In 2014 I toured with APT River cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest with mixed results, however cursed with a natural curiosity to see the rest of the Danube, I decided to explore another tour with them, provided that they could guarantee my comfort, as the bed in my 2014 cabin was trip ruinously uncomfortable. The APT response on bed comfort and single passengers was less than satisfying so I decided that I would travel on my own and see whether it was worthwhile to be cocooned on a cruise, or whether independence was more cost effective and a better option for what I, in lyrical mode, call “seeing stuff”. The round figure cost for a river cruise, with airfares, and single supplement, as I had decided not to share a cabin again, good fun once, but I’ve been there, done that, was around $15000A for 14 days. While I actually travelled further than the river cruise, and for longer, I will only cost the element from Vienna to Ruse in Bulgaria, the distance of the tour. I’ll detail the differences in time spent in places as I wonder, but not for long, whether a few hours in any place actually constitutes being there. You cannot, gentle reader, “do” Budapest, or anywhere else, in 4 hours. I’ll be transparent about costs and also indicate where I think I’ve made mistakes, and what I should have done differently or more cost effectively. And I’ll deal with the places I went and things done before reaching Vienna. It’ll include tour guides, laundry, railway stations and journeys. And some restaurants. Also money saving options and where I think it makes sense to spend in the interests of quality of life!!
I’ll deal with the travel first and post the costings later, accounting is always tedious!
Should add that this will take a while as my arthritis extends to the hands and legs, so I can’t sit and type for excessive periods, especially if I want to walk the next day.
Vienna
I travelled by train from Prague to Vienna which is a very relaxing experience, provided you lock the door to the disabled toilet carefully. More of that later.
Prague is a very busy station and there were a lot of obvious foreigners milling around. Chap called out “Are you for Vienna? And off we all trotted. I just might have found the correct spot, eventually, or probably later than that, but this guy knew his job. He said the carriage will arrive right here, and it did. Asked how he knew he just said “Ten years of working here’. One of the couples scrabbled to find a tip, and managed to scrounge up one euro between them. How insulting. He was embarrassed and just waved it aside. We started taking and it transpires he is Hungarian, works here to support the family etc. he loaded my cases and ensured I was in the correct seat and I paid well. Workers deserve respect, and maybe especially workers forced to operate outside the system, but willing to give it a go anyway, deserve extra consideration. They certainly deserve better than a single euro tip.
One feature of train bookings is that all the old foreigners seem to be seated together, I think they allocate blocks of seats to agents, so it was pleasant enough but no way to meet locals. Lots of opportunities to meet other similar travellers. The disabled carriages on fast trains are excellent and the disabled loos are very well designed, however there is an art to the lock and it can be very, very embarrassing. Mercifully when travelling with a bunch of oldies they sleep on the train, especially the one sitting facing the toilet door, so the embarrassment was reduced, but I am saying watch out!! Especially if you have arthritic hands.
And I’ll say no more!
In Vienna I didn’t think I needed a porter but I was misdirected to the wrong lift and wound up walking right around the station, quite a hike, wheeling my suitcase. Though I do bless the insightful person who put 4 wheels on suitcases. Found a taxi, which is easy once you find the front of the station. Hotel was easy and I was in my element in the Old Town of Vienna.
I love being in Herrengasse. And I stayed for 4 days. It’s walking distance from so many museums and the Hoffberg is over the road, Hotel Steinberger is excellent, Café Central is round the corner and there are great restaurants and bars, it’s a marvellous place to chill, relax, walk and just recuperate. My specific objective was to visit the Belvedere and I did that quite easily. Taxi there and there is a taxi stand outside and to the right of the gate for the return trip. I pre-purchased a ticket online, and there was no queue. Inside is wonderful, lots of exhibitions but since they change I’ll not detail, and then the Klimts, marvellous to see and enjoy. Also stopped at the café for lunch and it was good and managed to avoid the nice Greek chap over the street who has a shop and was very keen to let people know that he has souvenirs at a cheaper rate than the Museum. Probably true, but he was a bit annoying. Museum has easy access and lots of lifts, some signage issues especially to find the loos, but, once found, the facilities are great.
Albertina Museum Vienna.
Visited the Albertina as well, it’s within easy walking distance of my hotel and for some reason I have missed it on former visits. Maybe because of the huge flight of stairs which confronts the visitor as you emerge from Herrengasse. However persevere, walk under the huge stone stairway and the lift is under the stairs after that it’s fine. The museum has a large display, marble floors in some areas which are hard on the feet, but the coffee shop is great and the displays wonderful and varied. I always check online as to what’s offering and mostly you can pinpoint online where any particular piece you wish to see is located. This saves wear and tear and allows access to the things one wants to see. A little planning can really enhance the visit!
