by Jim Bellomo | Jun 8, 2024 | Food Experiences, Photography
I tried to come up with a wittier headline than that but it really says it all. The Isle of Skye is drop-dead gorgeous. Of course, there are some who would find a tropical island with lots of sun much more to their liking but for me, give me Scotland.
Move to Skye Friday
I almost forgot that the last post only got you to the end of a very long Thursday. On Friday we were up, fed and on the road…leaving Oban by 9:30 to drive north and a little west to the ferry at Mallaig. On the way, we drove through some lovely countryside and stopped for a few photographs. We stopped for lunch in Mallaig just before we boarded the ferry. Here’s a map of our drive on Friday.
We had done our research on a number of Scotland travel groups on Facebook and one thing we had learned was you better have ferry reservations before you go or you aren’t getting on. We had ours and there were a few cars behind us who didn’t make our trip. They got to wait and hope they could get on the next boat two hours later. Below are our final shots from the mainland and the village of Mallaig. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
On the way to Mallaig…
we would stop every so often and get out to stretch our legs and I would take photos.
Photos alongside Loch Linnhe
Kathleen and our little blue Mercedes. Great car for narrow roads.
An old Inn we passed
Just incredible scenery
Since it was raining one minute and sunny the next, there were waterfalls everywhere.
Another stop along one of the many lochs
For another waterfall
And another beautiful.
So much green…
Finally we are at the sea and ready to head north to Mallaig.
But still more beauty on the way.
Lots of it.
Small islands everywhere.
And of course boats.
In some swells
And finally the village of Mallaig
The ferry ride took about 45 minutes and then we arrived in Armadale…finally on the Isle of Skye. We stopped briefly to visit Armadale Castle and Gardens where we had our best example of Scottish weather yet. We entered the castle grounds and walked a very short distance to the castle itself. I shot about 15 photos. At this point I had been looking out to sea and at the castle in beautiful, warm sunlight. I told Kathleen to wait for a couple of minutes while I went out to shoot the castle from in front of the lawn. In the time it took me to reach the front of the lawn and turn around to shoot the photos (about two minutes) a huge rain squall moved in and I yelled at Kathleen to get back to the entrance or get soaked and I took the shots and ran. In less than those 120 seconds it went from beautiful sunshine to POURING rain. By the time we got back to the entrance gift shop, we were soaked.
Armadale Castle in brilliant blue sky
It is overgrown and there really is no interior.
But it’s a pretty cool ruin.
You can see the ivy growing inside the window.
Here’s a panoramic shot of the entire view from right in front of the castle.
In the three minutes it took me to walk from here to the other side of the lawn…
…passing this path…
…and this statue of Scotty dogs…
the storm hit.
From Armadale we drove north to our home for our three days on Skye, the Balintoy Bed and Breakfast. The three nights are the longest consecutive stay on the trip (until the cruise next week) and we are glad they are here at this very small bed and breakfast. The owner Gillian has been wonderful pre-trip with lots of very valuable info. Things like telling me that if we didn’t book tables for our three nights here we would not get into any restaurant and would be forced to eat dinners from food stands…if we were lucky. She was so right. I had made reservations for all three nights and at every place we have been (we are on our third morning as I write this) there have been signs saying, “Sorry, we are booked full!”
The Balintoy also has the largest room we have had on this trip so we get to spread out a little. The breakfasts are excellent and light. We needed a couple of days of granola, fruit and yogurt instead of the protein-heavy Scottish breakfasts in Glasgow and Oban. We were also able to get some laundry done. We have been out for more than a week now and there were a few things that needed washing to get us through until we board Viking Venus on the 14th. Kathleen had found the Skye Laundry Service online before we left. They pick up a good-sized, full bag of laundry and return it to you clean and folded the next day for only £20. Quite the deal for a busy traveler. Ours was picked up yesterday and we will get it back today. Until then we are touring naked ?. Not really. I wanted to see if you are still paying attention.
We had dinner at The Antlers Inn which is located inside the Portree Hotel in downtown Portree (the largest town on Skye) and made our plans for our drive around the island on Saturday.
I want to stop for a moment to say that not only have we had great food here in Scotland but the people in the restaurants have been awesome. The servers have taken VERY good care of us, the other patrons have been fun to either watch or talk to and all our dining experiences have been outstanding. For instance, The Antlers Inn had superb background music. We asked our server what it was and she said she loved it too but wasn’t sure. She rushed off to ask her manager who came out and we had five minutes of discussion about the music. That kind of thing. People just being people. That’s what travel is all about. But we do have to admit that many times we have needed subtitles on this trip. Scots have one of my favorite accents but the farther out from the cities you go, the deeper it gets and sometimes we will just look at each other and smile. I know that this means that one day I will end up eating haggis or blood pudding but I would rather do that than insult someone by asking them to repeat it four times, or to slow down. We usually get it by the third ?.
