1996 Danube River Cruise Part 1 Vienna, Austria

EASTERN EUROPE - JULY 1996 DANUBE RIVER CRUISE

AUSTRIA, HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA, & GERMANY

FEATURING
FRED & ANNETTE WULFF
DARVIN AND MARIE RADDATZ
OTTO AND MARIAN SCHENK

The narrative follows the Wulff videotape.

We departed Minneapolis International Airport on July 5th, with a stopover in Detroit for our flight to Frankfurt Germany. Video: Announcement board with Frankfurt information. Our DC 10. can be seen through the window just to the left of the board. The trip from Frankfurt to Vienna was on Austrian Air, an airline with excellent service, as Professor Schenk can testify. Our journey took us over the cloud covered Austrian Alps. As we approached the Vienna airport the beautiful, but not blue, Danube River came into view.

The only rain we ever had in Vienna was a very brief sprinkle that caught our shuttle van taking us on our tour of the city. The weather quickly cleared when we reached the city and allowed me to videotape an ornate statue of Beethoven at Schwarzenbergplatz. The monument was constructed in 1880 and shows the musician surrounded by figures alluding to the Ninth Symphony (Brook, Vienna, p. 181).

General information: For those of us who love history, we note the time when Vienna was threatened by Turks. In 1683 an army of 200,000, led by Turks, swept up the Danube Valley and laid siege to Vienna. Sultan Mohammed IV of the Ottoman Empire sent a challenge threatening fire and sword: ”We shall destroy you and wipe all traces of infidels off the face of the earth. With no regard for age, we shall put all through excruciating tortures before we put them to death”

In September Emperor Leopold I found a strong ally in the King of Poland and their combined armies attacked the Turks who fled in Panic.(Wm Backer, National Geographic, July, 1965) The passing of the Turkish threat produced a Viennese building boom, and the Baroque style was the architectural order of the day.

Sat., July 6:

Our tour guide drove us over to the Prater, once an imperial hunting grounds, but opened to the public by Joseph II in 1766. During the 19th century the western end of Prater became a massive fair with entertainment for the workers. The Ferris Wheel constructed here in 1896 by Walter Basset, with British engineers, became one of Vienna’s most famous landmarks (Brook, Vienna, pp. 160-161). The huge wheel moves very slowly at a speed of 2 1/2 feet per second. Those in our party who rode the wheel had a spectacular view over the park and fair.

Our next major stop was the Upper Belvedere (built 1721-23), Prince Eugene of Savoy’s summer palace and gardens. Prince Eugene was the brilliant military commander whose strategies helped vanquish the Turks in 1683. His palace was designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt who also designed the Schonbrunn Palace. Empress Maria Theresa rented Belvedere and in 1770 celebrated here the wedding of her 14-year old daughter, Marie Antoinette, to the Dauphin of France.

Because the main front ceremonial entrance was closed to Upper Belvedere was closed we entered by the side gate of the palace, from Prinz-Eugene-Strasse, and walked around to the formal baroque gardens. Guarding the gardens were these large statues of Sphinxes with their lion bodies and human heads. The imposing sphinx statues represent strength and intelligence.

The interior of the palace, the Sala Terrena, had elaborate statues of four Herculean figures by Lorenzo Mattielli. White stucco-work by Santino Bussi cover the walls and ceiling. We then went around to the main front entrance of Upper Belvedere with its lively facade that dominated the sweeping entrance.

The domed copper roofs of the end pavilions resemble the shape of Turkish tents — an allusion to Prince Eugene’s victories over the Turks. In front of the Upper Belvedere we looked out over the large pond and formal gardens to the main entrance. (Delia Meth-Cohn, Vienna Art and History, Summerfield Press, 1993, pp. 84-87 and Brook, Vienna, pp. 150-153.)

The next stop was the Schonbrunn Palace, the residence of rulers from Maria Theresa to Franz Josef, which captures the glories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. For centuries the Habsburg rulers maintained a tradition of fostering arts. Royal encouragement was given the theater, pictorial arts, sculpture, and above all music, architecture, and landscaping. Fodor’s Vienna and the Danube Valley, p. 41.

