Danube River Cruise — May
At 68, I thought travel had nothing left to teach me. I was gloriously wrong.
M
Margaret & David P.
"The string quartet in that tiny Budapest café played Schubert as the sun set over the Danube. David held my hand. Forty-two years of marriage, and it still felt like the first time."
We've travelled the world. Sixty-three countries between us. I thought I'd seen everything worth seeing. When our daughter gifted us a Wandr profile session, I was sceptical. What could an app possibly tell two 68-year-olds about travel?
It asked questions I'd never been asked. "What do you want to feel when you look back on this trip in ten years?" David wrote: "Grateful that I could still be surprised." I wrote: "Connected to something timeless."
Wandr recommended a Danube cruise in May — but not one of the big ships. A small vessel with 40 passengers, sailing from Budapest to Passau. The itinerary supplemented the ship's excursions with its own extraordinary additions.
In Budapest: "Skip the ship's organised tour of the Parliament building. Instead, walk to Gerbeaud Café on Vörösmarty Square. Order the Dobos torte and sit outside. At 5pm, the light turns the Danube into liquid gold. This café has been serving this exact cake since 1884. Your slice connects you to 140 years of travellers who sat in this exact spot and watched this exact light."
In Vienna: "The ship will take you to Schönbrunn. Go. But at 8pm, leave the ship and find Café Korb on Brandstätte. There's a string quartet that plays on Thursday evenings in the basement. They play Schubert's String Quartet in D Minor. The cellist, Frau Weber, is 74. She's been playing this piece for fifty years. Ask her about it. She'll tell you why."
David cried during the Schubert. He hasn't cried since our son's wedding. Sometimes the most extraordinary journeys aren't about where you go — they're about who you are when you arrive.
It asked questions I'd never been asked. "What do you want to feel when you look back on this trip in ten years?" David wrote: "Grateful that I could still be surprised." I wrote: "Connected to something timeless."
Wandr recommended a Danube cruise in May — but not one of the big ships. A small vessel with 40 passengers, sailing from Budapest to Passau. The itinerary supplemented the ship's excursions with its own extraordinary additions.
In Budapest: "Skip the ship's organised tour of the Parliament building. Instead, walk to Gerbeaud Café on Vörösmarty Square. Order the Dobos torte and sit outside. At 5pm, the light turns the Danube into liquid gold. This café has been serving this exact cake since 1884. Your slice connects you to 140 years of travellers who sat in this exact spot and watched this exact light."
In Vienna: "The ship will take you to Schönbrunn. Go. But at 8pm, leave the ship and find Café Korb on Brandstätte. There's a string quartet that plays on Thursday evenings in the basement. They play Schubert's String Quartet in D Minor. The cellist, Frau Weber, is 74. She's been playing this piece for fifty years. Ask her about it. She'll tell you why."
David cried during the Schubert. He hasn't cried since our son's wedding. Sometimes the most extraordinary journeys aren't about where you go — they're about who you are when you arrive.
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