Itinerary Help in Eastern Europe Please
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Eastern Europe this summer. Right now, we are considering this: Arriving in Budapest, and spending about 4 days there before taking a cruise on Uniworld. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Welcome to the Europe forum (I see it's your first time).

I think you haven't received any replies yet because you don't really make clear what suggestions you are seeking. Is the Uniworld cruise from Budapest to the Black Sea (actually ends in Bucharest)? Do you want to do some traveling in <i><b>Eastern</b></i> Europe (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltics) <i>after</i> the cruise?

Or do you just want advice on Budapest? or other Hungary (which is in <i><b>central</b></i> Europe) before the cruise?

I recommend that you post, and list the specific countries <i><b>in the message header</b></i> of your post, that are the crux of your questions.

That said, the website www.inyourpocket.com is a good resource for all of central and eastern Europe.

Best wishes,

Rex

I assume you're asking what to see in Budapest in your 4 days in Budapest, not on the cruise itself.

I'm no good at creating itineraries for city visits, especially for other people, but some of the things we found interesting were:

The Buda Castle,
Matyas Church
The old streets of Buda
Fisherman's Bastion
The Bascilica
Opera House
Great Synogogue
Hero's Square at City Park (aka Varsoliget)
Varosliget itself with castle(not real castle but interesting reproduction of different eras in one building)

Things we didn't get a chance to do:
Baths (public, I mean!!)
Obuda
Parliment inside
Cave Church
Margaret Island
Labrynths


A few couple good restaurants we enjoyed:

<u>Bagylovar</u>
www.bagolyvar.com
good hungarian dishes, relaxed but very nice, near park, sister rest. to upscale Gundel

<u>Gambrinius</u>
http://www.taverna.hu/?levelid=28&amp;cikkid=287
possibly the best meals I've ever had, but the atmosphere at this place in the Taverna hotel isn't much to look at. Service is a bit spotty too. But the food is excellent at approx $60-$70 pp incl. wine


Rex, I know you do this every time a post using the words &quot;Eastern Europe&quot; comes up. If the cruise DOES go to the Black Sea, will they still be in Central Europe? I've never been able to get some clarity on which area Romania, Bulgaria, etc fall into. I know, since you've been to Poland, that you'll know the answer.

You will probably never get clarity on whether some counties lie in eastern Europe or central Europe as there is no universally agreed-upon definition of these terms. Definitions have shifted back and forth over the years and according to the authority doing the labeling.

The only consistent placements of major countries I know of is that western Europe includes France and eastern Europe includes Russia.

Other than that, you'll get arguments on most other countries.

You even see disagreements over Italy--is it really western European? Some say yes, some say no that such Latin Mediterranean countries are so different that the only term that fits is southern Europe.

I guess we need an international commission to settle the definitions once and for all. But it doesn't seem to be enough of a burning issue for most people to spur such a costly undertaking that would probably take years to resolve. &quot;Hmmmm, let's compromise. I'll give you Germany in central Europe, if you concede the Czech Republic to eastern Europe.&quot; &quot;Central Europe, dammit! I thought we'd agreed to stick to the categories of western, eastern, southern and mid-western Europe!&quot;

Western Europe, central Europe, southern Europe, eastern Europe, northern Europe--geographic terminology is not an exact science, sigh.

Well said Rufus and a key reason why I don't understand why this &quot;correction&quot; keeps coming up over and over again.

<b>rex</b>,

what the .... is your problem? Give it a rest. I still have family in Poland and I assure you, just like most people here, they also don't give a damn.

&lt;&lt;If the cruise DOES go to the Black Sea, will they still be in Central Europe? I've never been able to get some clarity on which area Romania, Bulgaria, etc fall into. &gt;&gt;

It is true that my curiosity is piqued each time I see the term &quot;eastern Europe&quot; in a message header, because I am curious to see how the term is being used. It's interesting that the terms &quot;western Europe&quot; or &quot;southern Europe&quot; or &quot;northern Europe&quot; are essentially never used in message headers here. (I do see &quot;central Europe&quot; being mentioned with ome increasing frequency - - it seems to refer to Hungary/Austria/the Czech Republic - - the three countries most asked about. Seems like it would apply readily to Poland, Slovakia, probably Slovenia too).

For THIS particular post, my advice to &quot;cathart&quot; is to state what info about what countries is being sought. Uniworld also offers Russian river cruises.

My only goal is to try to get the best possible exchange of info here on this forum.

rex's basic point is an important one.

Precision in language and how we describe things, places, etc. is important if communication is to be clear and confusion and misunderstanding avoided.

How many times do we see &quot;I need a reasonable (or budget or cheap) hotel in Amsterdam&quot;? What the heck is reasonable (or budget or cheap) to you?

I like this one &quot;Has anyone been to {insert town name here}?&quot; I'm so tempted to respond &quot;No, no one has ever been to that town. It was abandoned during when the Black Plague hit in 1462, and no human being has ever stepped foot in the place since.&quot;

It's just too easy to get sloppy, especially in internet communications that are just kind of &quot;out there.&quot; We have a big problem where I work with people just dashing off emails without paying close attention to what they are writing. It's caused some big problems for a number of projects.

Even looking back at what I'm writing now, I see some changes and clarifications I should make. But it's just headed out to the internet ether, and I am in the middle of a double Manhattan. So I'll just stop now.

<b>RufusTFirefly</b>,

Good points, but there is one big difference. Most people in the world still associate eastern Europe with the old Warsaw Pact countries. That includes Poland, Hungary, Czech Rep., the many new countries that were part of Yugoslavia, etc. <b>Rex</b> is technically correct, but the fact is that most people on this forum or just about anywhere else still see the lines drawn per the &quot;old&quot; geopolitical realities, NOT what the actual geographical lines say.

Besides, <b>Rex</b> seems to have some unhealthy preoccupation with this subject. If he just gave it some time, like a generation or 2 he will find that evantually the lines will be moved, but for now let the people follow what they grew up with and it's easy for them to understand.

Okay, well this isn't about me... but getting some info to cathart, who has now posted again- - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34583982 - - presumably without ever seeing this buncha diatribe.

There is more information there, but the message header still doesn't indicate anything.

I'll ask someone else to explain &quot;click on your own name&quot;.

topping...

AA--My last message wasn't referring to rex's particular &quot;Eastern Europe&quot; message in this string. I was just making an overall observation on precision in language.

Certainly not very helfpul travel information but a place for many to vent I guess.

Well gee Don, after having typed all that I did, I appreciate your considered critique of my post.

Yours was fascinating as well... :) Well done!

We had an awful time with Uniworld--Only one guide for 140 passengers and food was not very good. If you don't have a problem with traveling with the over 50 age group I suggest checking out Grand Circle www.gct.com
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