I woke up too late for the dining room breakfast so settled for the “late risers” breakfast. That means 8:30. It is served in the Panorama Lounge. Rolls, fresh fruit, some pastries, cheese and ham. Plenty. Tomorrow I will get the full breakfast treatment as I am going on an excursion and might need the extra boost (ha).I walked back into town to find the pharmacy. I’ve started a hopefully little cold and wanted to load up on probably useless supplies. To get there I walked through the Central Market and to the square on the other side. The pharmacy was a real throwback. One lady behind a counter and all the merchandise behind cupboard doors. You wait your turn. With the help of google translate I got what I wanted plus something she told me to get. Vitamin C with zinc. Can’t hurt.
I read for a bit in the lounge before Laura joined me, then we went for lunch in the main dining room. We sit at Table 3 for the duration.
I could have started with cabbage soup but nixed that in favor of the small but wonderful salad bar. Along with the usual suspects there were beet and tomato salad, radish salad and cous cous.
The choices for lunch were Hungarian goulash with spetzle, fish with quinoa or a Reuben sandwich. Since we are leaving Hungary I thought I’d better have the goulash. Laura had the fish which she liked, my goulash was very tasty but the meat was a bit tough. But not enough for me to stop eating.
Dessert was a most delicious slice of cake.
We met the cruise director and arranged to book the excursions we wanted. He said there is a large contingent of Israelis and one of Chinese tourists on board. Then one German couple and a few Dutch people with New Zealand and Canada also represented. So far we have only seen one other American couple.
At dinner last night there was a good looking couple, he was wearing a soft light green jacket in the style of Captain Von Trapp. He looked tres chic.
We all decided against taking the afternoon excursion because it involved a church (or as Sylvia our guide said “ABC…..another bloody church”) and a very touristy town and we also wanted to just hang out and cruise the river.
We floated away from Budapest. Laura wanted the experience of being in the water, in the water (get it?) so I met her and Stu at the pool. Lovely small pool in the rear of the boat, (aft), with large windows forming the views of both sides of the river. There is also a pretty lounge around the pool with white leather furniture and greenery, and a coffee and tea station. AND a platter of shortbread cookies. We all had cappuccinos.
What a nice way to spend the afternoon.
I changed and went up to the top deck, the sun deck, where there are awnings for sun protection and a giant chessboard with pieces about 3’ high. No one was playing.
I sat in the shade, watched the scenery and read a little bit. There are lots of sandy beaches along the river, and plenty had people sunbathing and swimming. At one point, perhaps 5-10 miles outside of Budapest there were beautiful villas lining the shore. We saw 3 dragon boats with kids paddling away to a drumbeat. We waved and they heartily returned our greetings. Laura helpfully pointed out a candidate for her new daddy on one beach. I thought he had on a speedo, but it turns out I was wrong.
It was so quiet and peaceful. Then an older Israeli couple came out, sat right behind me (mind you the whole deck was almost empty) and talked loudly then had a 10 minute conversation on their phone. Is it an Israeli thing? A senior thing? Who knows?
4:00 otherwise known as teatime. It was set up in the Panorama lounge. About 5 platters of cakes and one of tea sandwiches, white bread with cream cheese. Luckily, the cake from lunch was revisited, it’s called Esterhazy torte.
We haven’t passed under any bridges since we left Budapest. But every so often you can see a road leading right to the river and one on the opposite shore. Ferries!
Laura, Stu and I went to the forward observation deck and sheltered a bit between the raindrops. There were castle ruins on the top of a hill at Visegrad. Very picturesque!
It was time to think about changing for dinner so I went back to my wonderful room, opened the curtains and had a perfect private view of the shoreline.
I love watching the different styles of homes along the banks. Some are very contemporary, and some look like manor houses from days past.
There was a program in the lounge before dinner. First, a slide show presentation about our next stop, Bratislava. Then the heads of departments marched in to us all clapping in time to the music and we were introduced to them. We were served champagne and small hours d’oeuvres. We had tiny delicious spring rolls. We were waiting for the bruschetta but they didn’t make it to us. One of the bar waiters likes us and refilled Laura and Stu’s glasses several times.
Dinner again was monotonous and boring. Ho hum. We started with a chef’s salad, then a chicken crepe followed by a roasted vegetable torte. There was also fish with risotto or pork medallions. Dessert was either tiramisu, 2 scoops of tiramisu sitting in a crispy cookie shell with chocolate sauce and whipped cream and topped with the Amadeus version of a Pepperidge Farm Pirouette or pistachio ice cream or a cheese plate. I’m getting better at saying no.
If you have a birthday, they celebrate it well. The dining room lights go off, all the waiters march in carrying a cake with sparklers and everyone applauds.
Unfortunately our passports were taken when we boarded so they know our birthdays. We can’t get away with pretending!
Time to set the alarm so I can get ready for the excursion to Bratislava at 8:30 tomorrow morning.
Love,
Lynn
Lady of a Certain Age 
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