In Budapest, we took a Danube Riverboat Cruise down the river to a little town called Szentendre.

 

 

Danube River Cruise

 

We enjoyed great views of the bridges and Parliament Buildings as we cruised slowly down the Danube…

 

Jaws dropped though when we saw a bus floating in the river…  Oh My God…

 

A few minutes later we realized that it was a bus boat! Hilarious.

 

Szentendre

 

After a nice cruise down the river, Szentendre came into view…

 

Nestled into a bend in the river, Szentendre is a charming little town…

 

But what really was unique was the Marzipan Museum. Yes, marzipan, the almond paste that can be shaped and coloured. What we didn’t know was to what amazing lengths people go to create these works of art. These are all made of marzipan.

 

The riverboat returned to Budapest in the late afternoon…

 

Our riverboat cruise was about $20C each, and there are dinner cruises, wine cruises, and opera cruises. Next time, I think we’d try the opera cruise. Check them out at http://budapestrivercruise.com/

 

 

Budapest Bicycle Taxi

 

We planned to take the bus back to our accommodations downtown at E’s flat, but a bicycle taxi caught my eye, and much to T’s chagrin, I said, “Let’s try it…”

 

After negotiating a price of around $15 CAD, we can safely say that we got more than what we paid for!

 

We had the taxi ride of our lives!

 

This guy whizzed in and around people and cars! He zig-zagged through quick shortcuts, whisked through parks, jumped from street to sidewalk and back again in a flash! He flew down busy streets packed with whooshing cars and crowds of people.

 

We were hanging on for dear life as we rocked this way and that, hair blowing in the wind like we were on a roller coaster, often swaying sideways on one wheel and back down again, or at least that’s the way it felt. Holy crap! Will we get there alive on this exposed bicycle?

 

On the other hand, it was great fun! A rush of adrenalin pumped through our veins; it was exciting and electrifying! My whole body was buzzing. He maneuvered that bicycle taxi contraption like a snake winding through a cornfield. In and out, over and around, up and down in seconds!

 

It reminded us of the bicycle couriers in big cities that zip in and out of traffic and across busy intersections within inches of being hit. Often these bicycle couriers don’t have brakes; they just skid sideways on their bikes when they want to stop. You have to admire their incredible dexterity and quick judgment though, don’t you? Their deftness and precision is unbelievable.

 

The cars on the busy street all around us didn’t seem to notice the wild maneuvering of our bicycle taxi or the close proximity, however, bicycles are much more abundant on Europe streets than they are in NA and vehicle drivers are very respectful of bicycle drivers.

 

 We were actually going faster than the cars!

 

On the main street, we swooshed up inches from cars at a red light, and when I pointed to the side street shouting we lived near there, he promptly turned that bicycle taxi and darted right in front of all 6 lanes of cars onto the side street. Oh My God!

 

Finally, we were on a quiet side street rolling toward our street and we sighed in relief that we had made it, not only alive, but in about a tenth of the time of the bus, and about half the time of a regular taxi. Incredible!

 

What a ride on the Budapest Bicycle Taxi. Whooo Hoo! Highly recommended.

 

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