Bucharest to Budapest November 22, 2013

[rjscott]

I guess you're on the ship by now - hope the tour in Bucharest went well.

 

The only thing we didn't enjoy on our Bucharest tour was when we went to the Village museum (which I was very interested in) we had to wait for the whole Viking group to use the restroom before the guides would start. So everyone lined up like sheep and it took a looooong time. We ended up only having the chance to see a couple of the structures. If doing it again I'd have gotten the time to meet the group back at the bus and just gone around on my own for the hour or whatever they give you there.

 

Anyway, happy cruising :)

 

Oh, I'm with you on this. Isn't that the point of having different groups and guides, so that it doesn't become one huge hurry-up-and-wait group? I really think there would be no objection to moving on independently and either meeting up with the group at some point or , as you've suggested, just making sure you're back at the bus by the departure time.

[Hydrokitty]

Just visited this thread for the first time since I'll be on a Vantage cruise from Budapest to the Black Sea and plan on doing the President's Palace tour as well. I am so glad I visited because like a pp I would have left my passport locked in room safe or my suitcase. I've never heard of a "tourist attraction" keeping your passport while you visit! I understand there is a HOHO in Budapest with stops near the place where ships dock. Does anyone have any info on it? I've been to Budapest before so not really interested in the same city tour, although I will take it only for the free ride to the Fisherman's Bastion! I am most interested in taking a tour of the Parliament Building and would like to know if HOHO would work for me.

Last time I was there it was under renovation and closed to the public

[Sparky333]

Hydrokitty - the Parliament in Budapest is open to the public now - when we were there last month the renovation work was going on outside. That made it a little bit of a challenge to walk to it - to make sure we got to the right entrance. We made sure to give ourselves enough time to walk there from our hotel. Not sure if it's on a HOHO loop, we didn't do that.

 

We ordered our tickets for the Parliament tour online before leaving home.

[Hydrokitty]

Hydrokitty - the Parliament in Budapest is open to the public now - when we were there last month the renovation work was going on outside. That made it a little bit of a challenge to walk to it - to make sure we got to the right entrance. We made sure to give ourselves enough time to walk there from our hotel. Not sure if it's on a HOHO loop, we didn't do that.

 

We ordered our tickets for the Parliament tour online before leaving home.

 

Thank you Sparky! I'm going in June. hopefully they will be done with the renovations by then. But it seems they've been going on for quite some time.

Do you know anything about the "underground hospital"?

[roberts2005]

Today was our first day in Bulgaria withe busses taking you from Rousse, Bulgaria to Veliko Tărnovo and Arabansi. The tour started with a 90 minute ride, followed by a coffee and bathroom break. The busses split up and 2 wnt to one town and two to the other. All 4 buses met up in Arabansi for lunch. A vey long day. The bus ride back was 2 and 1/2 hours.. In my opinion it was not worth the long ride. The only other choice would have been to stay aboard, as the ship moved

[RachelG]

Thank you Sparky! I'm going in June. hopefully they will be done with the renovations by then. But it seems they've been going on for quite some time.

Do you know anything about the "underground hospital"?

 

I'm not sparky, but have been to the underground hospital. It is on castle hill and well worth doing. Very different and interesting if you are at all into WWII or Cold War history. I highly recommend.

[Sparky333]

roberts2005 - I don't remember our drive on that day being so long - I also don't think our ship moved while we were out so I guess that going in opposite directions there are differences like that. We did really enjoy the painted church at Arbanasi, so simple outside and beautifully painted inside.

 

Your excursion tomorrow must be to the Belogradchik (sp?) fortress. That was very interesting. Hopefully your weather will be nice to let you walk around it - it was raining on us and it made things very slippery for climbing.

 

In our free time that afternoon we walked to the Baba Vida fortress in Vidin which was cool to see. Not a whole, whole lot to see but I thought worthwhile (you do need to get some local currency for the entrance fee if you go). And it was nice to walk through the town of Vidin a little bit and see some of the buildings and parks.

