Bamberg (Germany)
Explored this UNESCO World heritage city. The town centre is the largest preserved old quarter in Europe. We saw the iconic Old Townhall built in the middle of the Regnitz River plus many of the 2400 listed buildings.- - a very beautiful city again!
We had a welcoming (from the cold) beer tasting at Zehnthaus Private Brewery (Est. 1533). And of course we were forced to have some of these pastries with our afternoon coffee!
Nuremberg (Germany)
A wet day in Nuremberg so we were happy to do a city tour by bus. Spent 2 hours in the Documentation Centre. This is an excellent museum tracing the rise and fall of Hitler and the part Nuremberg played in those events.
Regensberg (Germany)
Walking tour of city and Thorin and Taxis Palace – very over the top with decorative fittings as per everything we have seen. Coffee and cake in oldest café in Europe – unfortunately worst coffee yet.
Evening entertainment by Cruise Director Marrianne – very enjoyable.
Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic)
Durnstein (Germany)
We docked in Melk for the afternoon. This turned out to be a great surprise. We went on a tour of the Benedictine Abbey, founded in the 11th century, and it was the most remarkable place I have ever seen - hard to describe the wonderful architecture and over-the-top decorations.
Vienna - day 2
Today we ventured by bus to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. This was a lovely village that is being brought back to life with tourism. We had coffee and a very nice selection of chocolate treats before returning for a tour of Vienna and free time to explore the city. After hours of wandering in awe of the buildings (which could only be covered in about one month) we went to a Christmas market. This was held in the grounds of a church and was beautiful.
Vienna (Austria)
We had a restful day onboard as we sailed from Budapest on the Danube. The day took us through Hungary and Slovakia and on into Austria where we docked in Vienna- a very pleasant day.
After dinner we were taken to the Palais Liechtenstein and treated to a very professional and entertaining concert of Mozart and Strauss music with opera and ballet. It is impossible to take a photo of whole walls so this shows a corner of the concert room.
Scenic Tours believes we cannot exist with the copious breakfasts, lunches, morning and afternoon teas and five course dinners so we then got a goulash supper on our return from the concert.
After dinner we were taken to the Palais Liechtenstein and treated to a very professional and entertaining concert of Mozart and Strauss music with opera and ballet. It is impossible to take a photo of whole walls so this shows a corner of the concert room.
Last day in Budapest
Well you may have noticed I am posting these blogs all on the same day. That is because this is the first free time we have had - apart from those requiring the support of the coffee lounge and bar of course. We are sailing all day today and will arrive in a few hours in Vienna after passing through Slovakia.
But back to yesterday. After breakfast we were all sent off on buses for a tour of the city of Budapest. We were accompanied by an excellent local guide who gave us a wonderful and at times very funny spiel about each site. These people show great strength in the way they make light of some of the horrrors of their history - they have lived though tough times and now are heading for a bright future hopefully.
In the afternoon the four of us walked along the River to the Gellert Baths. These are hot mineral baths inside a magnificent old building. After negotiating a maze of staircases and odd corridors and interpreting signs in Hungarian with absolutely NO help from the lady who we thought may have been employed for exactly that reason - apparently not- we all managed to meet up in a both-sex area with a large cold pool and a warm pool. Di, Kay and I then bravely bid Ron farewell and ventured into the womens only area where there was a large 36 degree pool and a 38 degree pool as well as open showers and a very, very hot steam room. This was all very enjoyable because of the beautiful tiled rooms and stained glass ceilings and despite the variety of naked women of ALL ages and SHAPES that were our bathing companions. We modestly wore our swimmers of course and tried to appear comfortable with being surrounded with naked nannas.
But back to yesterday. After breakfast we were all sent off on buses for a tour of the city of Budapest. We were accompanied by an excellent local guide who gave us a wonderful and at times very funny spiel about each site. These people show great strength in the way they make light of some of the horrrors of their history - they have lived though tough times and now are heading for a bright future hopefully.
In the afternoon the four of us walked along the River to the Gellert Baths. These are hot mineral baths inside a magnificent old building. After negotiating a maze of staircases and odd corridors and interpreting signs in Hungarian with absolutely NO help from the lady who we thought may have been employed for exactly that reason - apparently not- we all managed to meet up in a both-sex area with a large cold pool and a warm pool. Di, Kay and I then bravely bid Ron farewell and ventured into the womens only area where there was a large 36 degree pool and a 38 degree pool as well as open showers and a very, very hot steam room. This was all very enjoyable because of the beautiful tiled rooms and stained glass ceilings and despite the variety of naked women of ALL ages and SHAPES that were our bathing companions. We modestly wore our swimmers of course and tried to appear comfortable with being surrounded with naked nannas.
Budapest
Well, after a good sleep we were out early walking around this magnificent city and the weather was beautiful - a sunny 25 degrees. We spent 2 hours on a very informative hop-on-hop-off bus that covered most of the important sites on both sides of the Danube River. I cannot rave enough about the splendour of the buildings. This place has such a long history the styles cover every form of architecture.
We wandered right through the city and had our lunch in the beautiful market hall - beer and a spicy sausage stew - yum, of course followed by coffee and cake!
In the afternoon we picked up our luggage and were transferred to the cruise boat. Every detail is considered and we are all more than impressed with the boat , our cabins and the staff. We are told we will know everyone on board by the end of the trip and this looks the case as we sit with different people each mealtime - a very happy lot of course!
The photo selection for this post posed a dillema as I had sooo many but this one is the view from our cabin of the Chain Bridge and the Pest side of the city.
We wandered right through the city and had our lunch in the beautiful market hall - beer and a spicy sausage stew - yum, of course followed by coffee and cake!
In the afternoon we picked up our luggage and were transferred to the cruise boat. Every detail is considered and we are all more than impressed with the boat , our cabins and the staff. We are told we will know everyone on board by the end of the trip and this looks the case as we sit with different people each mealtime - a very happy lot of course!
IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO GET STARTED
Well we finally got to the other side of the world - only about 40 hours door to door - a snack. At least we had no hitches and we were ready to go off sightseeing for the afternoon and evening in the beautiful Budapest.
This city wears its history well. The Hungarians have many years ahead of restoring buildings that were neglected during the communist era or damaged during conflicts but it is worth all this effort. Everywhere we looked we were stunned by the beauty of the architecture and scenery.
This artistic shot is the result of the very jet-lagged Ron taking our photo in the Central Cafe the first night - he was convinced he was doing a great job - you had to have gone through it to understand but we all knew this photo sums up our state of mind at the time!
This city wears its history well. The Hungarians have many years ahead of restoring buildings that were neglected during the communist era or damaged during conflicts but it is worth all this effort. Everywhere we looked we were stunned by the beauty of the architecture and scenery.
Thoughts on technology
Participating in the Learn 2.0 course is a great opportunity to assess what you need to learn, what you already know and what you thought you knew but didn't. Thankfully some of our Team (ie Virginia and Anthony) are able to give us invaluable assistance and we would be lost without them!!
I would love to see a more formal approach to these impromtu lessons so that the pressures of the daily work load are not a compromising factor - maybe a set time each week for a review of that week's Learn 2.0 tasks?
I would love to see a more formal approach to these impromtu lessons so that the pressures of the daily work load are not a compromising factor - maybe a set time each week for a review of that week's Learn 2.0 tasks?
Music Time
I am twiddling my thumbs waiting to go on holidays next week (ie no travel news yet) so I thought I would share some of my favorite youtube clips. Hope you enjoy the mixture.
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