Tag Archives: The Danube

Leaving Budapest

Our boat set on it’s cruising course on the evening of Sunday March 1st. The captain let us know when we would be traveling past the Parliament building so we could get the night time photos. It was during our dinner that we sailed past.

Below is a fold out map of the parts of the Danube that we would be traveling on.

Our first stop would be at Bratislava, Slovakia.

We would then cruise beyond Vienna to Melk, Linz and Grein returning to Vienna for a two night stay before we returned to Budapest.

On this first evening on board we had a welcome cocktail with the captain of the ship for his mandatory safety briefing.

For our cruise the heads of the departments were from Spain, Romania, Indonesia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, and the Philippines. During our briefing we met some of the heads.

Dinner on the first night was open seating and we sat at a table of eight and enjoyed learning about the different people we ate with.

Most days breakfast was from 7:30 – 9:30 with a bistro option from 6:30am-10:30am for early or late risers.

Lunch was served from 12:30 until 2:00

Dinner was from 7:00-8:30 (some evenings dinner started later when excursions were longer)

There was a sip and sail cocktail hour every evening and after dinner entertainment, too.

Late night snacks were available each evening.

On this first night of our journey I woke and looked at my phone to see what time it was. It was 2am and I noticed a message from our credit card company about possible fraud on my card. After a call to the credit card company to verify that I did not make the charge, I was advised to destroy my card and they would issue me a new one. What a bother that was so early into our trip. Thankfully we would still be able to use Greg’s card. Next time we travel I’ll take a back up card, too. Oye! Needless to say there was no going back to sleep for me and when I made the call to our credit card company Greg was up, too. After a couple hours we ended up going in search of coffee. Coffee pods were available in our room but we preferred going to the machines on board that were available 24 hours a day.

Next river cruise post will be about Bratislava, Slovakia.

Back to the present: What beautiful weather we have been enjoying since Saturday. The highs are reaching 60 and beyond with lots of sunshine and blue skies. We even got outside to clear some of the thousands of branches that are strewn across our yard from the major wind storm that developed while we were away.

Our kids gathered the largest branches while we were gone but there are many more smaller branches that still need gathering.

Our unprotected daffodils finally opened up on Easter.

These tulips that we bought at Trader Joe’s this past Saturday are Peony Tulips. They make me smile.

I’ve made good progress on my Easter puzzle and only have the very hardest dark part left.

That is all the up to the minute news from our house to yours. Hope all is well in your corner.

Budapest Pre-Cruise

We arrived in Budapest on the afternoon of Friday February 27th. There was an AmaWaterways Kiosk just outside of the baggage claim area where we checked in and met a few of our fellow river cruise passengers before it was time to board our bus to the hotel. When making our arrangements for the cruise we chose the 2 day pre-cruise option and we are so glad that we did. On our bus ride to the hotel we were able to get our first glimpse of the Danube.

When we arrived at the hotel we were pleasantly surprised at the luxury level of the hotel.

The Matilde Palace is a luxury hotel and part of the Marriott properties. This is not the type of hotel we would book for ourselves. There were automatic buttons for everything including the curtains and sheers.

Matild Palace, an iconic gem of Budapest, was envisioned in 1902 by her Imperial and Royal Highness, Maria Kotild of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as part of the twin Kotild Palaces, a beacon of the Bell Epoque Era. Standing proudly beside the Elisabeth Bridge, these two majestic landmarks were designed to inspire and sere the social heart of the city. Over the decades, Matild Palace has borne witness to profound historical moments. From the grandeur of its early days to the trials of two world wars and the Hungarian revolution. Following a meticulous restoration, it emerged reborn in 2021 as a masterpiece within Marriott’s luxury collection.

Today, Matild Palace invites guests to immerse themselves in art nouveau inspired rooms and suites, and dine in exquisite venues led by the globally acclaimed Chef Wolfgang Puck.

Before dinner we had a meeting with our Tour Director for some general information. I thought I had made dinner reservations on Friday evening at a restaurant in town but come to find out it was for Saturday night instead of Friday night. We shifted our plans and headed up to the rooftop bar in our hotel and had some charcuterie and lovely views of the town at night.

 

Saturday morning we woke up early. Breakfast was included with our pre tour package. The hotel puts on an amazing buffet along with items you could choose off of a menu. We were really impressed with all of it and with the honey comb that was part of the buffet.

The breakfast view of the Elizabeth Bridge.

We had an early morning walk on streets next to the hotel. We tried to get some local currency at a bank ATM and the transactions would not go through. We hoped this was just a local issue.

So many grand buildings with impressive architecture.

The back entrance to the Matilde.

There was a excursion on Saturday morning that we were part of and into the tour we broke off to be able to buy tickets to see the inside of St. Stephens Basilica. I’ll share those photos in another post. We had time on Saturday to be on our own and also on Sunday before it was time for embarkation on the AmaMagna.

Back to the Present:

Monday afternoon was JJ time here while Addy was at dance lessons. While we were away he had to go to dance with his mom and Addy which was quite boring for him. He kept asking how many more days until we would return.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and we will be enjoying a corned beef and cabbage meal later in the day.

We are still in recovery mode and I’m forcing myself to stay awake till at least 8pm. Hopefully sleep patterns will return to normal, soon.