April 17 - Poof - and the trip is over!

St Peters

Happy Easter! Up at 7:30 and off to breakfast, which was samo, samo. Wanted to be ready to go ashore when we docked, which was about 9:30. This stop was Regensburg and included a walking tour but we passed on it and left a little early on our own. I had a map of the old town and easily found the Cathedral which was very gothic in structure. We waited outside and could hear the choir singing and watched the priests carrying in palm fronds. We didn’t know who all the younger men in robes were, as they looked too young to be priests and there were so many. Perhaps a boys choir or really overdressed altar boys. Being Easter and Sunday morning there were no regular shops open.

One of the locks

From on the bridge

We made our way to the Lovelock Bridge where hundreds of padlocks are engraved with couples names and a date and are locked to the sides of the bridge. Could be wedding dates or dates they met. All kinds, colors and sizes. Pretty neat. Further down the river Danube was the 12th century bridge. We did some photoing there and by the time we finished a few shops had opened and we pounced on them, hungry to spend the last of our money on our last day. Can’t bring any home you know. We had to be back on the ship at 11:30 so the race was on. We did our shopping and ended up running into Angela and Terry and we walked back to the ship together and took some photos of them, us and the ship before boarding. Can’t believe the week went so fast. We really like them and it will be a tearful parting.

Kelly, Kerry and Angela at the
Amadeus Classic

We started our packing before lunch. The lunch was excellent. A nice vinegarette over cucumbers, tomato and onion with chives, lentil soup, which I love and I opted for seasoned rice, fish in a nice sauce and mixed veggies. Dessert was a small piece of apple strudel with a vanilla sauce. We finished packing after lunch.

We met up with our gang in the lounge as we had moved further up the river and docked to wait for a group on a tour and this was the designated meeting place. I finished my second book and Kerry and I brought out the rest of our Hungarian sausage and shared it with our friends and some fellow passengers, as we knew we could not take in back into the US. It made a nice addition to the tea and cakes served at 4.

section of the lounge

Everyone was wondering why we still hadn’t left for Nuremberg and at our disembarkation meeting at 6:30 the mystery was solved. We were docked in Kelheim just before a lock and the lock was broken and would not be opening until Tuesday. Uh oh! The captain assured the passengers that the staff was making bus arrangements for everyone to leave from here to Nuremberg to the airport or the train station or busses to Munich airport, which was where we were headed. It ended up that our bus was to leave at the same time as it would have if we left from Nuremberg, so it was no big deal for us. However, our friends Angela and Terry were rather concerned as they had to be at the train station for the only train of the day headed to their next destination.

The baked Alaska

Kelly, Etsuko, Alan, Terry, Angela, Kerry

There was a cocktail reception at 7 and dinner at 7:30. On the way to dinner we were assigned colored luggage tags based on what bus we were taking in the morning. Dinner was excellent. We started with a small mixed salad, then oxtail soup, followed by prawns over herbed risotto. We cleansed out pallet with a berry sorbet in anticipation of the beef tenderloin with garlic scalloped potatoes and a few veggies. Dessert was baked Alaska, which I just had the ice cream. Then they served a plate to share of fancy chocolates and candies. We shared our final cups of tea and coffee and reminisced of the great week we’d had and made sure we all had the appropriate email and mailing addresses. Terry and Angela’s bus was leaving at 7:15 so we didn’t expect to have breakfast together and they left first to get to bed early for their long day. We stayed with Alan and Etsuko a while longer before final packing and showers.

April 16 - Austria and on to Germany

Ship reception desk

We were a little late getting up and were late for breakfast. There was plenty of food left, same o-same o though. The booked tour to Salzburg left at 9:25 and we were only in port in Linz from 7 to 9:30 so we didn’t even get off. The sun was out and we were hoping for a nice day. We spent some time in the lounge and working on the puzzle.

Along the river

Lunch was self serve salad and again I passed on the soup. I had the chicken cordon bleu. The rice was too salty so I didn’t eat it and peeled all the breading off the chicken. The desserts were banana terrine and pistachio ice cream. Yuck! I tried the ice cream and it had no actual nuts in it and not a strong flavor so it was OK. We all headed back to the lounge to chat and relax. We crossed over into Germany around 3:30. At 4 was afternoon tea and tea cookies.

Dome of St Stephens

Inside the cathedral

We docked in Passau about 5:15 and they gave us until 6:45 to be back on the ship. It was a disappointing stop. We went to St. Stephens Cathedral and to the Rathaus but it was closed as were 95% of the shops. I did pick up some postcards and cute dish towels with embroidered pictures on them. There were plenty of bars and cafes open, but that was about it. We made it back for the 6:45 evening briefing and dinner at 7.

The ladies with Stanislav

It was the best dinner for me so far. I started with Caesar salad, then tried the carrot soup as it sounded interesting, and it was really good. I need to try making it at home some time. I had duck breast with little potato stacks and for dessert the apricot dumpling in a cream sauce. All delicious! We chatted over our usual Earl Grey tea and then asked our waiter, Stanislav, to take some group photos of “our gang”. We then retired to the lounge for the Crew Show. Most of it was the same show they did on our Rhine cruise but it was still pretty funny.

