Budapest, Hungary.

It’s strange where life leads you – we never thought we’d ever get back to Vienna after our first visit in 2009. Saying goodbye to this fabulous city for a 2^nd time had us feeling quite sad. It’s such a friendly and liveable city, with wide open spaces of grass and trees, lakes and pathways, while also having tall buildings of glass contrasting with the old monuments and stone structures. The blue Danube stretches wide and long through the middle of the city. It’s just a superb place to be.

But our ship sailed on towards our journey’s completion. In the evening after departing Vienna we crossed into Slovakia as the Danube snaked its way towards the Black Sea. We very quickly came to the country’s capital, Bratislava, a city that I had toured briefly earlier in the day. Vienna and Bratislava are two of the closest capital cities in the world (the only closer capitals are Rome and the Vatican City). Both cities being so close to their country’s common border, it was less than an hour by road, and similar by river. And the two cities are certainly a contrast, as are the two countries.

Walking the streets of Bratislava made me think that I was in a previous communist country, and indeed Slovakia, when part of the former Czechoslovakia, was behind the Iron Curtain and was occupied by Warsaw Pact troops in the late 1960s. The country split with the Czech Republic in the early 1990s and Slovakia’s economy has been booming ever since. This strained recent history was quite evident in the buildings and monuments, and even the people were reserved and tentative while still being friendly and obliging. It was a fascinating few hours visiting such a different city to those of Germany and Austria.

Parliament building of Budapest. 

 We had our Farewell Dinner that night, with the usual fantastic food and wine in the plush restaurant. The entire crew came to bid us goodbye, and it was an emotional celebration. Much singing, dancing and partying was had late into the night. We went to bed in Slovakia and woke up in Hungary, and we made a spectacular mid-morning entry into the capital city, Budapest. It was so spectacular that the captain of our ship sailed up the Danube past the Parliament before doing a U-turn for another sail past. We docked directly opposite the Parliament, which meant that this incredible building dominated the view from our cabin window. Floodlit at night, that view was simply breathtaking.

Our home for two weeks, the Scenic Jade.

 Strangely, our final full day of the cruise was rainy, the first rain of the entire cruise. The crew were astounded that these past two weeks had been such good weather. The rain and poor visibility hampered our excursion, but we saw enough to know that Budapest is yet another beautiful European city. And again it has a chequered past in recent history, being the centre of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. We heard stories of how life was so difficult when under the Nazi occupation of WW2, and then communist Socialist rule. Today it’s a vibrant and sparkling city, perfect for our tour to finish on a very high note.

The best waiter in Europe - Kristjan from Macedonia ...

... and the best Cruise Director, Werny from Rudesheim, Germany.

And so we are sitting in the lounge of the Scenic Jade waiting for our transport to the airport to begin our long journey home. Our friend Kristjan from Macedonia has just served us our final champagne, and we toasted a fond farewell to this ship that we’ve called home for 15 days. We’ve said goodbye to our new friends from the cruise – Derek and Sheelagh from Manchester, Dale and Rob from Saskatchewan, and Greg and Janelle from Brisbane. Then there was our room service lady Mina, butler Namanji, hotel manager Nemmin, barman Boris, receptionist Milli, waiters Paul and Almir, musician Marton (what a great pianist he is), from all different parts of the world. The crew have been so friendly, the ship so comfortable, the scenery so spectacular, the food and wines delicious, the service exemplary, the organisation like clockwork. We have nothing but praise for this tour, it’s been something we’ve never done before and difficult to imagine how we could ever better it again.

While we wait, clients for the next cruise are coming on board. There’s no rest for this crew, they will sail back to Amsterdam as the final cruise for the season. They’ll earn their holidays. We’re excited to be going home – we desperately miss our pregnant daughter. The latest is that she’s still in one piece. Just two more days and we’ll be together. But we’re also sad to be leaving our new friends on the Scenic Jade. As Cruise Director Werney would say prior to each day’s adventure – “Life is not a rehearsal. It’s showtime.”