After saying our goodbyes to our shipmates, we were off to the Vilshofen train station for the next part of the trip. We will be spending a few days in Munich, Germany.
The train ride took about two hours and was pleasant. We passed through some nice countryside scenery and farmlands before arriving in Munich.
The Munich main train station is huge and busy. After a couple of missteps, we found the proper exit and then hailed a taxi to take us to our hotel.
Our driver was pretty quiet until we asked a few questions. He warmed up to us and pointed out a few places to see. When we passed by the main shopping district, he instructed Sue to visit and buy herself lots of new things. For me, he suggested the Hofbrau House to have a few beers while she shopped.
Platzl Hotel
We arrived at the Platzl Hotel, where we’ll be staying for the next few days. As it was after 3:00 pm, we were able to check right in. We are in the older or historic section of the hotel, but still have all the up-to-date amenities. We asked the receptionist about eating at the hotel’s affiliated restaurant and she called and made a reservation for us to have an early dinner.
Our room is rustic, but very pleasant. It’s authentic Bavarian in style with old hardwood floors and cabinets, windows that open, along with a wonderful shower and lots of outlets.
Our room
We settled into the room, then freshened up before heading over for dinner.
Our dinner was at Ayinger am Platzl. It’s a beer-orientated restaurant that’s around the corner from our hotel. We sat outside under the umbrellas and had a really great time. Our waitress was pleasantly surprised when we ordered and asked for the bill in German. It was a small thing, but it goes a long way.
Simple and delicious meal
We took a slow walk back to the hotel. It was a beautiful evening and there were many people out and about.
We had an activity planned for the evening. It was a walking tour with a lantern-bearing Night Watchman. What we didn’t know about was the outdoor concerts taking place in some of the areas we were supposed to visit. Kudos to our Watchman, Hans, for re-routing the walk and still being able to include the historical references and anecdotes.
Thank goodness they all weren’t part of the tourHans – our Night Watchman
In the medieval times, the Night Watchman would roam the town watching for problems, especially fires. With only his lantern to light the way, he would keep the townsfolk safe.
Scenes from our night walk
We walked back to the hotel after the excellent tour. Saturday evening around the various beer halls was rollicking with everyone having fun. For Herr and Frau Herkey, it was time to get some sleep.
Our overnight sailing brought us into the town of Passau, Germany.
Approaching Passau
Passau is located in the German state of Bavaria and is at the junction of three rivers – the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz. It is another charming and picturesque town.
We started off the day with a light tour to get acquainted with the town and a little history. It was a bit drizzly while we walked, but it was very tolerable with a rain jacket or umbrella.
High water mark from flood in 2013 – 3 meters or 9 feet of flood waters !
Saint Stephen’s Cathedral was a Baroque masterpiece with intricate carvings and paintings. Our guide explained that the windows were deliberately clear glass to let in the ‘light of God’. It also contains Europe’s largest cathedral organ, which was being renovated when we visited.
Our guide shared many interesting stories of life over the centuries on the banks of the three rivers.
City garden
We had some free time before we had to return to the boat. Some folks stayed to do a little shopping. We opted to just head back and get out of the drizzle.
Just before lunch, we once again set sail to our final destination – Vilshofen an der Donau. It’s amazing to think our voyage is ending; it seems like we just started.
Lunch was incredible today. Soup and sandwiches? Not a chance.
How about roast suckling pig and pork belly with potatoes and sauerkraut, lentil soup and Käsespätzle (Bavarian Mac and cheese) ?Here comes that word again…it was scrumptious!
In the afternoon, Sue attended a presentation by Dr. Christian Poelle. He talked a bit about the history of Bavaria. It was an in-depth review of the past 2,500 years. Sue was happy there wasn’t a quiz afterwards.
When we arrived in Vilshofen, we docked across from a small airstrip. We enjoyed watching from our balcony as the small private planes were taking off.
We had a bit of time to relax before the evening’s activity and did so.
