Budapest, Hungary-Wed, July 23

Budapest has the honor of being named one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and the distinction of having the third largest Parliament building, the second-oldest metro line in the world (it looked old!), 80 geothermal springs (unfortunately we didn't have time to visit any of them!), the second largest synagogue, and according to one publication, the 25th most popular city in the world to visit, and the 6th in Europe.  We hadn't known much about Budapest, so appreciated learning more about this area.

We were given a bus tour of both Buda and Pest — two sides of the river but the same town.  Buda was the hilly side, with the big palace.  Pest was the more level side with the Parliament and shops.

We stopped at the National Opera House and Heroes’ Square.  Then we crossed the river to the more traditional Buda side of the city.  We walked around the hilltop castle complex and had a wonderful view of the city.  We went into the magnificent St. Stephen's Cathedral.  We were told by the guide we could go into the Hilton Hotel to use the bathroom for free rather than pay at the public WC (Water Closet), which costs about 50 euro.  (1 Euro=$1.38 roughly)  

It was fun to watch workmen setting cut rocks to make the cobblestone walkway, similar to many we have walked on during this trip.

Lunch back on boat was... Hungarian Goulash, of course!

We had free time in the afternoon for packing or another walking tour. 
I walked back on my own to a place along the Danube where there was a Memorial to Jews who had been lined up and shot during the Holocaust.  Their shoes had been made into a permanent memorial  -- very moving.  We heard so often during the various stops on this trip how many Jews used to live in their city, and how many were sent to internment camps, leaving a much smaller Jewish population today.

We ate dinner that evening with two couples from Lincoln, CA -- one couple who attend the Loomis UMC, and knew people we know.  We'll probably re-connect with them at some point.

The after-dinner entertainment were musicians, dancers and singers from the area with a Hungarian flavor.   All of the entertainers were very good and did a good job of drawing in people from the audience with humor.

Before turning in for the night we went to the upper deck for a glorious view of city.  Temperature was perfect.  What a wonderful way to end the trip.

Bratislava, Slovakia-Tues, July 22

We had a bus and walking tour of Bratiskava, Slovakia today, which is very near the Austrian border.  This is the home town of our cruise director, so he was proud to show off his area, which is the capitol of Slovakia.   Although Slovaks have existed for about 1500 years, the Slovak Republic came into existence in 1993 after the break-up of Czechoslovakia.    

The tower over the bridge is a famous landmark.   

We got a good view of the city from the castle, and a nice walking tour of the medieval inner city with its narrow, winding streets, modern & sometimes comical statues, historic churches and buildings. 

 On the way up to the castle that overlooks the city, we passed a number of ambassador residences, including the "White House."  George Bush stayed there on a visit once. 

The afternoon was spent cruising.  They did a strudel-making demonstration.  It was delicious.  Guess I'll have to try to make it with their recipe!

Then, as if we were hungry, we had the Captain’s dinner this evening -- a fabulous dinner.   Six courses!   There isn't assigned seating in the dining hall, so we have enjoyed meeting different people at each meal, mostly all from the United States or Canada.  We sat with two other couples we had become friendly with for this dinner.  Since I usually order a glass of white wine to begin the dinner, and a glass of red wine during the meal (all included in price of cruise), the waiter inadvertently ended up pouring both at the same time, so one of our table mates thought I should have a picture!  The chef and staff do a remarkable job with food presentation and variety.  If I remember before eating them, I try to capture some of the beauty of the food presentation.  It looks like I mostly focus on desserts, but actually John and I declined the dessert more than we ordered it.

We were encouraged to stay up until 11:00 p.m. as we would be cruising into Budapest and it was worth seeing.  It was amazing -- magical, really!   It was pouring rain, so we huddled under the awning on the sun deck, but the view was absolutely awesome.  It was like Disneyland.  But this was real.  All the big buildings and bridges were lit up.  Stunning.  They even passed out little servings of Palinka -- a fruit brandy from Hungary--to celebrate our arrival in our last stop.

Vienna - Monday, July 21

We arrived in Vienna — an amazing city.  A bus tour took us around the remarkable Ringstrasse, lined with palaces and grand residences.

  

After a walking tour, John and I explored on our own, and had lunch at an outdoor cafe.  I ordered a specialty coffee (they only had espressos) and dessert — turned out to be 3 delicious desserts.   John had a full meal with salad, pork, stuffed potato dumplings (very good), cabbage.  

We went to the Mozart House — with interesting displays in one of Mozart's residences.  He became quite popular during his day, and earned lots of money.  But he was a gambler, too, and more than once had to beg his uncle for money.

One of the best museums we've been in, though, was the House of Music.  The first floor was all about the Vienna Symphony, and history of music in that city.  The second floor was about sound -- how it is transferred, -- the physics of it.  Very interactive.   The top floor was about the 1800s and about the various famous composers, each with a room about their lives.  I wished we had had more time, as we rushed through the top floor in order to catch a subway back to our ship.

   

Subway was easy to navigate.  We paid 2.10 Euro for a one-way ticket, but nobody collected them — it’s all on the honor system.  Amazing!

After dinner, I went on the optional excursion (meaning I paid extra) to attend a concert.  It was in a smaller concert hall than I expected, and very crowded but it was a wonderful evening.  Eleven musicians, including the leader who played a Stradivarius, plus oboe, flute, clarinet, percussion, 4 violin or violas, bass, piano.  There were also two ballet dancers (limited space to dance) and a soprano and tenor singer.  They gave everyone champagne during intermission.  I tried to imagine what it would have been like to have been sitting in a parlor or concert hall listening to original compositions of those early composers.  What a treat!   When we got back to ship, they had goulash soup ready for us, but I was still full from dinner, so missed that part of the evening.

 

Melk & Krems, Austria, Sun, July 20

This was a very warm day.  In the morning we toured the 900-year-old baroque Melk Abbey, perched on the sheer cliffs high above the Danube.  It has some wonderful history about the Hapsburgs and developments in religious and cultural life.    Such opulence in some of these castles/monasteries/cathedrals.  We wondered if they understood Jesus' message of giving to the poor rather than taking from the poor!

The library was floor to ceiling with thousands of medieval manuscripts/books, many with beautiful art and calligraphy illustrations.  No pictures allowed, but it was a beautiful Abbey.










The afternoon was a wonderful, leisurely cruise through the Wachau Valley, heart of Austria's wine country.   Many vineyards planted on the hills.  castles, quaint villages.   It has such unsurpassed beauty it has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Later in the afternoon we stopped at Krems, Austria.  None of the shops were open since it was Sunday.   I climbed up steps to a church on a hill.  The organ pipes and Gothic architecture amazing for such a small church.   It was so hot that we couldn't wait to get back on the bus and taken back to the boat.

That evening they had a Bavarian feast, with various stations around the ship to pick up specialties of the area.  Even got to go through the galley and see the roasted pig head decoration, and load our plates with pork, veal schnitzel, chicken, potato dumplings, sausage, and on and on.  Fantastic dinner.... and again, we're eating way toooo much!  The dinner wait staff were dressed in Bavarian dress, and musicians entertained us during dinner.  A fun evening.