Dec 17, Budapest

Today is our last full day on the cruise.  We had sailed all night toward Budapest.  We woke up to sailing past several small villages along the Danube.

As we neared Budapest, the excitement soared, and many passengers made their way to the upper deck for the best views.  In spite of the cold weather, there was at least one passenger already up there enjoying the hot tub.

We sailed into Budapest at 11:30 am.  The pilot made a complete pass of the city, turned around and sailed upstream through the entire city again, making for lots of great photographs.

In the afternoon, we took a tour of the primary sites in the Buda side of the city.
​The President and Prime Minister homes:

House of Houdini:

Overlooking the Pest side from the Buda side:

We returned to the ship at 6:00 pm.  We then had a cocktail hour with entertainment by a troupe of Hungarian Gypsies.

That evening, Mary and I had an opportunity to dine at the Chef's Tasting Table.  This was a particularly good meal with a number of specialties and plenty of wine.

Then after-dinner drinks in the lounge completed our final full day of the cruise.