As this was our last evening on the ship, we started off the evening with an Octoberfest celebration. There were performers, a beer contest, pretzels, a band and beer. Lots and lots of beer! We also had the ‘Beer Queen’ there to lead the celebration.
The big contest was to hold a filled beer stein out at arms length. One of the competitors was our own Parm. We cheered and rooted him on in a contest that lasted over 1 min and 45 seconds. Alas, he was second best in the competition, but number one in our hearts!
The contestants and the Beer Queen
We ended the evening with dinner, goodbyes, hugs and then retired for the evening as everyone has to be up early to disembark in the morning.
While we slept off our dance fever, the boat made its way to our next port – Linz, Austria. From here, there are two day trips leaving by bus along with two stay-behind excursions.
As we’ve never been to Linz, and the weather was again chilly with rain predicted, we changed our plans and stayed for the walk around town.
Our group gathered together at 9:30 am and we walked along the waterfront to the Nibelungen Bridge to see the views. We then backtracked and headed into the main square of town. Our guide, Anita, did a great job of explaining what we were seeing and what we could discover on our own.
From our ship to the bridgeA bit of the town square.Inner courtyard of residence
One building we entered had a city map on the floor on the floor. Not a little one, it was a detailed aerial map of the entire city of Linz. Too big to photograph, but really cool to see.
From there we cut through a side street and headed into the old town. We walked by lots of small businesses and residences. We eventually reached the old market area where the old Jewish Quarter was located.
Just strolling through townThe old market hallMemorial in the square
In the old Jewish area, there was a very somber memorial. It was called the “Doorbell to Heaven”. There were nine names engraved on a stone tablet. Each name was related to a person who was killed during the war. Beside each name was a doorbell button. When you pushed the button, the doorbell would chime, ringing up to the person in Heaven.
Jewish Memorial – Doorbell to Heaven
In the old town hall, there was a fountain dedicated to Johannes Kepler, a scientist who discovered that the planets have an elliptical orbit around the sun. The Kepler space telescope was also named for him.
At this point, our guided walk ended, but Anita had given us directions to places we could visit on our own
Sue and I walked over to the New Cathedral, as it was fairly close to where we were located.
New CathedralNew CathedralNew Cathedral
From the cathedral, we made our way to the main shopping street and then moseyed our way back to the waterfront.
Returning to the ship, we were happy to have beaten the rain. The dark clouds were getting closer, so we decided to just stay cozy on-board for the afternoon.
Storm clouds moving in
We had another scrumptious lunch. We started with some quinoa salad and a couple of BBQ’d chicken wings. For the main course, we had baked trout over asian rice with some roasted vegetables. Of course, there was linzer torte for dessert that was calling out my name.
With full bellies, we made our way back to our cabin. We listened to a little music, did a little bit of reading and then took a little nap.
When we woke up, the rain was pouring down. We later heard that the last excursion group had gotten caught in the storm driving back to the ship. They even encountered some hail.
Tonight would be the Captain’s Gala – beginning with a toast at the ‘Sip & Sail’ followed by an awesome dinner. The captain addressed the gathering and acknowledged the hard working crew. Everyone on board acknowledged them too with a round of applause.
Our dapper-looking Captain
The captain made his way around the room and toasted and thanked all the guests for sailing along on the AmaMora.
We were then invited to enjoy dinner together. It was another delicious meal. We had plenty of laughs and good conversation with our group. We’ll leave for home with many good memories.
For entertainment this evening, there was a performance by the ‘Sounds of Austria’. They were two women singers and a pianist who sang various arias and then finished with several selections from the ‘Sound of Music’. They were entertaining and included a few passengers in their show, including our own Parm!
After the show, we were tuckered out from the day and headed up to the cabin to relax and get a good night’s rest.
Today we made the decision to stay behind and rest up a bit. The combination of a sore back and chilly, rainy weather made it an easy decision. With no regrets, we watched as our compadres headed off for the day.
We, on the other hand, stayed aboard the boat and sailed with a dozen others to the eventual meeting point in the town of Ybbs. Along the way, we enjoyed some beautiful scenery….
