Welcome to Mohács, Hungary

We were still about two hours from Mohács when our day dawned with a colorful sunrise that painted the Danube as well as the sky in hues of pink and orange.

With the promise of a busy day ahead, we got ready and headed to the dining room for a leisurely breakfast. Not many others were around at that hour and we enjoyed a a quiet meal with another early-bird couple who were history aficionados. Like us, they were wondering if we’d be anywhere near the Mohacs battlefield where the Ottoman army — under the command of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman … aka Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent — fought and defeated the Hungarian army in 1526 … and then stayed to rule the country for the next 150 years.

(The short answer to that question is … no, we were well south of the actual battlefield.)

We were still at breakfast, when Rinda approached its berth at a pontoon pier along the edge of the city, which is protected from floods by a high embankment. The tour buses could not, therefore, get to us. We had to go to them. That meant a 5-minute walk along the top of the embankment to get to the parking lot … easy peasy.

A pleasant walk on a pleasant day. Sunshine and blue skies; warm temps; terracotta pots along the embankment filled with flowers … some of them a little past their peak at this time of the year; ferries standing at the ready to carry passengers and vehicles from one side of the Danube to the other.

Nice start to a day that would be seeing us exploring two cities … one on a tour; another one on our own.Read more