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First European Trip
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First European Trip

The journey begins! Read more
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  • Trip start
    October 17, 2024
  • ciasgardenshed.comFirst European Tripciasgardenshed.com

    On the Ground in Vienna

    October 17, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    After a long flight, we're waiting for our last flight to Budapest.
    Slept a little on the plane, but not enough to keep us from being exhausted.
    Very nice meals and excellent service on Austrian Air.Read more

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    Exploring Budapest

    October 18, 2024 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 55 °F

    After we checked into our hotel, we slept for two hours. We had a dinner reservation, but I was still too tired to venture out. Sean had some authentic Hungarian food in a quaint little bistro. While he was eating, I researched sweets, and found a traditional treat, chimney cakes. Ours were filled with vanilla cream and pistachio cream. Delicious.
    Budapest is really pretty at night. St. Stephen's Basilica with the moon and Buda Castle.
    Photo credits to Sean today.    Read more

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    Buda and Pest on Our Own

    October 19, 2024 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    Pest-Eastern side of the Danube - We started with an amazing breakfast with offerings from around the world. You could have a full English with your Hungarian sausages and Lebanese labneh. My favorite was toasted poppyseed bread. Sean had "a few" sausages.
    Hungarian artist, Ignace Roskovics, gave me a few pointers.
    The 2 train took us to the Central Market. It was huge and filled with great things! The roof of the building is beautifully tiled as are others in town.
    Solemn visit to the Shoes on the Danube Memorial commemorating almost 200,000 Hungarian Jews killed in that area during the Arrow Cross party massacre.    Read more

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    Buda and Pest on Our Own 2

    October 19, 2024 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 55 °F

    Buda-Western Side of Danube

    The Castle District is anchored by Buda Castle and The Church of Our Lady at Buda Castle.
    The castle was home to Hungarian royalty in their day, now houses multiple national museums, and is being restored and preserved today (and always?). The resources devoted to it will allow it to remain a source of national pride.
    The neighborhood that surrounds these two architectural anchors is more populated by traditional buildings than the parts of Pest we have seen so far, many of them residences and apartments and others restaurants, vendors, and bakeries, like Retesvar.
    The Church of Our Lady is notable to us for its intricately tiled roofs and spires. Bonus points for those of you who can see Starbucks lurking nearby. And doesn't every scene need its own falconer?    Read more

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    Traditional Hungary

    October 19, 2024 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 46 °F

    Our first Viking excursion took us to the neighboring town of Budapeszi. We drove through a dark forest to reach Etterem Vadaspark, a restaurant that celebrates Hungarian culture and fare. Our hosts greeted us with little man-shaped shot glasses filled with Palinka, an apricot brandy drink. Afterward we ate family style gulyas, meats, vegetables and cake.
    The entertainment was foot-stomping music and dancing. Notice the gal dancing with a carafe of wine on her head!    Read more

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    Old World Hungary

    October 20, 2024 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    We started the day heading north to a town called Szentendre (St. Andrew). Who knew that we were going to see Roman aquaducts, columns and amphitheatres in Hungary! Our route took through Aquincum which was an ancient Roman town filled with ruins.
    Our next stop was a tour of an open air museum representing Hungarian folk architecture, culture, and way of life in Hungary. The buildings from all parts of Hungary were recreated with as much original material as possible.
    To top off the visit, we had a cooking class. Sous chef Sean cut vegetables to make Gulyas.
    The last stop was shopping on the main street of Szentendre.
    We road over Margit Bridge designed by Eiffel. We loved the lights.
    We're on the ship now. Had orientation, safety drill, and dinner. We set sail at 8:15 am for Vienna!    Read more

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    Sailing the Danube!

    October 21, 2024 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 41 °F

    Viking Jarl pulled away from the dock at about 8:15 this morning. Last pictures of Budapest are the Chain Bridge and Parliament Building. After breakfast, we enjoyed the view from rockers at the front of the ship.
    I downloaded a Marine Traffic app so I could track our progress on the Danube. We basically had Slovakia on one bank and Hungary on the opposite bank of the river for much of the trip. The app also highlighted photo ops, so we saw a few interesting things. The strange elevated building from 1927 is a coal dust loader. Workers took wagons of dust to the loader to be dropped on barges.
    Salamon Tower is part of a fortress that protected the summer home of Hungarian kings.
    The best part of today's travels was Gabcikovo Lock, one of the largest in Europe. Ingenuity at its finest... We were able to be on the top deck to watch the entire process. Our ship rose about 65 feet. Great fun.    Read more