… and then we traveled through another lock…
…and stayed dry and comfortable.
It also gave us an opportunity to meet some of the others who also stayed aboard.
We welcomed the others back aboard ship in Ybbs around 1:00 pm – just in time for lunch – I’m betting the kitchen went through more hot soup today than any other day. Our luncheon friends filled us in on their adventures while we ate.
The ship sailed on as we ate and then continued for a while into the afternoon. We arrived at the town of Grein at about 4:00 pm and then there was a visit to the nearby castle. It was still drizzly and chilly, so we stayed cozy on board.
Beautiful scenery surrounded us
The daily Sip and Sail happy hour provided some time to hear from more folks about the excursions. It sounded like an enjoyable day, but we were very content with our day too! We also got instructions for our day tomorrow from Kristina, so we’ll be ready in the morning.
Dinner was once again a treat. I selected the Chef’s recommendation which started with seared tuna, then a carrot and ginger soup, followed by beef tenderloin and dauphinois potatoes and finished off with a chocolate mousse.
Sue went with the green salad, then the carrot and ginger soup and finished with lobster in a polenta cream sauce.
We both really enjoyed our meals. Very delicious and perfect portion size.
Following dinner, we joined the group in the lounge. Tonight was a karaoke party and it was fun listening to the various people belting out the tunes. Sixties and seventies tunes were perennial crowd favorites with everyone singing along on the crowd favorites.
The MinstrelsThe DancersKaraoke Night
I’m sure the question you want to ask is: Did you participate or did you just sit and listen?
Yes, we participated.
What songs?
Bon Jovi’s – Living on a prayer and Neil Diamond’s – Sweet Caroline.
And no, we weren’t intoxicated, we were just having a good time. It was a fun night and we have a fun group.
Our morning excursion was a walk in Vienna with our guide Gabi. We were bused to Swedenplatz, which is a small transit hub. From there we took a walk to Stephensplatz, home to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, cutting between some small streets and shops along the way.
Original “Ferris” Wheel still going strong.Danube Canal in Vienna
Gabi was a very good guide. She talked about the history of the areas we walked through, plus she always had a little anecdote to add here and there.
Gabi explaining how to fill our water bottles at the public faucet.The Red Tower street sign.St. Stephen’s Cathedral
When we reached St Stephen’s, we were given some free time to explore on our own. We walked around for a bit, then stopped at a Heindl candy store for a little treat before rejoining the group for the walk back to the bus.
St Stephen’s CathedralA quick rinse before their shift.St. Peter’s Church
While many people stayed in the city for the afternoon, we went back to the ship. We ate lunch on board and then decided to stay on the ship for the afternoon. We ended up taking a nap to catch up on a little sleep. It was much needed.
We ate an early dinner as tonight we are attending a concert. The dinner choices this evening included Wiener schnitzel and then apple strudel for dessert. Dinner was delicious as usual.
We had a few minutes to freshen up after dinner before we had to re-group. Tonight we are going to a performance by the Vienna Residence Orchestra at the Palais alte Börse.
The location was originally the Vienna Stock Exchange, but has been transformed into a concert venue.
Upon entering, we were led to our seats. We thought we were cutting through, but we ended up in the front row, center stage.
Invisible artists – no photos allowed
It was a wonderful classical concert. The orchestra for our performance included a flautist, two violinists, a bassist, a cellist and a pianist all led by a solo violinist. The performance also included two opera singers and two ballet dancers.
The concert consisted of works by Strauss, Mozart, Haydn and Vivaldi. It was a fun night out on the town. Everyone in our group seemed extremely pleased with the performances.
The bus ride back to the ship went quickly and we wasted no time getting ourselves settled in for the night.
The cruise from Budapest to our next stop – Bratislava – was 223 kilometers or about 138 miles.
We slept well while our two Captains maneuvered the ship up the river. At about 9:15 am, we arrived at the first of twelve locks that we will be passing through – the Gabčikovo Lock.
