Viking River Cruise | FindPenguins

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- Jun 5, 2023, 6:57pm
- ☁️ 24 °C
- Altitude: 88 m
- Hungary Budapest Gellérthegy Gellért Hill 47.488422, 19.05381247°29’18” N 19°3’14” E
Day 15
Wrapup
June 5, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
68 locks. 1164 miles. 5 countries. 3 world capitals. Grand European Tour. First time in 5 years, No complaints about us from the crew.
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- Jun 5, 2023, 2:41pm
- ☁️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 111 m
- Hungary Budapest Budapest XIII. kerület 47.518333, 19.08166747°31’6” N 19°4’54” E
Day 15
Thermal baths
June 5, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Built in late 1800s. Biggest number of baths aside from Iceland. Original Roman settlement found the hot springs. Used for healing for a long time, but fell out of favor until late 1800s.
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- Jun 5, 2023, 9:40am
- ☁️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 116 m
- Hungary Budapest Erzsébetváros Heroes' Square 47.513909, 19.07629647°30’50” N 19°4’35” E
Day 15
Budapest
June 5, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Pesht side was ship side and flat. Budha side is hilly and mountainous side. The whale building connects old and new Old storage building with glass to connect them. Liberty Bridge is green Bridge. Monument is Liberty monument holding a palm leaf for peace. Big bottle opener. Red power and strength, white is faithfulness and green hope. 1873 two cities united as one. Green dome building is a palace and now an art gallery. Chain Bridge, suspension bridge. Greg has a picture. Metal elements look like a chain. Famous for porcelain. Second largest synagogue in the world. Moorish style. 3000 worshippers. Survived WW2. There are 100,000-200,000 jews in Budapest. Houdini born in Hungary.

Greg got pics of opera house. Museum House of Terror. Nazis and Communists. Prison. Hungarian Heroes Square. 1896 was 1000 year birthday of Hungary. Greg has pictures.

Communism ended in 1989. Budha side. Catholic martyr what I took a picture of when we came in. 1870 and 1880s built. Greg has some pics.

Dropped off Castle District. Besieged by Soviets during WW2. Government reconstructing buildings destroyed during war. Making look like before destruction. Built in 1250s. UNESCO site.
Plague statue. Orange and yellow dotted building from 1300-1400s.

Church 800 year old. King Mathias. Roof made of ceramics.
View from Fishermans Bastion. King Stephen from 1000. 1500s owned by Ottomans and became a mosque. At end of 1800s repainted frescos. Gothic medieval church. King Stephen was a pagan. On left, his son and heir in middle and bishop on right. Offered crown to virgin Mary. His dynasty lasted 300 years. Only memorial if Hungarian king. Bala III and Anne. 1100 met Richard the Lion hearted. First wife. Windows from 1896.

Parliament building third largest 1885 - 1904. Neo Gothic. House of lords and commons. Only Commons active now. St. Margeret Bridge.Read more
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- Jun 4, 2023, 1:20pm
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 156 m
- Austria Vienna Inner city Leopoldstadt 48.229849, 16.40134448°13’47” N 16°24’5” E
Day 14
Vienna back to boat
June 4, 2023 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Lager beer invented in Vienna. Storage in chilled cellars for larger amounts of time. Zinfadel grape from Austria. Grapes from experimental vineyards at Schonnbunn castle. Croatia actually home of the grape. Those grapes from castle taken to California. Succession building. Klimt, Gustav.Read more
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- Jun 4, 2023, 10:05am
- ☁️ 17 °C
- Altitude: 185 m
- Austria Vienna Inner city Fünfhaus 48.18579, 16.31713348°11’9” N 16°19’2” E
Day 14
Schonbrunn Palace tour
June 4, 2023 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Anniversary 50 years of Franz Joseph memorial church. 1800s. First Pic of June 4. Klimt is the most famous artist of Austria. The Kiss. Maria Theresa inherited the palace and used it as a summer residence. She had 16 children. Added second floor and wings and over 1000 workers. 1441 rooms. Palace went into state ownership after WWI. Now 200 Apts can be rented.

Winter palace is actually close in city center. Main city had high walls and no breeze and no seweage. Land bought in late 16th century. Found a spring and built hunting lodge. Destroyed by Ottomans. Rebuilt after Ottomans. Huge courtyard for all the carriages.

Baroque style from France Versailles. Gloriette Pavillion was higher up because it represented the whole dynasty. Neptune emporer of all waters and the Empress is the leader of all lands.

Charles V sun never set on the empire. Included Spain and the Spanish colonies. Opened gardens in late 1700s. Stalin and Hitler were both homeless in Vienna in 1913. Franz Joseph born and died here. Edison himself brought electricity to the palace in 1900. Used match chords to light all the candles at once on a chandelier.

120 feet long and 30 feet high. Imperial Hall. Abundance, Military and Glorious rule with the empress and emporer on the ceilings. Rococo style and guilded gold.
Kenedy and Kruschev met here in the Imperial Hall. Annual New Years Day concert here. National Operas ballet.

Continuosly cleaned and restored. Marie Antoinette was daughter of Mary Theresa.

Hitler annexed Austria. No Allied bombs hit the palace except one, but it didn't detonate. The military fresco was repainted after the war. Irony there.
Austrian succession war 1743 reconquered Prague. Celebrated with horses carrying women in circles. Carousel room has paintings of that celebration after the war. Marie Theresa had to fight that war because she was the only heir and a woman.

Mozart started with Maria Theresa at age 6. Charles I last emporer and forced to abdicate in this room. 640 years of Hapsburg line. Died in exile in Portugal. His wife lived to 1989.

Her husband died 15 years before her. Black room was for mourning and remembering him.

