April brought a change of scenery and a new experience. A quick flight from Manchester to Budapest and we jumped on board the MS Thomas Hardy in time for dinner and a cruise up the Danube to Slovakia. This was the start of a 7 night river cruise with Riviera, a trip for Grandma that had been postponed twice.
We were lucky with the weather and soon discovered we were lucky to be on the cruise too. The cruise companies were still struggling to fill the boats and had been forced to cancel and amalgamate cruises. On top of that, the water levels were currently high and some ships were stranded for days waiting to get under bridges.
Our little trip was fantastic and very well managed. We soon discovered that this style of river cruising has a very different feel to it compared to sea going cruises. This does not have any “at sea days”, every day has either coach tours and /or walking tours to go on followed by time to do some self exploring.
Learning about the history of the countries we past through was a real eye opener for me. Discovering that Budapest was the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and about the plans Hitler had for Linz as his home town. The “Shoes on the Danube Bank” in Budapest were very poignant.
Highlights of the cruise included the crypt of St Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna, the sunsets (always a winner for me), Melk Abbey and learning about Richard the Lionheart in Durnstein .
Ironically on returning to UK we all tested positive for Covid and thankfully only had mild doses of the lurgy.
Sounds wonderful! What fabulous photos–thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful holiday. So glad you finally went and hope that Grandma had a great time too! Love the photos.