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.
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
The ship cruised up to Vienna overnight, where it was culture, concerts, and the rugby world cup
We took a bus trip off the Bratislava for a taste of communist Europe
The delightful town of Durnstein
Durnstein – wine, apricots and Richard the Lionheart
The Wachau Valley and the abbey at Melk
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
Regensburg and the world’s oldest fast food shop
Over the European watershed and on to Nuremberg
Crossing the European watershed and on to Nuremberg, which is not just about the Nazis
Bamberg – a city which wasn’t flattened in WW2
Bamberg – a lesson in medieval history
Kitzingen and the fortified town of Rothenburg
Kitzingen and 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: the house where I was born, the Resistance Museum, and old memories