It is the largest lock & hydroelectric power plant on our journey. We rose about 62 feet or 19 meters!
Passing through the Gabčikovo Lock
After the lock, it was smooth sailing on to Bratislava. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and went up to the sun deck to relax for a bit after lunch. Our server topped off our wine glasses for us to prevent dehydration, so we felt safe on such a sunny day!
Upon arrival in Bratislava, we had an afternoon “Coronation City” walking tour. We had a pleasant time walking through the beautiful city, with our guide doing her best to find us shady spots to stop and talk about the city and history of the region. She shared memories of growing up in the socialist shadow of communist Russia, along with independence after the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was an extremely interesting tour.
Kids playing in the park.Memorial of the Bulgarian Partisans who fought and died for Slovakian freedom.Grand TheatreTree lined pedestrian walkwayShopping and restaurant streetsCapuchin ChurchRestaurant RowMain city squareThe Working Man
After our walk, we headed back to the boat to cool down and relax for a while before dinner.
Tonight’s meal would be our special “Chef’s Table” dinner. It’s a seven course dinner with wine pairings in a separate dining room. We coordinated our reservation with our friends so we could dine together.
The Chef’s Table dining room.
In total, there were about thirty of us and it was magnificent. The portions were perfect, so we could enjoy our meal without being stuffed. I thought it would be rather gauche to take pictures of the meal, so this time you’ll have to trust me when I say it was wonderful.
The menu:
Goat cheese tomato sphere
Tiger Prawn and Apple Crudo
Coconut Lemongrass Soup with chicken
Black Cod with Citrus and Saffron Essence
Lemon-Basil Granita
Black Angus Beef & Forest Essence
Wild Berry & Vanilla Bean Entremet
With dinner complete, we went down to the lounge to enjoy the Skylark Jazz Band. They were very good and played tunes from the ‘Great American Songbook’. We’ve heard some of the other guests who are frequent ocean cruisers say that they wish there was more entertainment, but we are very content with what’s been provided.
Back to the room after chatting for a while and then right to sleep – we were pooped. This evening’s wines may have played a small role too!
It was like déjà vu. Our cruise started with a tour of Budapest…Pest in the morning and then Buda in the afternoon. As we had been in Budapest for the two prior days, there was a bit of redundancy for us, but it didn’t matter as Budapest is a beautiful place.
While waiting for our tour to begin, we walked up to the sun deck to have a look around.
ChairsChessPoolSeatingThe AmaMora sun deck
The tour was intended to be a bus ride, then a little walking and then a bus ride back. While we had seen some of the sights on our own, what we gained was the story behind many of the locations. Being with a local guide also gave us a chance to really feel the pride they have for their city, history and country.
So, here are some things we learned:
Hungary was a target throughout history for invasions: Genghis Khan and the Mongols (the invading hordes, not the band), the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire, the Nazi Reich and the Soviet Union.
More than 40% of Budapest was destroyed by bombing during WWII and had to be rebuilt, including its seven bridges. This lead to an eclectic mix of architecture, but it was all done very tastefully.
Budapest people love their thermal baths and they are everywhere around town. The ones that the tourists know about are always crowded.
The people are very hopeful that the new Prime Minister will make a big difference in the country going forward.
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Unfortunately for us, there was an event going on that prevented our bus from being able to visit the City Park area where the Heroes Monument is located. We re-routed and continued around Pest seeing beautiful sights, but we weren’t able to get off the bus.
After the tour, we returned to the ship and had lunch at noon before heading out for our second tour at 2:00 pm. For the afternoon, we visited the castle area on the Buda side of town. We once again climbed aboard the bus and were whisked to the top of Castle Hill.
We walked around for a bit hearing about the history of the area before reaching the main square. The entire area was beautiful and spotlessly clean.
Saint Stephen the 1st – the first King of Hungary – 1000 AD – 1036 AD
The main sites for our visit were the Fisherman’s Bastion and the Saint Matthias Church.
