Day 15 and 16 June 7th and 8th/11 Budapest and home

Last night on board was great and we were a bit sad while packing to get ready for disembarking in the morning.  Budapest at night is a sight to behold with all the buildings and bridges nicely lit.  We had a cab come to pick us up at 9 a.m.  on the 15th to take our luggage to the Art'otel Budapest on the Buda side.  

Art'otel

This hotel was not far from the boat actually and had been recommended for us by Rik.  "George" took us and offered to be our driver tomorrow as well to the airport.  Excellent...all arrangements were made.  Staying an extra night in Budapest was a good idea, not just because we got a less expensive flight but also to give us time to enjoy this great city.

Art'otel featured the art of one person throughout. 

We stored our luggage at the hotel until later when the rooms would be ready and headed back to the Pedestrian Mall and Market to do some  shopping and more sight seeing.  We split up and arranged to meet for lunch.  We ate at a lovely outdoor cafe of course.  

Pedestrian Mall sights

Down and under a busy cross street.  Violin music wafted eerily from below  ground and we soon saw the gypsy player. 

We are really going to miss this life style! 

We went back to the hotel later in the afternoon and were happy for the air conditioning.  It was very hot and humid.  Our rooms looked out toward St. Matthias Cathedral where we had toured yesterday!  Beautiful view.  We soon found that Grant and Gisele's air conditioning was not working so they switched to a room  with a balcony facing the river and gorgeous parliament buildings. 

Lovely view from our window.

Very comfortable room.

View from Grant and Gisele's room.  I can't get enough of this building.  It cost enough to build a small city and took nearly 20 years to complete. (finished in 1904) Neo Gothic style.

That balcony was a nice spot to share a drink before heading a few buildings down the street to The Sailor Inn, which looked like an interesting place for dinner.  

Wally loved it here! 

And it did not disappoint!  Even after the incredible meals served onboard the River Queen, we really enjoyed this.  The presentation  was something else.  

John's duck. 

Grant's rabbit with gravy in the martini glass. 

Gisele's chicken. 

My Hake (fish)

We sat outside and had a great view of the Danube but we could hardly keep our eyes off the crazy traffic pattern that was at this corner.  We saw a couple of near accidents; a fellow almost hit by a street car and a very close call between 2 cars which ended in yelling and gesturing.  You didn't need to speak the language to get the gist. This should have given us a clue of what we would experience ourselves tomorrow.


The view from our room later was stunning and enhanced by the moon rising over the cathedral.  

We were up bright and early and George arrived on time to take us to the airport.  Yesterday, our ride with him was short so we really didn't get a chance to appreciate his talent behind the wheel. All I can say is that the 3 of us in the back seat had to hang on to the handles (now I know what they are for, not just to hang clothes!) and poor John was in the front.  When we squealed up to the terminal we all were a bit stunned.  We asked John how he enjoyed the front seat and he said he thought he was on a @#$@$# roller coaster!  And it was an hour long!  


It was with a bit of trepidation that we tried to find the terminal for Polish Air.  Guess what?  No such thing!  Oh no!  But soon enough we realized the booths changed according to flight times and the LOT light came on.  Everything okay.  Or was it?  Later, at Warsaw airport we heard our names being massacred over the P.A. and went over to the gate.  We showed our passports and tried to head down the gangway only to be rudely told SIT!  So sit we did and Grant and Gisele were called a second time.  We never really did figure out what this was about.  They were speaking english but we couldn't understand a word.  Oh well, the rest of the flight was fabulous.  A quick trip on a smaller plane to Warsaw and then onto a huge 767 with good service and not bad food.  I would recommend LOT.  They share terminals with Air Canada and others around the world.  We left hot and humid Budapest and arrived many hours later in hot and humid Toronto.  It took a week for the jet lag to wear off but it was worth it.  This was a trip of a lifetime.