We walked across the front of the great palace so associated with Maria Theresa. After failing to get the Belvedere from Prince Eugene’s niece, Maria Theresa hired Nicholas Pacissi to rebuild Schonbrunn in a style fit for an empress. We went over to the right side of the palace to view the side gardens and fountains. A more comprehensive study of Schonbrunn will take place when we spend our last three days in Vienna.

Last three days in Vienna (after cruise):

Saturday, July 13: Back in Vienna we settled in at the Hotel Tyrol, built in the architectural style typical in Vienna at the end of the 19th century. The hotel was situated in the Mariahilfer Strabe. For three nights we were conveniently located near the Ringstrasse.

Ring Boulevard or Ringstrasse. Emperor Franz Josef had the old city walls torn down for a wide tree-lined boulevard upon which would stand an imposing collection of new buildings that would reflect Vienna’s special status as the political, cultural, economic heart of the Austro Hungarian Empire.

During the 50 years of building, starting in 1858, many factors combined to produce the Ringstrasse as it now stands, but most important was liberalism after the failed Revolution of 1848 — the long standing tradition of absolute imperial power was giving way to constitutional monarchy.

The Ringstrasse celebrated “the triumph of constitutional right over imperial might, of secular culture over religious faith. Not palaces, garrisons, and churches, but centers of constitutional government and higher culture dominate the Ring.” Carl Schorske quoted in Fodor’s Vienna and the Danube Valley, pp. 74-75. See also Eyewitness Vienna, pp. 32-33.

Very close to the Hotel Tyrol was the Museum of Art History or Kunsthistorisches Museum (1872) which houses one of the finest art collections in Europe. The collection was assembled by the ruling Habsburgs over several hundred years.

Representative artists include Holbein (Portrait of Lady Jane Grey Queen of England), Titian (Portrait of Elector Johann Fredrick of Saxony), Bruegel (Peasant Dance), Caravaggio (Madonna of the Rosary), Rembrandt, Vermeer (Allegory of the Art of Painting), etc. Fodor’s Vienna and the Danube Valley, p. 73; See also Eyewitness Vienna, pp. 120-123. Painting on right Bruegel, Peasant Dance.

To reach the entrance of the museum we went around to Maria Theresa Platz (with statues and fountains).

We went by the Neo-Renaissance State Opera House or Staatsoper, the first of the grand Ringstrasse buildings to be completed. It opened on May 25, 1869, to the strains of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In front of the State Opera House is a large statue of Franz Joseph I with an ornate base and a Neptune statue.

No other city has produced and performed more great music, and nowhere else keeps the memory of its glorious past more proudly in the present. The roll call of musicians who either were born in Vienna or came to live there include some of the greatest names of all times: Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms.... The apartment pictured on right is where the younger Strauss composed The Blue Danube waltz in 1867.

We then ventured out to the Hofburg Quarter (See Brook, Vienna, pp. 89-91) where we went to the Augustinerkirche and then to Josephplatz with its equestrian statue of Joseph II by Franz Anton Zauner (1790). The white buildings (right) whose roofs are adorned with statues (like Atlas with a globe) is the National Library, built to house the growing Habsburg book collection.

From here we walked to Michaelerplatz which faces the grandiose entrance into the Hofburg, the Michaelertor (right).

Fountains and sculpture were everywhere. Directly opposite was Michaelerkirche. Its porch is topped with Baroque statues (1724-25) by Lorenzo Mattieli depicting the Fall of the Angels. Archangel Michael, is one of the oldest churches in Vienna, Austria, and also one of its few remaining Romanesque buildings.

Excavations in Michaelerplatz have uncovered Roman ruins. The ruins to the right are brothels from Roman times. Those to the left are of more recent times.

Beyond the ruins on the other side of Michaelplatz is the Loos House (1910) whose dramatic entrance was draped in Nazi colors following the Anschluss in 1938. Delia Meth-Cohn, Vienna Art and History (Summerfield Press, 1993), pp. 13-29.