The Fisherman’s Bastion is a vantage point overlooking the Danube. It is named for the fishermen’s guild who protected the former fort during the Middle Ages. Alas, today it is but a strikingly beautiful spot for taking pictures of the Danube River and the parliament building.
Departing the bastion, you walk right into the square in front of Saint Matthias Church. It is another replica church, having been bombed during WWII. For centuries, it had been used for the coronation of Hungary’s Kings.
From the church, we walked back to the bus and then made our way back to the ship. It was a very interesting afternoon, but now it was time to relax before dinner.
We made it down to the ‘Sip and Sail Happy Hour’, where we met Carlos and Nancy, who were also part of the BC Hydro group. We enjoyed a cocktail with them (Cosmopolitans were the drink of the day) and then they joined us for another delicious dinner.
At 8:00 pm it was time to set sail. We made our way up to the sun deck and found a couple of chairs facing the Pest side of the city. As the boat eased away from the mooring and began its and our journey up the Danube, we enjoyed one last view of the cityscape.
It was still light when we set sail, so we didn’t get to see the city lit up from the boat, but it was still a beautiful sight.
Our friends Donnie and Parm wandered by on their way to get a blanket for their wives and when they returned, they had brought one for Sue too. It was very thoughtful and saved me a trip.
The crew passed out glasses of a Hungarian brandy-like beverage to sip as we glided along. It was apricot flavored and had a little kick to it.
We eventually made our way back down to our cabin to relax before bedtime.
Our overall take on Budapest was that we would definitely return. There are many great places to visit, the food was excellent and the people were warm and friendly. In the tourist areas, everyone spoke English, so communicating wasn’t an issue at all.
After two days of exploring Budapest and getting rid of the jet lag, it’s time to board the ship and get ready for our cruise up the Danube.
We didn’t have to rush as we had until noon, so we cleaned up and then went down for a good breakfast. Afterwards, we finished our packing before heading down to check-out and drop off our bags.
When the bus arrived, they loaded up the bags and we drove down to the pier. We took the short stroll over to the dock and then walked the gangplank on to the ship. The AMAMORA was gleaming and looked very welcoming.
The AmaMora
Embarkation was very straightforward. The cabins weren’t ready yet, but we checked in and had our photos taken for our passkeys, then headed into the lounge where cocktails and snacks were available while we waited for the rooms.
Welcome aboard!
Our home for the next seven days will be on the AmaWaterways river boat AmaMora. We will be occupying cabin 309. There are technically 4 decks on the ship. The lower level is the “Piano Deck” and contains the crew rooms and I believe a few passenger cabins. The second level is the “Cello Deck”, the third is the “Violin Deck” and the top deck is the Sun deck.
Our cabin is on the Violin Deck and is quite nice. There’s enough room to comfortably move around, it has plenty of storage and we have both a french balcony and an outside balcony. Hopefully, the weather will be nice enough for us to use the outside balcony. The bathroom is a decent size, as is the shower. The bed is comfy, there are chairs to sit on and a desk with outlets nearby. So far, so good!
Bed next to the balconyThe rest of the cabin
We had over two hours to get settled in the cabin and relax before a 6:00 pm welcome reception. The reception included sparkling wine, crew introductions and our official welcome aboard by the Captain and mandatory safety briefing.
There are officially 146 passengers on this sailing. Interestingly, there is a group of 58 people from BC Hydro’s “Power Pioneers”. They are retirees from the power company in British Columbia.
We sat with two very pleasant couples at the reception Donnie and Marie from Chicago and Parm and Rani from Vancouver. When the reception was complete, it was dinner time and the six of us sat together. There was lots of good conversation and laughs throughout the meal.
As for the meal, it was delicious. Sue had a green salad, cauliflower soup, and a grilled halibut with risotto. She opted out of dessert. I had an avocado and crab salad, the cauliflower soup, gnocchi with a truffle filling and a chocolate torte to finish off the meal. The portions were good sized without being humongous and the servers were on top of their game. It was a great way to kick off the cruise.
