Exploring Ulm
The train station at Ulm is close by the centre and I walked in a circle round the city.
I finally got a bit of sun, but as before, I didn’t find anything to eat. My chosen restaurant was apparently a long walk from the part of the city I was in.
From Vienna To Nuremberg By ICE Train
The trip was four and three-quarter hours in the ICE train.
In some ways it reminded me of parts of the East Coast Main Line in the UK, where you travel for miles through flat and green countryside. But as you can see, you do have the Danube appearing at times.
Lokking at the route now, it would have been better to perhaps split the journey into two, with a stop at somewhere like Regensburg, which definitely seems a place worth visiting. So perhaps a sensible rule on a trip like this, is to check where your train stops between your overnight stops. Bear in mind, that the three German cities I explored, all had their stations in the centre.
It wasn’t all German efficiency though, as there was no coffee on the first part of the journey, as the buffet had no hot water.
But otherwise it was a trip that went smoothly.
From Bratislava To Vienna
I left Bratislava on Wednesday morning. Not by train, but by taking a fast boat on the Danube.
The fare was just twenty euros and it was a very pleasant trip, that took you from one city centre to the other in about seventy-five minutes. As there are three ropund trips a day, you could easily stay in one city and visit the other.
I was particularly fascinated by the fishermen’s cottages along the banks, where they use nets to get the fish.
I have tried to nake all of the bridges, but information on the web is a bit lacking.
Exploring Bratislava
Bratislava is a charming city and I spent a pleasant few hours exploring.
It was just a pity it was still rather cold.
I first heard of Bratislava in the 1960s, when Spurs went there to play a European tie against Slovan Bratislava. I suspect the city was very different then.
I seem to remember the score as goalless, but some web sites, think Spurs lost 2-0. The match was memorable in one way, as the attacking Spurs team, decided to park the bus in front of goal. I was at the return leg at White Hart Lane, when Spurs progressed by 6-0. There’s a video of the match here. This must be one of the earliest matches, where I was actually present, that has a video on the Internet.
From Budapest To Bratislava
On Tuesday, the 9th at 15:25 in the afternoon, my train left Budapest for Bratislava.
It was a very uneventful journey in an almost empty First Class carriage, which was comfortable enough, although a bit slow at fifteen minutes short of three hours. But it’s one of the fast trains.
When the Slovakian Ticket Inspector checked my ticket, I said about the palaver to get it in Budapest. I think he agreed.
A lot of this journey was alongside the Danube. Living in the UK, you don’t realkise how huge it is.
Exploring Budapest
As I usually do, I used a combination of walking and the various trams and metro lines. There is a card called a Budapest Card, but at the first station I tried near the airport, they just sold me an ordinary 24 hour ticket.
These are some of the pictures I took.
Particularly useful was the number 2 tram, which ran up and down the Danube. If you’ve got a 24-hour ticket, just get on the tram and sit down. You don’t have to touch in, although my ticket was checked on the Metro.
The only problems I had were the extreme cold and the lack of information and maps on the street. But Budapest is one of those cities, where you can generally see one of major features like the Danube, Buda Castle or St. Stephen’s Basilica.
On the other hand, when I did get lost, a friendly Hungarian usually put me right. I was plagued a bit by hop-on/hop-off tourist bus salesmen, but I just ignored them, as I prefer to play my game of chance with the public transport. You see more interesting things, like the little girl sitting on the dog statue. How many places would allow that?
Incidentally, Line 1 of the Budapest Metro is the second oldest in the world and is included in the World Heritage Site for Budapest.
The Anonymous Widower 