Day 3: House of Terror, Gül Baba, and Night Lights

Aboard the Viking Ship Ulur

We sailed down the Danube last night, enjoying the lights of Budapest from the water. Sometime during the night we docked here at Kalocsa, though we never felt it at all, a very smooth ride and quite quiet.

The internet connection is not very strong so I’m not sure how many pictures I will be able to post.

I took the tram one stop from the hotel to the House of Terror, while the BW stayed at the Hotel. The House of Terror was quite intense. I spent two hours on the top two floors watching old black and white film clips of WWII and interviews with those who were sentenced to imprisonment rather than death, explaining how they tried to resist first the Arrow Cross, the Pro-Nazi Hungarian party that controlled the country under the Nazi’s, then survive under Stalin and the Soviets.

It was brutal. Above: Soviet tank

When it came time to descend to the cellar, where the Arrow Cross, then the Soviets, tortured their prisoners, as I had to leave. The claustrophobia, by design, was just too much to bear. By the time I left the line for admission stretched out the door, mostly 20-30 year olds.

I jumped on the subway, then at the first stop emerged from below and hopped on one of the many and very regular trams, intending to head to the Buda side and the Gül Baba tomb.

As I passed by our Hotel I realized I’d gone the wrong way! No worries. I hopped out at the next stop, then jumped on a tram going the other way. In 20 minutes we were passing over the River at Margarit Island. The next stop was it.

The tomb was a short walk up a hill in a very quiet and well-kept neighborhood. It is a very simple tomb. The Saudis financed the renovations, including a lovely rose garden.

The rose is the symbol of Gül Baba.

I headed back to the Pest side, over the same bridge, then enjoyed a leisurely walk down the Danube, passing a memorial to Imre Nagy, a Hungarian Communist politician who served as de facto Prime Minister from 1953-1955 during the Soviet domination. In 1956 he became leader of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He was sentenced to death and executed two years later in 1958.

Above: Three Viking ships moored near the Chain Bridge.

I rejoined the BW aboard ship. It is a lovely vessel. We left the dock after dinner and sailed up around Margarit Island, then downstream, the lights of the City reflected in the waters. The current is quite strong here, probably about 5 mph, but the ship travels so smoothly that you don’t really feel any rocking or movement.

We are heading out now on a shore excursion.

Thanks so much for all the comments and for traveling along~!