Friday, October 2, 2015
Clay had set an alarm for 6am. He was up first and woke me
with the tablet in bed again. I don’t know how or when he woke up. Sometime
after midnight last night we got dock on the starboard side up against the
Amadeus Brilliant. We heard the creaking where we are up against them during
the night. It also blocks any light or view. Breakfast buffet was at 7am and we
were there. Assigned tables are for the entire duration. So, we sat at table 23
again with our assigned partners. We only ate from the buffet today. Our waiter
that spilt water on me last night was still mortified and groveling so we just
left him there and went to the buffet. But, there is a menu for fried eggs and
omelets etc. Maybe tomorrow. From 8 to 11:30am we had a bus tour of Pest and
Buda with about 30 minutes of walking and free time. I would have hated it if
that had been the entirety of my visit to Budapest. They did though buy tickets
and enter Matyas church and the upper level of Fisherman’s Bastion in Buda’s
castle district. They had us back to the boat by 11:30am for lunch. It turned
out that all 4 of us from table 23 shunned the big lunch in the restaurant and
ate together again in the lounge from the light buffet. It was still pretty
heavy. But you could serve yourself and eat at your own pace. As Clay said, if
we’d gone to the 3 course lunch they’d have kept us there from 11:30 to 12:45.
At one pm, we depart on buses for Szentendre & rejoin the boat in
Esztergom. I hate missing the first locks and the sailing the Danube bend, but
I don’t want to miss new towns in Hungary either. So, it is the tour. If we
ever give this another try maybe I’ll get to cruise it.
Well, it is quite past my bedtime and we’ve just gotten back
from dinner. But, here goes. We loaded the single bus for the afternoon tour on
time at 1pm. We drove north out of Budapest. The boat was to sail a half hour
behind us and we have to assume that it did. We drove about 40 minutes I guess
to get to Szentendre (pronounced saint andre). The guide led us from the bus
parking to the town square and told us what to see and look for and how to get
back and when as well as about local crafts and goods to shop for. We had about
an hour of free time. Clay and I walked the rest of the breadth of the town and
found a chimney cake being cooked over a coal fire. It was the most expensive
one we have seen yet, but it was a little different and good. We walked down
and looked at the arm of the Danube on the Szentendre side of St. Andrew Island
to observe the low water. Our local guide pointed out from the Buda side of the
Danube as we drove out of town “the starvation stones” that are traditionally a
sign of drought in the summer growing season and that they won’t have enough
food for winter. She pointed it out again as we entered this town. There is no
question it is low. The guide told us that she has another group to guide
tomorrow on a different cruise line and that she knows they won’t be cruising.
She was not looking forward to that as they will be in a very bad mood. We got
back on the bus and drove about 20 km more to Visograd. This is at the Danube
Bend, an S-curve in the river, with some castle or fort ruins on a high bluff
above the river. King Matyas once imprisoned Vlad Tepes (or Dracula) here. The
guide tried to time our arrival at the top view point to when Amadeus Silver II
should have arrived, but it never came by. We walked back down to the bus and
reloaded for another 20 km or so ride to Esztergom. This was a former capital
of Hungary and home to the largest Catholic basilica in Hungary. We toured the
basilica and walked around the old fortification walls and watched the sun set
over Slovakia across the Danube. We watched for our boat since this is where we
are to meet it, but it didn’t come. Finally as it was about to be too dark to
make the rough walk back down to the bus the guide told us to go back to the
bus. We did and about the time people
started to get pissy, she told us that she was taking us to the Primas Pince or
Archbishop’s cellars for a glass of wine to wait for the boat to arrive. Dinner
was originally supposed to be served at 7:30pm. That was about the time we
reboarded. Dinner started at 7:45pm. There was a Captain’s Welcome Party and next
day port talk that were missed (by the people out on the bus anyway! It is not
clear what happened to those people who stayed onboard. They were all dressed
up and waiting in the lobby when we arrived.) They handed us each a glass of champagne as we
entered the restaurant and we were greeted by the CD, Assistant CD, Captain and
Hotel Manager and then offered hors d’oeuvres before we got to our tables.
Dinner service was slower this evening, but without mishaps. When we arrived
back at the boat in Esztergom, it was tied up alongside another boat and we had
to walk through their lobby. As soon as the last passenger returned, we cast
off and set sailing at a pretty good clip. The captain had a few words about
our patience being appreciated as we navigate extreme low water conditions and being
flexible. He told us he had an able assistant piloting the boat in the dark.
We came straight to the cabin after dinner. Our dinner
companions were among the 25 or so on the bus with us today. It seemed like
only people who bought their cruises with included excursions went off this
afternoon and the majority stayed aboard for the sailing. Since that would be
mostly French speakers we did not hear how they fared all afternoon and early
evening. When we got back to the cabin we found train tickets for Amsterdam to
Paris. My first name is misspelled and we are not sitting together. I went to
reclaim our passports at reception and ask about this but was told to find
Simona, our CD, sometime tomorrow and bring it up with her. My final documents
have my name spelled correctly. I did not see it misspelled until today, our
first full day aboard. First on the train ticket and then on the passport form
they had me sign to recover our passports. I don’t know why they would need to
issue those train tickets so soon anyway. They are for the 15th. We
don’t think the misspelling will make any difference but we are bothered by not
being seated together!
Good night!
