The Journey ends (Oct 21)

It was a long day getting home.  Took the shuttle to the Budapest airport, flew to Frankfurt with a 2.5 hour layover, boarded a Boeing 747 and flew 10 hours to Denver.  I didn't realize that the route would take us north of Iceland and over Greenland, lots of snow up there!

Global Entry worked great at customs, I just slid my passport into the GE machine, answered about 4 questions, got a receipt, and went to baggage claim (no customs form to fill out).  The bags were slow in coming (it was a big plane), and while waiting around the carousel, a TSA person with a search beagle was coming around sniffing for any sort of food products in luggage and backpacks.  I had some food, so I kind of backed away from the baggage carousel when the dog passed by.  Finally my last bag came with 5 minutes before my Green Ride shuttle was due to leave, so I literally ran thru the DIA airport and got to the shuttle about 30 seconds before its departure.

General comments about the trip:

1.  I was impressed with Tauck.  They focus on great customer service.  The cruise and tour directors (Carlos, Stacie, Jen, and Milos) were friendly, experienced, knowledgeable.  The food and drink waitstaff tried to remember your name and your food/drink preferences.
2.  Everything was included....all meals, shuttles, hotels, tips, etc.  You could literally not have spent a penny (expect for souvenirs) on the trip.  On one long bus trip, they gave us coins to enter the bathrooms, and on the days where we ate lunch offboard the ship, they gave us lunch money. 
3.  We were much more impressed with the food, drinks, and staff aboard our first ship (MS Esprit) than the second one (MS Treasures)
4.  It wasn't a relaxing trip.  There were tours planned nearly every day, typically lasting 5-6  hours or more.  We had only one day of just cruising, and I really enjoyed that day.  You had the option to not go on the tours, but then you'd be missing on the things you can only see in Europe.  Guess that's the main difference between a river and an ocean cruise.
5.  I thought the food was really good and plentiful, and it was available 24x7.  The smaller diner, Arthur's, was literally 20 feet from our cabin door with all sorts of snacks (coffee, tea, cookies, nuts) plus a fixed breakfast/lunch/dinner menu.  The main dining room had a menu that changed daily with a food theme for the countries we were passing thru.  I ended eating and drinking way too much, time for a diet back home. 
6.  They made the best of a bad situation when the Danube was too low to continue past Venice.  We missed some cruising but stuff saw all the stuff we were scheduled to see.
7.  The room we had was a nice size (I think about 300 sq ft).  I saw the smaller rooms...barely any room except for the bed, no walk-in closet, much smaller bathroom.
8.  Because of the cost and the fact that the trip was during school season, there were no children aboard.  I'd say the average passenger age was low to mid-60s.
9.  The weather couldn't have been any nicer...highs in the upper 60s to mid-70s every day, no rain.
10.  I enjoyed the local people that Tauck brought onboard...the glassblower, musicians, and lecturers.

Budapest Oct 20

The cruise tour officially ended last night, so this morning we hiked from the hotel to the House of Terror, which was used by the Arrow Cross (the group that headed the Hungarian Nazi party during WWII) as a headquarters, then after the Soviet Union took over in 1945, became a detention center and torture chamber, both after WWII and after the 1956 rebellion against Communism.  No photos were allowed, but here is one of some of the Hungarian victims of the House of Terror which are on the outside of the building (tough looking characters)

and here are a couple "legal" photos from inside the museum (the Ruskies occupied Hungary from 1946-1989):

I really wanted to get some neat souvenirs, but all they had were books and some candles of Lenin and Stalin's head, so no dice.  I thought the museum was great, having spent 2.5 hrs there and could have spent a lot more.  Jerry was not as impressed, maybe he expected to see some torture in progress.