Moving on we came across the Neue Burg (1881-1913}), a vast semicircle on Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square). This extension was completed only five years before the Habsburg empire ended. In 1938 Adolph Hitler stood on the terraced central bay to proclaim the Anschluss to tens of thousands of Viennese. Today it houses reading rooms and museums. In front of the Neue Burg is the Prince Eugene Statue.

The outer gate, or Burgtor, was built to a design by Peter Nobile in 1821-24, as a memorial to those who died fighting Napoleon at Leipzig. When we left we commented on how huge the complex was. It is hard to grasp the immense size of the Hofburg Imperial Palace, which comprises 18 sections, 54 stair- cases, and 19 courtyards, all covering an area of almost 2.6 million square feet. (Robert Gutman, Europe, December/January, 1995-96); See also Eyewitness Vienna, pp. 95-97.

On our way home we crossed through Maria Thereseplatz and took in another beautiful fountain with statues. To the right is an imposing statue of Maria.

Sunday. July 14:


Our goal for the morning was to hear organ music (Orgelmesse) at Augustinerkirche. The church was founded for the Augustinians by Frederick the Handsome in 1327, and became the official court church in 1634. Several of the Habsburg's political marriages were sealed here, most notably was that in 1810 between the Emperor’s daughter Marie Louise and Napoleon (who divorced Josephine so as to sire a royal heir).

Interior of Augustinerkirche where we attended an organ concert.

Next stop was to be St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the major landmark of Vienna. St. Stephen’s Cathedral, or Stephansdom (which was bombed during World War II) is a key symbol of Vienna. St. Stephen's is held to be one of the most outstanding works of Gothic architecture in all of Europe. (Robert Gutman, Europe, December/January, 1995-96). The cathedral is at the heart of the inner city. Consecrated in 1147, St. Stephen’s is the hub of the city’s wheel. As architecture it is a mixture ranging from 13th century Romanesque to 15th century Gothic. (Fodor’s Vienna and the Danube Valley, pp. 57-60). See also Eyewitness Vienna, pp. 76-79.

As we approached, our attention was drawn to the beautiful colored tiled roof. Almost a quarter of a million glazed tiles cover the roof. They were meticulously restored after the damage caused in the last days of World War II. The tall bell tower (Stephensturm), and the entrance also stand out. . The two spiky octagonal towers on either side of the colorful roof are known as the Heathen Towers, having been built with stones from the Roman ruins.

A church service was being conducted so a music background was provided for tapeing the altar, columns, and the Pilgrim Pulpit. One of the main chapels was the Chapel of the Holy Cross (St. Croix) which had Prince Eugene of Savoy entombed beneath the floor (marked slab). At the opposite end of the cathedral — right up in front — was an above ground 15th century tomb of Emperor Frederick III.

After leaving Stephensdom we sought out the Figarohaus of Mozart. We found it at 5 Domgasse and walked up the stairs to the information center. Mozart had once lived in this house with his wife Constance from 1784-1787 and he is said to have written many of his masterworks here, including The Marriage of Figaro. The video has captured both the inside and outside of the building. Mozart’s financial troubles forced him to leave this apartment in search for cheaper rent.

The Schenks toured the Schatzkammere (treasure chamber) in the Hofberg, while the Raddatzes and Wulffs headed over to the Stadtpark on the Ringstrasse for a leisurely Sunday walk through the English landscape style gardens. Musicians have been immortalized here with monuments. The Franz Schubert monument was by Karl Kundmann.

More impressive was the monument to Johann Strauss II, a gilded statue depicting the artist playing a violin (right). He is surrounded by romantic figures.

Part of the Wien River touches the park and it is set off with the Jugendstill Portal (1903).

We stayed in the park for the evening Strauss concert and listened to the musicians from the Kursalon. The musicians performed in a vine-covered bandstand.

Karlskirche, designed by Fischer von Erlach, was a must for our agenda. During Vienna’s plague epidemic in 1713, Emperor Karl VI vowed that as soon as the city was delivered from its plight he would build a church. The competition to design the church was won by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach.






