This was the first time that our family went on a river cruise, not that we have been too many cruises. We decided to try river cruise because it would get us to small towns that might be a bit hard to get if we travelled by ourselves. The AmaWaterways (http://www.amawaterways.com/) was referred to us. This US cruise company offers very appealing itinerary. We wanted to cruise along Danube but not a very long. Amawaterways offers three similar choices with different program length. After some thoughts, we decided to go with Romantic Danube which is a 7 days cruise trip from Budapest to Germany (or vice versa). The cruise also provided 3 days 2 nights in Prague for additional charge so, we didn't take it. Also, another thing that we needed to decide before booking was which ship we wanted to take. Apparently, there were two ships cruising the same route; AmaDante and Amalyra. We chose (or basically I chose) the AmaDante for the simple reason that there was one single room still available on the AmaDante. FYI, if I was to stay alone in their normal double room, I would have to pay an extra charge. At first I was kind of curious to why there are only 2 single rooms in the ship. I found out later (when I was already on board) that there was a storage room in between these two single rooms and it took the space away from two rooms.
Well, if I am to describe the AmaDante in short, I would say that it is a floating 3 stars (or maybe 3+, if there is such thing) hotel. We already knew that it wasn't going to be a lot on the ship as it is much smaller scale than the ocean cruise ship. Let's check out some of the pictures...
At the center of the ship was the reception counter and in front of the counter was the stair that leads to cabins and dining room. The ship was actually not very wide, I think I could cover from left to right doors within several steps.
Here is the Main Lounge. The decor was kind of out-dated, not so luxurious. As I said, 3 stars. Nonetheless, I would say that it was simple and look clean enough. We had meetings in this room on the first day and last day of cruising.
The only public room that, I think, had a nice style was the Aft Lounge (the above pic). Unfortunately, the engine sound was so loud that it was almost unbearable to hang around during cruising.
Here, we have the Sun Deck which covered almost the entire length of the AmaDante. I am sorry to say that though, I like to hang around on Sun Deck, its look was just totally tasteless. They could have made it more classy...why bright blue! It just reminded me of sports club in my childhood days. Also, they had small jacuzzi pool toward the front of the ship but, the weather was still cold at the time that it just looked out of place.
Lastly, it's our Dining room (the one and only). We had three meals in this room. They served buffet in the morning with egg station in the middle. The buffet was pretty much the same everyday but, I think there was enough varieties that we could choose to have different dish each day. We could also order some other menu apart from the buffet i.e. egg benedict, poach eggs, eggs and steak, oatmeal etc. For lunch, we had a choice of light meal (soup and sandwich) in the Lounge or normal lunch in dining room which was a mix between buffet and set menu. Dinner was all set menu with choices of appetizer, soup, main course and dessert. They tried to serve traditional food in the area that we were in. For me, I would say that the food was ok, not super delicious but not bad. I actually prefered buffet lunch over the set menu dinner. The only mishap was when one of my family member found a bug in her salad. We did complain about the cleanliness of the kitchen. Let's move on the the cabin. I only took the pictures of my room. Remember the single room?
That was all the space I had. It was small but, it was just enough for me. The bed was very comfortable though.
I got a french balcony which basically mean slide door with railing (no space to step out). I got narrow space around bed but, I didn't have to share with anyone so, no problem for me. The bathroom...let just say a typical of 3 stars bathroom in Europe...just enough to be able to turn around.
OK, shall we move out to the sights and experience from this trip?
Just to re-cap, we went for a 7 days cruise from Budapest, Hungary to Vilshofen, Germany and followed by 2 nights in Prague.
We arrived in Budapest in the morning. It was nice that AmaWaterway set up a portable booth right in front of the exit and they took care of our transfer to the ship. Similarly to other hotel, the check in time was in the afternoon (even when our trip was the first in the season and the rooms were not occupied). In the meantime, we went to hang out in the Lounge but not for long. Since we had nothing to do from the time we arrived till lunch and check in time, I just felt the need to do some exploring. Start with the view from our Sun Deck.
That was our ship 'AmaDante' on the right and her sister 'AmaLyra' on the left. When we embarked or disembarked, we had to walk through the AmaLyra (for this port).
In the afternoon, since we still had sometimes before checking in, we decided to take shuttle boat to the opposite side of river. The shuttle was free and it ran every hour.
The drop off was quite convenient because it was about a block or two away from the walking street (Vaci Utca).
We only skimmed through the area and went back to the dock to crossback to AmaDante. As much as I wanted to hang out, I wanted to take shower and a bit of rest after a whole day traveling. We couldn't rest for long though because we got a first day briefing from Cruise Manager at 5pm about the staff, security, excursion and what we needed to do in different situations. Then, we got Welcome cocktail party followed by dinner. I started to wonder whether we would have these many schedules till our last day.
