[2018]
[Tuesday 10 July 2018]
MS William Shakespeare
Budapest
“Your daily programme”
This is the sheet detailing today’s schedule, left in the cabin yesterday evening:
Folder with maps
Map of Budapest
Letter about gratuities and envelope titled “Gratuity for the Crew”
Janet wrote: “I was awake for a long time. I slept, but not enough, really ([I have] no idea how much). I felt a bit ‘iffy’ when I got up at
ca.7.40am to take my Alendronic Acid.” When she vacated the bathroom,
ca.7.55, and I got out of bed and looked out, we were proceeding rapidly along the tree-lined Danube, with heavy rain falling. I showered and shaved. “We went to breakfast at
ca.8.40am,” Janet continued. “It was overcast and raining heavily outside. We were on our way to Budapest.” Back in the cabin, I transferred yesterday’s 107 photos from my camera to the
WD Elements HDD (09:16–09:22). Viewed them all in Windows Photo Viewer and rotated 19 that needed it (09:25–09:29).
Janet continued: “I packed [the] two cases. [John] disappeared at my request to the lounge for a ‘disembarkation meeting’. So [I have] only [the packing of] the grip to sort out tomorrow morning. Phew!”
- 09:45
Disembarkation meeting in the Lounge,
followed by a presentation on Budapest.
Please at least one person/cabin attend the
disembarkation briefing.
Followed by a short briefing on the
Budapest extension for those who
participate in it.
At the disembarkation meeting, Milenko spoke. I took notes. Accounts would be settled this evening, and credit or debit cards of those who’d registered them (as I had) would be debited and invoices issued. Any purchases after 11pm tonight could then be paid for in cash. Bathrobes would be removed this evening. He suggested tips of €7–€10 per day per person for the
crew,[i] to be put in the envelope that had been provided for this purpose, and the envelope to be put into a box at reception. The cruise director and tour manager would not be included in this sharing of gratuities, though, so they should be tipped separately; and there was a separate box on the
Riviera desk. Tomorrow, our cabins had to be vacated by 9.00am,[ii] to enable them to be cleaned and prepared for the incoming guests. Luggage had to be left outside the cabins by
8am. There was a questionnaire form, to be completed and put into a second box at reception.
- [i] €7–€10 per day per person for the crew: This was slightly less than the amount suggested by Eszter on
5
July 2018 and on page 10 of the Travel Information, received on
28 June 2018:
-
- Gratuities
It is customary aboard river cruise ships to give a gratuity at the end of a cruise, providing of course, you have received good service. We are often asked for guidance as to appropriate amounts and whilst we would emphasise that the amount you give is entirely discretionary, we would suggest between €8 and €12 per person per day. Alt gratuities received are divided equally between the crew on board.… If at the end of your cruise you wish to give a gratuity to your Riviera Travel Cruise Director and Tour Manager, this is entirely at your discretion.
- [ii] Tomorrow, our cabins had to be vacated by
9.00am: On every other trip, where the check-out time has been early but the flight home late, be it when we’ve stayed in a hotel or been on a cruise-ship, we have, for a fee, arranged late check-out, either retaining our room or being assigned a different one.
Janet enquired about this at the beginning of the cruise, but for a number of days they prevaricated and procrastinated, till on
Janet’s persistence in enquiring they eventually said they couldn’t do it. This, of course, was untrue; the truth was that they
wouldn’t do it.
It’s extremely exceptional for us ever to complete questionnaires; and this was no exception, which is why I still have it.
