the Habsburg as their summer residence for many generations and many of its rooms reflect the taste of the various Habsburg rulers who lived there over several centuries.  Probably the one who had the most influence was Maria Theresia, who lived there for many years after the death of her husband.  The Emperor Franz Joseph was both born and died in the palace.

We received a tour of 22 of the most important rooms of the over 600 in the palace before walking around a small portion of the hundreds of hectares of gardens.  In the gardens there is a zoo, created by the husband of Maria Theresia and is recognised as the oldest zoo in Europe.

We returned to the ship via the Ringstrasse having decided not to stay in town but have a quiet afternoon on board.

Tomorrow on the Durnstein and Melk