A note from Harry...from Budapest

Yesterday. Sunrise as we traveled upstream showed in bright, brilliant orange. Twinkling and flashing in east facing windows on monuments and buildings, Budapest appeared. What a feast for the eyes; pulled from Buda to Pest, back n forth over n over. A morning bus/walking tour to highlights followed by a free afternoon. Cobbled streets puts Kink in endless rumbling and me in strained sweat. But we do not fall back or slow anyone. We’re in the thick of the tour and he’s shooting photos to match Kim’s penchant for everything that fills the lense. What fun! After a few hours of this, Kink decides to stay on the ship for the afternoon. Kim n me take off. St Stephen’s Catheral, the Budapest Opera House, side streets, a weekend market and a bit of shopping (It was Sunday n the commercial district is off). Our plan to have a nice dinner in town ends, instead, back on the ship. Sore feet and the heat do us in. But what fun!! Night falls, the lights on the famed Chain Bridge come on, as do the Palace, Fishermens Bastion, St Mathias and best of the Buda side. Later, as we depart the city, the Parliament Bldg floats into view. It’s too much for me to tell about. You just gotta come see it and I hope we do again someday.

Bucharest, Romania shows all the signs of a country recovering from communism. Bulgaria was a complete surprise as I/we had no preconceptions or knowledge, really, about the place or history. Ohhh man, the countryside is rolling like the Condon-Grass Valley-Sherman County area but miles of fields of sunflowers. Donkey n wagon was a common sight. Small red-tile-rooved villages with unkept landscapes, poor, own veggie gardens and grape arbors surround each home. We past through many. Dipped our legs in the Black Sea, enjoyed a night walk in Ruse. 1^st-4^th century fortresses in Belogradchik and Veliko Tarnovo were awesome in strategic placement and what we can see. We are loving what we’re doing. The Danube, while not ‘blue’, is about as major a waterway as there is in the world. Small towns along its banks bring the binoculars on our ship (about 140 passengers this trip) up each time. Of course, for me, there are fishermen all along and I watch them and wonder as a fisherman would.

The history of these eastern European countries is about conquering, battles, wars, revolutions, resentments, recoverings, being run over, making bad decisions, and its inability to unite to repel outside attacks. It’s a history of war. The evidence is old, recent and obvious. Kim n I have a better grip of what has gone on here, and why it is what it is today.

Kink is so grateful for the assistance we provide. Let me tell you, . . . there are times . . . . But all in all, no meals are missed, he has been on every tour (everyday) except his choice to stay aboard in Budapest, he attends the daily on-board talk presentations, and has joined Kim n me ‘up top’ on the upper deck some evenings. He has slowed a lot. People have been patient. We’ve made some friends who, without boast, hang around Kink n me n da wheelchair at rough spots and steep inclines. Good men.

Today we did Bratislava, Slovakia. Ate ice cream and took in the scene in the town square. Tons of tourists. Why? It’s tourist season, silly. We are dem!

Did I say we’re having fun? Kim’s doing great with all the walking n sightseeing. We don’t miss any meals either.

5:30 each morning the captain is in the wheelhouse steering this gorgeous ship. I’m on the back rail in a workout. The sun rises. The Danube. We’ve got it to ourselves. Aloha to all. Harry