I wrote “6 transfers to airport”, but this was incorrect; in fact, there would be six categories of people departing from the ship: four, of transfers to the airport; one, of people with an extended stay in Budapest; and one, of people who had booked the cruise only, and had made their own arrangements from here on. There were ribbons of six different colours; and we were asked to pick ribbons of the colour appropriate to each of us, to tie to our luggage. I wrote:
-
| 8.30 |
Edinburgh (blue) |
| 9.00 |
extension (orange) |
| 10.15 |
Heathrow (pink) |
| 11.15 |
Gatwick (green) |
| 5.00pm |
Manchester (red) |
(I didn’t note cruise-only passengers in the list, because they had no specific departure time; but they had yellow ribbons.) Passengers wishing to go ashore and come back before their departure time could leave their carry-on luggage in the lounge. There would be a shuttle bus from the mooring, which would be on the Buda side, starting from 10am, returning every hour. Between 1pm and 2pm there would be a light lunch available for Manchester passengers in the lounge. I also wrote, “Buda left, hilly — Pest right, flat”, so Milenko must have added that. After his briefing, it was the turn of the
Riviera team to tell us about the day’s excursion in Budapest. They also made envelopes available for gratuities, and I picked one up before I returned to the cabin.
I obviously didn’t stay for the briefing for those with an extended stay in Budapest. The browser “History” on my
Asus netbook/tablet has “10.29” when I attempted to log on to the ship’s internet, so that indicates the time before which I got back to the cabin. We went to the lounge for a drink. I had a 0.4ℓ glass of
Veltins draught beer, and Janet had a Coca Cola Light, served by Boris (12:15 on the invoice slip). “I was still incandescent with anger after [John] told me about the tips,”
Janet wrote. “I already knew that it was suggested we supplement the crew’s wages to the tune of
ca.€200, and I’d long since decided that would not happen. In fact, it threatened to spoil our holiday before I even left
home.[iii] The final straw for me was a green envelope with the names of our
Riviera guides on for their tip. How dare they?! My mood started to lift because I wanted to enjoy the rest of my holiday, and I was not going to be unpleasant to the crew. We decided later that, to be fair (!),
no-one would get a tip from us. Besides, I don’t really agree with tips. (We had to bow and scrape to the most obnoxious people at work, smile sweetly, and get on with it — and we didn’t get tips!)… At 12.30pm we went for lunch,” — I had a glass of “Spätburgunder” red wine and
Janet a Coca Cola Light, served by George Rizea — “then I went to the hairdresser’s at 1.30pm.” I was back in the cabin at this time, and as the ship was about to pass under the two-pier, cable-stayed Megyeri Bridge, some nine miles from our destination, I took a photo as I leaned out of the cabin window. Because I was on the starboard side of the ship, I was only able to see the western pier.
- [iii] We’d already paid £3,418 for the holiday; and then, just a week before we travelled,
Riviera told us that it was “customary” additionally to fork out €8–€12 per person per day for the crew — and that didn’t include additionally making a payment to the
Riviera staff!
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:19:56
Megyeri Bridge carrying the M0 ring road that goes around Budapest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:22:02
Megyeri Bridge carrying the M0 ring road that goes around Budapest
At some point — it’s my custom to send postcards to my Mum and to Chris, and I hadn’t bought any so far — I bought a couple of picture postcards of the
MS William Shakespeare from reception and stamps, all for €3, and when I’d written them I left them at reception for posting. According to “Your daily programme”:
- approx. 13:30 Sailing in commentary to
Budapest by your Riviera Team broadcasted [sic]
in the Lounge and sundeck only.
