A Waltz Through Vienna

 There isn't much in the central part of Vienna that we haven't seen, as we were here for a total of 5 days in September, 2018, so we opted for the tour of the Sisi Museum in the Hofburg Palace. But first, we had arrived in Vienna in the early evening in time for our dinner and Viennese music and dance presentation at the Palace Pallavicini.

 We were greeted by tuxedo-clad waiters offering champagne and non-alcoholic drinks and a trio playing music from Mozart and Strauss. Once were called in to dinner and took our tables the entertainment started. The trio moved in and continued playing augmented by some additional musicians, and our hostess for the evening, Monika, introduced the various between-course entertainers.

The trio playing before dinner

                                    

Our hostess Monika, our soprano

Our dancers

And our baritone, singing a
witty song about pigs

Our dessert - how can you go wrong with icecream,
chocolate sauce and whipped cream?

And later that evening, the Strawberry Moon
over our ship

In the morning, we headed out for our tour at Hofburg Palace. Of course, photography is not allowed inside the museums. We saw the Imperial State Rooms and some of the private apartments of Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elizabeth, and then the Sisi Museum. It turns out that, while she is now a beloved figure in the history of the region, she wasn't so well-liked during her lifetime. She was a commoner who became empress, but she never took to the regimentation of regal life. Sisi was ahead of her time, but this wasn't realized until long after her death. She was assassinated in Geneva at the age of 60 by an Italian anarchist whose first choice of victim had cancelled his trip, and she happened to be in town.

After the museum we had lots of free time, so we walked around the pedestrian area in the Altstadt and found a restaurant for lunch. Of course we had to have something traditional even though there was a Five Guys burger place just next door. It wasn't anywhere near as busy as Chattanooga, which has been in the same place since 1960.

 

Pork cutlets with fries and coleslaw for Larry

Wiener Schnitzel with Erdapfelsalat (potatoes are
literally 'earth apples' in Austrian)

A quick march through the Volkspark and
its rose garden

The Mozart statue and begonia garden

We had a great meal and people watched at the same time. Although we could have spent more time walking through the parks, we elected to go back to the boat on an early shuttle and do a few things, like the blog, in the afternoon.

So, like good Germans and Austrians, we stopped for coffee and cake at our favourite Cafe Mozart in the Hotel Sacher, before boarding the shuttle bus, which, coincidentally, had its pick-up point in the same square.

Apfel Strudel 'mit Schlag'

 

Strawberry cream cake

And from the shuttle bus back to the ship

The very famous Prater ferris wheel. Built in 1896
it is the oldest in the world.

We sailed out at 10:30 and we sat outside to see Vienna go by. The iconic Jubilee Church by the river was built to commemorate Emperor Franz Josef's 50th year on the throne in 1913.

And with this, we bid Vienna Auf Wiedersehen.

 

 

 

 

Bratislava in a Hurry

Our sail from Budapest lasted until 7:30 a.m., and when we arrived in Bratislava we were rafted alongiside one of our sisters, MS Savor, which is the ship we were on, with Maggie, on our last Tauck cruise.

 After breakfast there was a lecture on Slovakia given by an American who has lived here for 27 years and gave us information on the political history without any pro- or anti-Communist leaning. It is really quite amazing how much Slovakia has done since Czechoslovakia  was split up in the early 1990s. Since then, the auto industry has become one of the biggest drivers of the economy. If you happen to drive a Porsche Cayenne, they're all built in Slovakia, along with a number of other premium and luxury brands.

 We then met our guide for a walking tour around the old town for about an hour and a half. Just like Budapest, we seemed to meet school groups everywhere we went - this is the last week of school in both countries, and rather than trying to get the kids to learn anything, they're filling the time with field trips.

 We spent some time in St. Stephen's Cathedral, where we learned that one of the Slovak's favourite sayings is: 'There's nothing more permanent than temporary'. During the Austro-Hungarian empire, Bratislava was made a temporary capital city and a coronation city. This lasted for about 260 years - hence the saying - and there were 9 or 10 emperors crowned in the cathedral. Emperor Franz Josef and his wife Elizabeth, the famous Sisi, were among them.

 

    One of the side altars

Looking toward the main altar

This statue of St. Stephen in the baroque style used to be on the main altar, but was moved when that style went out of style and was replaced by the neo-Gothic one that remains there today. The story depicted by the statue is that St. Stephen came upon a beggar while out riding one day. He took his sword and cut his coat in half, giving the beggar something to keep him warm. That night, he had a dream where he saw Jesus wearing half of his coat, and the legend of St. Stephen was born.

 

The Old Town of Bratislava used to be in really bad condition, but over the last 30 years or so has been completely refurbished and it is now quite a vibrant area. Here are some photos from our walk:

The courtyard of the Town Hall

These crowns signify the coronation route

One of the narrow streets on the route

The Man at Work sculpture

Bratislava Castle

We sailed for Vienna in the early afternoon, set for a 6 p.m. arrival ahead of our dinner and concert at the Palace Pallavicini. On the way, we passed quite a few of these little fishing cottages along the riverside. The Danube used to be rather polluted, but after efforts made by all the countries along its route, it is now safe to eat the various fish that can be caught in it.

