Sure Travel Journey 5.4 Spring 2019 | Page 29

to listen to the bells of St Stephen’s
Cathedral clanging at noon.
After a safety briefing on the top deck,
we settled into our loungers to enjoy the
passing landscapes as we set sail down
the Danube: mountaintop fortresses,
red-roofed farm villages and onion-topped
Baroque churches floated by, with a hillside
vineyard or two thrown in for effect. I could
not imagine a more relaxing way to travel,
free of stress, traffic and turbulence.
As our days progressed – too quickly,
I might add – we awoke daily to new
delights. First, the Austrian city of Linz,
where we opted to day-trip to Salzburg
and Mondsee (made famous by Mozart
and scenes from the Hollywood classic,
The Sound of Music), stopping for as
many coffees and sugar-dusted apple
strudels as our belt notches would allow.
We continued on via the Wachau Valley
to Melk and Dürnstein, which were two
of our favourite stops. As most travellers
to Austria only make cursory stops in big
cities and ski towns, these ports of call
felt like hidden gems as we wandered
cobblestoned streets and markets
thronged by locals.
Bibliophiles shouldn’t miss a visit to
Melk’s Benedictine abbey, which dates
back to 1089 and is still a working co-ed
school. Its stunning library is lined from
floor to frescoed ceiling with medieval
manuscripts and other leather-bound
books, scrolls and maps.
In Dürnstein, meanwhile, we were
treated to fruits of even older origin
at Nikolaihof, an organic family winery
dating back 2 000 years to Roman
times. As we sampled a vintage
processed with the farm’s 300-year-old
heavy timber wine press, Jean Luc
and I couldn’t help but marvel at the
generations of knowledge, history and
careful craft that seemed to permeate
everything we had seen in Europe.
Days five and six took us to the
cultural heart of Austria, where we
spent time with masters and monarchs
at the Vienna Art History Museum and
the summer residence of the Hapsburg
empire, Schönbrunn Palace. Touring
each site with private local guides
and “QuietVox” listening devices,
which allowed us to wander from the
group without missing a word, we
were treated to expert knowledge of
each artwork and artefact, with no
guidebooks required.
The evening’s entertainment was
a sophisticated date night for which
we dressed up in our finery: a private
Mozart and Strauss concert that kicked
off Jean Luc’s lasting love of classical
music. It seemed surreal to be sitting
in Vienna, listening to the music of
the composers who had made the
city famous. An intermission yielded
yet more champagne, after which we
travelled back to the ship with visions
of Viennese waltzes swirling in our heads.
Having never been to Slovakia, I was
eagerly anticipating our quick tour of
Bratislava. This “small but precious”
capital is a popular weekend dash
for stag and hen parties, owing to its
dirt-cheap alcohol prices (for Europe).
It takes just a few hours to explore
the medieval and Gothic old town,
Hungarian-commissioned palaces,
communist-era blocks and futuristic
“UFO” bridge.
The Danube’s crowning glory was
undoubtedly Budapest, our final
destination. A tour of its majestic
neo-Gothic Parliament, clad in velvet, gold
and stained glass, left us awestruck, as did
the views from Fisherman’s Bastion and
the steaming geothermic Széchenyi Baths
(a definite must if you’re into swimming,
spa treatments and people-watching).
It was no easy task to leave the ship at
the end of our voyage, but all adventures
must come to an end. Well, at least until
the next cruise, Jean-Luc and I promised
each other.
EUROPE WITH
Q CRUISE
SURE AND UNIWORLD
© FUNK
Sure Travel offers a number of luxurious
cruise packages around Europe with
Uniworld. We’ll also take care of all
the other details to make your next
adventure seamless. Contact your
nearest Sure Travel agency or call 0861
47 48 49 / visit www.suretravel.co.za.
MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE // 29