When the commentary started, I went up to the sun deck to listen and to take further photos. We passed Margaret Island along the channel to the right (west) of it.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:46:00
Approaching Árpád Bridge (left and right) and Margaret Island (centre)
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:46:00 (detail 1)
Approaching Árpád Bridge and Margaret Island (right)
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:46:00 (detail 2)
Approaching Árpád Bridge and Margaret Island (left)
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:46:30
Motor tanker Rubikon 23 approaching Árpád Bridge
To our right, in Buda, we passed high-rise apartment blocks, some of which had sporting motifs painted on the sides,
e.g., fencing, skateboarding, hang-gliding, cycling.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:49:22
High-rise apartment blocks in Buda, one with a hang-gliding motif painted on it
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:52:38
MS William Shakespeare, ship’s bell
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:53:56
Approaching Margaret Bridge, Budapest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:55:18
Buda, with the spire of Matthias Church in the Castle District visible
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:55:32
Margaret Bridge, Budapest. (Background:) Buda Castle
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:55:48
Margaret Bridge, Budapest. (Background:) Hungarian Parliament Building, Pest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:57:24
Margaret Bridge, Budapest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:57:24 (detail)
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:58:06
Hungarian Parliament Building, Pest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:59:36
Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest. (Background:) Gellért Hill and Citadella
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:59:36 (detail 1)
Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest, and behind it Elisabeth Bridge. (Background:) Gellért Hill and Liberty Statue
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:59:36 (detail 2)
Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest. (Background:) Gellért Hill
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 13:59:50
St. Anne’s Church (left) and Matthias Church (background), Buda
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:00:20
Szilágyi Dezső Square Reformed Church, Buda (right); part of Buda Castle (background)
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:01:06
Hungarian Parliament Building, Pest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:01:46
St. Anne’s Church, Buda
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:01:54
Szilágyi Dezső Square Reformed Church (left) and Matthias Church (background), Buda
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:02:28
Buda Castle
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:02:28 (detail 1)
Buda Castle
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:02:28 (detail 2)
Buda Castle
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:03:54
Hungarian Parliament Building, Pest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:05:32
Szilágyi Dezső Square Reformed Church (right) and Matthias Church (left), Buda
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:06:24
Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest, and Buda Castle
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:10:02
Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:10:02 (detail)
People walking up and down the eyebar chain of the bridge. (Top left: Liberty Statue on Gellért Hill)
“It had rained heavily all morning,” Janet wrote, “but when we finally arrived in Budapest it was occasional showers and very warm. Overcast.” The ship turned about, and moored facing upstream, next to another ship, a little north of the Chain Bridge, on the east side of the Danube, the Pest side.
- 14:30
We depart on coaches for a guided tour of
Budapest. Please bring your Vox boxes and
earpieces!
We went ashore through the other ship, turned right, and walked about 100 yards to the parking lot where we boarded the coach for Group №1.
Janet and I were the first aboard and chose the front seat on the left. Our quite humorous guide David introduced himself and our driver Zsoltika. As we proceeded, he told us something about Budapest. Out of a population of 9.5 million in Hungary, he told us, some 1.7 million live in Budapest. The coach went north-east along the
ca.1½-mile length of the boulevard Andrássy Avenue, skirting around Heroes’ Square at the end, with its Millennium Monument,
and taking a circular route through City Park.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:50:00
Seen from the coach: Andrássy Avenue
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:53:54
Seen from the coach: Kodály Circus, known 1938–1945 as “Adolf Hitler Place”
The “Millennium” of the Millennium Monument was 1896, the thousand-year anniversary of the Magyars’ arrival in the Carpathian Basin.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:55:12
Seen from the coach: Column of the Millennium Monument in Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:56:38
Seen from the coach: Millennium Monument in Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:59:12
Seen from the coach: Millennium Monument in Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 14:59:58
Seen from the coach: Museum of Fine Arts, Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:00:10
Seen from the coach: Left (northernmost) colonnade of the Millennium Monument in Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:00:32
