Canadian World Traveller Fallr 2016 issue American World Traveler Fall 2016 issue | Page 54

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The Magic of The Danube: Uniworld River Cruises

by Ilona K auremszky

T

he sight of the Danube River took
Mummy’s breath away.

We had finally returned to her hometown of
Budapest, a city she holds dear to her heart.
Now ablaze in the autumn sunlight the luminous landmarks were casting reflections onto
the tawny Cognac-hued water. The regal
façade of the Parliament was the jewel in this
crown as the handsome line of the Chain
Bridge with its lion statues stood in the distance.
Maria sighed softly as she opened the curtains inside our river cruise cabin’s balcony
overlooking the river she knew all too well. I
couldn’t even begin to imagine what she was
thinking.
But knowing my mom, I knew how she’d
react to a letter atop her bed. I had read
mine a minute earlier.

Photo: I l o n a K a u r e m s z k y

“Mummy here’s a letter addressed to you.”
“Me?” she replied in disbelief, surprised by
the gesture.

With camera in hand, I watched her eyes
widen and her grin grow. “The captain has
invited me this evening to join him for dinner,” she giddily announces.

On our first day we broke from the ship’s
excursions and arrived to the Buda Hills for a
trip down memory lane. Maria is quick to say
she is from Buda.

It was a Kodak moment. That reaction I photographed alone was worth my trip. Her
sheer happiness over this special invitation
re-affirmed that this 7-night river cruise I had
booked for us aboard Uniworld’s The
Beatrice, a year earlier was a great idea.

Buda still retains its cachet as an affluent
location in which famous actors past and
present reside like Angelina Jolie who made
her directorial debut there. Mom walks confi