Cruising the Danube to Hungary

Sadly, our short visit to Bratislava was over all too soon. We were back on the Rinda by 11:29a … as requested by our Program Director since the Rinda was scheduled to depart at 11:30a. It was another 15 minutes before the ship was on the move.

But wait! The ship was moving in the wrong direction. Hungary — or more specifically, Budapest — was downriver from Slovakia, wasn’t it?

Turns out that in order turn the ships bow downriver, the captain had to first go upriver, cross under the UFO Bridge, and spin the ship around at a designated spot. Alrighty then. No complaints. The maneuver gave us a chance to get a better view of the Bratislava Castle, which — from our berth at the Propeller Terminal — had been mostly hidden by trees and other vegetation. The bonus? We also got to see the National Council of the Slovak Republic … perched atop a cliff overlooking the Danube.

We stayed on the Sun Deck for a while yet … enjoying the sunshine and the shoreline views. And then it was time for lunch., which we enjoyed with another well-traveled couple who delighted in sharing their experiences. We have new ideas to add to our ever-growing travel list.

And then it was time to enjoy our scheduled afternoon “at sea” — or “at river,” in this case — as Rinda made its way to Budapest … with arrival expected well after nightfall.

I knew that cruising the Danube was going to be different than cruising the Rhine River … which we did on a Christmas Markets cruise from Amsterdam to Basel in 2018. The Rhine tends to be busier and has a large concentration of castles and scenic landscapes in the Middle Rhine area. It also has more river traffic. The Danube, on the other hand, tends to be quieter, meandering through a more rural landscape that some describe as being bland.

I remember that the day we spent cruising the Middle Rhine didn’t afford much time for rest … at least not for me. I was on the Sun Deck, moving from side to side, taking photos of the castles and such. I didn’t want to miss anything. That wasn’t a problem today. While the scenery was beautiful and peaceful, it wasn’t very photogenic. Mui decided a nap was in order. I figured I would take it easy … get some stuff organized … read for a bit. All the while, I kept an eye on the scenery passing outside our French Balcony.

As is the case on the Rhine, there are a number of locks on the Danube that the Rinda will be going through. Locks help vessels navigate the different elevations along the river channel. They also assist in the management of high water … and ice conditions, where appropriate. And they are a means for managing the river traffic.

We’ve already been through four locks between Vienna and Bratislava … all late at night while we were fast asleep. This afternoon we had our first daytime lock passage. A little after 2:00p, we entered the Gabčíkova Lock … the only one between Bratislava and Budapest. I was in the cabin, so I decided to just check things out from our French balcony … which gave me an interesting perspective on just how far down we were lowered before we could continue our cruise.

By 2:30p, we were out of the lock and cruising the Danube proper. In this region, the river serves as the border between Slovakia and Hungary. We may have popped over to the Hungarian side a few times, but if the metadata map for my photos is accurate, we mostly stayed on the Slovakian side.

A colorful sunset around 5:30p … and then a lovely pastel sky before nightfall with a view of the full moon between the trees. Not any old full moon, mind you. This one was a supermoon … aka the Hunter’s Moon … and the one closest to earth this year. I’ve also heard it referred to as the Travel Moon … how appropriate!Baca lagi