2025 Danube Cruise

 First thing in the morning we took the tram back to the castle planning to visit the castle gardens. All public transportation is free here for people over 65 and is exceptionally easy to use. Unfortunately, the gardens didn't open until 11 so we wandered around bit. It wasn't as crazy crowded as the day before because it was early and the basilica was not open due to an active mass in the morning. We were fortunate to see the highly choreographed changing of the guard. We discovered that there was an English language Lutheran church service at 11 which we decided to attend. We got there early when a Slovak service was in progress and discovered to our surprise that exactly opposite was the Adler Hotel! We went inside for a cappuccino and when we said our name was Adler, we weren't charged. St. Michael Church was originally built in the late 1300s by Hussites, followers of Jon Hus who was a reformer with views very similar to Martin Luther but over 100 years earlier. Unfor...

 Thankfully the rain stopped by the time we needed to leave at 8:20. The excursion for today was a 5-hour walking tour of Prague - no vehicles are allowed in the old part of the city. It was a bit grueling, with only one bathroom break - I got in over 9,000 steps by the time we finished a little after 1pm. Our guide took us from the hotel into the old city. We stopped at a square with a monument to Jon Hus who was an early religious reformer in the 1300s who opposed many of the teachings of the Catholic church, very similar to Martin Luther over a hundred years later. He was excommunicated and when he refused to recant, he was burned at the stake in 1416. I was baptized in the Moravian Church which had its origin with Jon Hus. From there we went to the Jewish quarter where there is the oldest active synagogue, dating to the 1200s. It was a ghetto where the Jews were very crowded and not allowed to live outside until the 1500s. In WWII, most of the Jews were deported to concentratio...

 A 7-hour ride on the bus today! We left at 8:30AM and got to the hotel at 3PM. We were surprised to be taking a Viking-logo bus - this was a first. The first hour through Hungary was completely flat farmland. Similar to other regions, it was largely sunflowers, corn, hay and maybe wheat / barley. We had our first stop in Slovakia after two hours. Slovakia is in the EuroZone so Euros could be used but we always use a credit card.  There were huge wind farms with wind turbines extending as far as the eye could see. There were also moderate size solar farms of a few acres. By noon we were in the Czech Republic, Czechia, and had lunch at a rest area where there was a cafeteria. I had a delicious cabbage and sausage soup with cucumber pickles; Carmen had a chicken wrap. They also had a sushi bar but I couldn't imagine getting sushi there. Another two hours and we arrived at our hotel for a briefing by Viking and check in. Just after we checked in there was an absolute deluge and h...

Today is a free day for us to do anything we want. In Budapest, anyone over 65 can ride the metro, tram and bus free of charge which is very convenient. It is not the cost savings but the hassle of having to buy tickets. This morning we went to the Szechenyi Spa. One of the things the Romans liked about this area was the hot springs and built baths around them. The Ottomans built Turkish Baths which are the basis of many of the thermal baths today. Then the Europeans enjoyed the hot and curative waters as well. The Szechenyi Spa is actually fairly new, constructed in 1909, but it by far the most grand with many indoor and outdoor pools. The water comes up from a depth of over 3,000 feet and a temperature of 160 degrees. The wells supply 1,600,000 gallons of water a day! We spent about an hour soaking in the mineral water (tempered to about 100 degrees) and relaxing on the adjacent loungers. Later in the morning we went to the magnificent St. Stephen Basilica. This also fairly new, cons...

 When we looked out our window this morning we saw the sun shining on the Chain Bridge and the Palace on the top of Buda Hill. A long day on the bus as we can't check into the Dorothea Hotel until 3pm. There are over a dozen cruise ships docked along the Danube from various cruise lines. There were three identical Viking ships docked and we had to go through 2 of them to get off. After a tour around the city, we went to Buda Hill overlooking the Danube to visit St. Mathias Church. This church dates back to the 1500s but was converted to a mosque during the Ottoman occupation and then restored as a Catholic Church in the mid-1500s after the Ottomans were ejected. From there we went to the Central Market which is a huge market selling meat, fish and produce to the local people and many souvenirs to the tourists. We had lunch of pork stew and stuffed cabbage standing up on the upper level. After checking in, it was interesting getting to our room. In the elevator, each person has to t...

 A peaceful cruise through the countryside as the sun rises and mist rising up from the Danube. Besides providing excellent service, the staff are very friendly and more than happy to engage with the passengers about their background and experience. The waiter we spoke with this morning had worked at the Otesaga Hotel in Cooperstown, NY and was quite familiar with the area. I have eaten there quite a few times and had a summer job in Cooperstown in College. He said they get two weeks paid vacation every 8 weeks and for a worker in Eastern Europe it is a good job that allows them to save money. There are no workers from France, Germany or other Western European countries as the salaries are not competitive.  After breakfast I had a tour of the wheel-house with the captain which was quite interesting as he explained all the instruments and controls. After lunch we had a ride to a large farm about 20 minutes from the ship. The farm originally belonged to the Catholic Church and h...

 We are making a short stop about 7am just across the border into Croatia for customs checks. A bright sunny morning with temperatures around 65 and swans swimming along the bank of the Danube. Our cabin attendant thanked me for the tips and asked me if we knew that the suite came with unlimited free laundry service. I wish we had known sooner as we had been washing a few things out each day. We put out about $100 of laundry service this morning - not many things as it is quite expensive. It would be cheaper to buy new underwear than to have it cleaned. This section of the Danube is very flat, extending as far as the eye can see. It also meanders back and forth with many turns. We had an interesting conversation with one of the Russian women on our cruise. She and 3 of her family members came to the US in 1979 with only $400 for the family, the most they could take out of the Soviet Union. She was 15 at the time. Her father was a dissident journalist and lost his job. Her mother al...