Every night, we received a newsletter with all the details for the next destination and excursion i.e. itinerary, short history, weather forecast and type of excursion. This was quite helpful as we could easily plan our day...and help reminded me what we did/where we went. Kind of hard to remember all after many destinations.
Next morning, we took city tour. Guests were separated by color groups since there were so many people. For some ports, the cruise offered choices of excursion based on the walking intensity; gentle walk or active walk. For this excursion, all groups were the same.
Oh, one thing that I want to get it out about cruise trip, I kind of think of it as Luxury Peek-a-boo tour. I mean, we only stop at any port for a day, maybe one and half at the most. We would take a half day tour then, a bit of free time. Then, we move on to another city. Personally, I don't think it's enough for most destinations. It was like we just poked our heads in and just say Hello! then, OK let's move on. However, I admit that it's the most convenient way to see many destinations without the hassle of packing and traveling. Anyway, let's see where I've been with this peek-a-boo tour.
We left our ship at around 9:30am which was quite a good time for me cuz, I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. The bus first took us up to Buda Castle Hill since we were already docking in Buda side. If you want to get up there, you can take the funicular (http://visitbudapest.travel/activities/fun-things-to-do/castle-hill-funicular/) which is located close the Chain Bridge. I think it cost around 4 EUR and it run from 7:30am to 10pm. I should give a good experience (maybe better than taking bus). The Buda Castle is an UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built back around 13th Century and it's the location of many beautiful building, church and very small pretty residential area.
We walked along a cobblestone street (everyone better get used to walking on this kind of historical and uneven street cuz, they are everywhere we went) until we reached the Trinity Square. On its right side is Matthias Church (Mátyás-templom) which was built between 13th an 14th Century, 700 years? It even became a mosque during the Turkish invasion.
It was not a very grand church. However, the tiles work on its roof really made up for it. It was very colorful. Well, needless to say, we didn't get a chance to see the interior as we have limited time.
Further from the church and right on the edge of the Castle Hill is Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya). The first thing that came to my mind when I heard the name was "what does a fisherman has to do with this castle which is quite far from the sea?" Well, it turns out that there was a fish market close by during the medieval time and this place was built to commemorate the fishermen who protect the area around 18th - 19th Century. Very new (compared to the Castle)!
To go up on the Fisherman's Bastion, you will need a ticket which is sold nearby.
It gives a great look out over the city. It view of both Buda and Pest sides were just awesome.
I think, during our half day tour, we spent the longest time up there with the view. People were taking pictures and posing in front of the view on just about every spots; with city view, church view and with Fishermen's Bastion and that included us. We didn't need to be right next to our guide all the time because the cruise provided us with Vox devices which was a small transmission device like a small radio or one way walky talky. I really like it because it gave me freedom to walk around, look around and take pictures wherever I wanted and still be able to hear what the guide had to say. When we were moving on, the guide didn't have to yell or walk around to gather everyone. He just talked into the device to remind everyone that it was time. When it was our time, our guide leaded us down to a meeting point (since there were some people who wanted to take some more pic). We were waiting for the others next to the statue of Stephen I of Hungary (St Stephen).
Do you see a man with red and black cloth leaning on the statue? He was a falconer or, at least, pretended to be. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, falconer is referred to those with a skill of falconry, basically they train the falcon. This guy was here to offer the tourists photo opportunity. No more for me. I once got tricked into something like this in Rome, took pictures with gladiators wannabe and had to pay 5 EUR!! I did kind of want to pet a falcon though.
Once everyone was ready, our guide leaded on. We retraced our steps to the Trinity Square but, instead of turn left, the way we came, we walked straight.
At the next intersection, we found a statue of Hadik András, Count Andrassy; great statesman and important figure in the rise of the Hungarian nation.
That was our guide. He just gave me a feeling of being a college student, in a history class. After a short lecture, we moved straight on for another block.
This brought us to another street (don't ask me about the name of the street...no idea). But, I really like this simple path with all the trees and benches. On one side, it's residential building (or so I think) and another, a great view. It looked very relaxing. After a bit of a stroll, we got back on our bus and move on. This was our only major stop. The rest of the morning, we just drove through the city...drive thru sightseeing. Well, we did get to stop at The Heroes' Square. I would be really mad if we just passed it.
This square is located in front of the City Park, at the end of Andrássy Avenue. The monument was built to commemorate 1,000th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin. I once saw this square on an Amazing Race and it looked really grand. Well, it is ...where to start with the photo then. Because it was so big, it was hard to get pictures with a whole statue or monument. We got only 10 mins I think, and it flew. So, we just took as many pictures as we could. I'm so thankful for the digital camera.
We drove around the city some more before getting of at our last stop at the Great Market Hall. The tour actually included a ride back to our ship but, enough for the drive around, I wanted my FREEDOM! And so we ditched the tour and started exploring the Market.
