The story of a river – Danube

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No matter what you call it, the Danube, the Danube or the Dunaz is actually a river, the second largest river in Europe after the Volga, originating from the Bragg in the Black Forest region of Germany, then flowing through ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It flows into the Ukraine at Black sea, not only because there are carvings on God, but sometimes canals are were cut through different countries, such as a canal from the Danube in 1992 to the seaport of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. This means that the 3500 km long waterway from the North Sea or the Atlantic to the Black Sea is now suitable for navigation, and not just cargo, but a two-day to ten-day voyage on various river cruises from Linz, Germany, Austria , Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Hungary to Budapest.

I have been waiting to go on a sea cruise in Danube for very long, I have been on all water bodies from our Ganges to Brahmaputra to the far southern hemisphere, Amazon, Mississippi in North America, St. Lawrence in Canada, the Thames in London, From Rangoon’s Irrawaddy to China’s Yang Si, what’s left? I have wanted to travel by water in this Danube for a long time, this time I did not let the opportunity slip.

The name Bratislava is now widely known, the capital of Slovakia, a few years ago no one knew much about the city, but the way the country’s ministry has promoted tourism, there is no doubt that tourists will flock here in the next couple of years. I’m going to write more about Bratislava later. For now let’s talk about Danube.
Vienna, the capital of Austria, near Bratislava, is a short distance, the two cities are well connected and buses and trains very regular When planning a trip, bus or train in the morning and return to the high speed ferry or catamaran on the Danube waterway in the afternoon, or vice versa. It takes about 90 minutes, travelling 5 times a day. The fare is 30 Euros per head, although this fare is much higher than bus or train, but there is no easy way to enjoy the beauty of the Danube waterways.

Speaking of us, we came to Bratislava on a Flix bus from Budapest, this time on the Vienna River, Twin City Liner’s Cat’s ticket was booked in advance, Twin City Liner’s Cat’s jetty is right under the UFO Bridge in the city, Exactly 5 minutes walk from our hotel along the river, spent the night in a very nice home stay, had breakfast in the morning and arrived at the jetty at half past nine. The girl at the information counter was surprised. She said, “Why did you arrive so early? Your ferry leaves at half past ten? Go around the city and have a cup of coffee and come back later”

We realised that the clock was ticking one hour late since the night before, meaning Summer time ended last midnight and normal or winter time started again from that day, meaning we arrived about two hours early. Gradually people started coming and the area started to get crowded. This time we landed at the pontoon jetty from where Cat was scheduled to leave. Ferry had arrived just in time.

We bid farewell to Bratislava and Slovakia. The width of the Danube is almost that of Dakshineswar – Belur. It was kind of a surreal feeling, about a couple of weeks ago, on the day of Shubh Mahalaya, we were on an evening trek from Millennium Jetty in Kolkata to Belur on the Vivada Cruise on the Ganges, just a couple of weeks later we were in an entire different country on another great river which was Danube.

Leaving the jetty, we were then headed west, first under the famous UFO Bridge. The revolving restaurant or view point in Churo, you need to visit this, our time was short, and so we took a look from below. By the way, the Danube has numerous tributaries, a total of about 60, one of which is the Moravia, the confluence of the Moravia and the Danube. The famous Devin Castle in Bratislava could be seen from a distance from the river, beside the hill.

Now let me give you a brief description of a Catamaran. People who have travelled to the Andamans have travelled from Port Blair to Neil or Havelock Island in a similar Catamaran. It is propelled by two water jets to propel up to 60 kilometers per hour, it has two decks, the lower deck is fully seated, and beverages are also sold on it. The counter has a variety of cold drinks and hot drinks such as beer, coke, hot chocolate, coffee, and a little open deck behind which is mainly for smokers. The upper deck, called the Captain’s Deck, is used for navigation, and there is also a lounge. The Catamaran has a seating capacity of about 115 passengers.

Let’s talk a little about Devin Castle, this historic castle on the banks of a very beautiful river, you can take a bus number 29 from Bratislava to this castle. Anyway, we were cruising through, we saw all kinds of boats, there are the big boats of River Cruise that are moving at a very slow pace on a very long voyage, a little balcony with all the beautifully decorated cabins, as if the passengers were on a dream trip. There is a well-known tour company in Europe called Viking Holidays that arranges these types of tours, and there is another well-known company called Avalon Waterways which is famous for travelling inland waterways of Europe.

We were cruising at a very high speed; the scenery on both sides was very similar to what we see in Bengal occasionally some fishermen were seen in search of fish. We crossed the Slovak border into Austria, with a slight change of scenery, occasionally Fisherman’s Village, a small house a little higher on the deck, perhaps to escape the tidal effects of the river, with the house. A small jetty, with a small Chinese fishing net style fishing net hanging on it, a yellow mustard field on the other side, a car on the empty village road, a dreamy environment. It was a breath taking scenery. Oh! I wish I was born here.

As we left the main Danube River, we entered the Danube Canal. I realized that we were slowly entering the city of Vienna. I talked to my son who was in Kolkata and found out which metro station was the closest to our hotel. I got off at the jetty, took the elevator with the lot fleet to the main road level, I could see the metro station in front, this time I bought a ticket from the dispenser machine and validated it straight to the U4’s Schwedenplatz metro station.
Some relevant information –
Booking and other information
twincityliner.com
The service runs from the beginning of March to the end of October.
The rent is 30 Euros per person.
– Captain Debasish Dey –

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