The result was a richly eclectic Baroque masterpiece in which he borrowed from Rome and Greece (dome and portico) and the Orient (gatehouses and minaret-like columns). Brook, Vienna, pp. 146-7.

The church is massive and very symmetrical. The front pediment, porch-like feature, is crowned with the patron saint of the plague, St. Charles Borromeo. The pediment reliefs show the suffering of the people during the 1713 plague. The statues on the sides of the stairs are angels. The one on the left represents the Old Testament and the one on the right the New Testament. The two columns were inspired by Trajan’s Column in Rome, decorated with spiraling scenes from the life of the patron saint Borromeo.

On the walk back to the Hotel Tyrol we passed many lovely fountains. Almost home we passed the Theatre An Der Wien (1797-1801) where Beethoven had briefly lived in 1803 and 1804. Over the entrance to the theater were lighthearted musical figures. We came across a very plain plastic marker with an inscription for remembrance (written in German) that drew our attention to the pockmarked walls of the building. The last German troops left Vienna on April 14, 1945, eight days after the Russian Red Army’s first offensive.

The city was in ruins — all the bridges had been destroyed, over 20% of the buildings were seriously damaged. This wall we saw gave evidence of the fighting. Delia Meth-Cohn, Vienna Art and History, Summerfield Press, 1993, pp. 81-82).

Monday, July 15:

Our last day in Vienna began with a subway ride (the first non-walking transportation in Vienna for us) to Schonbrunn, exiting from Otto Wagner’s designed station. Schonbrunn Palace, summer residence of Empress Maria Theresa and the Habsburgs. Schonbrunn means “beautiful fountain” after the pure water spring discovered on the property by Emperor Matthew in 1614. Franz Josef was born in this palace in 1830 and died there in 1916.

The predominately white and gold interiors of the palace are considered masterpieces of Rococo design. Of the 1,400 rooms, 39 are open to the public. The gorgeous Hall of Mirrors is where the six year old Mozart performed for the Empress Maria Theresa.






One of the rooms is named after a daughter of Maria Theresa who later became known as the infamous Marie Antoinette after she married the man who became Louis XVI of France. Robert Gutman, Europe, December/January, 1995-96). See also Eyewitness Vienna, pp. 170-3

This time we approached the palace from the main gate and had a good view of the front, with large fountains centered on the lawn. I was not allowed to video-tape on the Imperial Tour within the palace, so I had to settle with taping one of the post cards that showed the Great Gallery where Meternich and the key diplomats of Europe met for the Congress of Vienna. Ballet dancers were practicing outside for an evening concert here at Schonbrunn so I taped them.





After our palace tour we went around to walk the Neoclassical formal gardens.



GO ON TO DANUBE RIVER CRUISE PART II

1996 Danube River Cruise Part II: Hungary

We boarded the Delta Star (Steaua Deltei) for our seven day cruise on the Danube, a river that drains a region three times the size of the British Isles; among the rivers of Europe, only the Volga is longer.














Sunday, July 7:

We started our watery journey eastward toward Hungary. The first castle on video was this one
on the right bank east of Vienna. As we continued on toward Budapest I took more shots of the river banks and the side of our ship the Delta Star. On the sun deck Professor Raddatz was diligently taking notes. Since we were in Hungary, the front of the ship carried the red, white and green flag of Hungary.

Budapest was just ahead beyond the first bridge; Margaret’s Island was off to our left.

Margaret Island, neither Buda nor Pest, is situated in the middle of the Danube. When it was controlled by the Turks they called it the Island of Rabbits and turned it into a harem.  It has been a public park since the mid-19t century. In the middle of the island are the ruins of a 13th century Franciscan Church and Monastery. The Habsburg archduke Joseph built a summer residence here when he inherited the island in 1867.

Budapest, the “Queen of the Danube,” spans the banks of the Danube River for eight miles and is connected with seven bridges. The ancient city of Buda is on the right bank, and her more modern city of Pest is on the left bank. Buda and Pest were no more than villages until the 12th century when foreign merchants and tradespeople settled. In the 13th century King Bela IV built a fortress here.

