Weather today – Mostly sunny – 73 F (23 C)

Today is our final full day aboard the Viking Ullur. As we travel towards our penultimate stop this afternoon, the morning is relaxed with late breakfasts and tours of the ship’s bridge provided. We had done the bridge tour on our first river cruise in 2017, so skipped this time to allow others to participate as space was limited. The final port talk and disembarkation details meeting at 10:30am made us realize that our trip is sadly approaching its end – although we still have a couple of days in Budapest after leaving the ship.

Only two excursions are available today, the included Kalocsa and Puszta (3.5 hours, easy, afternoon), and an optional tour – The Art of Cooperage & Hungarian Wine Making (5 hours, demanding, afternoon). We selected the included tour today.

Kalocsa and Puszta Excursion

Visit one of Hungary’s major cultural centers and attend a breathtaking display of traditional horsemanship.

Depart your ship for a short drive to the city of Kalocsa, where a rich history is flavored by the town’s renowned peppery paprika. In Holy Trinity Square, you will see the splendid cathedral and admire the Archbishop’s Palace. After a short organ concert at St. Joseph Church, continue to the Bakodpuszta Equestrian Center. The people of the Hungarian Puszta region have long relied on horses for transportation, settlement and defense of their land. Many locals worry that their country’s equestrian connection is being lost to a motorized world, so they hold fast to rural ways and to their four-legged comrades, elevating horsemanship to an art form. Witness the sometimes acrobatic culmination of this long-cherished relationship during a thrilling show.

While eating lunch, the ship arrived at the dock for Kalocsa, approximately 142 kilometers south of Budapest. Following lunch almost everyone departed for one of the two excursions for the afternoon. After a short drive into Kalocsa, the buses parked near the city center from which we had a brief stroll to the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the fourth church building constructed on the site between 1735-1754 in the Baroque style. The first church at this location dated to 1010.

This was the site of the organ concert (not St. Joseph Church as listed by Viking – perhaps they alternate?). The organ was originally built between 1876 and 1877 by József Angster and was played by Hungary’s best-known composer, Franz Liszt, whenever he visited the town. During WWI, however, the pipes were melted for military usage. The organ was reconstructed in 1928 with over 4600 pipes. The concert consisted of five works, starting with Bach’s iconic Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. The sound surrounds and engulfs you. It was glorious.

Following the concert, we filed back to the buses for a 15-minute drive to the site of the equestrian demonstration.

Tables were set up with drinks and snacks for everyone to sample, then we continued to the arena’s seating area for the show. And what a show it was! The “puszta” is the grassland of the Great Hungarian Plains. The horse-mounted herdsmen of these plains are called “csikós” and pre-date the American cowboy. They are known for their whip-cracking skills as they herded great grey cattle, sheep, and horses. The horse breed they ride is the Nonius. The show included a donkey and rider who played the role of comic relief.

I’ve included several videos of the horsemen in a playlist on my YouTube here.

After the show, there was time to visit the barn, take wagon rides, and check out the souvenir stand. Kalocsa is known as the capital of Paprika, but Dave didn’t find exactly what he wanted here, so he’ll be looking tomorrow when we visit the Great Market Hall in Budapest.

Farewell and Final Dinner on the Ullur

Earlier in the day, some of our new friends (who actually live within 10 miles of us in the Houston area) invited us to join them and some other friends to drink some of the wine they bought on the trip, but didn’t have space to take home. We gladly accepted their invitation and hospitality. We gathered in a corner of the Aquavit Terrace prior to the Captain’s Farewell toast. One of the other nice things about Viking is they don’t have any corkage fees. If you buy local wines and bring them aboard, they will gladly provide glasses and open the bottle(s) for you to enjoy anywhere on the ship.   

The final dinner onboard may have been the best of the week. Most everyone at our table ordered the Hungarian destination offerings starting with Hungarian Goulash Soup and continuing with Pecena Vratina sa Ajvarom (roast pork, potatoes, savoy cabbage, red pepper sauce) for the main, followed by either Mákos Guba (a poppy seed bread pudding with plum jam) or Tokay Wine Mousse & Carmelized Walnuts for dessert. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures.

Then it was time to head back to the cabin to get everything packed up to leave the ship the next morning. Bags need to be out by 8am for Viking to transfer to our hotel while we tour Budapest.

P.S. We are now back home in Houston, so I’m catching up on posting the final days of our trip.