Budapest to Dusseldorf to Newark to Pittsburgh

Mon., Nov. 16 (Day 15) - Even though our day today consisted of traveling home, Viking still considers it Day 15 (of a 15 day cruise) - just as Day 1 consisted of leaving port at 11:30 p.m. So Day 15 was not too exciting. We had to meet in the lobby of the hotel to take a 6:30 a.m. shuttle to the airport. The shuttles began running at 3:30 for people who had 6:00 flights, and they ran almost every hour. The Viking people met in the lobby with each departing group, and were there to make sure we all had our luggage, and to say goodbye. They really are wonderful people and were with us to the end. Even when we arrived at the Budapest airport, there was another Viking representative to take us to where we needed to go in the airport. The flight from Budapest to Dusseldorf was about 2 hours, and then we had a 4 hour layover in Dusseldorf. We were traveling with another couple from the cruise from Budapest to Newark, who were then heading to Cleveland from there. So we had an enjoyable time with them, and passed the four hour layover by having some lunch and visiting with them. We then boarded the flight from Dusseldorf to Newark. The flight took 8 1/2 hours and was very comfortable. Joe and I both had aisle seats, and the two seats next to me were empty, so I had room to spread out. Lufthansa was a very good airline for a long flight, and seemed to serve quite a bit of food, snacks, drinks, etc. When we arrived in Newark, we went through the grueling process of customs, and having to go through security again, and on to our gate. Our flight from Newark to Pittsburgh seemed very quick after the 8 1/2 hour trip. We were glad to arrive home safely around 11:00 p.m. - a long day of travel, and with the time difference, having been awake for about 24 hours. Thank you for sharing our journey with us, and we hope that one day you may be able to enjoy a Viking River Cruise, if you haven't already. We highly recommend it!

Budapest

Sun., Nov. 15 (Day 14) - On Sunday, we had to "check out" of the Viking ship Embla, since the water levels in the Danube were too low for us to travel by river to Budapest (they pronounce it Budapesht). So we boarded buses for the 3 1/2 hour drive from Vienna to Budapest. We had a taste of how fortunate we've been with the weather when we stepped off the ship. For all of our trip to date, the weather has been around 63 or 64 with total sunshine, absolutely beautiful. That is very rare for here this time of year. Our Program Director kept commenting on how fortunate we've been with the weather. Today it is around 50 and raining - more typical, and what we could have had the whole trip. So we were blessed with good weather. As we traveled by bus to Budapest, we crossed from Austria into Hungary at the border of what used to be a communist country. Our tour guide told us that when Hungary was a communist country, it would take 2 or 3 hours to cross the border. Today we just drove across without even having to stop. As we entered the outskirts of Budapest, the tour guide pointed out things as we passed. She pointed out a mall, and said that it would be closed today since it is Sunday. It is by Hungarian law that businesses have to close on Sunday, unless the owner chooses to open and to be there himself. But he cannot make his workers show up. She said it presents a difficulty because people are unable to get to the malls on work days, therefore the malls are extremely crowded on Saturdays. We drove to a Hungarian restaurant in the heart of Budapest where we had a Hungarian lunch. This consisted of meat soup (yes, they actually called it meat soup), which was kind of a beef broth with a few starchy things of some sort in it. Not bad. The main course was Hungarian Goulash, which is actually a beef stew. Opinions were mixed on the beef stew; I liked it a lot. The side dishes were some sort of pasta-potato type of thing (unidentifiable), and something that seemed like in between cole slaw and sauerkraut, neither of which was very good. The dessert was the best part of the meal, a warm cherry strudel - very good. After lunch, we re-boarded the buses and were taken to the Castle District in the Buda side of the city. The Danube River runs right through Budapest, and Buda sits on one side of the river, while Pest is on the other bank. At one time, they were two different cities. Then they merged and are now the one city of Budapest. The Buda side is hilly, while Pest is flatter. Pest is larger than Buda. And Buda is more residential while Pest is more commercial and also contains the government buildings. The Castle District contains some shops, cafes, restaurants, and at the top of the hill is St. Matthias Church, where many coronations have taken place. There is a nice vantage point across from the church where you can see the river, the many beautiful bridges, and the Pest side of town, a fantastic view. After a short guided tour through this area, we had some free time, and then met the bus to continue a bus tour of the rest of the city. On this tour, we drove down Andrassy Ut (Street) which is called the Champs Elysee of Budapest. We passed by the Budapest Opera House, Hero Square where there are a lot of statues of historical heroes of the city, the zoo, the city park, a Jewish synagogue which is the second largest Jewish synagogue in the world, the absolutely beautiful Parliament Building, some museums, and the famous spas. Budapest is called the "City of Spas" and has more thermal water springs than any other capital city in the world. After our tour of the city, we were dropped off at our destination for this evening, the Intercontinental Hotel, located on the Danube River. We all gathered together in the dining room for a buffet supper. After supper, the Viking people, in an effort of good will since our planned cruise into Budapest could not take place, offered to take us all on a boat tour of the city. This gave us an opportunity to see the city from the vantage of the river at night, with all the buildings lit up, as well as the bridges, the most famous of which is the Chain Bridge, because when it is lit up, it looks like there are chains across it. After the boat ride, we said our good-byes to the new friends that we made, since we were all going our separate ways early the next morning.