Vienna Laundry and Theatre
I also did my laundry in Vienna. Love my hotel, but I am too mean to pay to have my laundry done at their rates. So I go to Clean and Green. It’s in Meidling and a bit of a distance. Public transport would work but I find it difficult. So taxi there and back. These laundromats are completely people free environments, no staff, so first one in the shop is the expert. Which is hysterically funny as there is no necessary sharing of language and it’s all pantomime. This time we managed to get some nice English ladies who assumed that the Indian man worked at the laundry, he didn’t, but he good humouredly helped until his laundry was finished. Somehow the English ladies managed to cause such a stuff up of the machines that we actually met an actual person from Clean and Green, who turned up to sort out the technology. Essentially you take a book and watch the floor show and save money at the same time. There may be closer laundromats but it’s hard to find them and I always enjoy the experience. With a significant level of laundry, it makes sense. With two taxis, two washers and a huge dryer, and the floor show, I still managed to save 100 euros on the cost of my hotels’ services. To be fair I had a lot of laundry. The rest of my Vienna time involved a lot of walking and catching sites I had somehow missed on previous visits. Like Stephansdom. This ensured that I left Vienna a very, very tired old lady, also very happy and with extremely sore feet. Next stop Budapest.
Train to Budapest
Entering Vienna HBF is really easy from the correct entrance and there is excellent signage and good shopping. There is a shop called Drogherie just inside the entrance which has every toiletry and product which would ever be needed and given I am writing for the disabled it included everything from toothpaste and personal products to incontinence products for men and women. The train is easily accessible and I again sat in the disabled section, slightly more room and a lot easier to get into, I think this may have been the leg where my booking agents had booked me upstairs but the staff just adjusted. Train staff here are excellent.
The trip isn’t long and fairly uneventful.
Budapest Keleti railway station
The railways station is easy to negotiate and the money machines work, the taxis are however a different matter as they are to the side of the station so as I couldn’t see a taxi rank out front, I accepted the offer of a taxi from a chap in the station. Once you walk through the side entrance there are 20 taxis waiting for the 20 tourists who are probably still waiting at the other side of the building. So maybe the tout is the only enterprising bloke in the taxi rank? And I was charged only what showed on the meter.
Sometimes all the websites in the world are not enough.
Don’t get me wrong, loved the Hotel Boscolo but on arrival I found a large marble staircase and to get to the world famous restaurant required two stair cases, this time without handrails. Unwilling to miss the sheer beauty of the restaurant, I commandeered a bloke from reception, as marble steps can be beautiful and slippery in equal parts. To leave the restaurant requires the arm of the tallest available waiter, unless you’re shorter than me, in which case choose a waiter of appropriate height, but whatever happens don’t miss the New York Café at the Hotel Boscolo. Food isn’t the issue, it’s a bit ordinary, just look at the ceiling. And everyone takes lots of photographs.
Budapest was another “tasting menu’ visit as I’d seen the major city sites before so I also did some resting and spa visiting. Each country has a different approach to health issues. Worth exploring and costs are excellent compared to home.
There has been a slight level of exchange between me and the hotel and I do accept that they are in heritage premises. But I did say on booking that I found stairs difficult and there was no response. It would have been nice to have the opportunity to decide for myself whether I wanted to cope with the stairs. And while the hotel staff act with old fashioned courtesy providing assistance with access, there is an element of embarrassment at needing help and especially at having to ask for it. And I always needed to ask.
Healthy people rarely get that. It’s not a reason to stay home, we just need to educate our hotels as to the right way to treat people who are disabled, but not in wheelchairs. I finally compromised by using seating which gets restaurant service but isn’t actually downstairs, not quite the same. I am wondering if there is a transparent handrail which would not intrude aesthetically honour the heritage aspects, and still provide safety and access? Just wondering is all.
Gundels Restaurant
I had booked a night at Gundels restaurant as its reputation is for excellence and I enjoy music, there’s a live orchestra, complete with wandering violinist. The restaurant were very receptive to my request for a single table and my reception was very friendly. The options are for a set menu, with or without wines and for a la carte ordering. Given most of my preferences were on the set menu I opted for that but asked if I could substitute a pork dish for the duck as I am not especially fond of duck. This was agreed.