No nightcap for us tonight. We headed to the room to change and relax before heading to bed early. We didn’t have a jam-packed day, but we did have a full day. Tomorrow promises to be a bit busier.
Today we start with an official pre-cruise activity. We will be visiting the ancient Roman city of Aquincum. It was discovered in 1894 and is now a museum and archeological site.
Located there are preserved walls, baths, houses, an aqueduct and a forum that help to document military, civic and religious life at the time. It’s a historical window to Ancient Rome.
A quick bus ride took us there as it is located in the old Buda area. Our guide, Anna, led us through the ruins and did a great job of explaining the ruins and how they have interpreted life to have been like for the people living there.
It was all very interesting, but the feature that intrigued people the most were the baths and toilets. Forget the day-to-day living and merchant set up…but how did they get water to the baths and heat it and did they have to share toilet facilities?
Walking through the ruins
If your curiosity is running rampant, the water came from the aqueduct via smaller clay pipes and was warmed using hot air from a furnace that was kept burning day and night. The farther away from the furnace, the cooler the water would be. As for toilet-sharing, there was supposedly separate times for men and women to use the group facilities.
After visiting this Hungarian Pompeii, we boarded the bus and headed over to the Pest side of the city for a bit of a walk around.
We had a small group that was with Anna, as many folks went back to the hotel directly. We were able to personalize the walk with questions and personal stories from Anna and a woman whose grandmother lived in Budapest during the years of war and unrest. It was great that they chose to share some details with the rest of us.
Our walk took us through the city center by the US embassy, through Liberty Park, then by the war memorial and over to Saint Stephan’s Basilica.
Scenes from our walk
We made an early dinner reservation at a small Italian restaurant called ‘Comme Chez Soi‘. Now before you start thinking that it was just old folks looking for the senior special, we had an ulterior motive. We were thinking that we could squeeze in an evening river cruise when the lights come on. More on that later.
The restaurant is not large and all the tables were taken. We were definitely happy that we made reservations or we wouldn’t have gotten in – even for an early dinner.
The restaurant may have been small, but as they say: “Good things come in small packages!”. The staff were all wonderful – very personable, attentive and just plain nice!
As for the food, everything was fresh, delicious and house-made. We both started with a caprese salad, then Sue chose pappardelle with shrimp scampi. I went with the tagliatelle carbonara and we punctuated the meal with a bottle of Antinori Chianti Classico..
A very tasty dinner.
We even managed to sneak in a tiramisu for dessert. Our waiter then brought over a limoncello to put a cap on our meal.
We had a delightful meal and would definitely recommend the restaurant should you find yourself in Budapest.
Our walk back to the hotel found us moving quickly, as the clouds had returned and it was windier and chillier with a bit of drizzle. We hoped that it would pass, but alas, it didn’t.
We deliberated a tiny bit and then decided to forgo the boat ride, instead spending a relaxing evening in the hotel watching the riverboats and listening to music while resting our legs. We will see the buildings lit up when we sail from Budapest Sunday evening.
We woke up ready to do a little sightseeing and exploring in Budapest. Once we cleaned up, we had a delicious breakfast in the hotel. Afterwards, we went to meet our Ama cruise director and check-in.
Our cruise director, Kristina, will be overseeing every aspect of our voyage for the week. After a brief chat, we received our luggage tags and then were on our way. We stopped back to the room to drop off our tags, slather on some sunscreen and grab our sunglasses before heading out.
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Budapest was once three cities – Buda, Óbuda and Pest, separated by the Danube river. In 1873, the cities merged together to become what is now known as Budapest. Buda is across the river from our hotel and is the older city. It is hilly and contains many of the older churches and castles. Pest is the more modern part of the city and is mainly flat, so it’s easy to walk around and explore. It is considered the more commercial section.
Once merged together, the combined city became Budapest, Hungary’s capital city – and that’s what we’re here to see.
