May 30 Vienna austria

 Today we sailed from Budapest to Vienna # around 23 hours to get there, passing forests, fields and towns. We went through 2 locks rising some 8-10 m each time. Apparently there are 30 or so locks on the whole trip going both up and down as we go over the range between Austria and Germany. 

One of the villages we passed - with a castle on the hill in the distance.

Sitting in the loch before and after.

Tonight we’re off to a “Johann Strauss Experience” in the Strauss Museum, a multimedia presentation of Strauss' life.

  

Reconstructed violin seen from different angles 

 

Concert of Strauss pieces held after the Museum tour finished.

May 29 Budapest

 To d ay we opted for a guided walk through Budapest starting with a tram ride to the Parliament building, a huge neo-gothic castle style building completed in 1902. Ministers offices are no longer there as more modern facilities were needed. We then walked on to Liberty Square then to a strudel restaurant to sample their fare and finally to the central market where we tried so n e local salamis.

Parliament building and statue outside

Fountain with sculpture of At Michael fighting off an eagle representing the Nazi army.

Budapest's most popular statue - a policeman. All military statues apparently were banned at one stage so he was the only one left. 

City Central Market

Paprika Chillis

Salamis 

St Stephen's Catholic Church named after the first king of Hungary who became king in 1000 and was canonised (after his death) in 1086. He was instrumental in establishing Christianity as the national religion.

In the afternoon we walked to the Jewish Quarter to see the City Synagogue which is the second largest in the world.  (The largest is in New York).

Sculpture at the rear of the Synagogue 

Part of the original wall of the city of Pest which was the north half of Budapest.

May 28 Budapest

Today we boarded our cruise boat to take us to Amsterdam via the (not so blue) Danube, the Main and the Rhine rivers. After dinner the boat was moved from its first berth to one closer to the city. This allowed us to watch as it sailed past the various buildings on the river, all lit up and looking beautiful.

The Danube water looking not unlike the Yarra.

Parliament House

State Opera House 

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the oldest church in Budapest 

One of the beautiful bridges across the river

Corvinus University

Budapest. University of Technology 

Chain Beidge - the first bridge across the Danube in Budapest, opened in 1849

May 27 Budapest, Hungary

 We arrived in Budapest  at midday to a beautiful Summer’s day. Our hotel is not far from Széchenyi Thermal Bath Park, a huge green space containing a number of tourist attractions. 

The first of these was Vajdahunyad Castle, built in 1896 and described as a fantasy pastiche and made up of buildings covering building styles from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.

  

  

                                                Toronytura Tower

This part of the castle is now the Agricultural Museum.

Just outside the park is Heroes Square, commemorating the leaders of the nation over its 1000 year history.

On the edge of the park is the Museum of Ethnology, an award winning building that is partly underground and with a roof that looks like two hills facing each other and covered with grass and trees. The front of the building has hundreds of ethnographic motifs from both Hungary and other cultures.

There was no description of this installation on the rook of the Museum..