Homeward bound 18 October

 I had a good nights sleep. Went to bed at 7.30 pm. Everything goes well walking to the airport although it is still blowing and a very cold 12 degrees. There is hardly anyone there initially but it is quickly building up. We get help with our boarding passes and then we have to do the bag drop. It all works smoothly. We are through security, although I sent the machine off with my knee again and underwent a thorough security pat down, even checking my shoes. It is just after 5.15 and we are awaiting our gate number. The business class lounge does not open until 5.30 and boarding starts at 5.50 so there is little point going there.

Austrian Airways are very efficient, plane left on time and landed on time. Prior to boarding we received emails telling us that are luggage was being loaded for en route to Melbourne and then what gate are plane was leaving from. Now in Munich waiting 5 hours for our next flight to Singapore, at least we can rest in the Business class lounge.

A long flight just over 11 hours. We land at 6.15 (Singapore time) and are in the lounge in 30 minutes. We were up at 4 am and it is 1 am Vienna time. We landed an hour early so now we have a 5 hour wait until our last leg takes off. I had about a total of 4 hours sleep. While you can stretch out there is still a lot of noise going on.

We left Singapore just 15 minutes late at 11.25 and after a very smooth flight landed on time at 9.35 pm Melb time. After a delay in buying Ann’s Shiraz gin, we get to the luggage carousel at 10 pm. Fifteen minutes later we are off to border control, the queue for nothing to declare is over fifty metres long, just when you think you are there turning a corner, the queue continues. It takes 15 minutes to get to the control point. What a farce! If they know how many planes are arriving put on extra staff! We find our driver and a quick drive home and we are there at 11.35. In bed by midnight. Total travel time since we got up at Vienna at 4 am Friday - 36 hours! 

Thursday 17 October

 Up early as bags out by 7 am. It is 8 degrees and cold. We are on the bus by 7.30 and off to the airport. It is just over 35 minutes until we arrive at the airport. We are dropped off with the other departing passengers and now we have to find our hotel. We can’t find the tunnel to the hotel but we get directions as to where it is. It is not far and we head off. The wind is very strong and cold. As we are almost there, we find an entry from the underground near the hotel. We get to the hotel by 8.30 and ask if we can drop our bags somewhere. We are in luck, two rooms are available! 

We rest for a while and decide to check out the route back to the airport. It is quite easy when you know where you are going, but would be difficult to find if you do not know the airport layout. While waiting before going out we watched The Austrian Chase!

We grab a bite to eat while at the airport and then head back. The hotel is quite quirky. The rooms are comfortable, but small and basic. Ideal for a rest while waiting for flights. 

I have a snooze during the afternoon while Ann reads.

For dinner we head back to the airport and have a double whopper at Burger King! Afterwards it is an early night as up at 4 am tomorrow!

Wednesday 16 October

 Vienna, Austria our last stop. It is 8 degrees, clear and sunny but a strong wind is blowing which makes it very cold. Where we are docked is unbelievably busy. We are beside another river ship and as far as you can see ahead and behind are cruise ships two and sometimes three abreast.

We head out to meet our bus tour at 9 am and there are coaches everywhere. It is going to be very busy in the city. We drive around the city for 30 to 40 minutes where different highlights were pointed out. We then have a walking tour around the castle area and shopping district. The wind is freezing and it is worse when out of the sunshine. At midday it is only 13 degrees. At 11.45 we are given free time until 12.25. Most of us just want to go back to the ship. Vienna under Emperor Franz Joseph of the Hapsburgs was transformed during the late 1800s. There are large buildings which were built as houses and are now hotels. They are beautiful buildings and it must have been a very wealthy city during that time.

The palace, no longer a “palace”, is huge and is now used for conventions.  The famous Lipizzaners were stabled nearby and we saw one being groomed under heated lamps. On our way to the bus we found a cafe called Castelleto! After lunch we start packing. Cannot believe we have reached the end. We have done so much. We are off early tomorrow 7.30 but we are staying at the airport because we have a 6.30 am flight to Munich!

Horse under the heat lamps

Viennese Schnitzel 

Apple Strudle

The Danube was quite rough

Tuesday 15 October

 We crossed another border overnight into Slovakia. It is cool this morning when we wake to 8 degrees. Expected top temperature of 15 degrees. It is still clear and sunny though. Our tour is not until 2 pm in Bratislava so we have a relaxing morning, although we do have to start packing soon.

Around 11 am we have a cooking demonstration on how to make an Apple strudel. The main chef has been entertaining us most nights with presenting his recommendations for the evening meal and after each description he would rub his tummy and say yummy, yummy. At the Apple strudel demonstration he was introduced with the song “Yummy Yummy”! He got a great cheer.

We get held up at a loch for a while, and apparently the police wanted to check all our papers, sounds like more corruption to me. As a result our afternoon tour is put back by 45 minutes. However when we arrive, a Viking ship has taken our dock, which our tour director tells us is illegal and now we have to speak to the authorities to find out where we dock, more delays.

We eventually get off and start our walking tour. Bratislava is an interesting city.  Many lovely buildings, statue of Hans Christen Anderson, and plaques on buildings where a 9 year old Beethoven first played a public concert and another where  Mozart stayed. 

It was quite cool late in the afternoon and we were glad to get back on board. Prior to the captain‘s cocktail party we met up in the Luggs room for a glass of red and a bed photo!

After a lovely meal we go to our last entertainment with Johnathon. He sings some great songs and one from Peter Allen which got all the Aussies singing out loud - I still call Australia home! The majority of those on board are Canadian, with a few from the USA and UK and they were unsure what was going on. Johnathon has a great voice and he sang among others, Nesum Dorma, Time to say goodbye, Joy, Sounds of Silence and Sweet home Alabama. It was a great night.