Seen from the coach: Statues at the base of the column of the Millennium Monument in Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:01:40
Seen from the coach: Entrance to Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden, City Park
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:07:20
Seen from the coach: Vajdahunyad Castle, City Park
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:07:48
Seen from the coach: City Park Ice Rink (boating lake in summer)
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:08:10
Seen from the coach: Northernmost colonnade of the Millennium Monument, and Museum of Fine Arts, Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:08:48
Seen from the coach: Hall of Art, Heroes’ Square
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:09:44
Seen from the coach: Heroes’ Square
Going back, we went along a street more or less parallel to Andrássy Avenue, but half a dozen blocks to the south-east of it, Wesselényi Street which runs through the historic Jewish Quarter and ends at the Great Synagogue.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:14:38
Seen from the coach: Wesselényi Street
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:22:16
Seen from the coach: Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs in the rear courtyard of the Great Synagogue, Wesselényi Street
From there, we turned left into Dohány Street and went eastwards past the front of the Synagogue, but then turned right, and right again, going more or less in the opposite direction towards Elisabeth Bridge.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:23:06
Seen from the coach: South side of the Great Synagogue, Dohány Street
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:23:36
Seen from the coach: South side of the Great Synagogue, Dohány Street
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:24:20
Seen from the coach: South side of the Great Synagogue, Dohány Street
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:28:04
Seen from the coach: Lajos Kossuth Street. Ahead: Elisabeth Bridge
It had started to rain. We crossed Elisabeth Bridge to the Buda side of the Danube and turned right.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:28:42
Seen from the coach: Elisabeth Bridge
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:29:16
Seen from the coach: Liberty Bridge, south-east of Elisabeth Bridge
As we passed Várkert Bazaar, an outer terrace below Buda Castle, we passed two sets of larger-than-life statues of World War I soldiers standing on sandbags. The first was of two soldiers supporting wounded comrades; the second pair seemed better off. Between the latter was a sign: “1914–1918 — A New World Was Born.” It was to promote an exhibition within.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:30:40
Seen from the coach: Passing Várkert Bazaar
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:30:46
Seen from the coach: Passing Várkert Bazaar
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:31:10
Seen from the coach: Várkert Bazaar
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:33:18
Seen from the coach: Buda Castle
Farther along, we came to a roundabout. To the left was the Buda Castle Tunnel, to the right the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. We turned left, but didn’t enter the tunnel; we turned right just before it, and, with a hairpin left turn half-way up, ascended Castle Hill.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:33:40
Seen from the coach: Buda Castle Tunnel
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:35:26
Seen from the coach: Monumental stairway up to Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church, Buda Castle District
Here, David led the group north-west ca.¼-mile as far as Holy Trinity Square, so called because another of the “Trinity Columns” or “Plague Columns” (already seen twice in Austria) was erected there following an outbreak of the plague in 1691. But there occurred a second outbreak in 1709, and the people agreed to erect a larger, more ornate statue if they were spared. That was done in 1712.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:44:56
Parade Square, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:45:30
Statue in Parade Square, Buda Castle District, honouring freedom fighters in the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848–1849
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:45:30 (detail)
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:49:16
Fountain, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:50:56
Holy Trinity Column, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:51:34
Matthias Church, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:52:14
Matthias Church, Buda Castle District: adornment atop the small south-eastern tower
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:53:16
Matthias Church, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:53:36
Matthias Church, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 15:57:22
Holy Trinity Column and Matthias Church, Buda Castle District
Then we had some free time to look around. Janet and I had a drink under a tarpaulin-covered area outside a street-corner restaurant. I had a 0.5ℓ glass of
Dreher beer (Dreher is a local brewery) and Janet had a Coca Cola Light, and these cost us a mere 1795 Ft (€5.79).
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:19:10
Refreshments at Arany Hordó Restaurant, Tárnok Street 16, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:28:48
Arany Hordó Restaurant, Tárnok Street 16, Buda Castle District
“Then we made our way back to the pick-up point,” Janet
wrote. “There had been a few spots of rain only.” Some of the buildings on the way had the kind of eerily “eye”-like attic-windows looking out of their roofs that I remember seeing in Brandenburg in 2007.
