River Cruise on the Danube
For my birthday, JonPaul and I took a dinner cruise on the Danube River while my mom watched the kids. Although we have been doing a lot of traveling over the last month, JonPaul and I have not had a chance to be just the two of us. We got to the boat while it was still daytime, and were able to get a picture together in front of the boat.
We were seated at a two-person table right by the window and each given a glass of prosecco. JonPaul isn’t a fan of wine, so I had to drink both of them. We were also given glasses of wine, which again JonPaul doesn’t drink, so of course I had to drink both of them. JonPaul had Mort Subite Kriek beer, which is a cherry beer that is actually pink in color.
It was pretty good! For dinner we had some traditional Hungarian food—goulash, chicken paprikash with dumpling noodles, and various strudels for dessert (the apple was the best). The food was okay, not the best quality but not bad. There were musicians playing during the 2-hour cruise, which was very nice.
The boat went up and down the river a few times, making wide turns so we could see both sides of the river. We took lots of pictures of the parliament building all lit up; it was difficult to choose out of the many beautiful pictures. The cruise really was the best way to view the front of the parliament, and all the lights really made it glow. The bridges were also all lit up; here is the Margaret bridge that we used to get to Margaret Island last Saturday.
On the other side of the river is Castle Hill, with the castle and fortress. These were also lit up, and although we were farther away they were still really pretty. We will visit these sights later, but it is nice to see it from the river. Farther down is Gellért Hill, where you see the Citadella (which is currently closed), the Liberty Statue (also closed), and the monument of Szent Gellért. You can see the Liberty Statue at the top of the hill and the Szent Gellért monument halfway down the hill on the right.
On the way home we walked past Szent István’s basilica, which was also beautiful when all lit up at night. I know my descriptive words are not varied, but Budapest really is stunning at night when the monuments and major buildings are lit like beacons. Although doing the dinner cruise was touristy, it was such a nice evening and a great way to spend some time viewing Budapest with JonPaul.
