ON Tuesday 3rd May, the Active Retirement Club (ARC) of Westbury listened to a colourful talk entitled, ‘cruising down the Danube’.
The group report, “The Danube is the second longest river in Europe and flows for 1,800 miles across ten countries. Rising in the Black Forest in Germany, the Danube then flows through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and finally into the Black Sea in Ukraine.
“Only having some 45 minutes, our speaker focused on the 500 miles between Passau in Germany and Budapest in Hungary. At the start of the trip, he was so busy taking a photo of the boat from the opposite riverbank he only made it back to the ship with 40 seconds to spare before departure. There are stories of some passengers actually missing the boat and having to race by taxi down to the next port of call. An expensive mistake!
“This area of Europe has had a wealth of historical characters, all of whom have tried to stamp their authority on each other through centuries of history. At Durnstein, returning from the crusades, Richard the Lionheart was kidnapped and held hostage in a castle overlooking the river. Hollywood tells us that Robin Hood helped raise the ransom!
“Cruising onward through the beautiful Danube valley past the spectacular Melk Abbey, the group arrived in Vienna, capital of the mighty Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire. We heard an apocryphal story as to how the beautiful ‘blue Danube’ got its reputation. It was so called after a rare victory by the Austrian army over the French; many French soldiers, whose uniforms were blue, were drowned attempting to cross the river and were seen floating downstream. Hence, from Vienna’s point of view, it became the beautiful ‘blue Danube’.
“After cruising past Bratislava, the boat arrived at Budapest where their magnificent parliament building stands proudly on the banks of the Danube, a testament to our own houses of parliament on which it was architecturally based (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery).”
The ARC will meet again on 17th May for their annual general meeting at the Horse & Groom pub in Westbury, where several members will briefly outline their careers before they retired. Guests can enjoy two club meetings before deciding if they want to join. Membership costs £10 a month. If you would like to join the ARC, or would like to find out more please call Mark on 01373 823 826.
