I started off in Budapest, where I spent a day and a half wandering the streets in hot and sunny weather. I took the funicular railway (or Siklo) up the hill to look around the palace, Mattias Church and Fisherman's Bastion. St Stephen's Cathedral and a trip to Margaret Island by boat were also on the agenda. I finished off the day with a soothing dip at Gellert Baths, with its beautiful ornate swimming pool and the thermal plunge pool - just what I needed to relax after trudging the streets!
From Budapest, I took an early morning train to Vienna. Another beuatiful sunny day greeted me in the Austrian capital, as I looked around the city centre, including St Stephen's Cathedral, the Hofburg and Schonbrunn Schloss. At the latter, given my short time there, I elected to bypass the palace itself and focussed my time in the gardens instead. The large grounds are beautiful and include a hot house and the oldest zoo in the world. I spent an hour or so looking round the zoo, in which many of the animals were choosing to shelter from the heat in shade.
Vienna was my base for three days, but I got out of the city during this time, including a day trip east along the Danube to Slovakia. Bratislava is a city of two halves in more ways than one. Once occupied by the Communists, their mark is clearly visible on one side of the Danube as high rise flats line the riverbank. It truly is an eyesore and in direct contrast to the other side of the river, which sees the Old Town of cobbled streets and beautiful architecture remain.
Another day trip was in the other direction from Vienna, west by train to a town called Krems. This was the only part of my trip that did not go entirely to plan; my train was cancelled and replaced with a bus service instead. Given that I speak very little German, I think I did rather well to figure it all out and get to Krems in time for my boat along the Danube. This boat trip was along a section of the Danube known as the Wachau. A relaxing 3 hours spent crusing gently down the river and enjoying a cheeky apricot cake was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon. The boat docked in Melk, site of a beautiful Abbey.
That was the last full day or my holiday. The next day saw another early start to get the train back to Budapest and from there I flew home, after a lovely relaxing trip.