See you tomorrow (or maybe later today) with the story of our first FULL day on Skye. It was beautiful.
I come more to Scotland than I ever used to, so I feel more connected to it, more part of the zeitgeist. You know when you realize you have a choice and I’m choosing my homeland. It’s funny: when you get older these things creep up to you. —Allen Cumming
by Jim Bellomo | Jun 7, 2024 | Photography
There was no post yesterday because we had the longest day of the trip so far (and probably for the rest of the month). We had booked a tour with West Coast Tours out of Oban that took us to the islands of Mull, Staffa and Lunga in the Treshnish Islands. And the longest day of the trip, means the longest post I have written in ages.
Daybreak in Oban
Our day started at 5:45 when Kathleen jumped in the shower so we could be ready for me to drive her down to the ferry landing to catch the ferry to the Isle of Mull at 6:55 a.m. I need to mention that although we booked with West Coast Tours, they don’t do all the transportation. The part of the tour they do is the boats that take you from Mull to the other islands. So you start with a ferry ride that anyone else could take. They do get you tickets for this ferry but they e-mail them to you. You never see anyone from the tour company until you get to the small boats. It was us and about 350 other people aboard the ferry, many heading to work or other activities on Mull. Only about 40 of the people on the ferry were doing the tour we were doing. The ferry took us from Oban to the town of Craignure on the Isle of Mull.
Here are photos I took on the ferry ride headed to Mull. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
From the deck of the ferry, I took this shot of our hotel, The Manor House (which we LOVED). The helicopter is ours for the week ?.
Leaving the harbor in Oban.
Oban
Oban
Here’s an eye catching castle just outside of Oban,
That I could not help it…
…I just kept taking photos of.
Close up or far away, I loved the look. And I am loving my new lens. It is really help my pics.
A small island we passed by.
And a castle. It’s not a castle in Scotland without scaffolding.
Scotland’s scenery is as beautiful as it gets.
We are almost on the Isle of Mull.
From there we caught the island bus (basically it was the city bus for the entire island—anyone could take it–it was not a “luxury motor coach”) to drive down the island to the village of Torbermory where we boarded the tour companies’ boats to head to the islands we really wanted to explore. Luckily for us, we all fit on the city bus and got down to meet their boats on time. And the tour company had purchased seats on the bus for us in advance—round trip.
From Torbermory (more on this quaint village later) we departed for our tour of the Isles of Staffa and Lunga. Depending on the weather and the sea conditions they visit one or the other first and last. We got Lunga first, then Staffa. That was fine with me because I was there for Lunga and her famous…PUFFINS!!!
Every moment on board these boats (when they were in motion) was like riding a mechanical bull. We were bounced and trounced and banged around. Moving on the boat, once you were seated, was a total adventure. Using the facilities on the boat was more than an adventure, it was kind of a nightmare. But as you can and will see from the photo above and my pictures below, it was worth it. Here are a few photos I took off the bouncing boat on the way to Lunga.
We passed this beautiful lighthouse just outside Tobermory. It took me 10 shots to get this one because….
…the spray from our boat kept getting in the way.
On the way we saw grey seals…
…interesting and beautiful islands…
… more seals…
And other beautiful islands and then…
Finally Lunga.
Lunga Bunga!
When you disembark a boat on Lunga, they attach a floating dock to the boat and the boat rams the floating dock onto rocks along the shore then you walk out to end of the floating pier and get off on to dry rocks. Then the boat pulls off and waits for two hours or so until it is time to pick you up again.
I almost forgot to mention one of THE most important things that happened yesterday…the weather was PERFECT! No rain, lots of big fluffy clouds and a blue sky for them to float in. For photography, it was a dream day. Haven’t had another like it since the Galapagos. Before I show you my photos from Lunga, I have to tell you that there are a lot of them. I took almost 1200 photos yesterday. Many were the result of me holding down the shutter to take multiple action photos of puffins flying. I probably shot 500 of just those, so it really isn’t that many. Especially when you hear that out of those 500 action shots, I got one I liked. Yup, ONE! But I really like that one. I am breaking these Lunga photos into batches. here is the first one—my puffin gallery. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
I am not going to caption all of these.
And am just going to say that I think puffins are the cutest birds in existence.
They are colorful…
and downright beautiful.
On this island they and…
…thousands of other birds were everywhere.
I met a birder on the way up the hill who told me the names of some of the other birds…
…but to be honest, I didn’t care.
