Viking River Cruise: Cruising

Rural Hungary

After returning to our ship from Budapest, I went to the upper deck to take in the scenery.  It’s pretty amazing how rural Hungary becomes not that far out of Budapest. 

Rural Hungary

The weather had improved somewhat – by that, I mean that it wasn’t pouring and the wind wasn’t threatening to sweep us off the deck! 

Afternoon sky

The sky was dark and dramatic, making the scenery compelling and photography difficult. I tried and tried to get some good shots of the Great Cormorants that kept flying by – but it was tough.

Great Cormorant on the wing

To get a sense of the rural countryside, watch this:

The highlight of the afternoon was passing through Esztergom, which was the capital of Hungary from the 10th to the mid-13th Century when King Béla IV moved the royal seat to Buda. Esztergom is the former seat of the Constitutional Court of Hungary and still the seat of the prímás of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary. Esztergom Basilica, which sits right on the Danube, is the largest church in Hungary.

Esztergom

The oldest city in Hungary, Esztergom has been inhabited since the end of the Ice Age 20,000 years ago and, like many cities in Hungary, it was a Celtic and then a Roman settlement.

Statue of King Stephen II's coronation

Saint Stephen of Hungary was born in a palace on Castle Hill around 969-975. 

His coronation, which is memorialized by a statue outside the Basilica overlooking the Danube, took place in Esztergom on either Christmas Day 1000 or January 1, 1001.

The settlements of royal servants, merchants and craftsmen at the foot of the Castle Hill developed into the most significant Hungarian town from the 11th to the 13th Century. But, in the beginning of the 13th Century, Esztergom was devastated by a Tatar invasion. 

Although survivors and new residents started rebuilding the town, it lost its leading role when Béla IV moved to Buda and gave the palace and castle to the archbishop. 

In 1304, the forces of Czech King Wenceslaus II occupied and raided the castle. Ownership of the castle passed through many hands and, in the 14th and 15th Centuries, Esztergom once again became an influential city. Between 1526 and 1543, when two rival kings reigned in Hungary, Esztergom was besieged six times. 

In 1530, Ferdinand I occupied the castle. In 1543, Sultan Suleiman I attacked the castle and took it. Esztergom became an important Ottoman center until it was reclaimed by Hungarians in 1595. Unfortunately, most of the buildings in the castle and the town that had been built in the Middle Ages were destroyed during this period, leaving nothing inhabitable behind.

Esztergom Basilica

In 1605, the Ottomans regained control over the castle and the region. They rebuilt and fortified the castle and built mosques, minarets and baths, many of which were then destroyed when the Ottomans were driven out in 1683. Seems like people had to move a lot!

Esztergom

The destroyed territory was settled by Hungarian, Slovakian and German settlers. In the 1700s, the Catholic Church regained control over the castle, where they started reconstructing a new religious center. The new Basilica was completed in 1869. By the beginning of the 20th century, Esztergom was known for its cultural, educational and governmental institutions. In 1920, when Hungary lost much of its territory, Esztergom became a border town. 

Esztergom castle

During World War II, the town was occupied – and devastated -- by both Soviet and German troops. Reconstruction slowly erased the traces of the war and Esztergom's is once again an education, cultural and industrial center, as well as a tourist destination.

Esztergom

We cruised under the bridge and left the pretty town behind. 

The Egil deck

Now, we were cruising along the border between Hungary and Slovakia. Although we had no stops scheduled in Slovakia, it was a chance to see another country. Most of the countryside looked just like Hungary, but as we moved along, we did pass some iconic Communist-era buildings.

Communist-era buildings in Slovakia

During the 41 years of Communist rule in Slovakia (which, at the time, was part of Czechoslovakia), the government looked upon the classic and historic buildings -- ranging from Gothic to Baroque to Art Nouveau -- to be decadent and wasteful. They were not maintained and some were gutted or destroyed. New buildings tended to be utilitarian concrete monstrosities, completely graceless. Unfortunately, in many parts of Central Europe, these buildings are the only available housing. At least these had been painted pretty colors.

I wanted to see more of Slovakia, but it was getting dark.

The Viking Egil bridge

And it was time for the official ship welcome festivities and dinner.  

Craig, left, and Cheri, right, toast with the Egil's Capt. Szabo

And, then to bed.

The wind was howling and during the night, we were surprised to look out our window to the sight of a concrete wall. 

Lock wall

Turns out that was a frequent view as we went through 34 locks on the trip. Some are really tight with just inches between the boat and the lock’s walls.

Our balcony and the lock

That night, we were awakened several times because the boat was rocking from side to side. And, Scott looked out the window and saw whitecaps on the river!

This is where I learned a few things:

Locks can be noisy, especially as you are sleeping

The reason we had no published times on our schedules is that going through the locks can vary times dramatically, depending upon weather and boat traffic

Despite its relatively short length, it takes much longer to travel on the Danube than I would have expected, meaning more time on the ship and less time in the towns than I expected

I said that we didn’t learn how sad the Budapest weather was until the next morning, when we woke up in Bratislava, Slovakia, not Vienna, Austria. 

Bratislava, Slovakia

Apparently, the storm was fairly catastrophic, with winds up to 85 mph. In fact, six people died in the storm that affected Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. And, it caused a five-hour delay at one of the locks, which rose up to a high, narrow channel (hence the rocking of the boat). 

Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising, (AKA the "UFO Bridge"), Bratislava

So, we didn’t make it to Vienna on time…

Trip date: October 25-November 7, 2017