 

A Morning Tour of Budapest and an Afternoon Sail

We were outside bright and early enough to be among the first to the breakfast buffet (thank jet lag for that!), so we were also prepared for our 8:30 tour departure.

 Bus drivers in the older cities of Europe should all get medals - they certainly are deserved in a place like Budapest, with its narrow roads and sharp bends. And to top it off, there's all kinds of construction going on, from roads to building restorations. Even the iconic Chain Bridge is currently closed to traffic as it is finally getting a long overdue restoration. One more to add to our long list of monuments and noteworthy sites covered in scaffolding. The project should apparently take two years, but our tour guides weren't sure that timeline would stick.

 After a 'panoramic' (read looking out the bus windows) tour of the city, where we were on the wrong side of the bus to get photos of the interesting stuff, we crossed over to the Buda side to visit the St. Matthias Cathedral and the Fishermen's Bastion.

 There is over 1,100 years of history in the city, which celebrated its millennium in 1896, and much of it is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. Hungary has been conquered by so many other nations that our tour guides told us that if we had to pick sides in a war, see what Hungary chooses and take the other one! So many of the great buildings in Budapest had to be completely rebuilt after World War II's tremendous bombing, it is amazing that they all look and feel like they've been there for hundreds of years.

 Our tour guides gave us such a lot of history during our 3 1/2 hours together that we couldn't possibly remember it all. We'll have to make do with a few photos of St. Matthias Cathedral and the Fishermen's Bastion.

 

Habsburg Empress Elizabeth (or Sisi, as she was
commonly and affectionately known) was
a woman before her time and preferred
Budapest to Vienna

 

Once we returned to the ship, unfortunately without the ability to visit the market, it was already time for lunch as we were sailing for Bratislava at 2:15.

 Once again, Hungarian specialties were on the menu, including Chicken Paprikas, which Monica had, and Beef Stew, that Larry chose from the buffet. Both were delicious, but the star of the show was something that our tour guide had described to us in the morning. There is an old established restaurant in Budapest owned by the Gundel family for over 100 years. Over that time, they have created many recipes that have become Budapest traditions, but this one is the hands-down favourite: The Gundel Pancake.

 The pancake is a thin crepe, spread with a mixture of ground walnuts and cream with a dash of rum and rolled up. The whole thing is covered with a dark chocolate sauce, and a little more rum, and in the restaurant it is apparently served à la flambée. Our culinary team made some for our lunchtime dessert, and of course we had to try one.

Beginning: Our version of the crepe was folded, not rolled

Middle: Here you can see the nut and cream filling

End: That was all that remained. It would
not have been proper to lick the plate!

After lunch we set sail, once again passing through the heart of the city, so we had ample opportunity to take more photos as Taryn (our Canadian tour director!) gave us commentary. Here are some of the sites a) in daylight, and b) from a different angle.

 

The Liberty Bridge. It was originally the Franz Josef
Bridge after the Emperor, but was renamed once
he lost power over Hungary

The Rock Chapel is a catholic church carved
into the rock at the base of Gellert Hill

The Chain Bridge in her scaffolding

St. Matthias and the Fisherman's Bastion
from the water

 

The Parliament Building

The Margaret Bridge - yes, it does have a bend in it!

Here you can tour in a Duck Bus instead of 
a Duck Boat!

As we sailed away from Budapest, we passed a few interesting sites:

 

This impressive tower leads to an extensive
wall leading up and over the hill. We haven't figure out
what it is called yet.

A very impressive 'manor house' on the river

Local specialties are served in the Panorama Lounge
during Cocktail Hour. Here is a selection of
home-made salamis with varying degrees
of paprika heat. They were delicious

During dinner we had a heavy rain shower blow through so we couldn't sit outside afterward. We stayed in the Panorama Lounge and watched the sun set over the river instead.

We were still not completely over the jetlag, so it was another early night. We should be ready for Bratislava in the morning and our evening dinner and concert in Vienna tomorrow.

 

 

Arrival - and Old Home Week!

 We will be spending the two weeks of the cruise on the MS Esprit, one of the smaller Tauck river ships. She only carries a maximum of 96 passengers, half the guest count of the (ludicrously numerous) Viking river ships, so we were expecting a comfortably sized group on this trip. As it turns out, there are only 64 of us, so it will be even easier to make the acquaintance of our fellow travelers.

 And on top of that, we're the only non-Americans on the whole trip! Well, not really. We met a couple from Florida who were actually both from Ontario, but had moved to the States for work reasons years ago.

 We happened to meet the Cruise Director in the Lobby - and it turns out that we have the same CD, Maggie, that we had on our previous Tauck river cruise in 2018, when we did the Cruise Tour from Krakow, Poland to Berlin with the cruise in the middle.

 And then we were talking to the Bar Manager, as we invariably do, and found out that Pieter had worked for Crystal for 25 years, dating back to Crystal Harmony, and more recently was in charge of training Barkeeps for the Crystal river ships and working on the Crystal Mozart himself. So we knew a lot of the same people.

