Sunday 28^th November, 2014…….Cruising into Budapest, Hungary…our cruise director gave us a commentary as we came into dock as we docked in down town Budapest…….we docked on the Pest side…..marvellous buildings not forgetting the calendar picture building, their Parliament…there is only one bigger Parliament building in the world and that is in Romania!!  A fine morning and it was lovely up on the sun deck cruising in…we docked at 9am and then we went walking the streets of Budapest, initially to find our hotel for tomorrow to see if we could walk there…..hotel found right in the heart of things so we walked the main shopping street area…..the currency here is Hungarian Forint but walking the streets we have noticed that nearly every shop is displaying prices in Euros and Forint……back on board for lunch and then our afternoon tour of Budapest…..Michael sick with this ‘bot’ that has gone through the boat so he spent the rest of the day locked in our cabin….a beautiful day, 20 degrees and we had a wonderful tour…there are lots of lovely parks and green areas in the city….first to The Heroes Square which is one of the most visited sites in Budapest…..then the grand avenue “Andrassy Boulevard”…Budapest’s Champs Elyse!! Then the castle district on the Buda side with the Royal Palace and Fisherman’s Bastion……then higher up to the Statue of Liberty…magnificient views today with the beautiful fine day we have had here in Budapest….we are docked on the Pest side with all the shopping areas and big hotels……no photos today with Michael in bed but hopefully we can walk for the next 2 days and do it all….back on board we had an hours entertainment with Hungarian Music and Dancers and then our final dinner…..then the captain took us cruising up the Danube in Budapest…..we were all up on the sun deck and oh the lights…it was a magnificient evening…particularly the Parliament building lit up with all these white bits fluttering up in the sky which were sea gulls attracted by the light….hopefully some of our fellow travellers will send us some pics of same as Michael missed all the fun tonight as I had dinner served to him in our cabin…..so sorry to be getting off the boat tomorrow having laid in bed each night with our ranch slider open and being lulled to sleep with the motion of the boat or the bright lights of a lock waking us……2 very big locks we went through last night….we woke up but went to sleep before we had finished going through the lock……buggar as these were the biggest/deepest on the whole journey…just a pity we went through them in the middle of the night…and then being in your cabin for a little relaxation, if you could fit that in, and to watch the world going by as you cruised on through the various rivers…..we have been through 6 countries, Holland, Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary………….Every day we get an information sheet on the ship and we would like to quote the Agatha Christie verse printed on our final info’ sheet………TRAVEL  LIFE….

Your travel life has the essence of a dream

It is something outside the normal, yet you are in it

It is people with characters you have never seen

And in all probability will never see again

It brings occasional loneliness, homesickness and pangs of longing

But you are a Viking

Who has gone into a world of adventure

And home is not home until you return……

M & F

A lock...our boat is 135 metres long and as you can see no room for error with the width thus we have bounced off the walls a few times....

As above.... 

On board with fellow travellers.....

Our cruise director giving instruction at the Captain's Cocktail night......

The Castle at Bratislava lit up at night as we cruised the Danube en route to Budapest, Hungary.....

Early morning shot of the Parliament on the Pest side of Budapest......beautiful in the afternoon when the sun was shining on same....

The Buda side of Budapest.....

As above....

As above....

