Jalene’s European River Cruise
On the ship in Budapest
Keep track of me as I cruise down the Danube Rivier! I am going to post photos, give updates and tips while I am away.
Come follow me!
April 18, 2009
I am just having a bit of breakfast before I head out to the airport. I am so excited that I was up before my alarm! I fly thru Calgary and Frankfurt to Budapest with Air Canada and Lufthansa….I should check my flights to ensure that they are on time…..what a travel agent I am!
I get into Budapest at 920am (local time) – it is a 8 hour time difference. I will touch base once I get onto the ship. The Avalon “Artistry” has wifi and my husband generously lent me his Itouch so I should be able to blog as I am on the sun deck!! The weather in Europe looks lovely (about 20 degrees). Hopefully I get a bit of tan to bring back with me.
April 19th, 2009 I landed in Budapest around 10:00 local time. I was quite tired but I managed to walk around Budapest for about 5 hours taking in historic sites, amazing architecure, lava cakes and then finally boarding the Avalon “Artistry”. This riverboat experience has so far been excellent – no waiting in lines, learning first hand from the Captain and tour leader. I saw Parliament buildings, renaissance style architecture, Communist architecture (as communists regimes were imposed on the nations of Central Europe in the aftermaths of war). I have meet people from Canada, Australia and USA. I just finished a gourmet meal along with Austrian wine. I haven’t had sleep for over 24 hrs…so I think it is best I get to bed. Tomorrow we are cruising to Vienna…we are going thru a lock tomorrow so I will give you the update on that. I am trying to upload photos – but just not working. I will try tomorrow when I am back on track.
April 20th, 2009
I had a wonderful sleep. I woke up very refreshed and ready for the day. I was up at 6:00am – I laid in bed for awhile and opened my panorama window to listen to the birds and the river. It was nice to have the fresh air in the room. I saw nice countryside, the sun starting to rise and didn’t even have to leave my bed! We went thru one lock around 7:00am this morning – I went to the sun deck to see this. The riverboat rose 6 stories in the lock this morning. One of the reasons there are several locks along the river is to make the Danube easier to navigate. The Danube is the 2nd largest river in Europe (the Volga is the first). We spent alot of time on the sun deck today because it offers the best viewing and weather was perfect. It has been great to see so much green countryside (you can tell it has been a long winter!!) One word that keeps popping up in my mind to explain how this cruise feels is ”calming”. There are no waves – so you don’t have to worry about getting your sea legs or feeling seasick. You barely feeling like you are moving at all on the ship. Tonight we will be in Vienna and I will be taking in a concert and then hopefully going out on the town with my group. Tomorrow we are having a city tour in the morning and then exploring the city on our own in the afternoon. I will also be taking in the Opera tomorrow night…hopefully I can convince some of my group to come with me. I am having troubles posting my pictures so hopefully I get it figured out as I have some neat shots.
April 21st, 2009
Today was a busy day! We are off the ship at 8:15am and I wasn’t back to the ship until 11:00pm! We had a day tour in the morning…followed by free time in the afternoon. I was so late getting to the ship because I took advantage of seeing an Opera in the Vienna Opera House – this has been a highlight of the trip so far. I did the standing room only (where you stand for the full time….but you have a birds eye view…and it only costs 4 euro!). The precision and emotion put into every piece comes straight across to the audience. During the day we took in the Hofburg palace (this is the home of the Austrian’s rulers since the 13th century). I also had the opportunity to take in the Spanish Riding school – where white Lippizaner horses are trained to walk and dance with delicacy. There are so many museums, cafes, and shopping that it really hard to choice what to take in. Sorry, I am trying to get some photos posted (as they speak 1000 words….)
April 23rd, 2009
Sorry I didn’t write yesterday….it wasn’t jammed packed and didn’t have alot to report. We did visit the small town of Durnstein (population: 400 people) and the town of Melk that had a fantastic Abbey. It was alot of walking, history with alot of dates and fantastic sights. Today was quite exciting as we did a day tour to Salzburg. This was another highlight for me as we got to see areas where the “Sound of Music” was filmed and I also got the see the Mozart museum. For those that might know I do ”tinkle the ivories” from time to time so I really enjoyed seeing where Mozart was born – to see where it all started (and to see the town that inspired his music!). I also had a famous sausage in the main square. It was a busy day – I know some folks stayed on the ship and had a relaxing day. Tonight we are listening to a local violionist. I am off to bed tonight early as I need to charge my batteries for tomorrow! I will report tomorrow!
April 25, 2009
I wasnt able to get on the internet last night so I have to give a re-cap on 2 days! Yesterday Avalon put us on excurion which included sailing down a Danube gorge as well as lunch at an Abbey where monks are still brewing beer with a century old recipee. We also had a city tour of Regensburg and had their famous sausages. The sausages were the first original fast food – the sausages are small as they had to fit thru the the key holes of a door. They are cooked on an open flames served with beer! It was a nice treat after the city tour. Our ship cannot go past Deggendorf as there is maintenence on the Dabue – so for all our tours we have to go by bus. Yesterday after supper we went to the local fair where we listened to music and some people ordered beer in huge steins! Today I explored Deggendorf – I took in a couple of churches…I am beginning to really get under my belt the difference between gothic, baroque, romanesque. I think I have had my fill of churches though. Tomorrow we are on the bus for 4 hours to Prague. I cannot believe that I am coming home on Monday…time has flown by. I am a little sad today as I am missing my 5 year wedding anniversary. So I do want to say happy anniversary to Brad!
April 27th, 2009
I am home safe and sound after an amazing trip! My flights with Air Canada were great – I think I watched 5 movies coming home! My one afternoon in Prague was amazing….a group of us learned how to use the subway and we explored Prague on foot – it is a very walkable city. We ate an amazing regional dish of dumplings, pork and sauerkraut. That evening I took in a solo performance of one of the soprano’s at the National Theatre. This theatre has 6 stories….I paid about 10.00CAD for this performance and was thrilled. She was accompanied by a piano, violin, and violincello. I am back to work today – and so thankful to be back in Canada. Thanks to all who viewed my blog – I was able to post one photo at the top of the blog. A Paull Travel email will come to you all hopefully with another overview with pictures and more commentary! Thanks again!