In 1944-45, all seven bridges linking the two sides of the river were blown up by the retreating Germans and a large part of the city was in ruins. Chain Bridge shown here.

Once past the Chain Bridge our ship turned around and docked facing the current, between the Elizabeth Bridge (named after the wife of Emperor Francis Joseph I) and the Liberty Bridge. Crew hands from the Delta Star secured the ship to shore. After disembarking we were treated to an overall view of the Delta Star.

Passport control took a little while before we started walking around town on our own, concentrating primarily on Rakoci utca, also called Kossuth Lajos Street. We had a nice view of Parizsi Udar (on right) and the Klottild (twin) Palaces.

Fortunately, it was Sunday and we could take a peek inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral where a mass was being conducted. The Basilica of St. Stephen is a Neoclassical structure built over the course of half a century and completed in 1906. This is the city’s largest and most important church. To the left of the main altar in a small chapel rests the Holy Right, the mummified right hand of St. Stephen (King Stephen I) almost 1000 years old. Fallon, Hungary, p. 122. The interior is a rich collection of late 19th century Hungarian fine art. Outside the church I videoed a statue at the entrance of the cathedral.

From here we turned right at what appeared to be a mall and continued on to a building being restored. The stone on the wall was pock-marked from the 1956 Hungarian uprising against Communist rule. Walking toward the Vaci utca we came across beautiful turn of the century buildings with ornate architectural features so typical of Budapest.

After a full (and delicious) lunch on the Delta Star we began our bus tour of Budapest, starting on the Pest side of the river.

We were treated to more turn of the century buildings, especially of note were two ornate hotels. We drove past the East Railway Station or Keleti Train Station, built in 1884 and renovated a century later. It is still an important railway hub in Europe. Fallon, Hungary, p. 132.

At Heroes’ Square, with the Millennial Monument. Here we got out of the bus and had time to explore. On one side of the square was the Art Gallery with a beautiful facade. In the center of the square is a marble memorial stone of Hungarian heroes guarded by Hungarian soldiers. Wreaths are laid here on national holidays. Our capable multilingual guide pointed out a bronze figure of Archangel Gabriel on top of a high column. He is holding an Apostolic Cross in one hand and the crown of St. Stephen in the other.

At the base of the pedestal stand the figures of seven Magyar conquering chieftains who came here 1000 years ago in 896 AD. (hence the term Millennial Monument). Between the columns of the semi-circle are the statues of the Hungarian kings and other outstanding historical personalities. Of the fourteen figures, I narrowed in on the statues of the first two, King Stephen and Bela IV, and on the last figure, that of Kossuth.

On the other side of the square is the Museum of Fine Arts (1906) housing the city’s outstanding collection of foreign works. To the right of the square, and a little back, is the Vajdahunyad Castle, built for the Millennial festivities. It is a fantastic mixture of different styles of architecture. The mock castle now houses the Agricultural Museum. Just before we left the square we had a chance to see the formal changing of the guards at the Heroes’ Monument.

Back on the tour bus, we drove past the Neo-classical State Opera House, designed by Miklos Ybl in 1884, and for some it is the city’s most beautiful building. On top of the building are statues of the famous Hungarians composers and performers.

On Embassy Row we caught only a glimpse of the American Embassy with the American flag displayed. From 1956 to 1971 the ultra-conservative Josef Mindszenty, archbishop of Esztergom, and thus primate of Hungary, took refuge in the US embassy here in Budapest. The prelate of Kalocsa was forced to play a juggling game with the government to ensure the church’s existence in a nominally atheistic Communistic state.

Budapest’s most photographed building is the Parliament Building. This colossal structure (693 rooms, 18 courtyards, 267 meters long, 180 meters high, containing 88 statues) is a blend of many architectural styles. The building’s rooms and halls has all Neo-Gothic and Baroque murals, gold tracery and marble. Completed in 1904, under Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary, the domed and spired structure houses murals, paintings, and statues. 440 pounds of gold gild in its stairs and halls.