So…
more puffins
and still more puffins
I won’t be disappointed in you if you stop now.
But just realize there are more puffins
And this one
And this one
And this one
And this one
And this one
And this one
And this one
And I was wrong…I got TWO action shots.
I hope you liked my puffins.
This will show you how many puffins (and other birds there were). About half are those little dots in the ocean.
Next up are photos I took of the island itself. Landscapes, fauna and such. We were there for two hours and I shot just about everything I could think of shooting.
On one side of the island there were ruins.
Not sure how old they were but this is Europe so definitely a few hundred years.
The views from everywhere were spectacular.
Looking up or down.
The weather was perfect.
Tide pools
I thought to myself that Ireland (just to the west) must be invading by sending green rocks.
The flora was beautiful and in full bloom.
As you can see.
Without a video, it’s hard to see how much wind there was. This grass would have stuck straight up with no wind.
This is our boat, anchored off shore.
They would take that pier on the side of the boat and ram it onto the rocks.
The crew (only two of them) were total pros. Kathleen wasn’t sure about the rocks, so she stayed onboard. You can see her in the front seat.
One thing I didn’t mention was how difficult it was to climb off the rocks. On our way up the gentleman in front of me tripped and started falling backward. His head was headed to some big boulders. I grabbed his backpack and his daughter who was walking in front of him grabbed his hands and we were able to get him back on his feet without fully falling down. Whew! I have always had a much harder time going downhill than uphill. so I made sure to come down much earlier than the rest of the crowd. Still, it got a little iffy at the end of my trip down.
Stimulating Staffa
After two hours on Lunga, it was off to Staffa which was all about geology as opposed to birds. Staffa has two very large caves and some amazing columns that reminded me very much of Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, just across the sea to the west. When we were in Northern Ireland and visited the Causeway we were told a myth about the Causeway being built by an ogre who wanted to attack Ireland from Scotland. When you see Staffa, you might agree he started there. Here are the photos. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Staffa as we approach
You can see the columns and the first cave.
This small one that is called “Boat cave” because you need a small boat to get in it.
And Fingal’s Cave which people can get to once on the island.
Fingal’s Cave. You can see the people on the right.
As you can see, when they hike there it is a very steep and twisty path.
With my fear of heights, this is one I was going to pass on.
The columns are amazing.
It’s like they were put there by a giant ogre.
I left the humans in this for scale.
Looking out at another boat coming in. Our tour company had five boats operating that day.
The amazing views.
In case you are wondering, I did not get off the boat. Nothing I wanted to see close up.
This was the most amazing formation.
The dark area is NOT a shadow. It changed colors. Looks like a wave washing up on shore.
It’s been a long day in Tobermory
That headline is sung to the tune of “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” for you folks who want to sing along ?. But it really sums up our time in Tobermory. It was the only hiccup of the day. When you get off the boat, the tour company is kind of finished with you. All you do is board the local bus (you already have your return ticket) and head back to Craignure to catch the ferry (you already have your ticket) back to Oban. The only problem is they don’t tell you that the bus doesn’t leave for two hours. At this point, you are exhausted from the hiking and the bouncing boat ride and all you want is dinner and bed. But you have to hang out in this very beautiful and quaint village for two hours. It wasn’t late enough to eat dinner yet (did I mention that when you take this tour, they tell you to bring your own lunch–we were lucky because when we told David at the Manor House the tour we were doing, he told us that he would make us up sack lunches to take with us since we wouldn’t be eating breakfast–WOW, that’s service.)
Back to our Tobermory time. We wandered a little, took photos (of course), got some postcards (yes, we still send those although if the price of stamps keeps going up, we won’t be mailing them until we get home) and just sat and waited. To be honest, we really weren’t sure who would take us back, (there were four buses parked with no drivers at different times), when we would go back or how we would get there. I say how because by then there were a lot of locals not part of our group who wanted to take the bus as well. Some with very large dogs so now they had more than 55 people and dogs than they could fit on one bus. They ended up having to take a second bus. So finally around 6:15, we were off to Craignure to catch the 7:35 p.m. ferry. While we were in Tobermory, I did take some pretty pics and here they are. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Tobermory is a very pretty place.
I took a couple of these in the morning…
on the way to the boat so that’s…
…why the light looks different.
Someone had brought our Dutch yacht to the harbor but didn’t tell us. ?
And of course every village has an old church that has been converted to an art gallery.
And of course a clock.