Saturday 27^th September, 2014…….Still docked in Vienna……got a bit ahead of myself here as it is tonight we sail to Budapest……some folk have opted for another day in Vienna whilst Michael and I have taken the optional excursion to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia……a very interesting day….Slovakia was once part of Czechoslovakia but in 1993 Slovakia broke away to become a separate country, and in 2004 they became part of NATO and started using the Euro for their currency whilst Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic using the Krouna as their currency…. Once again as we left Austria to cross into Slovakia you noticed that things not quite as pristine as in Austria….and again the border crossing is non-existent, just abandoned buildings…. very green countryside and so many wind mills for power energy …..Slovakia has a policy to have no nuclear power plants and they do not generate enough power for themselves so they buy power from Austria…..something we have noticed all through this journey in Europe has been the solar power….many houses have their whole roof covered in solar panels….just amazing but many sell their surplus power back to the national grid…..that is a common thing here in Europe we were told…..Slovakia has Volkswagen, Audi and Kea car factories and that is the main employment here….a population of 5 million with 500,000 living in Bratislava, the capital…..Bratislava is one of the youngest capitals in Europe with a rich history that dates back before the first settlements of the Celts and the Romans…..Bratislava is on the Danube and an interesting history in that people living on the south bank of the Danube in Bratislava, still in the same house, have experienced life under Hungarian rule, then German rule and then Czechoslovakian rule!!!!   All the Hapsburg Kings have been crowned in Bratislava……Beautiful building and architecture (shades of Cesky)…the old Town Hall and the Palaces testify to the importance that the city played in the history of Europe…..a very busy day here today in that a beer festival was in progress and a women’s running event so the place was a buzz with bands playing and other music and so many people……and so back on board and we were cruising by 6 pm on our way to Budapest…… M & F

En  route to Bratislava....

The Castle...Bratislava....

A new building...the Parliament...Bratislava.....

The Castle entrance....

Accommodation....the guides keep referring to the Communist type accommodation which is everywhere still today in the Czech Republic and Slovakia....

A bridge in Bratislava and they refer to the bit on top as a space ship...it is a restaurant up there.....

The entrance into the old city...Bratislava.....

The streets of Bratislava.....

Napoleon Statue....sadly lots of graffiti in Bratislava too.....

Man at Work Statue.....

The Opera House....Bratislava.....

Beer Maids at the Beer Festival.....

Meat on the Spit at the Beer Festival....

The Beer Festival...Bratislava....

The Market...Bratislava....

The streets of Bratislava.....

Thursday 25^th September, 2014…….We docked at Melk in Austria this morning….oh boy did it rain in the night and this morning it was still very wet and cold so Michael and I decided to hell  with another walking tour and Abbey……Melk has been a spiritual and cultural centre in Austria for over 1,000 years….the Benedictine Monastery founded by Leopold II is still a working monastery with 900 monks actively involved in the economy, culture and tourism with 750 puplis…..however for us time for a catch up with things on board and some R & R!!!!  However we had asked for a tour of the galley and initially they said no but the tour director phoned me this morning and said the head chef who is Austrian would give us a tour…..and so into the galley the 2 of us went, not much room there but amazing the food they put out…..this chef is very good on presentation and a very good cook….we commented on the duck he served last evening and he said he had cooked it for 6 hours at 180 degrees, thus the tenderness of the bird…..I had guinea fowl last night as it was something I had never tasted but I think the duck was a better choice…..after lunch and we cruised up the canal through the Wachau Valley….grape vines everywhere…our tour director gave a commentary……Austrian wine is something we don’t really see in NZ but there are 50,000 hectares of vineyards in Austria with 40,000 wine makers….all in a population of 10 million people….grapes grow best at 200 to 400 metres above sea level we were told and this Wachau Valley is in that sea level bracket….interesting but that’s what we were told…something to check out later…..whilst we cruised they served us onion tart with Kaiserspritzer…the local drink……quite sweet, more like an after dinner wine….we docked at Durnstein and had free time to walk the streets of this quaint village….the ruins of Kurenringer Castle overlook Durnstein where the Englishman, King Richard the Lionheart was held prisoner in 1192/3……by the time we docked the sun had come out and another hot afternoon so I went walking in the local village…..all the usual tourists shops and bus loads off Japanese arrived but it was worth the walk as this really is a picture postcard village in the Wachau Valley…..cruising tonight to Vienna….M & F

