This morning we said our final goodbyes to the crew and passengers on the AMABella. Our taxi arrives to deliver us to the train station Keleti Pu in Budapest. The Station has a beautiful facade but inside is fairly grotty and of course everything is in Hungarian. Because we stand out like 'tourists' we are an easy mark for a "porter". At first I said we don't need him but he was very insistent so eventually we gave in. We were quite a bit early thanks to the ad...

This morning we sail into Budapest. Mixed feelings today as this means that our cruise is coming to an end. The cruise has been awesome. Is way above my expectations and is certainly not just for the oldies. The other passengers often comment to us that they wish they had done something like this when they were our age as some of the walking is quite challenging. Having said that the cruise director and APT certainly make sure everyone can do as much as they want...

This morning we set sail from Vienna. It is a lovely morning to sit on the top deck as we cruise. We have a briefing about Budapest and disembarkation which no-one is excited about. At lunchtime we arrive at Bratislava in Slovakia. We have booked the communist tour which takes us for a drive around the town and the guide who is very funny points out buildings related to communist times and changes since then. We go to the castle and back to the ship. It's quite h...

Vienna Capital of Austria. We start our day with a tour to Schonbrunn Palace the former summer residence of the Hapsburg family who ruled much of Europe for over 600 years. It is a most amazing building and the gardens are both extensive and beautiful. We have guided tour through 22 rooms of the palace and few time to explore the gardens. It is much warmer today and it is Saturday so it is quite busy. We return to the ship for lunch after a drive around the Ring...

Today we wake up in Austria and dock in Melk. After breakfast we disembark for a tour of the Melk Abbey. The abbey started out as a residence for the Babenberg family but since 1089 it has been a Bendectine Monastery. There are still 30 monks living and practicing in the monastery and it is also the campus of a school where the students study ancient languages. After the tour we can make our own way back to the ship via the cute little old town of Melk. Back on ...