The meal is a considerable performance and service is friendly albeit a little fast for my liking. My initial thought was that they were moving the single ladies on asap, but I don’t think that’s the case, it seems to me that the service is simply quicker here, than we’re used to at home. Any way my request for a little more time was met with a smile. Food was excellent and wine choices well matched it’s a great way to experience a wide range of Hungarian wines, which are excellent, and local produce, again excellent. Not a cheap meal but a wonderful experience. Musicians tend to favour large parties which is good because it is actually a bit awkward sitting alone while being serenaded. Especially if the Australian repertoire is limited to Waltzing Matilda or Love is in the Air. The musicians are very good and seem to actually enjoy their work, the range is standard central Europe, Chopin, Mozart etc but they responded well to the arrival of a Spanish group with an interesting range of Falla and fandangos. Well not quite but I like alliteration! There is a shop outside and I managed to drag myself away from a pair of art deco vases, with great difficulty. Lord they were beautiful. Used the hotel car service which was very reasonable and the driver was prompt and courteous. In all a marvellous evening. An experience and a meal to remember.
THE OTHER RAILWAY STATION!
Beware the internet on Hungarian train stations.
I read an entry which said that often tickets incorrectly indicted a departure from Kelenfoe, but that since all trains went through Keleti, it was OK to go to that station. This did not sound compatible with European geography. I checked with my stair escort at Reception and found this is definitely not so. Train departure from Budapest are directional, surprise!! There are two or three lines and for Belgrade the correct station is Kelenfoe. As stations go, it’s a bit awkward.
To get to the Belgrade train there is good information in the station and it’s quite comfortable. However you need to go down stairs, they’re wooden and slightly ancient, and up other stairs on the other side. I wandered out and asked two chaps if they could help, bit risky as they were having beers at 10.00 ish in the morning! One does have to be slightly cautious about who is invited to accompany one into tunnels on account of the price of beer and the fact that one has a wallet. In any event they refused.
Sometimes my habit of dressing as though I’m too poor to rob and too old for sex backfires.
Along came my good friend Adam from Hungary. And he offered to help. So grateful! There is a flight of concrete steps to the left of the old stairs and they are much easier than the wooden lot. Then it’s down the tunnel and up a not too huge flight of stairs. Getting on the train wasn’t too difficult and again Adam was a truly magnificent help.
Apparently if one walks further over there is a lift but I couldn’t see it and it does rather look as though this station is in the process of major, and necessary, refurbishment. The train trip was brief and uneventful. Adam and I sat together and chatted to Belgrade. Once off the train he showed me where to get cash and then we had a coffee, I watched his luggage while he purchased the bus ticket for the next stage of his trip. He then helped me get a taxi and we hugged good bye, we’re still in email contact. Some people really impact your life and he’s a fine young man.
Again the internet talks about Belgrade railway station as a place of danger. Utter tosh!! This is a society where people meet for coffee and chat, the station is busy, not dangerous. Again it’s people going about their lives, not threatening yours. Be open and friendly. Just don’t be stupid.
Why Serbia?
This was a constantly asked question when I told people my itinerary, and it strikes me that the further we get from Paris or London the less we know and the more reliant on myth and rumour we become. About places and especially people. Another train journey and must admit I am getting tired of hurting my back with luggage. Lessons have been learned. The damage I did in Paris hasn’t been fixed yet. But it’s interesting exploring massages.
Another one of those places which I visited as a sort of tasting menu. The idea being that if I like the couple of days, I’ll return for a longer stay in the future. It was also a way to break the journey and experience something new.
I had booked at the Life Design Hotel mostly because it had a central location, spa and said it catered well for the disabled. And it does that very well. Best special needs bathroom ever. Great spa.
Initially I had hoped to sail through the Iron Gates but that wasn’t possible, it’s actually quite a long journey. I then noticed a one day tour which explored the Iron Gates and a site called Lepensky Vir about which I knew absolutely nothing. I booked this tour plus a couple of others which gave me a general oversight of Belgrade and visits to St Sava and the historic fortress which overlooks the city.
My hosts for the days in Serbia were Serbia Private Tours and they were magnificent.
