We were finally on our way and farewelled Budapest which was looking beautiful at night with many of the magnificent buildings lit. Quite magnificent! We headed north along the Danube turning west at the Danube bend on our overnight sail to Bratislava in Slovakia where we arrived at about 1pm the following day being Friday. The highlight of the sail was the navigation of our first (of 68) locks of our trip. The Gabcikovo lock accommodates 4 craft at the same ti...

After collecting our luggage back at the Mercure yesterday, we walked over to the Amalegro. We were very excited as the river cruise was the first part of our trip that we booked over 12 months ago. And all of our expectations have been met - great service, food, appointments and a well appointed cabin. There are 128 passengers (fully booked) and 41 staff to look after us. This means it is very 'intimate' and we have met lots of likeable people already. Dinner fr...

Highlight yesterday had to be Parliament House - words cannot describe the size and beauty, especially inside. Hungary can be justifiably proud. With Budapest being our first taste of Europe we spent the whole day trying to absorb the history, but it is everywhere you look - walking around really pays off. We then sampled the opposite at a mall - just like malls anywhere, although the choices and range of fashion are much wider than back home.

After catching up on some sleep, we ventured out into a beautiful Budapest spring morning. The weather has been warmer than expected. First up was a dip in the thermal baths - very quaint with lots of people including men playing chess in the pool. We then continued on our HoHo (hop on hop off) tour which we've always found to be a good way to get around a new city. We've managed to take in most of the main sights of the city which is frankly stunning. We've eve...

Are we there yet? It's a long way from Australia to here..........to anywhere in fact (apart from New Zealand maybe)........ However we always viewed the journey as part of our trip. All 36 hours of it from door to door. At the stop over in Kuala Lumpur (in the terminal) there was a Jungle Walk - a feature in the centre of the terminal which was 'outside'. We could tell it was outside as it was very humid when you walked through. Forgot to mention that the pi...