We crossed over Margaret’s Bridge to the Buda side of Budapest to view the walled Castle District. This region consists of two parts: The Old Town, where commoners lived in the Middle Ages, and the Royal Palace, the original site of the castle built by Bela IV in the 13th century. We started out in Old Town by a statue of King Stephen.

Nearby was this Military Museum, a building damaged during WW II . The walls of the building were pitted by Russian artillery as they drove the Nazis out in 1945. On both sides of the museum gate you can still see cannonballs fired in 1848 at what was then a military barracks. Still within Old Town is this monument erected for Szabad Hazaert who died in 1849.

Young musician played instruments nearby.

The impressive Matthias Church down the street received its name from the 15th century Renaissance king who was married here. The church is also known as the Coronation Church and the Church of Our Lady of Buda. The carvings above the southern entrance date back 500 years, but basically the church is a Neo-Gothic creation carried out by the architect Frigyes in the late 19th century. The outside has a colorful tile roof (in the style of Stephensdom in Vienna) and a lovely tower; the interior is remarkable for its stained-glass windows and fresco. Fallon, Hungary, p. 108. The atmosphere was enhanced by young ladies in Hungarian folk costumes walking around the church.

Just outside the church was a statue of St. Stephen.

Behind the statue is the Fishermen’s Bastion is a Neo-Gothic viewing platform built in 1905 ...

... which offers a good view of Budapest.

The Hungarian Parliament building across the Danube presented a magnificent sight.

After our walking tour of Old Town on Castle Hill, we took a bus tour of Gellert Hill, a rocky hill southeast of the Castle District. The Hungarians are well known for their handicraft and needlework, so here on Gellert Hill Annette purchased a little embroidered dress. Our stop on Gellert Hill offered a good view of Castle Hill and the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace has been burned, bombed, rebuilt, and redesigned at least half a dozen times over the past seven centuries. Ironically the palace was never used by the Habsburgs.

To the right we could see the famous Elizabeth Bridge and our river boat Delta Star docked close by.

Back aboard the Delta Star we had an excellent dinner topped off with a Delta Swan, a cream puff stuffed with whipped cream.

We could take an evening venture into Budapest on our own so we chose a local place that boasted of Gypsy musicians. Here costumed Gypsies played music, sang, and danced as we sipped tap beer.

We boarded the Delta Star shortly before the ship was scheduled to leave Budapest. Even though it was quite dark out, I videotaped the boat, the Elizabeth Bridge and the Chain Bridge (lit up in the background).








Monday, July 8:

We sailed during the night hours and right after breakfast we left the boat for a guided tour of KALOCSA, HUNGARY Kalocsa, population 20,000, an artists’ village in the Hungarian lowlands, known both for its intricate embroidery (right) and as a producer of paprika. With Esztergom, Kalocsa was one of the archbishoprics founded by King Stephen in 1009 from the country’s 10 dioceses. Kalocsa was burned to the ground during the Turkish occupation and was not rebuilt until the 18th century.

Kalocsa was in the news in 1956. For 15 years, while the ultra-conservative Josef Mindszenty, archbishop of Esztergom and thus primate of Hungary, took refuge in the US embassy in Budapest, the prelate of Kalocsa was forced to play a juggling game with the government to ensure the church’s existence in a nominally atheistic Communistic state.

The city was 6 miles from where we docked, so we had a pleasant bus drive along a narrow, tree-lined, cobblestone road. The main city street of Kalocsa had beautiful and colorful old buildings. Our first stop was at a House of Folk Art. The Hungarian born guide, who taught German at the college here, spoke fairly good English.

We were taken through an old Hungarian home furnished with traditional household items. The first room we entered was a guest room that was used only for company and special occasions or holidays, Note the colorful wall paper, fancy lamp, original family painting, and the religious pictures. The gift shop here offered for sale beautiful hand made dresses, doilies, and tablecloths.

