Kraków to Budapest

Bags out by 6.30 and breakfast to then be on the coach for departure at 7.30 as we now head to Budapest. Cold with forecast of 10 locally but 16 in Budapest. For the first time, roomie and I sit in the front seats of the coach but with grey skies and very low cloud and then rain, unfortunately my intentions of getting some good photos of the lovely scenery are well and truly thwarted. We drive through mountains that in winter are covered in snow. I have to use my imagination of how truly picturesque the villages would be. If only the rain would stop and the clouds lift. We leave Poland and are soon in Slovakia where we have our first stop. This is our last chance to use our zyloty. I had already used all of mine up last night so wasn't at all fussed about getting rid of any coins or notes as others were doing. G still had zyloty so very kindly insisted that roomie and I buy a hot drink each which we did. Back on the coach and finally the rain stopped and the sun came out. Our lunch stop was at a delightful place in central Slovakia called Banksa Bystrica. the main square was really pretty. I headed for a little cafe that sold baguettes and the others followed suit. Time for a wander around the town and then back on the coach. We were meant to have a short stop at the border between Slovakia and Budapest but the restaurant was closed so we kept on our way which meant we arrived near our ship the Travelmarvel Diamond at about 4 pm. On board and booked into our rooms. We find Jacky in the lounge area: Bronwyn and Samira have gone for a walk to a local church. They come back on board and it is great to have us all in the one place as we are about to get our cruise underway. Hip, hip hooray it has been a bloody long time in the making. Our cabin is certainly snug and functional so it will take a bit of getting used to, but it has a lovely big window/sliding door and we will definitely make the most of it. 6 pm is our first briefing where we meet the captain and our cruise director Anja. She's the captain's niece and then we meet Lech who is the ship manager and the captains's brother. Nothing like a bit of nepotism and cronyism... Time for dinner at 7pm and already I can see that we are going to be thoroughly spoilt with all the excellent food and drinks on offer. B and I share a table with D and G. Our food waiter is Katie and Maria is our drink waiter. Maria introduced herself as the trouble maker, and if the speed and frequency of her filling our wine glasses was any thing to go by, she really is going to be trouble for us in that she was way too attentive! After dinner we go up onto the top deck to see the beautiful lights on the ridges and buildings as we cruise the Danube. Absolutely beautiful. It was cold up on deck but not freezing. An excellent end to our day and a great start to our cruise.