The grey Danube

And so to Vienna, not by plane or train but by river hydrofoil - something which had always been on my list since accidentally finding out, and being puzzled by, the fact that a boat to Vienna took the same length of time as the train - so either a slow train or a quick boat!!






















Out of Budapest the Danube turned out to be even wider much less 'blue' than the songs would have you believe.

It was also far less inhabited than we had expected with only an occasional village along the whole of its 250 miles.

If the river is large so are the passenger boats (below) Even the Basilica (right) at Esztergom joins in the 'big picture' It's the largest Catholic church in Hungary!!

And you can't leave out these barges - twice the length of a fooball field

Bratislava (right) is capital of Slovakia which for much of the journey was the country on the right or northern bank. Apparently the old city is attractive but this is all we saw of it

The Vienna to Budapest return service heading down stream. The combined speed of the two vessels - 90 mph (135km/h)

The shot (below left) gives a good impression of the size of the locks - 200 metres long and a 55 ft drop - leading to the need for this tricky little gismo (right) a floating capstan.

Alongside a giant Romanian barge (below left) which then exits head of us, (right) its bow already through the exit 200 metres away.














Vienna is now just a few kilometres ahead