Thursday, March 14, 2024
Today we did a tour of the “Danube Bend”. On our way to our first stop we passed by the Roman ruins of Aquincum. It was once a major Roman city and was discovered at the end of the 19th century. It was one of the biggest archaeological sites in Hungary. Aquincum was built between the second and third century. Only about 1/3 of this city had been excavated!
The first city we stopped at was Esztergom.
The Cathedral of Esztergom was the largest church in Hungary. The Basilica was under restoration but we were still able to visit inside.
The cathedral was built between 1822-1869 and consecrated in 1856 with the “Missa solennis” composed for the occasion by Ferenc Liszt, but the building was net even near completion. The capstone was laid on November 1, 1869.
We walked over to the Statue of King Saint Stephen located next to the Basilica. It was completed in 2001. It stood about 39 feet high. It was made of limestone. Two young men were playing their violins.
The surrounding views were beautiful! On the other bank was the country of Slovakia.
Next we stopped in Visegrád. Before we went up to the lookout we saw Soloman’s Tower which was part of the lower castle. It was built in the 13th century and stood about 101 feet and parts of its wall are 26 feet (8 meters) thick.
Viségrad Citadel ruins, also known as the Upper Castle, was from the 13th century. It sat atop a hill over 1000 feet high and looked down over the valley.
We did a scenic panoramic stop for pictures just down from the Citadel.
We visited the town of Szentendre. It was known as an artists’ colony in the 1920s and had a historic center.
We ate lunch here and had time to walk around the town and do some shopping.
There were numerous Serbian Orthodox churches and we walked by the Blagovestenska Church dating from 1752.
We returned to our hotel late afternoon and had time to freshen up before heading to a Budapest Jazz Club near our hotel. We ordered some dinner at the club in their dining area and then went in for the first hour of the jazz group that was playing. When they took their break we all headed back to the hotel. It wasn’t jazz music like any of us expected but it was still a good experience!
The Vigszinház Theater was on of the oldest theaters and still very popular in Budapest. It was well lit as we walked back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we would be leaving Budapest to head to Vienna, Austria!