Finally, off to Oban
We finally got back to Craignure, boarded the ferry and headed back to Oban to a nice dinner in a restaurant of our choice. David had told us we should be fine just walking into someplace around 8:15 when the ferry got in. Sadly, on this one thing, David was wrong. Every restaurant we walked into had people eating but we were told, “Sorry, our kitchen closes at 8:00 p.m.” So no supper for us. That’s OK, we have been eating well on this trip and I was still trying to work off the lunch in Wensleydale we had with Paul and Gail, not to mention the amazing dinner at Banco de Roma in Glasgow. So we grabbed a taxi for the short ride to The Manor House and were off to bed. We got back there about 9:00 p.m. so this day had been a 15+ hour excursion. We were wiped. But not enough to miss having a whisky with David at The Manor House before bed.
I almost forgot, here are a few late photos I took on the ferry ride back to Oban.
We passed a Silver Seas cruise ship.
And the castle from early in the day in much better light.
The same is true…
…of this lighthouse…
…as light makes all the difference. (boat for scale)
Whew, I bet it almost took longer for me to write this, and you to read it, than it did for us to live it. Thanks, so much for sticking with it. And if you didn’t read all the way to here, shame on you ?.
After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on – have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear – what remains? Nature remains. —Walt Whitman
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 31, 2023 | Photography
You didn’t expect me back so soon, did you?. I have to admit that I have never had such a busy December on this blog. We never (in the past) go anyplace in December…at least, we don’t usually go anywhere that I want to take photos of or write about.
But it is New Year’s Eve, so that means I need to post my annual “Top Ten Photos I Took in 2023.” So, without further ado, here they are. You have seen all of them before except one. I will let you try and figure out which one that is.
Honorable Mentions
It is really hard to decide on the Top Ten, so I give myself permission to have a bunch of honorable mentions. I will caption directly on these photos and show them to you in a gallery. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
WAIT! One other thing. If you are looking at these on a tablet or computer monitor, please turn your brightness up all the way.
This is the first photo I took this year that made it into this group. And I didn’t take it until May. In Vancouver.
Took this one in August in Port Orchard, WA. Can’t take credit for the awesome sky. Just glad I was there to take it.
Another amazing sky. This time over Montreal in September.
Also in Montreal in September. Symmetry!
On Cape Breton, Nova Scotia…my second-best people photo this year.
It’s all about the light.
Number 10—The Parliament Building in Budapest
This was one of the more than 300 photos I took of this building earlier this month. Even harder than choosing my Top Ten was choosing which one of these shots to post here. The building just pulls you in. Night and day. If you see it and you have a camera in your hand, you want to take a photo of it. And at night, the attraction is worse!
Number 9—Cape Breton Church
I think what makes this photo (more than anything else) is the sky. We were VERY LUCKY to be visiting Cape Breton’s Highland Village on a glorious sunny day. This is another building that kept calling me to take its photo. And unlike the Budapest Parliament, I could walk around this church and catch it from every angle. This one was the best. The clouds makes it work.
Number 8—Lipizzan Stallion in Vienna
We were in Vienna earlier this month when we visited the Spanish Riding School, home of the incredible Lipizzan Stallions. We weren’t allowed to take photos in the actual stables but we were allowed to take them in an outer courtyard where there were windows into a few of the stables. This guy (enticed by our guide) stuck his head out. I chose this one because I love the technical quality. I was close enough and shooting with a low enough ISO that you can see individual hairs. And yes, that L-shaped mark is actually on him. I keep trying to wipe it off. I took it off in Photoshop but decided it was better to leave it. Still not sure if I should have.
Number 7—Tram #28
Probably the most famous of the tram lines in Lisboa, Portugal, is #28. It has the most turns and the most ups and downs of any of the tram lines. I have to say that I walked most of the line one day or another during our stay earlier this month. Of all the photos I took of the car itself, I like this one the best.
Number 6—The Cemetery in Vienna’s Jewish Ghetto
If you look back at my photography over the last ten years you will see less than ten photos in black and white. And six of those come from this month. Of all of them, this shot I took in Vienna earlier this month was my best. I liked it because of the cold, the snow, the grey skies, the dark trees—they all pushed me to make the photo black and white. BTW: for the non-photo folks out there, this is taken in color but converted to black and white when I process the photo.
Number 5—Cape Breton Farm
I took this photo within about 15 minutes of taking the church photo, which is number nine above. I think this one is better because it is like I went back in time to take it. That’s because the Cape Breton Highland Village is a Living Museum. That means that the docents working there dress up as they would have been in the time frame in their part of the Village. These folks are portraying turn-of-the-century farmers. Again, the sky really helps this photo, but not as much as it does the church. I only think this one is better because it is unusual. I should also add that I have already had this one printed on canvas, and it is hanging over our couch.
