Text Box: Home Page

We left on Saturday morning and got to Budapest on Sunday morning. Our first day in Europe was also our first day of our adventure. We were beat, so we didn’t do much other than try to relax before the events began. We were entertained on board, had dinner, and cruised around the river to see the lights.

 

The next day, we visited a city market and went out to an equestrian park to learn about the history of horses and Hungarians. It took us no time to find some folks that we knew we’d get along with all week. This was another new country for us, and our first Capital of the cruise.

Travel & Budapest

Text Box: Back to Europe

07/28/18—08/08/18

Text Box: To Top
Text Box: Back to Cruises

We got on our plane in Orlando and flew to Philly first, although our landing was aborted because another plan was landing on a cross runway. Oops! We had a 5 hour layover before getting on our next flight across the Atlantic. We were tired, but excited about a new country. Our luggage came out quickly, and we were met by Adventures by Disney (AbD) transportation.

Our ride took us to the AmaLea, docked on the Danube just north of the city. The ship was very different than other cruises, so it didn’t take us long to find everything. I was exhausted and took a nap while we waited for our cabin. We also received our first guide sheet and chose which optional excursions we wanted to take.

Our cabin opened up after lunch, and we rested before we joined the others at 5:30 for the welcome reception. We met our captain, hotel manager, and cruise director, along with our five AbD guides. There was some Hungarian entertainment before we had our first true dining experience. There was only one dinner seating, and the food was delicious.

After dinner, we set sail. Budapest lights up their city on the river every night, and we saw both the Buda and the Pest side as we sailed around Margaret Island. The highlight was the massive Gothic Parliament building, but we also enjoyed the Chain Bridge and the Liberty Bridge that was packed with people celebrating.

We woke early on Monday and had a nice breakfast before walking on the Sun Deck. We left the ship that was only a few months old and looked back at it. We were on the Violin Deck aft, below the track. The ship had 51 crew and our cruise had 149 adventurers.

We walked to the Central Market Hall, where we bought paprika and an ornament. We checked out all of the produce, including those items that Paola seemed to like.

A bus to us to the Lazar Equestrian Park, where we took a little horse ride before watching a horse-training session where Hungarians had their friends lay down and sit. I used a whiplash to knock off a bottle of wine from a stump. We saw how women rode, and a man even rode five horses at once.

 

It was time for a hearty lunch, and Dean, Paola, Joshua, Katka, and George led us to a large room where we had family style meats and side dishes with our new family.

 

Afterwards, we walked to the stables and Madeline made a friend.

After the horse adventure, we returned to the AmaLea and cooled off in the pool as we began to leave the city and head upstream. We had another great view of Parliament, home to the Prime Minister of the country. We saw life on the Danube as we passed by beautiful homes and a bunch of naked people who were trying to beat the extremely unusual central Europe heat. We ended the day with another great meal, a beautiful sunset, and then later a view of the Basilica of Esztergom, the biggest church in Hungary.