Showered and got clothes out for tomorrow. Can’t believe this was one of our nicest weather days, sunny and 60 and spent it almost all on the ship.

April 15 - Austria

Pipe Organ in the church

Melk Abbey

Lucky us, got to sleep in until 8. Whoopee! We spent most of the day in the lounge as we sailed through the Wachau region of Austria. This is the main wine region, with the vineyards growing along the Danube as they do along the Rhine. Mick narrated along the way about the castles and ruins we saw. At noon we docked in Emmersdorf. After lunch of a nice self serve salad, I passed again on the soup and had the fish, which I did not care for. The sautéed leeks and polenta were both good though. Fruit with whipped creams was a nice light dessert. Kerry and I got ready so once lunch was over and we could disembark we would head over the bridge into Melk. The shuttle over and back was $18 each with a time limit in town, so frugal as we are, we walked. Mid-way over the huge bridge it started raining and hailing. OK, maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. I had my gortex jacket on but Kerry did not and was using a plastic bag over her head that we brought for carrying our purchases back. We took a short cut at the end of the bridge down the stairs to the bottom and got under the bridge and thought we’d wait it out a bit. Well, it didn’t look like it was going to give up and I thought there was a bus stop on the other side of the road down a bit. She didn’t believe me so I ventured out and was trying to make out the times, etc on the sign, as it WAS a bus top and low and behold, here comes the bus around the corner. I yelled for her and she saw it at the same time and came running and wet as we were, he stopped and took us on our way for $2.50 each way. He dropped us in the center of Old Town right in front of a clothing store. Kerry thought she might find a rain hat but no luck. We went to the Visitor Center to use the restroom and see where there might be WIFI, but they said there was none in the town but they had a “rental” computer we could use for $1.50 for 15 minutes so we waited our turn and used it to check in at home.

spiral staircase in abbey

The main attraction of the town is the Melk Abbey which was 50 steps up. We did the walk and talked the talk. Most of the displays were in English and the view of Melk from there was highly impressive as was the view of the Danube. Too bad we could not see our ship from there. The ancient books, chalices and alter crosses were beautiful and some pieces held bone and teeth of martyrs. The library has 12 rooms and thousands of books and ancient manuscripts. Even the library is very ornate. The church itself is huge and extremely ornate with huge richly decorated “boxes” on the upper levels for the aristocratic families, kinda like opera boxes. Several of the side altars have mummified bodies behind glass. That wasn’t quite so nice to view.

We stopped in a few shops before heading back to where we were told to catch the bus back across the river to Emmersdorf. We knew the buses were about done running and were a bit on the nervous side that one – we’d missed the last bus and two – that we’d be the last ones back again and three – that we’d miss dinner again if we had to walk back. Besides, we were bone tired. Lady luck was on our side as we did get the last bus and we did get back before missing dinner or the evening briefing. Of course everyone could see us dragging on with our packages in tow.

The dinner salad tonight was goat cheese terrine, yummy, and I passed again on the soup. I had the spinach quiche and the semolina pudding for dessert. The quiche was delicious but geez, a person would starve on that tiny slice so I asked for another and got it. Well they brought 2 so Kerry, Angela and Etsuko finished it off. Following our after dinner tea Kerry and I worked on the puzzle for a while before turning it and reading a while.

April 13 - A Day In Bratislava

It was a kinda bumpy night for being on the water. In one of the locks we passed through it felt like we were in a giant tin can being shook around. We kept banging the sides. I guess the pilot wasn’t doing so well in the dark! We got up to look but could only see the sides of the lock right up at our window.

We were late getting to the dining room so didn’t get to eat with Terry, Angela, Alan and Etsuko today. That was OK, it’s always good to meet more new people. Same stuff as yesterday but instead of oatmeal there were beans over on the European side.

The tour you had to pay for was leaving at 9 and we left on foot at the same time. We found the information center and got directions to walk to the center of Bratislava or take the 207 bus from a particular place. Well we got on the bus but should have walked. Our Slovakian does not exist. We got on the right bus but thought the castle was further and didn’t know the name of the stop so we overshot it. We heard 2 American young men talking on the bus and asked them and they said we missed the stop. So, we got off and started walking back and it was now ALL UP HILL. Thought I was going to die! We found a bus stop finally and just waited. The first bus passed us by and we figured it was because we stood at the actually bus stop sign and should have stood along the sidewalk where it was painted on the road for the bus to stop. Now how stupid is that? So we moved and will wonders never cease, but the bus stopped for us. We just about missed the stop again when I looked out the window and saw tour busses along the street and figured they were stopped for the castle so we jumped off at the next stop. The Primatial Castle was actually closed for renovation but we could go into the courtyard and there was a special exhibit of Goldsmithing Museum of the Liturgies. The displays were beautiful and they first said no photography but since we didn’t speak their language and currently we were the only ones there so they said Ok, but no flash. The chalices, flasks, alter crosses, etc dated from 1400 to 1925. They were all so elaborate that you could not distinguish the old from the new. The museum was multi-levels and from the top was a skinny window with a great view of the Danube and old Bratislava so Kerry climbed up in the window and got some shots.

