27th august - upstream, before budapest

I have always imagined this journey as beautiful. from the very first moment, when it was just an idea, images that didn't want to leave my head – until the days before departure when everything went haywire. when someone said that it could be tiresome, claustrophobic, and monotonous to live on a ship for the whole summer, that the danube goes up and down, I never shared these misgivings or fears. I knew that we would be completely exposed to the river and so to nature. I knew that there would be disappointments, but I was also aware of how sensational the whole thing would be and I was prepared to accept quite a lot for it. right at the start the weather reminded us how little we have with which to counter when something really descends upon us. but such moments have a cleansing effect, they free us from the sludge of superficiality. it's not yet time for a resumé – the end is indeed in sight, but has not yet been reached. and things can still go wrong at the last hurdle. but there’s one thing I can say now – the danube has exceeded my expectations in every way. this river landscape of unbelievable dimensions, this powerful world of water, this wonderful piece of primitive life in the middle of europe. in the middle of europe? for me in any case.