 

Hydrokitty -- no sorry, didn't have a chance to do the underground hospital in Budapest. It sounds interesting though - something for our next visit!

[rjscott]

Thank you Sparky! I'm going in June. hopefully they will be done with the renovations by then. But it seems they've been going on for quite some time.

Do you know anything about the "underground hospital"?

 

Hydrokitty,

Franski did this trip and here's what she had to say about the "hospital in the cave". Sounds very interesting. Also note what she says about discounts.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1834579&highlight=we+ve+arrived&page=3

 

We are doing this same itinerary in June, so I had bookmarked this page. ;)

Becki

Edited November 24, 2013 by rjscott

[franski]

I'm not sparky, but have been to the underground hospital. It is on castle hill and well worth doing. Very different and interesting if you are at all into WWII or Cold War history. I highly recommend.

 

The Hospital in the Rock is great... but not easy to find.

 

There are signs up in the area by the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church - and they point towards a street with a stone wall. There are stairs from there that go down to a road below. You need to get down to that road.

 

When you get down to the lower road, you need to turn right and walk a bit. It is not well marked.

 

Fran

[franski]

The cruise director is George. I'll let you know tomorrow who the concierge

 

We had George.... He thought he was great. He is a showman.... I am sure he will tell you about his previous life as lead singer of a rock band.

 

We had an issue with the air conditioning (doubt that is an issue for you this time of year!!!) and felt that he didn't get the support he should have had from the hotel manager. We (DH and I) felt that he was thrown under the bus when there was "bad news" to impart - and quite admired his restraint when he was being blamed for things that were not under his control.

 

Our concierge was Radi. Very personable - always a smile on her face... so willing to help.

 

We quite enjoyed the Cruise Director/Concierge concept. We felt they worked well together.

 

Fran

Edited November 25, 2013 by franski

[roberts2005]

Today was a full day in Vidan. The morning tour was Belogradchik. The day was overcast and dry with some sun. A good day to tour. The Fortress was interesting, the bus ride each way about an hour. Not a trip to do if raining.

 

We walked around the town of Vidan after lunch. Not much to buy

 

Overall, an enjoyable day

[Hydrokitty]

The Hospital in the Rock is great... but not easy to find.

 

There are signs up in the area by the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church - and they point towards a street with a stone wall. There are stairs from there that go down to a road below. You need to get down to that road.

 

When you get down to the lower road, you need to turn right and walk a bit. It is not well marked.

 

Fran

 

Fran: I am familiar with the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church. What kind of walk/stairs are there? I have trouble walking over uneven surfaces and especially down stairs.

[franski]

Fran: I am familiar with the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church. What kind of walk/stairs are there? I have trouble walking over uneven surfaces and especially down stairs.

 

Stairs aren't great. They are stone - and quite a long set.

 

I just looked it up on Google maps - and there is a good picture of the staircase (not evident that it is stairs at first glance - as they are covered.)

 

Another option would be to walk down along the roadway. Buses usually let you off by a restaurant and then park further along the road. The hospital is further along this roadway. According to Google Maps, it is 500 meters from the restaurant to the Hospital.

 

Not sure where you are staying. I wonder if it would be worth while taking a taxi??

 

Fran

 

p.s. This is the "address" if you are using Google Maps --> Hospital in the Rock, Budapest, Lovas Way, Hungary

Edited November 26, 2013 by franski

[roberts2005]

Fran the concierge is Violeta

[roberts2005]

Today was our day for sailing. We left Vidin last night at 9:00 PM and expect to arrive in Belgrade tonight at midnight . The weather today was cold with rain and or overcast skies. The weather tomorrow will be overcast with light snow.

 

A quiet day on board. George did a narration as we passed certain sights and later gave a talk on canals.