LEPENSKY VIR AND THE IRON GATES
The drive through the Iron Gates was amazing. The scenery is heart stopping and the trip informative as to the impact of the Danube, its access and control, in the history of the region. The drive is long, but Miljan is very well informed and the time passes quickly. Lepensky Vir was memorable. I had thought Vir was the Latin term for Man but it actually means Vortex and relates to the site very specifically. To be honest I really didn’t want to do this visit. There are steps at the beginning which are steep, angled and without a handrail. All my least favourite things. However Miljan is very persuasive and I was very glad later, actually quite a bit later, after I’d got my breath back that he’d just said. “Barbara, it’s 8000 years old”. No argument against that! So to enter we walked down a gravel path to the side of the steps. Slightly vertiginous, but do-able without too much help. After a greeting from some local dogs and a pat with the site cat we walked along a path which I am assured is 400 metres long. And I almost believe that! Almost. However it felt a lot longer. By the time we arrived I was sporting a look my loving child calls Old Brick Face, and slightly out of puff. The site is under cover and well protected and I liked the contrast with the stark, modular modernism of the exterior building and the subject of the exhibition which is anything but modern. The visit begins with a film and the theatre is impressive with very low seating, however I decided I’d opt for help if I needed it to get up. In the event I sort of managed. The film was interesting and gave excellent information and context for the discovery of the site and its excavation. Interposed with pictures of the farmer whose fields had yielded the discovery. This site doesn’t sell DVD’s it has USB devices loaded with information. Great for travellers. The exhibition is very well done but it is rather warm in the building. The toilets however are excellent and air conditioned. I was tempted not to leave the ablutions area, but managed the walk back and decided to take the steps with help from my guide. ‘It’s only six more steps“ quoth he, and when I got to the top he said “OK I lied, it’s seven”. But we made it, good cooperative effort. And it was fun. And informative. The initial access to the site wasn’t easy. I suspect maybe a wheel chair could manage the hill with assistance, and my advice would be that it’s worth the walk, and the steps. After all it is 8000 years old!
Iron gates and the nicest restaurant overlooking the Danube
Seeing the rest of the iron gates was essentially a doddle, excellent opportunities for sightseeing and photos plus a coffee stop at the point where the Danube is at its widest. It’s always astonishing to me that another country can be across the river. Like Romania is on the other bank. We don’t have that at home. The day ended with a late lunch on the banks of the Danube at Captain Misha’s Hill and it was a great interlude. Fresh food, but you get whatever is fresh and available on the day. In this case grilled chicken and vegetables, local red wine and home baked bread plus the most amazing elderflower cordial. And corn bread and biscuits, you’d never go hungry.
Mine hostess and I had about two words in common, like Hi and Bye. But we managed a great conversation about arthritis, life, children and a few other matters including business and I left with some of her business cards. Men are quite properly excluded from the universal conspiracy of women and their ability to communicate. Then it began to rain, we were outside in very well made open sided thatched huts with tables and bench seating, allowing a wonderful view of the storm. The rain clouds gathering and the mist swirling across the river as the storm grew, then the gradual return of the sun and retreat of the mist to the other shore. Seems I was lucky as Miljan had not seen that phenomenon before. I felt very privileged.
So if you are in the area ask your guide to take you to see. Back to the city and a dinner of home baked bread and chicken.
TOURING BELGRADE AND THE FORTRESS
My second day was a basic guide to Belgrade and we did a lot of driving around, and while it might be nice to walk, that worked for me. We stopped at St Sava Cathedral which is very important in Belgrade. The Cathedral is enormous and still a work in progress. But the current edifice has been completed in 25 years. An extraordinary effort of community and religious engagement. The exterior of the cathedral is exquisite, and the interior still a happening event but if the current beginnings of art works and facilities are any indication, the final product will be magnificent. Meanwhile, and as an indicator of things to come in the cathedral, there is the smaller church which is resplendent with frescoes and icons of breathtaking beauty. The major focus of the day was a visit to the fortress which overlooks Belgrade. And it is quite an effort. Worth every step. We began at the base of the hill and slowly, and in my case very slowly, worked our way up. My guide was informative and caring. At no time did I feel I was delaying her and she seemed to adjust the program so that I could rest briefly from time to time, but without ever making me feel old ladyish. The history of the city is writ large in the fortress and it’s a must do, but without the historic detail it would be just military artefacts and a walk in the park.
The view of the meeting point of the Danube and Sava rivers is magnificent and we were collected by car from the top of the hill by Miljan who had become chauffeur for the day. This is one instance where being driven to the top of the site and waking down would seriously interfere with the historical chronology.
Back to the hotel and the next day I had a relaxing massage and facial!
Seems I need to moisturise! All over.