Napoleon occupied palace in 1809. Napoleon had a Hapsburg wife and a son. Servant quarters and hallways behind imperial rooms. Emporer of 2 empires for 2 years. Ferdinand I was an invalid as a result of inner breading. Franz Joseph took over as nephew of the double Emporer.

Depart 12:15.Read more
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- Jun 3, 2023, 9:35am
- ☀️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 198 m
- Austria Vienna Inner city St. Ulrich Palais Trautson 48.206485, 16.35817948°12’23” N 16°21’29” E
Day 13
Vienna city tour
June 3, 2023 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
No high rises in city center. Flooding an issue in Vienna. Just under 2 million residents. Greater Vienna is a quarter of the population. Franz Joseph ruled 68 years when Victoria ruled England. Ancient Roman camp started the city. 3 opera housed. Had to rebuild opera house. Art and science. Mother Theresa was mother of European royalty
Look up vienese congress and period of 100 years of peace.. Vienese congress floated idea of ending slavery.

Vienese boys choirs since around 1500. 4 choirs now.
Gold tower late 1600 s.

St Stephen's completed 1400as. 11:45 leaving from apothecary.Read more
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- Jun 2, 2023, 6:00pm
- ⛅ 24 °C
- Altitude: 227 m
- Austria Lower Austria Grafenwörth Feuersbrunn 48.438672, 15.78649848°26’19” N 15°47’11” E
Day 12
Wachau Valley Road Winery
June 2, 2023 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Morwald. Family winery. Erhardt is the vitner. House wine on the ship is his contract. 2 other vitners - Kristof (nephew). Martin (son) also vitner. 4 wine regions alone when we drove to the winery. Don't live on wine alone. Many make schnapps also. Not like our schnapps.

3000 bottles an hour with their equipment. Use 2-3 days a month. 250K bottles a year for Viking. 450K a year. Bottles. Don't sell by the case. We are trying the Estate wines. 98% screw tops. Corks from Portugal. That size barrel for aging reds. Made in town. Austrian oak has a finer wine. Wine takes on less oak taste.
85% machine picked. By vibrations and set by sweetness. Mid September is picking. Cultured yeast with cold fermentation. Pull degrees of temperature down to 50-60s. Reds ferment for 10 days. Mash can be made into wine made schnapps (grappa). Use a still. Longer distilled, less alcohol.

Malachit means higher standard over the classic. Erhardt is 4th generation vitner.Read more
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- Jun 2, 2023, 3:49pm
- ☁️ 26 °C
- Altitude: 200 m
- Austria Lower Austria Krems an der Donau Stein an der Donau 48.401666, 15.58410448°24’6” N 15°35’3” E
Day 12
Danube River Upper Deck
June 2, 2023 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
With David Parker program director on the upper deck of the river. He is giving commentary again. Wachau Valley. 2034 km marker.
Castle Schonbuhel castle. 1100 years old. Owned by Swarovski diamond family. Chapel associated with the castle.

Aggstein Castle. Evil Lord George. 12th century. Yellow house at the edge of the river is stables for horses to pull boats back.

Trying to grow olives in the micro climate. Wine called Green Lines from the terraced grape fields.

Devils wall. Crusades legend that the devil threw stones down on the Ottomans. Napoleon tried to cross here and failed.

Spitz castle and the hill near it. Great white wine. Km 2020. Mountain of 1000 buckets.

Road Bridge and church of st. Michael, oldest church in Austria. Rabbits at top of church tower.

Durchstein. Castle of Richard the Lion Hearted. Poet servant sang song that only Richard knew. Road sculpture of King and servant. Blue tower on the water. Castle above.Read more
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- Jun 2, 2023, 1:47pm
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 202 m
- Austria Lower Austria Melk 48.231489, 15.32365948°13’53” N 15°19’25” E
Day 12
Melk Abbey
June 2, 2023 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Built 1702-1736. Originally a royal palace. Monastic community is more than 900 years old. Baroque style. 24 Benedictine monk.
900 students here. High school. Private day school. 12 - 15 monks living here all the time?

Maria Theresa was here 3 times. 1743. Franz Stephen husband. Lots of rooms because people stayed here. Benedictine is oldest order. 500 year old book of Benedict. A castle here was 1000 years ago. Oldest trausre ivory box depicting life of christ. Melk cross has sliver of real cross. Jewels and gold. Fire in 13 the century. 15th century and the reform movement and called Melk Movement. Leader of movement.

Vestments became leather in end of 1700s. More frugality. No longer baroque. Reused coffins. Age of reason. 1065 windows. Over 500 rooms. Have a book from 900s.Read more
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- Jun 1, 2023, 11:41am
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Altitude: 322 m
- Germany Free State of Bavaria Passau Passau, Altstadt Passau Diözesanmuseum 48.574144, 13.46672648°34’27” N 13°28’0” E
Day 11
Passau
June 1, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
7000 years of history 50,000 people and 50 churches. Grey house 1600-1700s new town. Rococo.
12000 university city. Black inside church from 1660.
Archeological remains go back to 5000BC. Neathendetal here too. Churches go back to 500. Baroque style. Onion shaped towers is a sign of Baroque. 1600. After Baroque was 1800s Rococo. Then after rococo art neauvo, then 1900s art deco. This was church of people. Painted black wood. St. Paul's church.

Danube was border of Roman Empire. Celts north of Danube. Most Italian city out of Italy. Original Roman wall. Bells on fingers and toes to hear if bell rings from black plague. Don't touch with a 10 foot pole from plague as well.

Cathedral is baroque. Used to be largest pipe organ in world. We were in courtyard of Cathedral. We didn't go in. Five organs inside. She said lots of scaffolding inside because of renovations.

Rococo palace in 1700s. Medieval market with fountain.Read more
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