Number 4—Lighthouse outside Portland, Maine
When we did our cruise on Oceania’s Vista from Montreal to Miami, I was really looking for a photo that screamed NEW ENGLAND! I think I found it with this one. As we were sailing out, I stood on the upper deck and shot photos of the lighthouse as we went by. This is another one where I think I took upwards of 40 photos of the lighthouse, and this was the ONLY one where you could see the light shining directly at the camera. To me, that makes this photo special.
Number 3—Woman in Lisboa
On our first night in Lisboa, Portugal, I stepped outside the restaurant and saw some amazing holiday decorations I really wanted to photograph. So I walked down the street about half a block and took the photos. As I was turning to leave, I noticed this woman leaning on the wall of the restaurant where we had eaten. I love the look on her face. It is a combination of resignation that her husband is again taking photographs…that she just saw him take a photo of her…and that she still loves him anyway. I can see it in her “almost smile.” That’s what it’s all about, folks. Everything in my life comes together in one photo. I should add that she thinks I should not be using this picture. But this is MY Top Ten, and this one, for me, deserves to be in the Top Three. I mean, really—she is my number one…forever.
Number 2—Portland, Maine Street Scene
There is nothing I value more in photography than light. Great light trumps everything else. But this photo is all about the color, not the light. It is a very unusual photo for me. I don’t usually look for this kind of photo. In fact, when I took it, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. But then, when I saw it on my MacBook screen, I fell in love. I will admit to cropping it a little, but that’s about all I did to it. It is such a great study in yellow (one of my least favorite colors) because everything works.
Number 1—A Boat Caught in the Light
Remember what I just said in the previous paragraph about light. Well, this photo proves that I am right. When trying to decide between the two as to which was number one, the light in this photo won me over. That afternoon, as we sailed out of New York City’s harbor, the light was about as perfect as you could get—a great mix of sun, blue sky and intermittent dark clouds. When the sun hit the Tower and then dropped to the water, and then the boat moved right through the sun’s reflection, it was photographic magic.
That about does it for 2023. It has been a great year of travel, of taking travel photos and of getting to share our experiences with everyone who reads this. We will be back in June with a month-long trip to England, Scotland and Norway, and then again in October when we visit Madrid and do a Douro River cruise. And of course, there will be a few posts in between.
Lastly, I welcome your comments about which ones you like. Feel free to tell me what your number one or two are (if they are different than mine) in the comment section below.
Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution. —Ansel Adams
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 21, 2023 | Food Experiences, Photography
Yes, we had all those things in our last full day in Budapest; we got up late (after our late-night, worthless tour), and while Kathleen showered and changed and before we had our hotel buffet breakfast (included in our Viking post-cruise extension) I went out for a short pre-dawn photo walk. I hadn’t gotten many of those in on this trip. Really not a single one since we had left Lisbon. It’s not like I hadn’t planned for them. I had maps of the things I wanted to take photos of in that wonderful early morning light. And I had brought clothing to wear along with my boots—I had even planned on the ice and snow we encountered in Prague. What I hadn’t expected was how late the sun would come up. Most of the time, we had someplace we had to be (usually a tour) at 8:30. And when the sun doesn’t come up until 7:30 or later, it’s hard to find time to be there when it does.
This day was different as our only tour didn’t start until 10:00 am, so I was able to go out and take photos of the last two major sites I hadn’t seen yet. First up were some close-ups of the incredible Parliament Building I had been taking so many long-distance photos of, and then, while walking back to the hotel, I could visit the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial. We had driven by the Shoes memorial a few times, and I had the chance in on two previous afternoons, but I wanted to be there alone, and usually, it was jammed with people. If you have not heard of the Shoes on the Danube Bank before, it is a monument to thousands of Jews who were taken from the Jewish Ghetto in Budapest in 1944-45 and killed. The fascist Hungarian Arrow Cross party took them to the edge of the Danube, made them undress and take off their shoes (which could later be sold) and then shot them so they fell into the river and were swept away. The memorial is a beautiful tribute to those people. You can read about it by clicking here.
In the meantime, here are the photos I took early that morning. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
As i headed out from the hotel I took one shots of Buda on the far side of the river.
This statue stands at the east end of the Parliament Building
And here are some close ups of this beautiful building that looks so magnificent at night with the lights on. i
Close up 1
Close up 2
Close up 3
Close up 4
Close up 5
Close up 6
Close up 7
And then another look back across the river…
Where the sun was just starting to make an appearance.
And then the Shoes on the Danube Memorial.
People had left flowers and candles.
It is such a wonderful and symbolic memorial.
That commemorates the evil men do to others.