We decided it was not far to walk down and today was a cold day so we ducked into a café and enjoyed a hot chocolate for Kerry and a cappuccino for me. They had wifi so we could check email on our phones too. It was less than 5 minutes back to the old city center so we used my map and list of places to see and did a quick walk through and got photos of all but one place I believe that were one the list. There were some interesting bronze statues of men doing normal things. One was a man sticking up out of a manhole. So we saw St. Michaels Gate, St Martins Cathedral, the Grassal Kovich Palace and the bronze statues called Taube and Rubberneck. We made quick stops in 2 souvenir shops on the way back to the ship. We had to be back at 12:15 for the 12:30 sailing, and guess who were the last ones to board? Of course everyone was already at lunch and could see us boarding.

Lunch was good. Do it yourself salad, soup which I passed on and I had the butter fish, mashed potatoes and the broccoliflower and for dessert I had the cheesecake minus the meringue. After lunch we migrated to the lounge with Terry, Angela, Alan and Etsuko. We enjoyed sharing our events of the stop, watching the shorelines and the entire “lock” process in the daylight. At 4 we had our tea and cakes, followed by a presentation by Mick about Mozart and Strauss since our next stop would be Vienna.

Now on to dinner. Does it seem like we do a lot of eating? We did. We actually ate early, at 6 because there was an evening tour leaving at 7:30 for Vienna by Night. We passed on that, as did our friends. Terry, Angela and Kerry played cards in the lounge and we painstakingly listened to the duo murder the songs in the lounge. Yes, they were that bad. It was the singing, oh, it sounded like the poor guy was in pain, terrible pain. After a while Kerry and I couldn’t take it any more and worked on the ship puzzle for a while. It was a picture of our ship. Tomorrow is expected to be cold and rainy, so I’m not looking forward to the weather

April 12 - Tour of Budapest

Breakfast on the ship was the worst meal. It’s a cross of American and European foods. The bacon was not cooked enough, there were lox but no bagels or cream cheese and there were scrambled and over cooked soft boiled eggs. At least there was plenty of good fresh fruit.

I think it's the Royal Palace

We had to catch a tour bus at 8 for a city tour. We started on the Pest side. We saw the Parliament buildings, Fisherman’s Bastion, Heroes Square, Chain Bridge, Opera House, St. Stephens Basilica, Synagogue, Mattias Church, the Royal Palace and many other old buildings that are now various museums. The Pest side is also known for its many Bath Houses and many have a type of medical facility as part since the mineral baths are said to be of healing nature. We drove down the expensive shopping district. We spent a lot of time on both sides of the Danube. On the Buda side we had a walking tour of Castle Hill where Mattias Church is. It is a really beautiful church both inside and out. They herded us back to the bus at 11:30 so we would be back to the ship for lunch. For lunch I had a salad of peas, ham and eggs, fried perch with spinach pasta and fresh veggies and a Hungarian pancake for dessert. It’s a thick crepe with finely chopped nuts inside the fold with chocolate and whipped cream on top. Terry and Angela were at our table again.

After lunch the 4 of us took a bus to what we called the green bridge that we walked across to an old building that was converted to an impressive shopping mall. The bottom floor was all food related. A farmer’s market of sorts with fresh meats, sausages, spices, etc. The second floor was more clothing, leather, souvenir type places. We found some nice gifts to take home and we each bought a beautiful hand painted egg Christmas ornament. It was getting rainy out and we didn’t want to be late for the ship so we took a taxi back. We thought we had an honest driver, but in the end we felt he over charged us and would not take a mixture of currencies. Once we got back and unloaded, it was time for afternoon tea and cakes. The tea choices were good and the cakes were a variety of tiny bite size cakes. Afterwards was the Gate1 Travel reception of wine and pretzel snacks. Our Gate1 rep, Mick (Miklos) spoke excellent English and I was really impressed. We met Ron and Nancy from CA (isn’t that strange) who invited us to sit with them and visit.

On deck at night with Chain Bridge
behind Kerry

Another night view

The ship set sail at 4 for Bratislava, Slovakia during one of our snack times. Dinner was at 7. It was a small antipasti of salami, cheese, prosciutto and alfalfa sprouts. They use them a lot. The soup was cream of potato and I had the absolutely perfect venison roast with gravy, sweet purple cabbage, cranberry pear and a gooey potato dumpling. For dessert I chose the yogurt terrine with berry sauce. Very light and quite tasty. Tonight we had a new couple join us, Alan and Etsuko Fast who live in Florida also. The 6 of us hit it off so well and really enjoyed dining together.

Heroes Square

After dinner it was time to head to the cabin, shower, journal, write postcards and get a good night’s sleep.