Budapest, Birds, and More

March 20, 2026

Budapest, Hungary

Three Viking River ships docked in Budapest.

When we left the ship this morning our ship (Viking Rinda) was the ship closest to the dock, and one ship was next to us. When we returned the ships had done a little dance, and now the Rinda was the furthest one out in the water. It sort of felt like the shell shuffle game!

Karen and Nancy's Day -

Today we walked to an island in the Danube to go Bird Watching. The island is in the middle of the Danube connected to a bridge that crosses the river, and was about 1.5 miles from the ship.

Here is a map of the island:

East (Pest) side of Margaret Island. West (Buda) side of Margaret Island.

Since the weather was overcast, it was hard to both spot and photograph the birds. Karen persevered and got some beautiful shots, mostly of birds we haven't seen before.

European Green Woodpeckers:

Hooded Crow

Eurasian Magpie

Common Blackbird

Common Shelduck (left) and Ruddy Shelduck (right):

White Stork (2):

Common Wood Pigeon

Eurasian Chaffinch

Black Headed Gull:

Can you see the Owl?

Well, neither could we. Evidently there are a lot of Tawny Owls nesting in holes in the trees, but as hard as we looked we never saw one. :(

Wooden home for the Titmouse. There were many of these around the island.

And we also saw these non-bird animals. These are Fallow Deer.

And some more non-bird animals:

Tom and Katie's Day

The Hospital in the Rock was the name given to a hospital created in the caverns under Buda Castle in the 1930s, in preparation for WWII. During the siege of Budapest by the Germans, the hospital handled the wounded and dead. It was designed to treat 60-70 patients, but at one point was used to treat 600 wounded soldiers. In the mid-50s, in response to the uprising against the Soviet rule, the hospital was used again. After that the hospital was repurposed as a nuclear bunker. From 1962-2007, the hospital became part of the civil defense infrastructure and was classified as "Top Secret." Tom and Katie said it was interesting to see War from another country's perspective. Unfortunately, no pictures (other than the outside of the museum shown below) were allowed in the museum; but what they saw were waxwork recreations of hospital treatments and day-to-day scenarios during the seize. Again, a very moving experience!

Dogs of Margaret Island, Budapest

What's Next?

Tomorrow, we head down the Danube to another city in Hungary - Mohács - on the right bank. While there, we take an excursion to Pécs, the 5th largest city in Hungary, close to the Croatian border and founded by the Romans. Boldog pénteket! (Bohl-dog payn-teh-ket) (Happy Friday!)