Our previous visit to Budapest was during Christmas Markets in December 2018 and a light snow fell on a couple occasions. Now, in July 2022, it was high summer and the heat wave we endured the second week of our cruise prevailed. Our two days with Brit David included a tour of the beautifully restored Hungarian State Opera House, complete with an 8-minute “Opera Buffa” or comic operetta (sample below). Night lighting on the Opera House was a splendid vision from our Callas House hotel room across the street.

Thanks to David’s intrepid nature he surprised us by leading us up in the hills of Buda to one of Hungary’s most unique attractions, the Hűvösvölgy Children’s Railway. Like any other railway, it has ticket offices, diesel locomotives, signals, switches and a timetable. Unlike other railways, this 11 km scenic train journey is run almost entirely by children during school holidays and breaks. The train, the opera house, catching up with our old friend, and dinner at the Strudel House our last night were the highlights of our summer visit to Budapest.

Following Budapest we had a week to kill before going to Malta. The thought of traveling in the Hungarian countryside with little English spoken and the currency being the Florint, gave pause to this idea. We simply wanted to chill for a few days in one isolated spot. Austria is known for its thermal baths but since the spa scene has never been our schtick, we trepidatiously booked 3 nights half-board (breakfast and dinner included) at Rogner Bad Blumau, located in the bucolic, verdant hills of SE Austria, an hour from Graz. We could catch a train to Vienna and then connect to the small town of Bad Blumau. Fingers crossed that trains and connections would go smoothly (not quite, but only delayed 2 hours). A resort driver met us on arrival and from there our delight would culminate.

The resort can only be described as a fantastic assault on the imagination in the eccentric manner of Barcelona architect Antoni Gaudi.  In fact, this is Gaudi meets Picasso, meets Disney. Rogner is artwork in nature…multi-coloured domes, curvy facades, garden rooftops, a countless variety of unmatching windows, and undulating hallways spread over peaceful countryside. With a dizzying labyrinth of buildings and pools, losing one’s way isn’t difficult, but it sure is whimsical fun. Being summertime, the air temperature was nearly as warm as the water temperatures but we never tired of being in the health-promoting waters, day or night.

Note: Some photos are included thanks to the internet. I’m just not that good.

Here is a video sampling of Bad Blumau

On to Graz . . . .

In the square outside our hotel we heard the sounds of brass our first evening. The French group, Fanfare Jo Bithume, is warming up for their performance at Graz University that night. They invite us to come for the free concert and we walk there for an hour of spirited jazz/philharmonic music. It’s an unanticipated fun way to begin our visit to Graz.