[franski]

Today was our day for sailing. We left Vidin last night at 9:00 PM and expect to arrive in Belgrade tonight at midnight . The weather today was cold with rain and or overcast skies. The weather tomorrow will be overcast with light snow.

 

A quiet day on board. George did a narration as we passed certain sights and later gave a talk on canals.

 

 

I know I am in the minority, but I always enjoy a quiet day on board. Too bad the weather wasn't nicer so you could enjoy the views from the top deck.

 

However, there are lots of windows, so you could stay warm (perhaps with a warm +/- alcohol beverage) as you sailed.

 

Fran

[cormike1]

I am really enjoying your trip report Robert. When you mentioned a chance of snow I chuckled as we are getting hit here in Ontario but there is a rather large storm hitting the Eastern seaboard from the U.S. and all the way up here in Canada. I don't know what it is like in Connecticut but you might be going home to snow! Now after that bearer of bad news, enjoy the rest of your trip lol.

[roberts2005]

The ship arrived late last night and docked right in town. Outside there is a cover of snow and light snow still coming down. Temperature is around 32 degrees F.

 

I am sure we will do the morning bus tour but not sure about the walk. Afternoon is free time with a shuttle bus to town center.

 

My Ipad has worked great throughout the trip. Yesterday during our river day you could see many people sitting with their tablets, either emailing, taking pictures or just reading

 

I'll let you know if we have turkey Thursday

[rjscott]

Robert,

Enjoying your live posts. When we did our first Viking cruise, it was the first week of April, and we had cold weather for that time of year. Our program director would announce the temps each morning b/f breakfast, which was a great help in knowing how to dress for the day. She announced the temp in celcius, but my husband could quickly do the conversion. One morning, much to my horror, she announced our morning temp was -0- degrees celcius. Even I didn't need to have a conversion done for me to know that was 32 and freezing! :eek:

Well, we did go on our morning walk in Middleburg that morning, but the guide kept us movin

g at a brisk pace. ;)

 

Becki

[Sparky333]

Brrr! Bundle up. I bet snow is pretty to see while you're sailing the Danube.

 

When I was looking through my notes from our trip I came across a 500,000,000,000 dinar bill I bought in Belgrade. There is a woman who sells the old currency from when they had terrible inflation and new bills were coming out every other day with more zeroes - she is on the corner across from the entrance of the fortress we visited. I think I paid $1 or so...a fun souvenir to say I'm a billionaire.

 

Enjoy your tour of Belgrade. The pedestrian shopping area was very impressive with lots of outdoor cafes and crowded with people.

[alexandra cruiser]

in June,but getting lots of info here.

Sounds TOO COLD for me ,at this time.One of things I like about Scenic is the large balcony,with a glass top for bad weather.You guys could use this for the snow.haha.

Have done 10 river cruises and never finished the whole Danube,so look forward to this.:)

[rjscott]

 

When I was looking through my notes from our trip I came across a 500,000,000,000 dinar bill I bought in Belgrade. There is a woman who sells the old currency from when they had terrible inflation and new bills were coming out every other day with more zeroes - she is on the corner across from the entrance of the fortress we visited. I think I paid $1 or so...a fun souvenir to say I'm a billionaire.

 

That would be a neat souvenir!

[roberts2005]

As the day progressed the snow turned to rain. The temperature remaining in the low 30's. The morning tour took us around the city with a visit to St. Sava and the fortress. No real free time before lunch. The ship ran a shuttle after lunch that allowed people to return to city center and do what they wish. Nice to have to not take a long bus ride

[roberts2005]

Left Belgrade late last night.

 

Last night foe entertainment aboard ship was a groups of Serbian folk dancers. A very nice performance.

 

This morning we are on our way to Vukovar The sides of the Danube are snow covered and again the temperature is around 32 F. While overcast there is no precipitation

[Sparky333]

It's hard for me to imagine that trip with such cold temps and snow but it looks very pretty from your picture!