Danube River Cruise 2024: Bratislava and Budapest

 

Bratislava

We had 2 ports of call left. In Bratislava, we had another walking tour through the Old Town. The things that stick out in my mind about this city are the curvy streets and the details on the buildings.

Laurinc's Gate was one of 3 gates leading into the city in the 14th century. This area of the city is known for its restaurants.

The Leering Man

A piece of the city's defensive walls.

The UFO Restaurant

We walked around Bratislava Castle but did not go inside. St. Elizabeth of Hungary is believed to have been born in this castle. Even though we didn't tour the castle, the view of the city from the castle was spectacular.

Bratislava from the castle

Bratislava from the castle

Roland's Fountain (also called Maximillian's Fountain) can be found in the town center. On the top of the fountain is either King Maximillian II (who donated the funds for its construction) or the knight Roland. It is said that at midnight as the new year arrives, he turns from looking at the town center and bows. However, only those who are born and bred citizens of Bratislava are able to witness this event. 

Brussels doesn't have anything on Bratislava. On this fountain, there is not 1 "Manequin Pis" but 4!

During our free time, I wanted to find an honest-to-goodness kolache but had no luck. We did, however, find a Bajgel shop. I thought it tasted a little dry until I got to the almond filling. 

St. Micheal's Gate is one of the other 3 gates that led into the city. It is truly magnificent.

We stumbled upon Čumil, the Sewer Worker. Apparently, the poor guy lost his head a couple of times by drivers who didn't know he was there. Really quirky, but I thought it was pretty cool.

The other impressive landmark in Bratislava is St. Martin's Cathedral. By this time, it was just another Gothic Church. Dedicated in 1452, this Cathedral served as the coronation church for Hungarian kings and their consorts, including the Habsburg Dynasty.

The Pulpit

The High Altar

St. Martin bending down to a beggar to give him part of his coat

St. Martin's Cathedral

Budapest

I feel like we had more free time in Budapest than anywhere else since we celebrated Mass on the ship while we were floating down the Danube. That was quite the experience! As we made our way to dock, we were invited to the deck so we could see this absolutely beautiful city as we entered. Instead of a walking tour, we were thankfully given a bus tour around Buda and Pest. The downside is that it was extremely difficult to take pictures. 

Our free time was on the Pest side with the gathering space at St. Stephen's Basilica. There was a choir from Northern Ireland performing when we entered.

St. Stephen's Basilica is named after Hungary's first king

The organ

The High Altar

The dome collapsed following the death of the architect and had to be rebuilt

The right hand of St. Stephen was very neatly severed when moving his body from the center of the basilica to under it

A friend and I went on a hunt for pastries. After using Google Maps and taking several wrong turns, we ended up at a cute little shop. It's on a side street so there was very little traffic.

István Cukrászda is a family-owned confectionery

View from across the street

I love how the outside tables had blankets for those chilly evenings

One thing I learned from my first time in Copenhagen: Don't sit at outside tables unless you are ordering from the eating establishment that they belong to. There was a couple sitting at a table, and a lady from the pastry shop came out to tell them to move. The ladies inside the shop were very delightful and friendly. I would highly recommend this little spot for dessert & coffee, or lunch.

After having such a hard time finding the confectionery, we were a little concerned about our ability to find our way back to the basilica. But it turns out that we were just around the corner. We were back at the meeting place in about 3-5 minutes. Then we realized we forgot something that our guide told us about: Gelarto Rosa.

We stopped this man and asked if we could take a picture of his ice cream; we weren't sure we were going to have the time to get our own

But we did! You just walk up to the counter, tell the girl what flavors you want, and voila!

The highlight of Budapest was being able to see the city from the river at night. It was just absolutely breathtaking. One word of caution: Don't wait to take pictures after the ship turns around because you may miss the buildings being lit up. My roommate said she didn't get any pictures because she was waiting for the ride back to port, and the lights went out. 

Buda at night

Buda Castle

Gellért Hill

Hungarian Parliament Building

Budapest University of Technology and Economics on the left with Gellért Hotel on the right.

Inner City Parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Matthias Church

The Calvinist Church

Vigado Concert Hall

What a perfect ending to the river cruise portion of the trip! The next day, we boarded the buses to make our way to Krakow, Poland. In other words, there's more to come...

To find out in more detail what religious sites were visited, please visit The Not So Perfect Catholic Blog.