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    First Day in Vienna

    October 22, 2024 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

    Our first stop was The Imperial Palace, home to the Habsburgs until 1918. The stables house a school to train riders for the Lipizzaner Stallions. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a horse receiving his heat treatment to relax his back muscles.
    We then saw the Plague Column memorial assembled in 1679. We were amazed by how complex it was. So much to take in.
    St. Stephen's Cathedral is the oldest we've ever seen. They broke ground in 1137, and completed the church in 1578. The tile roof was spectacular. Nice that George Clooney and Nespresso are infecting this cathedral just like Starbucks is doing in Buda.
    Swarovski was a must. Didn't buy anything but loved the crystal Star Wars!
    Ended our outing with lunch at Cafe Dremel, one of the traditional coffee houses. It was beautiful, filled with baked goods and sweets. Delicious lunch.    Read more

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    Art and Sausage

    October 23, 2024 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    We took the subway and spent most of this rainy day in the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum. Much of the collection belonged to the Habsburgs. Most of our time was spent on the Dutch Painters. We saw our first Vermeer today. A woman, but not with a pearl earring.
    Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities were amazing.
    Had to have a sausage from a stand. Delish!
    1. Frans Snyder-Fish Market
    2. Jan Brueghel-The Great Bouquet
    3. David Tenners-Archduke Wilhelm in his Gallery
    4. Jan Davidsz de Heem-Eucharist with a Fruit Wreath
    5. Johannes Vermeer-The Art of Painting
    6. Peter Paul Rubens-Head of Medusa
    7. Pieter Bruegel-Massacre of the Innocents
    8. Antonio Canova-Theseus Defeats the Centaur
    9. Carvaggio-David with the Head of Goliath
    10. Guiseppe Arcimboldo-Water    Read more

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    Krems, Wachau Valley Austria

    October 24, 2024 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

    Our first stop was The Gottweig Abbey run by Benedictine monks. It's a beautiful setting in the hills with an abundance of grape vines and apricot trees. The monks produce wines and apricot products to fund the abbey and all of their activities in the surrounding area. They run parishes, schools and other ministries. Like most prominent properties in the area, the Abbey was taken over by the Nazis, but the Benedictines were able to reclaim what was left of it.
    We had dumplings with an entire apricot in the center...yuuuum. The rest of our day was sitting on the top deck while sailing to Passau, Germany. The Danube cuts through the Wachau Valley. It's a beautiful region with old fortifications, castles and vineyards.
    We have enjoyed many locks, and can watch the bow cam when we're inside!    Read more

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    Passau, Germany

    October 25, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    We spent the early part of the day in Passau. The cobblestone streets are home to colorful traditional buildings, St. Stephen's Cathedral, shops and restaurants. This area is prone to flooding. The town is at the confluence of three rivers. So essential living areas of homes are on the highest levels of the building.
    The morning weather has been foggy and misty, but it burned off by noon. Sean's good at capturing the blue skies.
    We ate at a quaint cafe, Anton's. So good.
    It's hard to believe we have to leave the ship soon. Viking Jarl had been tremendous. The staff has spoiled us from the first moment we stepped on the ship. Food is great, guides are knowledgeable, and the ship is the perfect mix of luxury and comfort.    Read more

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    Regensburg, Germany

    October 26, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    It's sad to think that our ship is docked and we're on our last shore excursion. We toured the beautiful town of Regensburg. It's one of the few towns mostly spared from bombing, so it's filled with original architecture. I was intrigued by Roman ruins again. There was a fortress wall with many of the original boulders intact.
    Other buildings were colorful and carefully preserved.
    We ate at Die Historische Wurstkuchl. The 900-year-old building is notable for its role in catering for the workers who built the Stone Bridge. Delicious sausage again.
    Regensburg is home to the unique Dachshund Museum. While we didn't have time to go through the museum, we did enjoy the huge array of products with Dachshunds.    Read more

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    Journey Home

    October 27, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    No pics today on our 22-hour journey home. We started in Munich, stopped in Atlanta, and finally made it home. We had plenty of time to reflect on our big trip, and really had no complaints. Mostly everything exceeded our expectations, especially the friendly service on the ship. We can't say enough about the hard-working team that catered to our every need.
    As amazing as it is to experience the food, the history and architecture, meeting other people made this trip truly special. Locals, guides and other guests on the ship were welcoming and warm. From Budapest to Regensburg, the local people helped us understand that we have more in common than we have differences.    Read more

    Trip end
    October 27, 2024
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