Friday  26^th September, 2014…….We docked this morning in Vienna……then we bussed into Vienna as we are docked about 20 minutes away from down town Vienna……overcast morning, no rain but only about 16 degrees…..the weather is certainly cooler these days but afternoon’s seem to warm up a bit although today they are predicting only 17 degrees maximum….Vienna, Michael and I have both been here before……beautiful buildings and architecture……for me it’s up there with Paris but both of us have been astounded at the amount of graffiti this time….very sad seeing these beautiful buildings defaced….we toured in the bus, then walked, then back on the bus to go to the Schnapps Museum where we did much tasting of same, and oh boy was it a good day to be tasting Schnapps with the cooler temperature….then back on the bus for more touring……most of you will have been to Vienna but basically the centre of Vienna is known as the 1^st District….it is in the shape of a circle and in the very middle of the circle the focal point of Vienna is St Stephens Cathedral…next to the Cathedral is is main pedestrian street called Karntnerstrasse…..this leads to the Opera House at Karlsplatz….two more pedestrian streets are also next to the Cathedral, Graben and Kohlmarkt which are beautiful shopping streets but oh so pricey!!!!! Also lots of superb cafes and restaurants…we walked all these streets, went into the cathedral as you do, but oh the people and we are supposed to be visiting out of high season……I would hate to be in these big cities now in high season….tourism now is such big business!! Surrounding the 1^st District is the big wide boulevard called the Ringstrasse which encircles the city centre on three sides….the fourth side borders along the Danube Canal…..the Ringstrasse is lined by an amazing number of grand and elegant buildings built after the old city walls were taken down……some of the old Roman walls still remain in places also an old Roman archaeological site to view, opposite the Albertina Museum in the 1^st District……one needs to spend a few days in Vienna and walk and walk to really appreciate all the buildings, statues etc but unfortunately we both have head colds, whatever…….just about everyone on the boat is on antibiotics and we thought we had escaped but the bug has got us, mildly though, and as we have a full day trip tomorrow we have opted for a leisurely afternoon on the boat as we certainly haven’t had many of those…it’s been all go….tonight we cruise to Budapest……M & F.

Below photos of Bamberg and Nuremberg we missed in a previous blog.....

Bamberg....

As above.....

The Prince Bishops Residennce....Bamberg

Queueing for smokey beer in Bamberg......this is a favourite here but we opted for an ordinary beer as we were told the smokey beer is an acquired taste......

Hitler's Colliseum building....Nuremberg.......

As above...we drove around the area in the bus and to think this was to have a roof over it....it sure would have been the biggest room in the world!!!!!

As above.....

Zeppelin Field where the Nazi Party rallies were held up until 1938.....they lasted a week and drew a million people to Nuremberg  from all over Germany.....

The centre piece with the railing is where Hitler stood to give his speeches......

Cemetery in Nuremberg....

Looking down from the castle at Nuremberg.....

ore of the castle area in Nuremberg.....

Looking up at the castle.....so many of these buildings built on a rock outcrop and the rock used in the construction.....

The market square in Nuremberg....

   

 

Wachau Valley between Melk and Durnstein...Austria....

As above....

The remains of Kuenringer Castle where King Richard the Lionheart was held prisoner 1192/3.....

As above....

Durnstein....Austria....

 

Albertina Museum....Vienna...

The streets of Vienna....

The Imperial Palace...Vienna....

Directly across from the Imperial Palace.....

The horses from the Spanish Riding School  coming in from their morning training....Vienna

As above......

The stables of the Spanish Riding School......

As above......

Another entrance of the Imperial Palace......

Statues in Vienna........so many and brilliant craftmanship.....

More of the Imperial Palace.....

Another statue......Vienna.....trying to remember them all individually just too difficult.....i

The Cathedral...Vienna.... 

Inside the Cathedral......

These guys dressed as Mozart, everywhere in the street, to advise tourists, take on tours etc.....

Another fountain statue....

Schnapps tasting......

As above.......so many varieties to try and we lost count of how many we tried!!!!!!

But we're still on our feet!!!!!

More Statues.....

And more.....you really need days in Vienna to appreciate all the architecture, statues, museums etc.......