After a brief pit stop at the hotel, we hiked across the Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the Danube.  We took the 1870-built steam-powered funicular (2nd largest in Europe) up to the castle complex

The Hapsburg palace (now an art museum) of my previous posts was at the top of the funicular, and we got to see the changing of the guard and then hiked over to the Hospital in the Rock, a series of limestone caves under the castle/palace/etc on the top of the hill overlooking the Danube that had been used as a medical center during WWII and especially during the Soviet siege of Nazi-occupied Budapest in 1945, and then converted to a nuclear bunker/command post during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.  There were several dozen life-sized mannequins shown in various states of wounds/injuries/operations, was a little gross at times. They also had a bunch of rooms recounting the horrors of Nagasaki/Hiroshima as kind of a nuclear peace statement.  Again, no photos were allowed inside, but they had operating rooms, hospital beds, sealed doors to keep out radiation, its own power plant, stockpiled food and water, etc.  Good stuff, could have used a lot more time going thru it, but the guide hustled us thru. This was the actual entrance that ambulances would drive into back then:

 Poster on wall:

The museum was selling surplus military equipment like used gas masks, canteens, syringes (!),  etc, some of which I actually considered getting as gifts, but couldn't quite pull the trigger.  After returning to the hotel, we hiked a couple blocks to an outdoor Hungarian cafe and I had "Hungarian chicken goulash" (we're still not quite sure what goulash really is), very good! We came back to get ready for the big trip home tomorrow, hooray!  Looking forward to the 10 hour flight from Frankfurt to Denver!

Budapest Oct 19

After a buffet breakfast in the Intercontinental Hotel restaurant (Europeans apparently like their scrambled eggs runny, but their coffee is very good), we took a bus from Pest (pronounced "pesht") to Buda on the west side of the Danube, and looked at a bunch of castle/church/blahblahblah stuff (I think it's time for me go to home)

The walls of the cathedral were patterned after tapestries:

Saint Stephens (formerly the king):

The parliament building as seen from Buda across the Danube:

We then took a bus tour (traffic is terrible!) thru the city, it's a very historic city that, like most of the rest of the cities we've visited, endured religious wars (Catholics vs Protestants), invasions from Romans/Huns/Turks/Barbarians/blahblahblah, burned down in the 12/13/14/15/16th century along with the Black Plague, got attacked by the Nazis/Communists/blahblahblah and mostly got destroyed during WWII.

The bus dropped us off at the Covered Market, a place to buy stuff like paprika, linens, sausages, tourist crap, etc

We walked back to the hotel

Later that night, we had our farewell reception/dinner (the sour cherry liquour was amazing...the venison was not)  in the Akademia Club just a couple blocks from the hotel...there was a live string band playing, everyone said their goodbyes, and now we have tomorrow free time until departing on Sunday

Three countries in one day (Oct 18)

We started the morning still docked in Vienna (as were dozens of other ships with the river closed).  We got a nice onboard presentation about the country of Slovakia (only just over 20 years old after separating from the Czech Republic) by a Slovakian.  Slovakia is becoming one of the new economic powerhouses of the EU with low labor costs and high productivity...they have the highest per capita car production in the world, producing specific and unique models for Porsche (the Cayenne), VW (the Tourieg), Audi, and a couple other brands. 

We packed up all our stuff, disembarked the ship for the last time, boarded buses, and headed for the country of Slovakia and its capital city of Bratislava.

After a 1.5 hr bus ride, we got off the bus in Bratislava.  We had a buffet meal, then did a walking tour of about an hour to see the Old Town sites.  This city sits just across the river from Austria, so during the Cold War/Iron Curtain days, Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Soviet Union, and the forest on the other side of the Danube from Bratislava was walled and mined, fenced with electric fence, and guarded with dogs to keep people from swimming the Danube and seeking refuge in neutral Austria.  Bratislava dates back to the Roman Empire days, this is about as far north as the Romans got, and Bratislava was a fortress to guard against the Germanic tribers.  Slovakia is the first former Communist country I've ever visited:

Opera House, with our guide Ivana in the red coat

 The "UFO Bridge" (restaurant on top!):

 Old town hall (there is a cannonball embedded in its face from the Napoleonic wars just to the left of the 2nd story window...there was a significant treaty signed by Napoleon within the city, but I don't recall which one):

 Sculptures around the city:

Maria Theresa, who is a prominent member of the Austria-Hungarian Empire's history since she was its first female queen, ordered the walls around the city to be torn down in the early 1800s.  The city did that, and dumped all the wall material into the channel of the Danube surrounding the city (it was another walled city) such that it filled up and then became a promenade shown here:

After the tour, we hopped on the bus for a long 2.5 hour bus ride to the country of Hungary (another former Communist country) and the capital city of Budapest.