It is both somber and sobering.
And incredibly sad.
Once past it I head back to our hotel.
On the way I passed our ship, now with an entirely new set of passengers.
And less than 100 yards away…our hotel.
For the balance of the day, we had a private tour planned with Melinda from Tours by Locals. If you have been reading my posts, you know that this is a company I have grown to love. Between myself and Jamie and Steve on their London/Paris land trip we have used them on at least 15 tours. I chose Melinda’s tour because in the description of her tour she said, “This private tour is perfect for those who have already seen the highlights and want to explore the city further.” This meant that we could do the tours with Viking, and then I could let her know what we still wanted to see, and she would set us up to go there.
Even though this was a private tour in a van (not a “luxury motor coach”), Kathleen was worried that getting in and out of the van and doing what walking we would be doing might make her knee worse. And she was VERY worried (as was I) about the next day when we knew we would make a long tramp through Charles DeGaulle airport, not to mention wading through security and check-in here in Budapest. Plus, she was still wiped out after our worthless tour the night before when we didn’t get back until almost 11:00. So she decided to let the other four of us go (our new friend Carol was joining us as well).
Right on time, Melinda walked into the hotel lobby to collect us. We jumped into a Mercedes van with a driver, and we were off on our four-hour adventure. Our first stop was Heroes Square. On our first-day overview tour with Barbie, we had driven past it, but we wanted to walk around as well as see the castle and seasonal ice skating rink behind it. Heroes Square is packed with amazing statues and monuments to (I think) every person who ever had a hand in creating Hungary and keeping it alive during the years in between. I wish I could tell you who all the statues represented, and I did get a few of them. You can read about them below, in the captions of the photos I took in the square. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Stupidly, I forgot to take a photo of the overall square. This is one corner.
This is the other.
This is the center
A closeup of the seven statues that represent the founders of Hungary.
The statues are about 30 feet high.
But they. are impressive.
And they are everywhere.
It was worth coming back to see them.
The Hungarians truly respect their heroes.
These two sat opposite each other on the left and right corners.
Kind of a face off between war and peace.
I liked this shot because it combines the old with the contrails of the modern.
There were protestors in the Square as well.
Very eye-catching.
As was this helium (not hot air) balloon that suddenly appeared behind the square.
Just across the street from Heroes Square were two other places we wanted to see: the seasonal ice skating rink and the Vajdahunyad Castle that sat right behind it. We had seen both while driving with Barbie, and I got an idea for some artsy photography I wanted to try at the rink. Here are the photos we took (without the artsy black-and-white stuff). Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
A really nice castle…
The balloon makes another appearance.
As we get closer to the castle…
I see a really cool lion.
Other parts of the castle.
This building houses the Hungarian Agricultural Department.
There is also a small chapel.
The chapel had a very unique façade.
Next to the castle is the seasonal (not there all year) outdoor skating rink.
This is the building behind the ice rink.
I kind of liked it.
And then there is Anonymous. Seriously, that’s the statues name.
And the castle from behind.
One other thing during our stop near Heroes Square was another Christmas Market. Not a huge one, but certainly as big as many we had seen. But they had some of the best looking food I had seen and since it was early in the day, there wasn’t a huge crowd waiting to buy it so I could get some great photos…that I hope will make your mouth water. Enjoy.
The food at every Christmas Market we had seen was this good…
And there was this much of it.
Of course these changed by country.
But the quality and the quantity were amazing.
I get hungry just looking at these.
It’s almost lunch time as I am typing this…
Wish I was there.
Just amazing food.
And it all looked so darned good.
After our walk, we were off to our longest drive of the day to Memento Park. Our good friend Marjorie had visited the park when she was in Budapest and had told us about it. As I always do, I thought it sounded interesting but more importantly, a chance for some great photography. This was the only place I had told Melinda we wanted to go before we got to Budapest because I knew it was too far out in the countryside for Viking to take us there. Besides, it was one of those hidden gems you always hear about.
Memento Park is where old statues go to die. Seriously. In the early 1990s, when the Communist dictatorship ended, the people of Hungary were ticked! So they took down all the symbols of Communism from around the city of Budapest and moved samples of it to Mememto Park as a constant reminder to never let that happen again. So you can go and visit these statues and celebrate how incredibly naïve Soviet-era communism was. Check out the photos to get an idea of what I am talking about. Their symbolism is truly wrong, but they are interesting historical artifacts. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Welcome to Memento Park.
These are not in the park. The two boots you see there are Stalin’s they were at that bottom of a statue that was more than 80 feet. All they moved here were the boots.
Outside the park…about to head in we saw…
Marx and Engels, the two founding fathers of Communism.