Our next stop was at a Paprika Museum that showed the evolution of the paprika industry from the early use of plants from the New World to the process in the factory located here. Paprika is very important to Hungarian cuisine. The museum simulates the inside of a barn used for drying the pods in long garlands. Some of the early equipment used for processing paprika are on display.

Next to the Paprika Museum was the Kalocsa Cathedral, the fourth to stand on the site. It was completed in 1770 by Andras Mayerhoffer and is a Baroque masterpiece. Fallon, Hungary, p. 340. Adjacent to the church is the Bishop’s House.

We entered the Cathedral to hear an organ recital and see the dazzling pink and gold interior full of stucco and reliefs. The video includes close-ups of the pulpit, the altar, ceiling decorations, side chapels, and the huge pipe organ. The large organ is the city’s pride and joy. During the recital I included Professor Schenk in the video. Visiting tourists love the impressive sounds rushing through 4668 pipes. No wonder that even Franz Liszt liked to play on it during his visits to Kalocsa

Outside the Cathedral, another exterior shot of the bell tower. Between the Bishop’s House and the Cathedral was a monument to the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.

Our Kalocsa tour included a visit to Solt, a horse breeding center, about 35 kilometers north of Kalocsa. The drive took us through the Hungarian countryside where we could observe sunflower plants in bloom, corn fields, and hay rolled up in bundles. At Solt we were transferred into horse drawn wagons that took us out to the ranch. Our wagon driver was dressed in traditional Hungarian garb. At the ranch we were served a Hungarian welcome of schnapps (or apple cider for the meek) and chunks of salted bread.

Hungarian horsemen in traditional dress, performed as standing riders, drivers with wagons, and horsemen demonstrating whip skills (with cracking whips), and conducting horse roundups. After watching the spirited display, we retired to a wine cellar to drink wine and eat bread covered with paprika.

We ate lunch on the Delta Star and then took leave to visit a craft shop on shore where we watched Hungarians demonstrate their craft skills, which included painting, decorating eggshells, sewing patterns, and weaving baskets. Background music was provided by Gypsy musicians. The rural setting was home to horses (colts) and Grey cattle that resembled Texas longhorns.

When the MS Delta Star started her journey back upriver toward Budapest, I taped the local people swimming in the not-so-blue Danube. Back on board we had music performed by the ship’s orchestra in the comfortable bar lounge. The map I videoed shows where we were (my finger points to Kalocsa) and where we are heading upriver.

Our evening entertainment on board ship included learning Romanian vocabulary (the ship is registered in Romania and the cruise director and captain speak Romanian). After our lesson, a competition was held to see who knew his Romanian best. Professor Raddatz, well versed in languages, led our team to win the competition. The award was a fancy bottle of champagne —that was served cold to our table that evening. An excellent day was topped off in the lounge with an operetta singer telling a tale about Budapest.

Tuesday, July 9: The Delta Star docked at Budapest so that we could embark upon our guided excursion on the Danube Bend, which included visits to Szentendre, Visegrad, and Esztergom. As our bus took us along the Danube bank on the Buda side, we saw the familiar sites over on the Pest side.

Here we also saw Roman ruins, visible only from the bus. The Romans had an important settlement here called Aquincum until the 5th century when the Great Migration began. Today there is part of a Roman aqueduct and a city with paved streets and the Aquincum Museum to put it all in perspective. Before reaching Szentendre we came across the ubiquitous large Soviet apartment buildings of the Communistic 1970s.






Szentendre (right central aide of map above), population 19,300, is the southern gateway to the Danube Bend. Like so many towns along the Danube it was home first to the Celts and then the Romans, who then built an important border fortress here called Wolf’s Castle. The Serbian Orthodox Christians came here from the south in advance of the Turks. Today Szentendre has some of the most important relics of Serbian culture in the nation. Fallon, Hungary, p. 165.

As we began our guided walking tour, the eastern influence immediately came to mind as we viewed the church steeples. The quaint narrow streets were lined with shops selling paprika, porcelain, crystal, icons, etc. Our first stop was Foter, the colorful center of the city. Here conspicuously stands the Plague Cross (1763), an iron cross on a marble base decorated with icons.

