WALTZ NOT TO LOVE?
Join two cruise rookies as they hop on board and sail away on a river so special a waltz was composed for it ... where else but the River Danube
IT’S late night supper time and the
Blue Danube waltz is playing while we sashay around the dance floor. We’re in the middle of the River Danube, luckily with dry feet, on board a river cruise ship after leaving Vienna and its pleasures, bound for Bratislava and Budapest.
Vienna somehow has that effect on you. Even if you’re not particularly fond of Johann Strauss’ music, it’s the kind of city that inspires you to do extraordinary
things… in my case, attempting the waltz without causing my wife a serious foot injury. Somehow, she’s still walking the next day and life goes on.
And what a life! For a couple who’ve never been on a cruise before, we’re enjoying ourselves immensely. Why not… we’re on a brand new ship, the Monarch Empress, sailing from Regensburg in Germany on a sevenday cruise to Budapest in Hungary. We’ve already spent a day in Passau, where the cathedral boasts the world’s largest organ, before arriving in Vienna to see the many highlights
of this beautiful, musical Austrian capital. Our ship docks in Vienna for two nights, so we have opportunities to enjoy the nightlife as well as the daytime excursions. There are many options but our choice is the Vienna Volksoper (people’s opera house) where Cosi fan Tutte by Mozart is playing. As you’d expect, the singers
and orchestra are first- class and the storyline is great fun given that the title roughly translates as “Women are all like that”. Enough said. During the day, we’ve been offered a tour of the Schoenbrunn Palace (Vienna’s answer to Versailles) and the Spanish Riding School, plus the almost obligatory guided coach tour around the city. This is a quick fix if you want to see what makes one of the world’s great cities tick, historically and architecturally. It’s really not a bad idea to get acquainted this way, and the English commentary is excellent (and humorous in a droll Austrian way).
Of course we are diverted by a compelling desire to have a coffee experience at one of Vienna’s legendary watering holes… in this case, the Café Central where the pastries and other indulgences make your eyes blink with the decadence of it all. Order a “melange” if you want something close to a flat white. There’s even time for shopping in the many boutiques and department stores and a slice of Sacher torte, the famous chocolate cake from the Sacher Hotel (but avoid their coffee).
Leaving Vienna is a wrench, but next day after a brief stop at Melk to see the ancient Benedictine abbey, we arrive at Bratislava, the quirky capital of Slovakia. It’s a cute, quaint town with cobblestone streets filled with bars and restaurants and a huge
ninth-century castle which dominates the city. Definitely an A+ onshore excursion.
Finally at dawn the next day we sail into Budapest. The magnificent parliament buildings are on the Pest side of the Danube while on the Buda side, the imposing Matthias Church peers down. There’s so much to see in Budapest that when we say a fond farewell to the ship the next day, we stay on for a few more days at the stylish boutique Art’otel on the riverside, the perfect location. Budapest is a hard city to leave, and so was our ship.
The Monarch Empress, operated by Gate 1 Travel and built to its specifications after years of experience operating cruise ships all over the world, is most impressive.
Built in Germany and launched in April, it embodies every best feature you can think of, such as cabins with so-called french balconies… sliding windows with safety railings so you can’t jump into the blue (?) Danube for a swim… and many other things including a decent-sized bathroom with a shower stall you can turn around in.
My wife was particularly enamoured with the full-length mirror, the lighting in bedroom and bathroom – and she took a liking to Sammy our steward as well… and so did I. He was super-efficient and helpful, with cabin service morning and evening, or on request.
Each cabin has a large TV screen with international channels which you can watch from your comfortable queen-size bed in your bathrobe, propped up with soft pillows. There’s plenty of wardrobe room and the space under the bed will accommodate suitcases. In other words, they’ve thought of everything. For first-time cruisers, this exceeded all expectations, so would we do it again? Absolutely. Perhaps the Rhine next time? But there’s a downside which only becomes apparent when you return home and get on the scales. The cuisine on the Monarch
Empress is unrelentingly good, so good that you can’t help indulging just a bit too much, with wines to match.
We are now on a strict fasting regimen… until the next cruise.
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Emirates has one-stop flights to Munich and Budapest via Dubai. emirates.com CRUISE gate1travel.com.au CONNECT
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