Day 17, May 14, 2018.  Monday.
After one last buffet breakfast on the ship, we disembarked from the Skirnir and transferred to the Hilton Budapest, Castle District, a modern hotel with a beautiful view of the Danube and the Parliament from our room.  We walked down Castle Hill and across the Chain Bridge to catch a tram to the Great Market Hall.  The ground floor contained numerous shops selling all kinds of paprika products of which I purchased a tube of goulash paste and a tube of sweet paprika to make my Hungarian meals back home.  We purchased a cheese strudel and a poppy seed strudel for lunch, both delicious. A couple subway rides got us to the Budapest Opera House just in time for the English tour.  Unfortunately, the main auditorium is closed for two years for renovations.  However, the areas we did see were very ornate and two sopranos treated us to four arias including one of my favorites, the Flower Duet by Delibes.  Another subway ride to the Parliament for our English tour.  The building is as fantastic inside as it is outside.  We also lucked out as our tour caught the changing of the guard.  Two guards are stationed at the “crown jewels”, the Hungarian Crown.  The crown was given by the Pope to Hungary to crown its king Istvan in the year 1000.  It has been stolen and lost several times over the centuries but this was supposedly the original crown.  The gold cross on top of the crown is slightly bent as evidence of its journey.  Sorry, no photos allowed of the crown jewels.  Dinner at Hungarikum Bisztro was utterly wonderful. Our meal began with starters of Lagos (fried dough with sour cream, garlic and cheese - a popular Hungarian item and a must to try in Hungary per Chef Thomas) and a crepe filled with chicken and paprika sauce.  I had the Hungarian stuffed cabbage.  When I ordered it our waitress warned me that if was salty and sour, perhaps to her not something Americans are familiar with.  Her warning made me more excited to order it.  Two cabbage rolls stuffed with pork and seasonings served with sauerkraut and topped with sour cream, very similar to how my Little Nana (grandmother) made it only better.  Instead of adding beef to the sauerkraut as Little Nana did, it had sausage slices which added a nice mild smokiness.  Rosemary had the beef stew with dumplings which was a tasty goulash flavored with paprika, of which I enjoyed half.  Topped off with a complimentary aperitif (of which I enjoyed more than one given the teetotalers I was with).  The best meal of the trip even with so many outstanding meals.  Walking time 3:14, 14,641 steps.