Floating Down the Danube from Passau to Budapest: The cities of Austria, the Slovak Republic and Hungary.

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We arrive early in Vienna. After breakfast, we have the Panoramic view of Vienna tour. As we drive through the city, we begin to feel and see the imperial history. Grand promenades and grand buildings.  The architecture is regal and elegant. The facades of the palaces, museums and even apartments give the city a royal feel. As the center of the Hapsburg’s empire, Vienna developed its own unique style. The art, intellect and especially the music helped define the city that lies on the banks of the Danube. 

We disembark our motor coach and begin the walking tour. We see the exterior of the Hofburg Palace, the winter home of the Hapsburgs. Learn about the famous and beautiful Lipizzaner horses of Austria. We pass through the shopping district and tour the Gothic St. Stephen’s Cathedral with it’s great spire and colorful tile roof.

We now have time to tour the city on our own. We head out to find the famous Sacher-Torte.  Yum! After purchasing to take home, we find the Mozart Chocolate store. As a self-proclaimed Chocoholic, I am in heaven!! Chocolate cake and Chocolate candies. Not much more to say about this!

A must to include in a visit to Austria is Swarovski Crystal. After a browse around the store, it’s time for lunch. Along a side alley, we discover as small Viennese restaurant, Rfisl. We share plates of Bratwurst and Spatzel. Top it off with yes more Apple Strudel. After lunch, we head back to the center of the city and grab the underground. We exit at a stop which is a small walking distance from the boat.  We spend time on a bench along the river and enjoy the day.

We relax on board, have dinner and then head out to a Mozart and Strauss concert. What would a visit to Vienna be without a musical experience? We arrive at the Vienna Residence Orchestra concert hall. The tour is ushered upstairs for a private concert. We enjoy a concert from both Strauss’ and Mozart performances from ballets and waltzes. Truly memorable.

What a beautiful way to end the experience of Vienna with an evening drive to see the beautifully lit facades of the buildings.  

We end our night back on board with a glass of champagne.

The next morning, we float our way into Bratislava, Slovak Republic. This is the only national capital that borders two other countries, Austria and Hungary. The city lies peacefully on the Danube but its history is anything but peaceful. Moors, Huns, Austrians, Hungarians and Czechs have all left their influences on this capital. The town has elegant mansions, quaint houses and broad pedestrian areas. The city is a rich cultural center of the area. Eleven Hungarian Kings plus Eight Queens have been crowned in St. Martin’s Cathedral.  Our tour today is the Panoramic Bratislava. The tour takes us up over the city to the Bratislava Castle. Here there are sweeping views of the city, the river and mountains. We head down to the old medieval town. We walk through charming little alleys, visit great shops and admire wonderful architecture.

After a short time in the town, we head back to the river bank. It was a short stay in a culturally and historically rich city. More time to explore on another visit is definitely needed.

After lunch, we enjoy our journey through the Danube Bend. An extra beautiful section of the river, a 40 mile stretch of Northern Hungary. Steep hills, beautiful colors, and charming villages dot this part of the cruise.

 

Today, I have a scheduled tour of the bridge. The bridge is tiny compared to the Ocean cruises. The group packs in and we learn about the unique needs for navigating a boat on the river. Water levels, silt levels, wind speed and bridge crossings are all part of what the captain has to monitor and adjust to. Something very special to the needs of navigating a river cruise is the traffic. With so many ships on the river, there can be a traffic jam especially at the lochs.

Also, on board today is an Apple Strudel baking demonstration. My wife got wind of it earlier in the week and is determined to participate. She arrives early for the demonstration for a front row seat. We join her later. As the demonstration gets under way, they ask for a volunteer. I have never seen her hand go up that fast. She does get picked. They adorn her in a Viking apron, a chef’s hat and gloves. She is the assistant chef to the head baker on the boat. As the head chef explains what is going on, the head baker tells her the steps of creating the strudel. Step by step she first mixes the dough, then rolls the dough. Once flat, peeled and sliced apples are placed on the dough. Next breadcrumbs and butter are sprinkled on top. Next came the rolling to form the recognizable shape and then transferred to the pan. Excellent job the chef proclaims. The crowd asks her if she did this before, which she had not. This strudel will be for the crew at their dinner tonight.

We continue our sailing down the Danube. At dinner, we are told that we will be arriving earlier than expected into Budapest. The wait staff tells us that we need to be up on the top deck when we come into the city. We respond back that we have a big bank of windows in the room why can’t we watch it from there? They insist so we agree.

The night air is chilly so we layer our clothing and bring our blankets to the top deck. We find a good spot and hang out. They serve us some shots of Vodka to help warm up. In the distance we begin to see the lights of a city. Faint at first and then growing brighter.

We begin to navigate the bend in the river. We did not expect the next experience. Out of the darkness, Budapest shines unbelievably beautiful. The bridges, the palaces, the churches, the parliament and the river banks shine like jewels. Wow. Incredible. What an amazing introduction to this great city. Your eyes don’t know where to look.  We are in awe. We float past and under all the bridges and then turn and pull into the dock. We are right beside the chain bridge with its majestic lions guarding over it and the city.

 

The next morning, we are up and ready for our Panoramic Budapest tour. The tour starts on the Pest side of the city. This is considered the new “area” compared to Buda which is the older district. Pest is indeed the modern center of the city. We pass the Hungarian State Opera house and stop at Heroes Square for a look at the monuments and statues commemorating Hungarians. This is where the airport is and most of the shopping.

We cross the river and now are in Buda. This is the historical center of town and is dominated by hills and mountain tops. We drive along the historic waterfront. We are dropped off and make our way through ancient streets to the top of the hill and the Matthias church and Fisherman’s Bastion. There are lots of Houdini references around the city since this was where he was born. We pass the “House of Houdini” on our way up the hill. This is a tourist spot where they have a magic show and gift shop.

At the top of the hill, we enter the church for brief tour and then free time to roam the church and the surrounding area. The church is beautiful with almost everything painted. There is certainly a Moorish influence on the design. We head to the loft to get a different perspective of the church and visit its small museum. On the way out, we light 3 candles. Light one for those who have past, Light one for those that are here and light one for yourself. That is how the tradition goes!

We walk behind the church and visit the Fisherman’s Bastion. Beautiful and interesting fortification like structure on the edge of the hill with a fantastic view. I nickname it Hogwarts.  As we head back down the hill to catch the bus, we pick up the traditional souvenirs of Paprika. We stop at a café for coffee and delicious Hungarian pastries.  Back to the boat for lunch and then we head out to explore.

 

 

We head over to explore the Parliament Building. We are hoping to get in on a tour. We want to check out the crown jewels! As we walk down the river bank we see the Shoe Memorial. The sculpture was created to commemorate the Hungarian Jews who were shot and pushed into the river during WWII. Very moving, solemn place. We continue our walk a head behind the Parliament building. There are soldiers standing guard at attention at a memorial.

We locate the entrance for the tours. Sold out for the day. Ah now we have another reason to come back to this fabulous city. We head over to the shopping and café district. We find this great crystal and Christmas shop and browse/shop. Finally, we stop for a cocktail and snack. After dinner, we stroll across the chain bridge and soak up the lights.

Tomorrow we leave for home. We take with us a treasure of memories and a plan to return. The Danube and the beautiful towns, hamlets and cities have won a spot in our favorite travels.