This is the largest indoor market in Hungary. There are two floors, the first selling mostly fresh produce as well as spice and preserved meats. Looking at all the food selling, a picnic would be nice. The sausage and cold cuts looked delicious. Not to mention the cheeses, breads, pastries, fresh vegetables and colorful fruits.
The shops on the second floor sell cloth and handcraft. They also have a cafeteria kind of restaurant (you know, the type that you'll need to carry tray). We were getting hungry but, we were not into that, the tray aspect I mean. So we decided to take chances with outside the market. It turned out that across from the main entrance, there is a walking streets with shops and restaurants.
Skipped the fast food, we wanted authentic Hungarian food. My brother chose a restaurant not too far from the start of the walking street. The place was called Etlap Old Street Cafe. It wasn't big and all customers were soaking up the sun outside. But we, being Asian, decided to save our skin and stay indoor. There would be plenty of time to spend outside.
By the time we sat down, we were starving. So, we ordered appetizers to share, we each ordered Goulash soup (gotto have that) and main course for each of us. I think the waiter was probably thinking why these black headed people ordered so many foods. No guilt, we had all afternoon to walk it off.
Started it off with a nice cold beer (for my Dad and brother though). This is Hungarian beer. I'm not much of a beer drinker but, from my opinion, it was pretty light, not much of a flavor...which is actually good for me since I never thought that beer is tasty. We ordered two appetizers to share; a mixed Hungarian Cold Cuts and an eggplant dip (below). Basically, we all the yummy looking sausage and cold cuts in the market and we just felt that we had to have some. We even thought of buying some and keeping for when we were on board...you know, as a snack. The round one was similar to a salami and then the one in the middle was like Chorizo and on the left was some kind of smoke ham. They were all pretty good except the salmon moose on the right. It was just so bland. I mean I knew it was mad of salmon but, there was no other flavor. The dip was great, creamy and tasty.
And there was the Goulash soup, couldn't miss that since we were in the area. I just learned that there is Goulash soup and there is Goulash the stew. I guess there are many Goulash depends on the region. Well, for this meal, we had Goulash soup which was sort of beef soup with lots of spice...paprika I presumed. It was a hearty soup with beef, carrots and potato. I think it would be very good during winter. I personally like the flavor, very tasty. But a thin layer of fat on top might not be for everyone.
For main course, we all had different things. I can't remember them all honestly. The dish on the left was mine. It was a catfish stew. This was the first time I have heard of it. I love catfish so, I gotto try. The stew was really rich and it was hard tell that it was fish. The meat was so tasty, it absorbed the flavor from the stew. It served with cheese and bread dumpling as if the stew wasn't rich enough. I gotto say that I quite like it, love fish, love richness and all the spice. My brother ordered steak, I think it was called Hungarian style steak. I did have an eye on it but, decided to change to catfish. It was a piece of steak (not sure which part) on a mound of french fries and , what attracted me at first, a piece of fois gras on top. It didn't make much impression though. The beef was too cooked, the fois gras was too cooked and the sauce was so so. We didn't have any dessert and probably couldn't after all that food. What we needed after that meal was a long walk. And so, we set off on that walking street. There actually was a name for that street, Vaci Utca. It's actually pretty long. We were walking quite sometimes before we ended up on the same stretch we were yesterday.
It is a beautiful street, nice to stroll around with lots of cute small shops. Don't be put off shoppers, there are some common name as well, like H&M, quite a few of them actually.
There is a Thai restaurant as well!! Pattaya Cafe, but honestly, the foods looked foreign for me. I always feel suspicious and skeptic about Thai food in other countries because most of them would have already been adapted to suit with foreigners' palet. Anyway, we just walked pass it. We strolled along this street, stopped at a few shops. We strolled together till we reached the same stretch as yesterday then, we started to separate into smaller groups. At one point, I decided to explore on my own to see the chain bridge since it might be bit too much a walk for my Dad. I just had to see it upclose for once.
It was kind of hard to explain. I didn't feel WOW but, I wouldn't say that I was disappointed either. Maybe I was walking for too long, maybe I was in a rush to get back to my Dad but, it was so so. I took steps on it, took pictures then, hurried back. After regrouping, we made our way back to the shuttle boat to cross back to our ship. Honestly...if no one was waiting for me, I could have just walked across the Chain Bridge and our ship was no more than 10 mins walk away.
That afternoon, we set sail to our next destination, Bratislava. I always got excited when we sailed...I don't know, could be that when we sail, we don't know we are going to see. On that day, the captain made a bit of detour, we went up river a bit so that we could see some the cities then, we made a u-turn and got on our way. I finally got to see and take pictures of the Parliament.
It was beautiful...of all the building in Budapest, I would say that the Parliament is my favorite. It was just too bad that I didn't get to see it upclose but, then again, it might not look the same at close range. We sailed through the night to get to Bratislava, an unknown city (for me at least).
To be continue...
Andras Hadik. Who's he? He was commander of a Habsburg army corps in the Seven Years' War. (In case you need more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/András_Hadik)
