Durnstein at dawn. Yes, it was cold.

Getting there is half the fun. Isn’t it? Not all travel goes according to plan. Pack clean knickers in your carry-on luggage.

Budapest We manage to make it to Budapest

A tour of Budapest – and a look at the night lights from the river Doing the Budapest tourist thing

Vienna Culture, concerts, and the rugby world cup

Bratislava A bus trip off the Bratislava for a taste of communist Europe

The delightful town of Durnstein Wine, apricots and Richard the Lionheart

The Wachau Valley and the abbey at Melk Gorgeous scenery and over-the-top opulence.

The train to Salzburg, home of The Sound of Music and Mozart By train to Salzburg – the Sound of Music, ordinary apfel strudel, and a narrow escape

Regensburg and medieval fast food We visit the world’s oldest fast food shop

Over the European watershed and on to Nuremberg Through the locks and on to Nuremberg, which is not just about the Nazis

Bamberg – a city which wasn’t flattened in WW2 A lesson in medieval history

Kitzingen and the fortified town of Rothenburg A wine queen who wasn’t, and the home of the famous Christmas markets

Glass-blowing and mind-blowing scenery We see a demonstration of glass-blowing as we drift past mind-blowing scenery on to Miltenberg and the castle where Queen Victoria was conceived.

Siegfried’s Musical Cabinets and the Rhine gorge Self-playing musical instruments, then the robber baron castles of the Rhine Gorge

Cologne – famous for its cathedral and its Roman ruins Down the Rhine into Cologne – a mix of Roman ruins and cathedrals

Amsterdam. Artists and the red light district Amsterdam, the van Gogh museum and the red light district

Amsterdam and family history The house where I was born, the Resistance Museum, and old memories