Also on the Foter is the Blagovestenska Church built in 1754. that looks Baroque on the outside, but is very Eastern Orthodox on the inside. By the entrance is a large icon.

We then walked up Castle Hill to what was the site of a Roman fortification (Ulcisia Castra) and a good view of the tiled roofs below. All that is left of the fortification is the walled Parish Church of St. John (only Catholic church here, the rest are Serbian and Yugoslavian Eastern Orthodox ). Our guide told us that the rocks we were walking on and stones in the church foundation are from Roman times. The bells of the Parish Church chimed for us before we left down the narrow passageways to a little statue of a boy and then to the Margit Kovacs Museum.

The museum, in an 18th century salt house, has a ceramic-like marker by the entrance. Kovacs (1902-1977) was a ceramicist who combined Hungarian folk, religious, and modern themes to create elongated, Gothic-like figures. In her artwork for the 1938-1942 period she fought Nazis with Christian artwork.

I videoed ”Young Mary” and ”Apprentice” from that period. Two of her later pieces were ”Mother Fixing Her Daughter’s Hair for Wedding” and “The Large Family.”

We travelled on in our Bend journey toward Visegrad. The winding climb took us up to the castle. The Bend was visible below. On the other side of the Danube was Slovakia, but it had been Hungarian until the end of WW I (1918) when it was given to the newly created Czechoslovakia.

VISEGRAD, HUNGARY. The Slavic name means high castle. This is the most beautiful section and the very symbol of the Bend. The citadel surrounded by moats hewn from solid rock is high up on Castle Hill. Together with the palace at the base, it was once the royal center of Hungary. King Bela IV began work on a lower castle by the river and then on the hilltop citadel. Less than a century later, King Charles Robert of Anjou, moved the royal household to Visegrad and had the lower castle converted to a palace.

For almost 200 years, Visegrad was Hungary’s other (often summer) capital and an important diplomatic center. The palace and the citadel fell into ruins after the Turks occupied it in 1543 and the village was deserted. The 13th century Solomon Tower is a stocky, hexagonal keep with walls up to eight meters thick. Today it houses a museum.

The first part of the castle we entered was Solomon’s Tower, once used as a river watch, now houses the museum. The King Matthias Museum contains many of the precious objects unearthed at the royal palace. Among the pictures was a prominent one of Bela IV who began work on the castle in the 13th century. Nearby was an encasement containing a jeweled crown (or a replica).

The next part of the castle was the Visegrad Citadel. Here was a pictorial display in Hungarian and exhibits on traditional castle life —with dinning table and displays about occupations.











Our drive to Esztergom took us further along the banks of the Danube. Population 32,500. Here we visited one of the oldest towns on the Danube and it is considered one of Hungary’s most historical and sacred cities. Here is situated Hungary’s largest cathedral, where the first Christian king was crowned in 1000. The archbishop of Esztergom is the primate of Hungary. The first king, St. Stephen, was born here in 975. Esztergom lost its political significance when King Bela IV moved the capital to Buda after the Mongol invasion.

The first stop was Esztergom Cathedral, the center of Hungarian Catholicism. The Neo-classical church was begun in 1822 on the site of the 12th century one destroyed by the Turks. The grey church is monstrous. To the left (exit for visitors leaving the grounds) is a statue of St. Stephens.

Inside the Cathedral we saw the huge decorated dome.

Organ pipes The organ has five manuals and had 85 stops working out of the planned 146. The organ contains the largest organ pipes in Hungary, about 35 feet long. The smallest pipe is ¼ inch (without pipe foot). When complete, it will be the third largest organ in Europe, surpassing all organs in Hungary in both volume and variety of stops.






After our tour we (Schenks, Raddatzes, and Wulffs) were treated to wine and bread biscuits in the huge wine cellar next to the cathedral. From here we walked to the river front to re-join the waiting Delta Star. Then we were on our way to Slovakia....


GO ON TO 1996 DANUBE RIVER CRUISE PART III