Travel Log for Melvin: Day 16 - Budapest, Hungary

Wednesday July 10, 2013

Today was the last day on the ship. I ate breakfast and went back to the ship and put my suitcase out in the hallway. We left the ship at 9:15 AM and took a bus to the Hilton Budapest Hotel. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. My room was not ready and I went to an ATM machine to get some Hungarian money. My room was ready at about 11 AM so I took my suitcase and went up to the room. I returned to the lounge and Jim and Carol Howard and myself bought tickets to see an Hungarian Folk Dance for this evening and an Organ Concert at the Basilica on the next night.

I returned to the lounge and Jim and Carol Howard and myself took a taxi to Saint Stephens's Basilica. We spent about 45 minutes at the Basilica where I took some great pictures and we caught another taxi to the Hungarian National Gallery. This Art Museum is located next to the square which we saw on the previous day.

At the Art Museum we saw paintings from the 1400 hundreds and on. This was the first time I saw so many old paintings and I was surprised by the quality of these paintings.

We left the Art Museum and walk across the street for a drink before we took a taxi to the area around the hotel. We left the taxi and started the walk to the hotel. It was about 5 PM so we looked for places to eat. We found a place to eat and we ordered and received our food. When it came time to pay we found out that they did not take credit cards. Between Jim, Carol and I we did not have enough Hungarian Money to cover the bill so Carol left and went to an ATM machine and got money. She returned and we paid and walked back to the hotel. At the hotel I went to the ATM machine and got some more money.

When we got back to the hotel, I changed some clothes and at 7 PM we got a taxi and went to a Folklore Performance. We arrived early so we got our tickets and sat outside the theater and went to a place for a drink.

The show started at 8 PM and included the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, the Danube Folk Ensemble and Hungarian Folk Ensemble & Orchestra. The show included high energy dances that are based on authentic dances from isolated villages that date back hundreds of years. It included a broad view of music, dance and costume heritage of Hungary and Hungarian inhabited areas.

We left the show at about 10 PM and walked to the Four Seasons hotel located near the theater. While waiting on a taxi we looked at lobby in the hotel. It was a very nice hotel located in a old building. I got back to the hotel and went to bed.