June 7, 2026 - Budapest to Timisoara

We had breakfast on the ship and said goodbye to our wonderful waiter and waitress, Morkos from Egypt and Mon from Myanmar. Both of them were always greeting us with a smile and they were just great!

We met out new tour director, Bob, who will be taking care of us as we do a land tour through Romania then onto the bus heading to Timisoara at 8:30 this morning.

As we drove he gave us more information about Romania than I will ever remember! We saw lots of farms and trees, some deer, and lots of birds along the way. He said 30% of the country is agricultural with farming of corn, wheat and sunflowers. Another 30% of the country is covered in mountains and 30% are hills while the remaining 10% is rivers. The country is also rich in minerals and there has been lots of mining through the years.

After checking in to the Hotel Opera we headed to the square where we would have lunch on our own. We ended up getting some chips and sodas at the grocery store and just walking around for a while before we started our guided walking tour.

Timișoara, a significant city in Romania, features these banners as part of a broader, high-profile engagement across the country to strengthen the U.S.-Romania Strategic Partnership.

Art on one of the buildings

Liberty Square, formerly known as Parade Square, is the second oldest square in the city. In the early 1800s it was known as Prince Eugene Square, after Eugene of Savoy, the field marshal who liberated Timisoara from the Ottoman occupation in 1716. It was renamed Liberty Square in 1848, with the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution, but after the Austrian army recaptured the city, the square returned to the name of Prince Eugene Square. The current name has been in use since 1921. In 2015, Liberty Square was completely transformed during a rehabilitation project of the district and was paved with red and gray bricks in concentric circles.

Under the area where Tobey and the guide are standing where the bricks are not in a circular pattern because they found the remains of original Turkish baths. They refilled the area to preserve it and used the gray bricks to show the layout of the building below.

We continued to St. George's Square, the smallest of the squares in Timisoara. It was first the location of a Catholic church, which later became a mosque during the Ottoman occupation, then handed back to the Jesuits who opened a new church and dedicated it to St. George. The Statue of St. George and the Dragon in St. George Square commemorates the young people—children and teenagers—who lost their lives during the violent confrontations of the December 1989 Romanian Revolution. When the city was renovating all of the squares, they found over 50 skeletons in the area where the Turkish mosque was excavated.



Our next stop on the tour was Victory Square which was known as Opera Square until 1990. It is the place where Timișoara on December 20, 1989 was proclaimed the first city free of communism in Romania.


The Steiner Palace housed the South Hungarian Discount Bank during the pre-war period.

The beehive design at the top of the building indicates that it was originally a bank. We saw several buildings throughout the area with the beehive symbol on the top.

From Victory Square we made our way back through the city to the Cathedral Mitropoltano passing under a colorful street decorated with umbrellas and a fun pastry shop.

The Timișoara Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral an early 20th-century Neo-Moldavian style Orthodox church located in the city center. It’s massive height and size makes the Cathedral viewable from neighborhoods situated at far distances throughout the city. The enormous Cathedral has the capacity to host around 5,000 people at any given time.

Our official tour ended here so Tobey, Wendy, and I continued to see the inside of the Cathedral.


Very near the Cathedral was the Tower of Piarist Church. We did not go in, but it is beautiful from the outside!

We decided to go back to see the Cetate Synagogue. Due to the decline in the number of Jews leaving for Israel after World War II, the synagogue was closed in 1985. Extensive restoration work began in 2017 and now the Cetate Synagogue in Timișoara is used today primarily as for hosting cultural events. There was to be a musical performance later today.


After dinner at the hotel, Tobey and I went for one more walk through the area. We had walked down this street earlier and wanted to see it lit up.

We enjoyed seeing the fountain again before heading back to the hotel. 

It was another busy day and tomorrow we depart for Hunedoara Castle.

June 6, 2026 - Bratislava, Slovakia to Budapest, Hungary

We sailed away from Bratislava about 8:00am today heading to Budapest, Hungary. Bart gave commentary about things we were seeing along the route as we arrived. We saw an island in the middle of the Danube as we approached the city. Margaret Island is a natural island formed by Danube sediment that was significantly expanded and artificially unified from three smaller islands during 19th-century river regulations. It has a long history as a royal hunting reserve, medieval religious site, and now a public park. You can also see the Margaret Bridge which connects Buda and Pest while famously featuring a 165-degree bend that leads onto Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube. It was opened in 1876.