Our first dinner on board was excellent and bodes well for the rest of the trip. Monica opted for the local specialties, a fish soup called Halászlé and what was described almost as a vegetable-filled bread, but was really a puffy, and delicious, square of bread with Lecsớ, a yellow pepper, tomato, paprika and onion 'paprikash' with sour cream and roasted garlic on the side. Larry went for the jambalaya, which looked great but was a huge portion that even he couldn't finish.

The Lecsớ is hiding on the right hand side of the plate

The Jambalaya looked delicious but it
was enough for 2!

At 9 p.m. we set sail to reposition the ship and do an evening sail through the iconic (especially if you watch those Viking River Cruise ads on TV) centre of Budapest, with all of the buildings so beautifully lit up.

 

The former Buda Castle of the Hofburgs. Now it houses
a Museum of Hungarian Art, a Public Library,
and the office of the President

On the hill, St. Matthias Cathedral and
the Fisherman's Bastion, so named because
the fishermens' guild was responsible
for its maintenance

The Parliament Building and the almost full moon
overhead

 

We hadn't even docked in our new position before we went to bed. Many of the other guests had arrived a day or two early and were already time-adjusted, but we were running on fumes by this point. We needed to be ready for Monday's 8:30 a.m. tour departure, so it was off to get some shut-eye.

In The Air Again

 After a hiatus of over two years, we made our way to the airport for our first international flight, not entirely sure of what the COVID protocols would be, given the way things have been changing in the last week or so. To need masks, or not to need masks - that was everyone's question.

 We knew we'd be wearing them in the airport, so that was no surprise. What was a surprise, though, was the way Air Canada has upped its game for Business Class guests. A totally separate check-in area in Terminal 1, including security screening area, made that part of the process very quick and easy. Once we were through and into the gate area, we found the Maple Leaf Lounge, and when we checked in, the fellow at Reception came around and pointed out that we were entitled to go to the Signature Suite instead. 'Much nicer', he said, 'and once you've been there, you won't want to come back here.'

 So off we trundled to the Signature Suite. Very nice! We had options of buffet, fine dining table service, or a very comfortable lounge that also offered the table service menu. We sat in the lounge as we had a couple of hours to kill as check-in had been so fast and easy, and took advantage of the lunch menu. We never thought we'd see food at this level in an airline lounge - outside of Emirates First Class in Dubai, and that can't be matched. Here are a couple of photos of our meal:

 

Lamb Loin

Branzino

Tuna Tataki beside a Hemingway Daiquiri

Bruce had told us about the Signature Suite as he'd been there pre-COVID on his way to New Zealand, and raved about the experience. We have to agree with him on that.

 Our flight to Frankfurt was uneventful, although it left an hour late due to having to offload some luggage for no-show passengers, and the service and food were excellent. The only downside was that we still had to wear masks if we weren't eating or drinking, and that included when we tried to get a little sleep. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to sleep with a KN-95 mask on???

 We weren't looking forward to the 5-hour layover in Frankfurt, but at least we'd have plenty of time to navigate our way to the gate for our Budapest flight. Once again, getting through Passport Control was a breeze, and even security only took a few minutes. After stopping at the Information Desk to find out just where we'd have to go - we were so early that our flight wasn't showing up on the schedule screens yet - we made our way to the gate area, and, again, were sent to a nicer Lufthansa lounge than the one we'd expected. So, all in all, even though Frankfurt is not our favourite airport, we were quite pleased with the way everything turned out.

 The flight from Frankfurt to Budapest was only an hour and a half long, but quite comfortable. We were flying over the Main and Danube Rivers, so we took some photos from the air of the places we would be sailing during the cruise:

The Main River near Frankfurt

More of the Main

The Danube at Budapest. The city centre
is under the clouds after it bends to the left.

We were met by the Tauck representatives as soon as we cleared the baggage claim area. A private transfer for 30 minutes to the ship, and we'll leave the rest for the next post.

At Long Last!

For the first time since March of 2020, we're headed off on a cruise holiday!!

We have long wanted to do the whole 2-week trip from Budapest to Amsterdam on the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers, and now that COVID has become manageable and travel is again possible, we will be boarding Tauck's MS Esprit in Budapest on Sunday. We have been on the Danube and the Rhine before, but the Danube-Main canal, the new stops in Würzburg and Bamberg and the sail along the Main River will be new for us.

Our suitcases have unfortunately forgotten how to pack themselves, so we started that process a little earlier than usual, but everything seems to be working out fine - one suitcase each to cover 19 days away.

As always, we hope that you'll enjoy following along as we sail some of the waterways of Europe towards one of the highlights of the trip - the  Floriade Horticultural Exhibition outside of Amsterdam. This is only held from April through October once every 10 years and this year is it. Our last day on the boat will include a visit to this spectacular event. We'll be spending an extra couple of days in Amsterdam after the cruise too.

We're looking forward to some great German cooking that we didn't have to prepare ourselves, as well as the great selection of local beers and wines. Hope you enjoy the photos and stories we post as we go along.