Gödöllö
Following breakfast we travelled by bus to the attractive baroque town of Godollo where we had a guided tour of the Hapsburg summer palace. This was one of the favourite residences of Sisi (Queen Elizabeth, wife of Franz Josef). It is also near where our Tour Guide, David lives.
The Palace had beautiful manicured gardens and was in a good state of repair due to a careful restoration following the Russian communist occupation.
Our local guide for the palace was a very sweet young girl who fortunately spoke quite good
English. She walked us through a selection of the hundreds of rooms
(not all have been restored, so we didn’t see them) It was all very
lovely. They lived quite sumptiously. Queen Sisi was very much loved
and admired by the public and hailed as a great beauty. Both she and
Franz Josef spent a lot of time keeping themselves fit and active.
Sisi looked like she was in her thirties even up to her death at 60.
She was assassinated in Geneva by an Italian anarchist.
After
this we went to the Goldollo Equestrian Park. We were given a very
potent alcoholic drink of Partinka schnapps flavoured with various
fruits. It burned all the way down. Then we were treated to a display
of horsemanship, including a side saddle riding “Sisi”, a man
standing on the back of five horses, a man shooting arrows from his
horse an oxen drawn cart etc.
Then
we had a look at the stables and saw all the beautiful horses. We
went on a horse-drawn carriage ride through the property and then had
a look at some typical Hungarian breeds of goats, pigs, cows sheep
and dogs in a small petting zoo.
We
were also treated to a Hungarian lunch. Goulash soup, platters of
chicken and salad and desserts whilst we listened to a gypsy band.
That evening after a rest in our rooms, we decided to go out to dinner at the fabulous New York Cafe. My friend Karen had told me about this place that they went on their European tour a few years ago. She said it was a definite "must do" experience while in Budapest. She warned it was expensive....and indeed it was. But a once in a life-time treat to dine so lavishly. The food was absolutely delicious. The service was impeccable. The surroundings and ambience was so elegant and ornate.
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