The idea is forming in the back of my self-indulgent brain that I might do a spa tour of Europe at some point, as there is a very active culture of natural health and healing here which spreads from all those places called Baden in Germany rights across Europe, the Baltic and the Balkans to the Black Sea where they have mud, and salt!. Maybe next year??
Impressions of Serbia. Friendly and fun, which surprised me because I thought it would be a lot more like on the TV. We only hear of the politics, and then mostly past politics. It’s a while since the 90’s, and though there are some buildings in Belgrade showing significant damage, the city was safe and very friendly. Admittedly I don’t do drinking and clubbing. But there are other sites I’d like to visit and aspects I’d like to explore, so Serbia is on next year’s list.
Night train to Sofia.
If you believed the internet comments on this trip the train would be empty. So always note the date of internet remarks and always check facts and maybe, just sometimes, do it anyway. While I have, like most people, been through the self-help book phase and I’ve read that we should feel the fear and do it anyway, I am also a firm believer in organisation. There’s no point in getting on the wrong train in the middle of the night when you don’t speak the language and can’t read the street signs.
I was worried about the lack of multi-language announcements in train stations in Serbia, rather like at home really, so asked the hotel for help and they paid for my taxi and sent Nikola with me to ensure that I got on the train and in my reserved seat. He was marvellous, put my suitcase in the luggage rack and ensured that the person sitting in my seat was removed and me ensconced. This was fun as it was summer getting on the night train to Sofia in winter would be very chilly as the area is not covered!
Incidentally it is both possible and sensible to reserve seats on this train. I used an Australian agent and was charged $9. Booking a reservation on the next leg, also through an agent, cost less than a dollar. Another internet furphy. And Bulgarian Railways are online. And like other railways they release tickets at specific intervals before departure dates.
On reading the internet comments on this train I should have been beset by onslaughts of Roma and Balkan desperadoes, but I have to say not a single one in sight. And against the real possibility that I am too old to attract even the most undiscerning of Balkan desperadoes, the two very attractive young ladies from Norway who shared my cabin were also not bothered at all. To be quite honest the train is full of ordinary people going about their business. Like going home to their families. The Journey may have lost a lot of its panache and swagger over time, but I saw no justification for some of the more alarmist twaddle on the web. I chose to sit up and was quite comfortable. The seats are red plush and incline for comfort. Despite comments about cleanliness I found these exaggerated, the rolling stock isn’t new and the upholstery has seen better days but the train wasn’t unclean.
The loo is an olfactory challenge but it was not excessively repugnant just smelly and that may be technology. Again things have improved since some of the web stories were written.
Border guards were less polite on the Serbian side, the blond lady is assertive bordering (sorry pun alert) on obnoxious, Bulgarians were charming and very pleasant. At this point the smiling Bulgarian bloke border guard may have been smitten by the sight of sleeping Nordic lovelies.
And so to Bulgaria and Sofia train station.
SOFIA TRAIN STATION.
Definitely a work in progress. And it will be very good in the future. Lifts in the process of being installed, also escalators, but at the moment it’s all happening and a bit of a work site. Signage is actually OK and it is not difficult if you’re young and fit. I’m neither. That, good citizens, is why you occasionally ignore the internet advice about people offering to help with your luggage. Find one and pay him to assist you. Because the stair case at Sofia is the mother of all train station staircases. Though there is a solid handrail. I didn’t count exactly, owing to screaming knees and shortness of breath, but around 40 steps, felt like a lot more, and after sitting for a long time that can be a challenge. Paving is also being replaced and there were patches of gravel which made wheeling the suitcase awkward.
And along came my hero!
It’s all in the perspective, no doubt I could eventually have got my bags up the stairs, but it would have been awkward. And tiring. My helper hauled the bags up and waited for me then asked what I needed to do, mentioning onwards bookings etc, I said I needed an ATM and a taxi. He escorted me towards the ATM’s which had long lines, because they were out of order. The tourists at the front of the line just kept pressing buttons but the signage on the screen said “out of order”. We all love the Cyrillic alphabet but can’t read it. Hopefully they’re not still there, pressing buttons, ignoring porters and waiting to be saved from people by technology. Bureau de change was open, helpful/hero guy then found me a taxi, accepted my payment, shook hands, and I hope he realised just how grateful I was for the assistance. I also believe that these guys deserve decent remuneration for their services. And a bit of respect, or maybe Railways should pay them and give them a uniform??
If you are less physically able they can be a real blessing and until every railway station is as good a Dijon in France, where they hire the most charming blokes on the SNCF to assist the disabled, (look for the burgundy livery) we really need porters.