Budapest Coat of Arms
Today we’re going to start off with a walk through Pest. We also need to find tonight’s dinner restaurant so we know how to get there. It’s a beautiful day, sunny and warm, but not too hot. There are some clouds around, but no rain is expected.
There are quite a few people out walking around, especially along the river promenade. While there are not beaches or water attractions, there are plenty of opportunities via boat rides or cafes and benches to just enjoy being by the water.
We easily found tonight’s restaurant; it was just a ten minute walk from our hotel. It’s located in the Four Seasons Hotel and looks really nice.
We continued up the pedestrian street from the restaurant to St. Stephan’s Basilica. I have to say, the air on the street was a delightful mix of foods from all the eating places we were passing by. If we hadn’t had a good breakfast, we would have stopped in any one of them for a tasty bite.
Restaurant lined pedestrian streetSue and Sgt. Schultz?
When we arrived at St. Stephan’s, it wasn’t too crowded. One of the highlights is to climb to the dome and enjoy the views over the city. I’m sure the views are gorgeous, but stair climbing was not on our agenda for this walk.
Saint Stephan’s Basilica
From the basilica, we headed towards the Parliament building and the waterfront. The Prime Minister of Ireland was in town visiting with Hungary’s new Prime Minister, so the area right in front of the building was closed down. We were still able to take a few pictures, but an inside tour was not available. Perhaps another opportunity will present itself before we leave.
Side entrance to Parliament
We walked along the promenade back towards our hotel and the “Chain” bridge. Along the way we came to the memorial dedicated to the Jewish war victims. The nazis had lined up a large group of Jews, had them remove their shoes and then murdered them along the river bank. A shoe memorial has been constructed to remember the victims of the atrocity. It’s a very moving memorial.
Jewish Shoe Memorial
We continued on until we reached the Chain bridge and then decided to walk across to the Buda side of town. The bridge reminded us of walking across the Brooklyn bridge in New York City. Lots of great views of the city and all along the waterfront.
Chain Bridge Views
Upon crossing, we thought about taking the funicular up to the castle area but chose to wait, as we were both getting tired from all the walking. We chose instead to sit and relax for a bit and watch as the lines of people headed up.
Funicular to Castle Hill
We walked back across the bridge with the sun now shining brightly and heating up the afternoon.
Continuing along the promenade, we passed many riverboats preparing for their next group of passengers. Some would be leaving today, others on Friday or Saturday. It didn’t take a genius to see that we would definitely not have the river to ourselves.
On your marks…
There are many interesting statues that you pass as you walk along the promenade.
“You can see that from here?”“Fletcher the fetcher? Really?”
When we arrived back at our hotel, we were both tired and thirsty – wine time!
We enjoyed a bottle of water, a glass of rosé and a comfortable patio chair before heading in to relax for a while.
There was a brief reception at 6:00 pm to toast to a successful voyage and hear some details about the pre-boarding activities. A quick glance around the room revealed a group with an age range of 50’s to 80’s, mostly Americans and Canadians, and a few groups of friends traveling together, which is about what we expected.
When the meeting broke up, it was time for Sue and I to head to dinner. This would be our official anniversary dinner. We are going to a restaurant called Kollázs Brasserie & Bar located in the Four Seasons Hotel.
We arrived at the restaurant and we were promptly seated. The interior was nicely decorated in a comfortable art deco style. The room filled up quickly with a diverse mix of locals and foreigners.
We ordered a bottle of Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis, goat cheese salads and then Sue had grilled sea bass, while I had the seared sea scallops. We also ordered a side of mashed potatoes with truffles.
Sea bassSeared scallops
Everything was delicious!
For dessert, I ordered a chocolate sponge dobosh cake with two spoons. It was also delicious and was surprisingly “on the house” for our anniversary. I must have checked a box when I made the reservation.
Afterwards, we took a nice stroll along the waterfront back to our hotel, enjoying the lighted buildings, bridges and ships.
We cleaned up, relaxed for a while and then it was off to dreamland. It had been an active day and we were tired.
Slightly Whirled - A Traveler's Tales 