An original Trabant, Built in East Germany, it is almost made of cardboard.
The inside. Strange thing…we saw one of these on the street that evening.
Once inside there are about 30 statues…
Spread all around the park.
All types of Soviet artwork.
Representing the worst of Communism.
This one is definitely the best.
I just wish I had thought to put people in the photo for scale.
Wanted to get him in the best light.
Strange stuff.
Melinda explains one of the statues to Jamie and Steve.
This one commemorates the Hungarian Communist contribution to the Spanish Civil War.
Not a statue but how the Hungarians build water towers.
I loved the way he is catching a jet in the sky.
More humans for scale. My brother is six foot, eight so you know these statues must be huge.
A very interesting piece showing Stalin urging troops on to war.
Some closeups of the piece.
Really different from everything else.
I liked these guys….
The electrical wires in the background seemed to suit them as opposed to being a distraction.
The ticket sales area actually had music (military music) playing on this very old radio.
On my way out of the park.
After this quick look at the Soviet occupation, we were off to see two more things. One was a viewpoint where Melinda said we could get a wonderful and complete overall view of Budapest, and the other was the Opera House, where we could get photos of the lobby but would need to take a tour to see the inside, and we didn’t have time to do that with her. Here are the photos from those spots. You know the drill.
Melinda was right…
What an incredible view!
We could see everything from up here…
From a completely different angle than from down below.
Even the Parliament Building.
And then a quick drive downtown to the Opera House.
Which, sadly, was having a private function, so this was the only photo I could get.
After that, we went back to the hotel so we could pack for our flight the next morning. Anita (our Viking Extension concierge) had wrangled us some reservations at a great restaurant because we all wanted one more night of Hungarian food. The place was called Rezkakas, and their goulash was about as close to a perfect meal as we had eaten on this trip. If you go to Budapest, eat there! I wish I had taken a photo of it but when it got to the table, it looked so good, I ate it without thinking about it. The whole evening was a great experience…especially since Carol joined us for a farewell dinner, and Steve and Jamie picked up the entire check as a birthday present (the next day) for me.
Dictators fall when they’re overconfident; they stay in power when they’re paranoid. —Masha Gessen
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 20, 2023 | Food Experiences, Photography
The morning of our second day in Budapest, we had to do something we hated. We had to get off of Viking Gulveig. That sucked. We truly loved being on board and made many new friends among the crew and the other passengers. Our stateroom was wonderful, the ship beautiful, and except for one horrible lunch dish, the food was excellent (more about that later this week).
After getting tossed off the ship, Viking was nice enough to give us a ride to our hotel. We were doing the Budapest Extension with Viking, and they were putting us up at the Intercontinental Hotel. From the ship, the “luxury motor coach” ride to the hotel took just about exactly…3 minutes. Seriously, we could see the hotel from the ship. It took us longer to get on and off the bus than it would have taken me to walk directly there. It was just on the other side of the Chain Bridge.
Sadly, the rest of that day was wasted to some extent. The hotel didn’t have rooms ready for us, and having our carry-ons with us, as well as Kathleen really being tired and having (as she said) “hit a wall,” just needed some rest. So when we got to the hotel, our new tour coordinator, Anita, offered the entire group a short walking tour to get oriented to where we were; Kathleen decided to stay in the lobby on a nice couch and read while I went and heard what Anita had to say. Anita walked us about ten blocks from the hotel and showed us how to get around. I have to say that both our pre-cruise tour coordinator in Prague (Vicki) and post-tour coordinator in Budapest (Anita) were amazing to work with. Just took care of everything we needed. Anita even acted as our Concierge by finding us reservations for dinner on the last night we were in Budapest.
After Anita finished her tour, I realized that I needed to get back to Kathleen to give her a break from the bags and discuss what to do next. She was OK with me going off to take photos and then come back, and we could have lunch. So off I went to find the local public market. This was NOT a Christmas Market. This was a huge building that housed just about everything you could want to buy, from soup to nuts (not to mention meat, spices, dishes, clothing, etc.) This was where the locals shopped, and we visitors took pictures (although I did buy some paprika here for myself and Kathleen’s daughter Michelle). Let me drop in the photos I took on that walk right here so you can see what I am talking about. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
On my way to the Market I shot some photos…
…(of course I did) of statues and…
Buildings that I saw on my way.
Including this awesome sculpture that from far away was supposed to look like the symbol for pi.
When you got closer, you could see that the inside was just pi pushed out to a WHOLE LOT OF DIGITS!
One of the things that made getting around easier was knowing there were only five bridges and if you got to the river and could see them, you would know where you were.
