Smith's Journeys

We spent a fantastic week cycling and boating between Passau in Germany to Budapest in Hungry on the MS Primadonna.

We arrived in Passau a couple of days before the tour was due to start. This enabled us to have a good look around the old town.

Ann put on a light rain jacket which in itself was nothing special as there was only a brief shower. what was memorable was that this was the only rain for the next 10 days of our time away from Pradoe.

The original tour we had booked was cancelled due to the boat’s refurbishment not being signed off in time. The company gave us options for two different tours or to cancel. We chose one of the tour options. The company gave us an upgrade and picked up any additional costs we incurred due to changes in hotel bookings and flights. We ended up in an up upper deck cabin with a balcony.

Here is the 1.55 minute video of Passau

The first days’ ride was 58km from the Schogen Loop to Linz.
we rode with a group of six who had been assigned to our dining table. This group really jelled together and we rode most days with them.

We enjoyed the fun and laughter that comes from shared experiences and dinner. John and Jill from Australia and Heather and Mary Jo from the States. These four made the trip for us.

Here is the 3.21 minute video of day 1.

Day two was from Tulln to Vienna a ride of about 51km. We finished the day with a night tour of the city.

Here is the 3.50 minute video of day 2

Day three was 57km from Komarno (Slovakia) to Sturovo (Hungary). The heat had us stripping off and going for a swim in the Donau. We berthed at a town called Esztergom and climbed up the 425 steps to the catwalk around the dome of the cathedral for some amazing views.  Then back onto the ship to arrive in Budapest at 11.00pm. What a spectacular sight.

Here is the 4.21 minute video of day 3

Day 4 was a day cycling around Budapest. It was a great place to spend the day, both cycling and with an English-speaking guide on a bus tour arranged by the boat company. The highlights included the Church in the cave and the shoe memorial to the Jews shot into the Danube in 1944-45, as well as a visit to the hot pools on St Margarets Island for a swim.

Here is a 4.19 minute video of day 4

Day five was spent in Bratislava where some of us rode the 37km return trip to Castle Hof. We again had an English-speaking walking tour guide of the city.

Here is a 3.26 minute video of day 5

Day 6 we cycled through the Wachau Valley. it was the Austrian Corpus Christi festival and all the villages had covered their main streets with freshly cut grass. At one village we had to stop for a service being conducted in the town square. we stopped for lunch at a cafe in one of the villages before visiting the Abbey at Melk. We finished the day at Pochlarn before boarding the ship for an overnight cruise back to Passau.

Here is a 7.3 minute video of day 6

The six of us had the final night on the ship before we all trained to Munich. Mary Jo headed back to the States while the rest of us spend two memorable days in the city.

The first day we visited the Dachau concentration site which we found very hard, but we were pleased to have been. We did an open top hop on hop off bus tour and said our farewells. We look forward to catching up with these friends again in the future.

Here is the 3.00 minute video of our time in Munich

For us, it’s now back to Pradoe and the lawns which have been neglected for ten days. Strangely enough, we are looking forward to it.