BBQ shrimp

Beef Tenderloin 

Chocolate Fondant

Sail away from Budapest

 

Monday 14 October

 Still in Hungary - Budapest. Cool morning 7 degrees, but clear sunny skies, expected top temperature 15 degrees. More coughing occurring at breakfast, masks will be worn on the bus at the first outbreak. Some are wearing masks continually. Last night at port talk it was emphasised to use the hand sanitizer before entering the main areas. Too many people coughing into their hands and then touching other surfaces.

After breakfast we have a city tour and Parliament building visit. Our guide speaks very good English and is funny and entertaining. We pass by a few landmarks and then enter the parliament building. It is an enormous building and we have a special guide take us through. The structure is magnificent, very ornate with gold leaf. The main entrance has a magnificent stair case. It has warmed up and is a pleasant 17 degrees, although it is quite warm and stuffy inside the building. We are taken to the Royal room where the crown, sceptre, sword and orb of the Hungarian kings (no photos allowed). While now a republic they are still cherished by the nation and are guarded round the clock by two soldiers. The crown etc were taken by the USA and kept at Fort Knox for safekeeping when the USSR were seeking control. Jimmy Carter returned them in 1973, and made it a stipulation that no Soviet officials were permitted to attend the handing over ceremony.

We then have a walking tour around Pest and head back to the ship for lunch. There were many beautiful buildings.

Log jam next to our ship

Hungarian Pancake with chicken and paprika

Ice cream dessert

Sunday 13 October

 This morning we are in Kalosca, still in Hungary. It is cool 9 degrees and a little cloudy. The coughs are becoming more frequent.  We have a tour to the Polska horse show but on the way we stop at Trinty Square in the town. It is a beautiful area with a Cathedral and bishops residence and other beautiful buildings. There is a lovely statue dedicated to the Holy Trinity. After 40 minutes here we then head on to the Puszta horse show. Our guide is again very knowledgeable and entertaining. 

We are offered some local food and the now regular brandy distilled from fruit, this one is from apricots. Again as with the others it tastes like ethanol!

The horse show was really entertaining, with whip cracking, horse tricks, trick riding and a type of race.

Our guide tells us that this area of hungry is the breadbasket of Europe. The whole area of our 30 minute drive is flat agriculture land. All the fields have been harvested. When the communists took over after WW2 they confiscated all land, animals and machinery and no recompense was provided. After the Berlin Wall fell Hungary became a democratic republic. One of the first things the government did was to hand all the land etc. back to the rightful owners. A new problem arose, this generation had no knowledge of how to farm the land! It has taken awhile but the knowledge has been recovered and it is progressing well.

While this is another country that was conquered and ruled by the ottomans our guide says that two good things happened that probably would not have occurred. Coffee and Turkish baths! Our guide cannot cope without her morning coffee and she loves a nice hot Turkish bath.

We now have a relaxing afternoon sailing towards Budapest. While cooler than we have experienced so far it is still a pleasant 18 degrees.

Chocolate mousse

Chicken Roulade

Saturday 12 October.

 Today we are in Mohács Hungary. It is a little cool this morning around 9 degrees, but clear and sunny with temperature expected to get to 21 degrees.

After breakfast we have a tour starting at 9 am and we are off to a winery! But our first stop is at a mill. This was a mill that was used by the farmers from surrounding areas and even further away. When the communists took over and confiscated everything it fell into disuse and ruin. The current owner bought the property and decided to rebuild it to its original state. He developed a passion for mills and began collecting all different tools and items and built from scratch a large treadmill for grinding. He also has a water wheel mill and a hand driven one among other fascinating implements. He was really passionate about his “hobby”.

We then moved onto the winery called Bock. By now it was 20 degrees and sunny and clear. We first tasted a white wine outside and then entered the cellars while tasting a red wine. As we moved from area to area we were offered different wines. It was a unique way to have a wine tasting and explore the cellars. The last stop was amazing, it was like an underground crypt. Our host tells us that Placido Domingo had sung in here. After that we headed back to the ship and a relaxing afternoon. We have noticed that coughs are starting to make an appearance, some worse than others. We are now taking our masks with us and at the first sign of someone coughing putting them on. Not too much time left now but still do not want to catch anything!

 

Photos from winery to follow

Photos Golubac Fortress

 

Friday 11 October.

 Quiet morning as our tour is not until 3.15 pm. It is clear but a cool 13 degrees when we wake up back in Croatia. We have a late breakfast and decide to have a look at the town - Osijek. It is the fourth largest city in Croatia and the area we walk to is busy with eateries and people everywhere. Some of the buildings still have bullet holes in from the war with Serbia. We spend an hour there and head back. I want to try and upload some photos. Partially successful, but it is a slow process. Sometimes I can upload two but then I have to revert to one at a time, and I never know whether it is going to work until I review the post! 

We head off at 3 pm and it is a pleasant 25 degrees. Our first stop is the nature park for a boat trip around the canal and marshland where there is supposed to be abundant wildlife and birds. We saw cormorants, a couple of ducks and a heron or two! We then had time to walk on a boardwalk through the reeds! What a totally underwhelming event.

After all that excitement we head off to our home dinner, which was fantastic. We had a great time with Nada our host.

After dinner and back on board the opal, the tour director has arranged a special event. His cousin belongs to a three piece traditional Croatian group and one plays a Tamburica, looks like a miniature mandolin. The other two play a guitar and a piano accordion. We sat there stunned as did the rest of the audience. The songs seemed to roll into one, the voices were terrible and the melody hardly changed. At least they seemed to enjoy themselves, no one else did. Maybe the words were funny, nothing else was. It was a relief to go to bed!