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:31:12
Buildings in Tárnok Street, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:32:12
Buildings in Parade Square, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:33:32
Buildings in Parade Square, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:34:10
Buildings in Parade Square, Buda Castle District
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:39:40
Views from Buda Castle Hill
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:39:52
Views from Buda Castle Hill
Wednesday 11 July 2018 — 16:40:00
Views from Buda Castle Hill
Either end of the Chain Bridge, which we crossed, on each side of the road, are stone lions; and David told us that the lions don’t have tongues — the sculptor forgot to create them, he said — and when this story was circulated and the whole country made fun of him, he committed suicide by jumping into the Danube from the
bridge.[iv]
- [iv] The bridge was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by Scottish engineer Adam Clark; and I thought it was to the latter that the story referred, but in fact the sculptor was one János Marschalkó. He died of natural causes, not suicide, however.
“We were back in our cabin around 5.15pm,” Janet wrote. “I showered, then we put our posh togs on and went to the bar.”
- 18:30
The Captain, crew and your Riviera Travel
Team invite you to join them for a Farewell
Drink in the Lounge.
I availed myself of one of the glasses of sparkling white wine that were being served, and some canapés brought round on trays. I asked Boris if there was any Grappa left; after he got the bottle out of the fridge and poured it, it was just short of a measure, so he let me have it “on the house”.
Janet had a Coca Cola Light (18:30 on the invoice slip).
- 19:00
Captain’s Farewell Dinner is served in the
restaurant.
At dinner, we sat at our usual table for four at the rear of the restaurant near the starboard side. I had a glass of “Spätburgunder” red wine and
Janet a Coca Cola Light, served by George Rizea. Janet wrote: “Then it was our final dinner. The menu was full of pretentiousness (I hate all that crap), and we were joined by a lovely couple (I’d seen them about) who felt the same way we did. Kindred spirits. [John] had most of the
courses[v] but I only had a bread bun and a piece of greasy fish with greasy spuds (I’d requested no added oil or butter). And it was ‘style over substance’ again — a very small portion. Anyway, it didn’t matter as we had a splendid evening with the lovely couple, Jane and …, a good laugh. I wished we’d got talking to them sooner. Hey ho!” He was about our age, but to my eyes looked younger; he was of wiry build, being accustomed to running several miles each day. Indeed, he bemoaned the lack of exercise opportunity here, and gave the impression of being a bit of an endorphin addict. He had some visual
impairment.[vi] She was younger than he, and facially reminded me somewhat of
[former colleague] Trudi Millard. They were similarly scathing of this “pictures on a plate” style of dining. He came from the south-east, but I was surprised that his childhood recollection of meals was
breakfast—dinner—tea, as was ours in the north, not breakfast—lunch—dinner. Afterwards,
Janet and I went to the lounge and sat, as usual, on stools at the bar. Janet
had a Coca Cola Light, served by “Laura”[vii] (21:17 on the invoice slip), and after a moment’s indecision I decided on a
Köstritzer Schwarzbier (21:18).
- 21:30
Traditional Hungarian folklore dance
performance for you to enjoy in the Lounge.
Please note that there is no bar service
during the concert.
After the performance of the Hungarian gypsy-style music and dance, I availed myself of a last opportunity for a
Köstritzer Schwarzbier (22:21 on the invoice slip), served for the last time by the dour-looking but most agreeable Boris. Back in the cabin, I transferred today’s 69 photos from my camera to the
WD Elements HDD (22:39–22:42). Viewed them all in Windows Photo Viewer and rotated two that needed it (22:46). We were in bed not long after 11pm.
- [v] I had no difficulty choosing what to have; cf. the “Welcome Dinner” on
6
July 2018: “I felt a creeping up of dismay as I read [the menu], because… I didn’t fancy any of it. I wanted to go back to the cabin. Anyway, having decided to skip two or so of the courses as completely intolerable, I managed to choose from the others…”
[vi] Had I indeed seen him out earlier, with a white cane?
[vii] Was she the one who reminded me of Harris Ryland’s controlling battleaxe “mom” Judith (in looks only, not in manner!) in the 2012–2014 “revival” series of the
Dallas soap opera?
[Thursday 12 July 2018]
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