AMA Waterways Christmas Time Cruise - Budapest, Hungary Day 1 & 2

December 16th - Day 1
Did we really think that our trip would start out without a seamless journey to the airport?   After the 2 hour ride through stau's on the autobahn we ran to the check in counter because we missed our bag drop....but luckily they took them on.  Then we flew through security to where I got felt up and down and wanded and all that good stuff then finally made it to the gate with time to spare, yippee! We got into Budapest a little late but all went fine.  We took the minibus shuttle to the Wiking Dock where our boat was supposed to be docked only to see the boat drifting away! 

There was another couple waiting outside (Dawn and Ken from Utah) so at least we weren't stuck there alone and clueless.  A bus of 4 others arrived shortly after and finally someone from AMA came to get us in a shuttle to take us to the Sofitol Hotel to wait for the ship because it was being cleaned.  They had a complimentary room set up with tea, coffee and snacks so we went there for a bit then hit the beautiful Christmas market in Budapest on the Pest side of the river.  The market was so pretty with tons of great little stands but it started to rain so we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for some beers.  It was a brand new HRC opened 2 days before and was really nice inside.  The bar tender was super nice and took our picture!  We had a few beers and a snack then back to the hotel to be bussed to the ship. 
The AMALegro is a fantastic ship!  We really didn't know what to expect but were very impressed upon arrival.  Everything was decorated so nice for Christmas and all of the staff were so welcoming and friendly.  We were showed our room which is larger than I imagined it would be and with the French balcony I was instantly in heaven! 

The bathroom is bigger than I thought too.  The view from our balcony was of the Buda Castle area and was just beautiful! We unpacked, and went to the lounge for a briefing of the ship, safety, itinerary, etc and then went downstairs to the restaurant for a fabulous dinner where we had beef from Nebraska! It was good!  We stuffed ourselves full and never had to ask for a refill on wine. 
After dinner we wanted to take a walk up the castle hill but just as we were about to leave the boat they said that we were going for a small cruise.  We went to the top deck, in the rain, but we're just in awe at the beauty of the city at night. 

The Chain Bridge - first bridge connecting Buda and Pest

We came back downstairs and talked with our fellow travelers for quite a while before tucking into our comfy bed. 


December 17th - Day 2
We started the day with quite a nice breakfast then boarded busses for the city tour.  All of the passengers don't quite fill up 2 coaches so it's a pretty small group and we're getting to know a lot of the people.  We first drove up the castle hill to the Buda Castle.  It was very windy and cold but the views were spectacular from the Fisherman Bastion and the Royal Palace.  We had a little free time to wander around the Castle Distric but gladly climbed back on the bus because it was so chilly!  We went to the Pest side of the river for a bit more of a city tour.  We were unable to stop at the Heroes' Square due to the lack of space for the bus, but at least got some pictures. 


The bus dropped us at the same Market we were at yesterday on Vörösmarty Square.  We tried to stay warm by grabbing a cappuccino at a nearby McD's then went into the market to seek out a "Budapest" souvenir.  We found a beautiful hand painted porcelain ball ornament as well as roasted chestnuts and mulled hot wine.  Dave has been talking about getting the chestnuts forever and was not impressed with them after all the rave!  They tasted like mushy walnuts but the glühwein was pretty good!


The bus ride to Esztergom, where our ship was now docked, was through the Hungarian countryside and the tour guide told us tons of tid bits about the country and area.  We waited at a port in the country of Slovakia, which used to be a part of Hungary, for the ship but it was running late.  We finally got on board around 2:30 and immediately headed to lunch, we were tired and hungry! The rest of the afternoon we cruised, rested, read, Dave ran on the treadmill and got ready for our dinner at the captains table!

Christian, Adriene, Linda, Artur, Tom, Pat, Captain, Shawna, Dave

Dinner was so fun at the captains table.  We sat between the captain Andras, and the cruise director, Christian who both are German speakers!  There was Adriene from LA who has no luggage, Linda from TX who's on board with her extended family for Christmas, Pat and Ken from LA who are retired seasoned travelers and have been on the same boat in June and finally Artur the Hotel Manager a.k.a. Speedy Gonzales.  It was fun conversation, great food and too much wine.  They truly treat you like gold, it's so not normal life! After dinner we went to the lounge where Krassi is always playing the piano, and had some drinks and chat with Paul and Tracy from NYC and their travel friends, Jerry and Elissa who live very near my Dad in FL!  We had a lot of laughs and great conversation with them all while we are just sailing away!  We got to experience our first lock too with was pretty neat to see, and a little weird with the walls of it being right at the window! After extremely too much wine we headed to bed because we had a full day on Sunday in Vienna!

LINK TO BUDAPEST PICTURES