Bratislava

Sat., Nov. 14 (Day 13) - We boarded a bus this morning and traveled across the Austrian border into the country of Slovakia to visit Bratislava. The border crossing was not even noticeable. If you weren't aware that it was the border, you wouldn't have known you were going into another country. Our guide told us that this is now a "passport free zone", much different than when Slovakia was under communist rule. What used to be the country of Czechoslovakia is now two countries: The Czech Republic and Slovakia. The backdrop of Slovakia is the Little Carpathian mountains. There is a huge Kia plant here. We were told that they wanted to have a large plant here because the word Kia is contained within the country name of Slovakia. We began our tour of Bratislava with a walking tour of Old Town. We saw portions of what used to be the city wall back when these were all walled cities. The city had four gates, one of which is still standing - the St. Michael gate. We went into St. Martin Cathedral, yet another beautiful European Cathedral. We walked down narrow streets, passed by shops and cafes, and heard about all the local history and culture. After the guided tour, we had some free time. We went into a local coffee shop and had some hot chocolate. It was the best hot chocolate we've ever had - very rich. It tasted like you were drinking a Hershey bar. After this, we took the bus back to Vienna, and were back on the ship in time for lunch. A very enjoyable morning.

Mozart and Strauss in Vienna

Day 12 (cont.) - Here is Joe's take on the concert he attended in Vienna. He said it was fantastic, such accomplished musicians, intimate setting. It was an eleven piece chamber orchestra. The lead violinist played with an instrument that was made before Mozart was born. It was a two part concert with Mozart music first, and then Strauss music after a short intermission. They got an introduction to opera and ballet, with arias and duets, dancing on the stage by two performers. Perfect acoustics. Totally worth it!

Schonbrunn Palace

Day 12 (cont.) - After lunch, we took a bus to Schonbrunn Palace, which is located on the west side of Vienna. Schonbrunn Palace was the imperial summer residence of Empress Maria Theresa. It was originally built as a hunting lodge. Over the years, they kept expanding it until it became a huge palace. The story goes that each time Maria Theresa had a child, they added on rooms. Each child had nannies and other people to help with their care, so each child necessitated a few rooms. Maria Theresa ended up having 16 children, so many rooms were added. The rooms are all beautiful, with frescoes on the ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, mirrored walls, etc.  After touring inside the palace, we walked around on the beautiful grounds outdoors. Then we boarded the bus to return to the ship. On the way to the palace, we had passed by the Imperial Hotel, where apparently some important meetings are going to take place tomorrow. There were many television cameras set up outside the hotel, and we were told they were awaiting the arrival of John Kerry, among others. In the evening, after dinner, a bus took whoever was interested to see a concert at the Vienna Opera House. Joe went to see it while I stayed on the ship.

Vienna

Fri., Nov. 13 (Day 12) - If it's Friday, this must be Vienna. What a city! We started out this morning by doing a walking tour of Vienna. There were only 5 people in our group, and we had a local guide. Austria does not have its own language; they speak German here. At the start of our tour, we took the local subway. When we arrived at our stop, but before leaving the subway station, we made a bathroom stop. Now most public bathrooms in Germany and Austria have a charge of 50 cents. But at this particular bathroom the charge was 70 cents. It was probably more expensive because there was concert music in the bathroom. Only in Vienna! Our guided tour of Vienna started at the opera house. We walked the streets of Vienna, while our guide told us all about the history and customs of Austria. We saw the palaces where the Habsburgs lived when they ruled Austria. We saw the church where the Vienna Boys Choir began in the middle ages. We passed by the stables of the famous Lipizzaner Stallions. We stopped to take pictures of the horses in the stables, and then just by pure chance, the horses from the morning show happened to be returning to the stables, and they passed right next to us, so we got to see them up close. We passed by many churches, most of them Catholic. Our tour guide told us that Vienna is overwhelmingly Catholic. She said that in times past, the Catholic rulers of Austria were tolerant and allowed Protestant churches to exist, but there was a rule that they couldn't look like a church. So the Protestant churches look like regular houses. This is such a contrast to Germany, where the Protestants took over the Catholic churches and as a result, all the Christian churches look alike. Our walking tour of Vienna ended at the cathedral, St. Stephens. Another beautiful cathedral, but in my opinion, the least impressive of any we've seen. After walking around the cathedral, we took the subway back to the ship for lunch.

Change of Plans

Day 11 (cont.) - Tonight we received the news that the water level in the Danube is so low that we will not be able to sail past Vienna. Nevertheless they have a plan in place. Tomorrow we will sail to Vienna and remain docked there. As planned, we will see Vienna tomorrow. The next day, when we were supposed to sail to Bratislava, we will instead bus to Bratislava (about 1 hour by bus). We will do our regularly planned tour there and return to the ship in Vienna for lunch. We will then have the afternoon to continue seeing the sights of Vienna. Then, on Sunday, we will pack up, drive to our final destination - Budapest (about a 3 1/2 hour drive) - and then stay in a hotel in Budapest Sunday night before heading to the airport on Monday. Of course, the hotel and all meals are still on Viking.