4/28/16

It’s taken a while to get it started but…..the reporting begins

Budapest

After an exhausting flight we made it to Budapest in the afternoon of 4/24. This is obviously the before photo:

We managed to stay awake til about 9:30 and got up early for a busy day in Budapest. The day was COLD, windy and not very inviting but the tour of Budapest was great despite the weather. It’s a beautiful city and we were able to spend some time walking around on the hilly Buda side of the river after visits to Fisherman’s Bastion and St. Matyas Church.

Our first “adventure” was in the afternoon when we had arranged to go to one of the mineral spas for a massage and a soak in the thermal mineral pools. The spa and hotel are historic and HUGE and very popular in Budapest. There are multiple similar spas here but we picked the most elegant (of course.) The place is gigantic and we spent the first ½ hour being lost as we attempted to find the locker area (it’s own challenge because of the system for using the locker) and then figuring out where the massage area was. By the time we reached the masseuse we were definitely in need of a relaxing massage. Then we soaked for a while in the pools that were soothingly warm and wonderful. The setting reminded us of Hearst Castle in its elegance.

Spa from the outside

Entrance

One of large swimming pools

Bathing beauties

 We sailed away from Budapest after dark and the ship went backwards for a bit so that we could appreciate the entire Budapest skyline all lit up and gorgeous! We went up to the “sun” deck  (no sun yet on this trip) to get a better view. We had to bundle up and froze in the evening COLD breeze despite all our extra layers. It was worth it to see the fantastic view.

The ship is terrific, fabulous service, waaaay too much good food and really comfortable. (No idea why this font suddenly changed itself!)


Day 2, Bratislava

We sailed through our first lock which raised us 33 ft and docked in Bratislava, Slovakia at lunchtime. It’s a largest city and capital of Slovakia. There is lots of communist era construction but a very nice old town area and a very boring palace on the top of the hill. The views from the top of the hill made for a tiny bit of interest. We did a walking tour with a really funny guide that made fun of everything Slovakian, particularly the politics. Not our favorite city but a pleasant walk through the old town.

View from castle

Funny street sculpture

Our evening was taken up with a captain’s welcome reception and dinner before sailing towards Vienna.