I was in front of the Market.
Where I saw this VERY fashionable young lady with her VERY fashionable dog.
And then I went inside. HOLY you know what…
This place was huge.
I went up the second floor gallery and walked…
All the way around snapping what was below…
Before I headed back down to get some street photos (so to speak).
Meat…
Pottery…
Lots of veggies…
People talking and discussing.
You could tell these were locals.
It was very festive.
So much to see.
A shop owner dropping prices late in the day.
Sweets…
I had no clue that this was what…
paprika looked like before it was ground.
The crowds were amazing.
Outside I did some shots of the area, including this tram.
The bridge,
A statue in the distance.
Another bridge.
Some other buildings,
A very cool Budapest mural.
The top of the second largest synagogue in Europe.
As well as the front.
After this little foray into a part of the city we had not seen before, I went back and found Kathleen talking to our new friend Carol. The three of us decided to get some lunch in the very nice lounge right there at the hotel. The food was good, especially the goulash soup that Kathleen and I shared.
After lunch, we were finally able to get into our room, where we saw this…
Yes, boy and girls, this was the view out our ninth-floor hotel room window. I took this photo the next night, but suffice it to say that we NEVER closed the curtains (except when we wanted to nap and keep the light out), and this view became our companion all the time, even serving as a night light. After a normal room in Prague and a horrible room in Nuremberg, we had finally won the room lottery with this view.
Other than the view, the hotel was just “fine.” It is much more modern in the public areas and older (more in need of an update) in the rooms. Our room was a good size, had that view and could really use an update. It also had a bathtub instead of a shower, which Kathleen hates. She is the short person in our family, and that means that getting into and out of a VERY high tub is a pain. This one was VERY high. How high? It was sooooo high that I kept bumping my foot when I got in, and getting out was like climbing down a ladder. Except for the location and the view, we would probably not have stayed there. But that view was so amazing, that we probably would go back.
We had dinner that night in the hotel with Jamie, Steve and Carol. In the evening, the restaurant that serves a buffet breakfast converts to a sit-down establishment with Lebanese food. You can either order Lebanese or from the lounge menu we tried at lunch. Everyone at the table went Lebanese, and we weren’t sorry. The food was OUTSTANDING…and very inexpensive. I would have to say that unless you were lunching at the Four Seasons (as Steve and Jamie did since they were staying there to burn more of that Future Cruise Credit), this was the most affordable city we had visited since Lisbon.
After dinner, we had booked our last tour with Viking, “Budapest by Night.” We were still burning Future Cruise Credit, but to be honest, if I had to do this tour again, we would (and SHOULD) have skipped it. We met our tour guide, Lazlo, and boarded a bus that took us around some of the same stuff we had seen the day before while on the ship’s tour with Barbie, but in the dark. Then we headed to the Buda side of the river so everyone could get off the “luxury motor coach” and take pictures of the Parliament (that I had taken the photos of that I showed you yesterday). That did get Kathleen and I in one of my pics (above), but that’s about it.
Then they drove us up the hill toward Fisherman’s Bastion (we got off the bus about fifty feet from where we had the day before) and Lazlo walked us through a construction area (that surprised him by being there—it was like he hadn’t walked this tour in years), down a bunch of steps and two elevators (he kept saying “he hoped were open” and if they hadn’t been he needed to carry us down the steps), past a couple of sculptures and did just enough damage to Kathleen’s knees that she could barely walk the next day…for us to see nothing really that interesting. Just to kill time.
Then we got back on the “luxury motor coach” and killed some more by driving about a mile (we could see our hotel room across the river), having us disembark at a restaurant that looked like it was staying open just for us, grab a half-full glass of sparkling wine, sit in a tiny booth and drink it. Then back on the bus and back to the hotel. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME. And Lazlo was a horrible guide. Told worse jokes than I have ever told (I know, hard to believe) and just dragged us around. He was nice enough to help a woman who was by herself go down the stairs, but my point is, we should NEVER have been on those stairs anyway.
Even though we had gone less than three miles from hotel to hotel, we ate up almost two and a half hours. What a terrible way to end a pretty good day. I did take a few decent photos on the tour, so here they are. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Saw a couple of nice statues…
The outside of some buildings.
Photographed the castle close up.
And our hotel from the top.
As well as the Parliament Building from a different angle.
And the Chain Bridge.
And that was Day 2. We didn’t get to bed until 11:00, and Kathleen’s knee hurt all night, which did not make for a really great Day 3 when we had some great plans. See you there soon.
Great cooking is about being inspired by the simple things around you – fresh markets and various spices. It doesn’t necessarily have to look fancy. —G. Garvin
