To avoid the dreary railroad journey from Vienna to Budapest, I am
taking the steamer, and will catch the Balkan train at Budapest. In
that way I will see and enjoy the scenery much more. Even if the trip
cannot compare with one on the Rhine, it is still very beautiful. To
Pressburg the country is hilly; then it is flat country, with trees,
and often forests, on the banks. On the trip a twelve-year-old boy
recognized my face and would not leave me after that. He was a very
amusing chap; knew almost the dates of the days on which I had brought
down my various opponents. The worst thing he knew of, so he told me,
was that his aunt did not even know who Immelmann was. At Komorn the
character of the Danube changes completely. The meadows on the right
disappear, and hills take their place. The left bank is still rather
flat. From Grau, where I photographed the beautiful St. Johann's
Church, to Waitzen, the country resembles the Rhine Valley very much.
From Waitzen to Budapest, the country is level, but in the distance
one can see wooded hills and the city of Budapest, over which the sun
was just setting as we arrived. The most beautiful of all, is Budapest
itself. It makes a very imposing impression; to the left, the palace
and the old castle; to the right, the hotels and public buildings;
above all, the Parliament Building.