During the ride, they served us a traditional "Slovakian bagel", which amounted to a croissant with some walnut filling.

 We checked into our hotel and promptly got back on the bus (it was a LONG day) for a short hop to a dinner cruise down the Danube (since these dinner boats are relatively light, they don't need as deep of water as our cruise ship would have needed to continue our cruise).  The city is beautiful here along the river (our hotel is on the river too).  Our cruise directors say this may be their favorite city. 

Sunset looking toward the Palace

 Parliament building:

 Palace (dating back to the Austria-Hungarian Empire reign of Franz-Joseph Hapsburg, second half of the 1800s):

 Chain (suspension) bridge with Palace in the background:

 Our hotel as seen from the river:

Tomorrow is the tour of Budapest and our cruise group farewell dinner at some fancy place (maybe a palace), with the Tauck adventure formally ending Saturday morning.  We will continue to stay at the Intercontinental until our departure Sunday morning.

Vienna Oct 17

We took the bus to downtown Vienna, with a choice of 3 excursions:  Schonbrunn (summer) Palace, Hofburg (winter) palace, and the Lipizzaner Horses. We visited the Schonbrunn palace last time, so Hofburg it was.  The main theme of this palace is "Sissi", or Elizabeth, the wife of Franz-Joseph Hapsburg, the emperor of the Austria-Hungarian empire for over 60 years until 1916. Here is the main entrance to the palace:

Here is the courtyard outside the palace where Hitler announced the annexation of Austria into the Third Reich:

No photography was allowed inside the palace.  We walked by the stables for the Lipizzaner horses, shown here with a forklift bringing them apples:

We walked around the original old town of Vienna, dating back to the Roman, here is an archeological dig in the middle of the city from first century

Everywhere you looked, there was interesting architecture.  Most of the buildings were from the 1800s, then rebuilt after being destroyed during WWII, with lots of statues

Of course we had to visit the local cathedral, St Stephens, very dark and gothic compared to what we saw in the past few days

We then took a tour of the Opera House...there was an opera tonight, but only standing room only tickets were available...wait in line for 5 hours, then the show lasts 4 hours, no thank you!  The price is right at 4 euros.

 getting ready for tonight's opera, it's a different one almost every night.  Only operas and ballets are performed in this auditorium, no concerts because of the acoustics

there are screens on the back of the seats to translate the operas into several languages

 the outside almost looks like a train station

Back on the ship for our final night aboard, tomorrow we bus to visit Bratislava, Slovakia, and afterwards bus to Budapest for 3 nights before returning home Sunday.

Trip change Oct 16

Due to the Danube being closed downstream from Vienna (where we are currently docked), we will spend the nights of Oct 16 and 17 onboard the MS Treasures, then be bused the rest of the trip, spending the nights of Oct 18, 19, and 20 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Budapest.  I think we will still get to visit the cities of Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest as planned, but our river cruising appears to be over. 

Melk, Austria and Vienna (Oct 16)

This morning we walked to the village of Melk, whose main attraction is the Abbey--the largest in Austria, constructed in the early 1700s, overlooking the Danube River.   There are currently 30 monks living there, and it is also a private Catholic school.   It now becomes the most ornate church that we've seen, with lots of gold in the sanctuary...no photos allowed, so you'll have to settle for a picture from a postcard below.  We also walked around the attached garden:

This afternoon we peacefully cruised down the Danube River through a valley with lots of vineyards and castles and churches on a beautiful afternoon in the upper 60s...could have used more quiet afternoons like this!

This evening, we got on buses and drove to downtown Vienna, having a great meal at the Palais Pallavicini restaurant.  It was just like the dining room in some of the palaces we have visited, they had dancers and singers and musicians, plus waiters that put on a show of their own, prancing about the dining room to the string musicians.  I had the salmon, everyone else had veal, all very good.