Capital to Capital - Vienna to Bratislava, then boat to Budapest

Day 6 is our longest ride of the trip - 75 km! Cris and I decided to go for it - the whole capital to capital trip - no shuttles. We have electric-assist, after all, plus a rest day in Vienna.

Started the day biking the Danube Wetlands National Park.

 No one was competing with us for the bike path, for a change. It was quite nice to ride side-by-side, talking, as the kilometers flowed by.

Schloss Hof castle

The gardens were truly amazing

Lunch stop at the castle

We got a little history lesson about Schloss Hof, My other favorite Habsburg, Maria Theresa, was involved. It was a summer residence where her husband could spend time with his family, go hunting, and “to relieve his soul of the burden of ruling” as it says on an inscription on the Palace façade facing the garden. It was a masterpiece of Baroque art, since the original owner, Prince Eugene of Savoy, was extremely successful as a general against the Ottomans, and was very wealthy. But after these years, it was left to decline and be used as a military training ground, even through the Soviet occupation. In 2002, a single-purpose foundation began to restore this heritage site.

Maria Theresa is my favorite because she was a strong female leader. She had sixteen children, thirteen of whom survived infancy. The empire grew stronger, not least because she married her children to other royals to cement links. She was Marie Antoinette's mother, for instance. She reformed education and finances. All this after starting as a young monarch who had no real training in governing.

Slovakia! Right after lunch, we crossed the Moravia River into Slovakia, and the bike trail stopped being that well-maintained Germanic pavement. We got to ride standing up to protect our bottoms, while ducking under branches. We followed the trail south to the Danube and then on to Bratislava. I had to stop to take a picture of this lion as we entered Bratislava.

Backroads had set up a walking tour of Bratislava. It's a lovely city with a sense of humor. Peter, our guide, was full of political satire.

Bright roofs abound

Eavesdropping on some lovers?

Archeologists discovered a guard-house and bones here, so ...

The "worker". Is he looking up skirts?

And we're on the Danube again - overnight from Bratislava, Slovakia to Budapest, Hungary.

Farewell gift from Zhaneta, our maid. A swan!

Morning 7 began with our last bike tour, a guided bike tour of Budapest. That tested all we had learned about riding in crowds and traffic. We shuttled to the top of Buda and rode on down, looking at cool buildings right and left, then avoiding pedestrians, then looking up at more cool buildings, then crossing an intersection. Repeat.

The Danube splits Buda from Pest. The Parliament is modeled after the British one in London.

Glad we didn't use the funicular!

7 bridges cross the Danube, all rebuilt after being bombed in WWII

Heroes square.

Soviet monument

Here, in chips and popcorn, is our whole trip!

Four of us decided to try out the Turkish baths after lunch. We walked across the Elisabeth Bridge to the Rudas Thermal Bath and Swimming Pool, freshly renovated. They had an English-speaking greeter to help us figure out the options and how to get around - yay! We decided on the Wellness section where we could leave our swimsuits on. There were 32, 36, and 42 C hot water pools, and an icy 11 C immersion pool. We enjoyed the rooftop panorama 36 C pool, too. We waved at the Amasonata, but they didn't respond by coming across the river to pick us up. Sadly, we had to walk back. The surprising thing was that the next morning Sherry observed that she wasn't sore. Neither was I, for the first morning on the whole trip!

Amasonata gave us an unforgettable Illuminations Tour through town

Crisis for the last evening! Cris looked at her itinerary to find out which hotel she was staying in the next night, Aug 5, while I flew back to Bergen. Good news, it was the Four Seasons. Bad news, it was in Prague! And she had no flight or train from Budapest to Prague. Lucky for her, it was the beginning of the work day for her travel agent on the West Coast. She managed to book an early morning flight. No good morning goodbyes for Cris. The rest of us said our farewells and split up at breakfast. Sad.

The Backroads tour was flawless. The Amasonata was luxurious. It was a wonderful vacation.