The very industrial buildings were from the Communist times and were - and are still - apartment buildings. They still look much the same on the outside.

Budapest was officially created on November 17, 1873, by merging the three separate cities of Buda, Pest, and Óbuda, becoming a major European capital. With roots dating back to Celtic settlements and the Roman city of Aquincum, it has survived Ottoman rule, the Habsburg monarchy, and two world wars to become a modern center of culture on the Danube. Following the fall of the socialist regime in 1989, Budapest transitioned to a market economy and was named a UNESCO World Heritage site. As we were sailing, Buda, is on the right side of the river and is quite hilly. Pest is on the left and is flat.
Budapest is now the largest city located on the Danube with 1.7 million residents within the city limits while the total metropolitan area exceeds 3.3 million.

This is the Hungarian Parliament Building which opened in 1902.

The Szilágyi Dezső Square Reformed Church is a Protestant was built by from 1893 to 1896. I loved the colorful tile roof.


Another one of the four bridges in Budapest

The yellow building below was one of the first Turkish bath houses in Budapest.

The Liberty statue commemorates those who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary. It was first erected in 1947 in remembrance of the Soviet liberation of Hungary during World War II. The woman is holding a palm leaf.

The church in the rock along the banks of the Danube.

Budapest University of Technology and Economics is the beautiful building below. A very famous professor from there invented something we all know and many may still have in our homes ... the Rubik's cube!

After we docked in Budapest we went on a tour of the city. Part of the tour was by bus and part walking. We drove by several of the buildings we had seen from the ship as we made our way to Hero's Square. In the center of the square is the Millennium Monument with statues featuring the seven chieftains of the Magyars and other important Hungarian national leaders, as well as the Memorial Stone of Heroes.

The left hand columns hold statues of the most important rulers of a thousand years, a group of statues of the seven kings of Hungarians.


We also walked a small way in the Jewish quarter by the synagogue. What a beautiful building!


There were displays outside the a memorial cemetery within the grounds. The Central Synagogue also has this very beautiful Holocaust memorial which has the names of the dead or the missing on 30,000 inscribed leaves.

On a lighter note, we saw several different groups of people in Budapest celebrating things. This group of fellows were there for a bachelor's party and we saw lots of bachelorette groups, as well.

The Széchenyi Chain Bridge is Budapest's most iconic and historic suspension bridge, spanning the Danube to connect Buda and Pest. Opened in 1849 as the first permanent bridge over the Danube, this 1230 foot landmark features neoclassical stone towers, wrought-iron chains, and stone lions guarding each end. It was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by Scottish engineer Adam Clark. It was famously blown up by retreating German troops in 1945 during WWII but was rebuilt and reopened in 1949. The bridge has two pedestrian walkways and we enjoyed crossing over and seeing the sights from the river.


Views from the bridge


Wendy and Tobey

After the tour we headed back to the ship for a quick lunch then went to explore the market area nearby. The Great Market Hall is one of the largest indoor markets in Budapest and is beautiful. We saw lots of fresh produce, fish, meat, cured meats, dairy products, and spices - especially paprika! You could find almost any kind of souvenir there, also!


From the second level of the Central Market

Wendy and I spotted a shop baking the Chimney cakes as we made our way back to the ship. Tobey took his time and came back later.

This was our last diner onboard. We met these lovely ladies from the Philadelphia area and shared most of our meals with them throughout the cruise. In the front are Susan, Fran, and Kristi. Tobey, Wendy and I are in the back.

Following dinner as a Hungarian Operetta show in the lounge. It was entertaining and fun to see.

After the show the ship repositioned to the other side of the river for our disembarking tomorrow. On the way, we cruised part way down the river to see the sights at night. It was beautiful!

There were so many other boats - many of them were "day trip" cruises doing the same thing. At one point I counted seven boats along side of us!

We were still smiling!

Parliament building at night

It was a long day and tomorrow we have an early morning before we leave the ship. Our land tour of Romania begins about 8am!