Just us 2025

 We had a very easygoing, relaxed day in Bordeaux. We started with breakfast on our teeny, tiny balcony, did some washing and went for a walk around our neighbourhood. The city is beautiful. Really gorgeous 18th century buildings, lots of squares and streets where cars are not allowed and, to our extreme delight, limited tourists. The city of full of absolutely lovely shops, not designer brands (although they are here too), just lots of beautifully designed local shops. This afternoon, we visited the enormous St Andre Cathedral, which is just around the corner from our apartment. This church was first consecrated in the 11th century and in 1137, it was the place where Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis VII of France. Incredible history. The one thing that is driving me crazy in Bordeaux is being a coeliac. It has never been a big problem in any other city but to be in France with all the beautiful bread, croissants and pastries and not to be able to enjoy them is a tragedy. There ...

 We spent pretty much all of Sunday travelling from Budapest to Bordeaux. We left our hotel just after 7am (which was way too early as we only had to be at the airport 2 hours before our flight). Flew to Amsterdam and then onto Bordeaux. It all went smoothly but it was still a long travel day. We caught a taxi from Bordeaux airport to our apartment which is right in the middle of the city. Our taxi driver didn't have much English and I was able to negotiate most of the conversation in French. Ian was convinced we were dropped in the wrong spot. He didn't have a lot of confidence in my French but we were just fine and right outside our home for the week. Our apartment is a cute one bedroom apartment in a very central spot. It is small but perfectly formed. The only disconcerting bit is the security screens everywhere. Bordeaux must be a dangerous town. We got to the supermarket with about 20 mins before closing time so we rushed around to buy the essentials. To our complete surp...

 Poor Budapest. It didn't do anything wrong but, in our minds, it will forever be tainted by the fact that this was the city where Ian was so unwell. This morning, we had another appointment with the mobile doctor. She prescribed a different class of antibiotic and also add a steroid nasal spray for Ian's sinus infection. Fingers crossed, this will be the magic bullet that will help him to get better. We had a hard job convincing Hungarian pharmacists to fill his prescriptions but, we got there eventually. Ian went back to our hotel room, took his new medication and settled in for a rest. Being the hard hearted person that I am, I went sightseeing. First stop was the Hospital in the Rock.  This is the most amazing place. It is on the Buda side of the Danube. This side is hilly and rocky. (Side note: the Buda side of the river is absolutely beyootiful! I wish I had more time to explore it). Because the rock is made of limestone, over time, many caves were created. In the 1930s...

 This morning, we sailed into Budapest. It is the first time here for both of us so lots of new things to see. After a couple of doses of antibiotics, Ian is a little better today but he still has a long way to go. He did manage to join me on our fabulous morning activity to the Gellert Baths . The thermal baths are part of what was originally a hotel and spa but now just operates as a spa. The building is designed and decorated in the Art Nouveau style and it is astonishing. It is like stepping back in time. There are multiple baths running at temperatures from 34 degrees to 40 degrees. Making your way from one bath to another is like scurrying through a rabbit warren. It is a maze of curved corridors so you are never sure where you are. We really enjoyed the soak in the warm, mineralised water and it was a nice change of activity from the typical city walking tour. Our last activity on our river cruise was the classic Budapest Illuminations tour. Budapest is beautiful at any time...

We haven't posted for a few days because we haven't been having a very good time. We docked in Vienna on Monday night and, all of a sudden, the pleasure of being on a river cruise disappeared. Instead of waking up to a beautiful view of the Rhine/Main/Danube, we were sandwiched between two other boats in the very busy Vienna docks. Now, if we opened our window, we were quite likely to be staring into someone else's bedroom.  The next thing that happened that wasn't so good is that Ian got really sick. A cold virus has ripped through the ship. I would guess around 50% of the passengers (including us) have caught it. For me, it was about 2 days of feeling average but, for Ian, it has turned into a full-on sinus and chest infection along with conjunctivitis. To top that off, he also fainted in our cabin and hit his forehead on a table on the way down. He is now sporting 2 big red marks on his shiny head. By Tuesday night, we decided that he needed a doctor. Luckily, there ...

 The plan for today was a walking tour of Melk, in particular Melk Abbey. On top of that, Ian and I were scheduled to do a 34kms bike ride in the afternoon. Butttt, we didn't. Ian has succumbed to what they call "cruise cough", the respiratory illness that goes through a boat cruise like a dose of salts. He has struggled to sleep for the last two nights and, consequently, so have I. So, we decided that today was our rest day. We stayed on board all day, napped, sat on the sun deck, watched the fabulous Judgement at Nuremberg movie and generally took it easy. I think it was the right call. Ian seems to be on the mend and ready to enjoy our last three days in Vienna and Budapest. Mind you, we had some excitement on the boat. Apparently, a rope got wrapped around the bow thrusters and we had to get it fixed. They tried sending a scuba diver down to see if they could release the rope but that didn't work. So, we had to go into dry dock and lift the boat up to get the rope...

 I have always wanted to see Salzburg and today, we got our chance. We travelled by bus from Engelhartszell to Salzburg. It took about 2 hours but there were some fabulous mountains to look at along the way.  As we approached the city, we could see that the city of Salzburg is in a bowl ringed by mountains. It is a very pretty city. We started with a 1 hour guided tour through the old town. Thanks to some old ruler, the city was designed to have lots of open squares between the streets. It makes it considerably easier to get around and more pleasant to explore because it is open and light rather than the medieval darkness of some of the towns and cities we have been to. It was a whistlestop tour. We saw the house that Mozart was born in, the outside of Nonnberg Abbey where the real Maria von Trapp was a nun, the outside of  the Basilica St Michael at Mondsee (where Maria married the captain in the movie), the Felsenreitschule where the family performed in the finale of th...