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!

June 5, 2026 - Vienna, Austria to Bratislava, Slovakia

We sailed overnight and arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia early this morning. Every evening the ship gives us an itinerary of what the next day's schedule will be along with the weather forecast. Well, it was supposed to be 78 and sunny today ... it was maybe 63, rainy and cloudy. Bummer! Tobey and I were dressed in shorts and decided to head up to the "sun deck" to watch going through one of the locks. We were about blown away and shivering! Needless to say, we made a quick trip back to our cabin to change into warmer clothes.
There were beautiful wildflowers growing along the path by the lock.

After breakfast our cruise director, Bart, gave a talk on the rise and fall of Communism in Europe as we continued on to Bratislava. We enjoyed looking out the window at the scenery as we listened.
We also noticed many of these "tiny" houses all along the river. This one was in great repair but many of them were so tiny and definitely not luxurious! They are small fishing houses.


After Bart finished his talk they gave a VERY brief demonstration on how to make apple strudel. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but they gave us the recipe so I might try it at home after I convert all of the measurements from liters and grams to cups and tablespoons!

We had free time until noon when the dining room opened for lunch followed by a walking tour in Bratislava. I LOVED Bratislava and wished we had another day there!

Our tour guide gave us so much history of the area and town of Bratislava it was almost overwhelming. As we got off our boat and heading into the city we could see the Bratislava Castle on the top of the hill. We did not have time to climb up there and tour so we need another day here!
This was our first view of St. Martin's Cathedral. The Gothic three-nave church from the 15th century is considered the coronation church of the Hungarian kings. Ludwig van Beethoven performed his work Missa solemnis for the first time in Bratislava in 1835. A few years later, in 1884, Franz Liszt also conducted a Hungarian coronation mass here. The top of the cathedral's 85-high tower is decorated with a gilded replica of St. Stephen's crown - a copy of the Hungarian royal crown. We came back after the official tour and went inside the church to check it out.




The building below was built along the original wall of the city and is just outside of the cathedral.

Looking up this street is where the Jewish quarter in Bratislava started with the yellow building on the left. It is very near St. Martin's Cathedral.

The pink building is was once the Archbishop's palace. In 1805 Napolean signed a peace treaty, "The Peach of Pressburg" in 1805 here. Today it serves as the mayor's seat and hosts the City Council.


The concrete and glass building with the green sections under the windows is from the communist era in the city. It definitely looked out of place compared to the other architecture.

You can see the beautiful tile roof on this building.

St. George slaying the dragon

This is one of the oldest buildings in the Old Town part of Bratislava. Our guide told us that the person who had owned it was convicted of embezzling money and put in prison. Whoever buys the building will have to pay the money back that was embezzled before they could even begin to fix it up!

There area statues all over the city. This one commemorates the 1805-1809 time period when Napoleon's army was in Bratislava and the French army bombarded the city. The local legend claims that a French soldier named Hubert fell in love with a local girl, stayed in the city, and began producing sparkling wine.



Several buildings in Bratislava - especially around the Old Town, have cannonballs embedded in their walls from the 1809 bombardment by Napoleon's army. It is lodged high up on the town near a window, dating back to the siege of Pressburg. Our guide said that it is thought that the government would give the citizens money to rebuild after the siege, but they had to have proof of damage and many people gathered up cannonballs and inserted them into their buildings. Who knows?

Street views

Bratislava is about 70% Roman Catholic but they did allow other religions to have churches here - with some conditions. The white building below was originally a Lutheran church. They could not have their main entrance in the front or have spires. This is now a Catholic church but

There was a mass going on so I snapped a quick picture from the entryway behind the glass windows. The altar is made with a green marble and not nearly as ornate at the Catholic churches.

One of the biggest highlights of the day was a competition of young people doing traditional dances and songs. We saw this first group and they posed for pictures for us.
Later all of the groups processed through the old town then ended at the square where their competition/demonstration took place. I have videos but the internet on the ship is not very good so I will have to update this post later with some of the actual dancing/singing. We spent 1-1/2 hours watching and had a great time. Needless to say, we had to be back on the ship so we didn't get to see many of the other sights in Bratislava!




Wendy and I did split a poppy seed filled bagel and a cinnamon chimney cake. Both were really yummy!

Back on board they had a disembarkation talk before dinner. It's hard to believe our time on the Danube is coming to an end. We have to remember the saying, "Don't be sad it's over, be happy you experienced. it."