Monthly Archives: September 2015

Holloko Hoedown 6/26/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged dancers / Holloko Hungary / pickles / river cruise / soup / spatzle by

On our side trip to an olden town in the hill country, I climbed down into a wooded gorge lush with oaks, bird cherries, and flowering vines.  Just outside the gorge, heavy equipment clattered and roared, but the gorge was blissfully quiet–nothing but bird song and buzzing flies.  Clearly I’m seriously nature-deprived when even fly-buzz soothes my soul. The village is called Holloko, which means Raven Stone.  Other than a requisite castle ruin on the hill the building are all modest homes.   We were welcomed with cheesecake that looked more like strudel with cottage cheese on top.  Then a group of dancers in traditional costumes chanted to accompany time worn footwork. The home-hosted lunch included do-it-yourself […]

Budapest–Who Knew? 6/25/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Bratislava Slovakia / Budapest Hungary / Danube River / Fisherman's Bastion / gypsy / river cruise / Statue of Liberty by

We are venturing into unfamiliar territory. With all the changes these poor Iron Curtain countries have gone through, they are probably unfamiliar even to the locals. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, we saw as we sailed by yesterday, so it’s still unfamiliar. We did notice that the condition of the barges we pass on the river has gone from ship-shape to rust-bucket. A “vintage” Slovakian dredge squalled for grease so desperately we heard it a mile upriver. Budapest is another story. Cruisers are so anxious to get in that our ship is triple-parked. We walk through the two other ships’ […]

Farewell Vienna 6/24/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise by

For our final morning in Venice, we visited a park.  Several guides had mentioned that a third of Venice is devoted to parks when we passed a lovely gardened parks headquarters and replica of the original Ferris Wheel–invented for the Chicago World’s Fair.  Stadpark was nearest our tour bus stop and touted as an easy trolley ride–except that Steve was leery of getting misdirected and ending up in a nether region which might cause us to miss the boat. By the time we reached the park on foot, our morning caffeine was lobbying for a pit stop.  The route to a restroom took us past a group of preschoolers playing on tot-height tree branches worn smooth by a multitude of apes-in-training.  We […]

Vienna Victory 6/23/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Austria / concert / culture / Imperial Palace / Imperial Treasury / Kursalon / palace / river cruise / Vienna by

Vienna, what can I say?  It’s so stuffed with ostentation, it’s too much to take in.  To be important back when was to have the biggest edifice closest to the royals.  So the approach to the Imperial Palace is lined for kilometers with elbow-to-elbow palaces.  Inside the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Treasury flaunts priceless crowns, relics, robes–every sort of royal paraphernalia.  I had to keep reminding myself that these were not reproductions.  Kings wore them.  Kings who ruled empires that changed the course of civilization. At the palace entrance I wondered about several sculptures of violent scenes.  They depicted the tasks of Hercules.  Really?  Those statues were […]

Bohemian Forest Treasures 6/22/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Bohemian Forest / Castle / Danube River / Passau / Rathaus / river cruise / Saltzburg by

Passau is small–50,000 people, and our ship is double parked on a little peninsula surrounded by steep wooded hillsides. I’ve been yearning to see the forest from the inside, so I took advantage of a trail, just over a bridge, to a castle on the hill. Steve took advantage of the opportunity to groan over being “forced” to climb it with me. It was of course, terrific. At least one pretty little vine of ivy graced almost every tree, and the fortress walls were covered with it. After a couple flights of steps the view grabbed even Steve–the old city […]

Fitting In 2

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise / Travel tips  tagged German customs / river cruise / River Navigator / tourists / Vantage by

Can you spot the American? Before our trip, a friend said that she wore leather shoes on her trip to Europe because Europeans don’t wear tennis shoes everywhere like we gauche Americans.  Looking like an American seems dicey.  So many people love to hate us, and when we’re liked, it’s usually because we are so easily parted with our dollars.  So I paid top dollar for a pair of non-athletic shoes and then wondered if shoes would really do the trick. IF Steve and I remembered to take off our Vantage badge and headset receiver and camera when we left […]

The Devil is in the Danube 6/20/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged canal locks / Danube River / Devil's Bridge / Regensburg / river cruise by

Hoax alert:  the Blue Danube is murky green.  Never trust a song writer. Regensburg’s old bridge—or Devil’s Bridge is another sketchy Danube tale.  The bridge’s 12th century builder hurried construction by promising the Devil ownership of the first three souls to cross the finished bridge.  On dedication day the builder preserved the souls of the highest officials of the church and city by sending three farm animals across first.  Furious, the Devil tried to demolish the bridge but only made arches where his back pushed up from the river. The festival scheduled in Regensburg worried our cruise director that “happy” […]

Nuremberg Beauties 6/19/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Castle / cemetery / Nuremburg / Rhine River / river cruise / sausage by

“ABC” stands for “another beautiful church” or “another bloody castle”.   An earlier tour group substituted “D(amned)” for “B” after they’d hit “C” overload.  We’ve seen a good many Cs by now, but the fortress on the hill in Nuremberg was still a joy to behold.  I felt like I might look up and see archers on the tower or hear a flagged trumpet blaring forth a royal procession.  A sign on one of the inner doors set me back a step–Private Residence.  People live there.  I love the old stone walls, but homes need windows…and parking spaces.  What is it […]

Bridges of Bamberg 6/18/15

 in Grand Eastern European River Cruise  tagged Bamberg Germany / bridge / Old Town Hall / Rathaus / Rhine Main Danube Canal / Rhine River / river cruise by

Today our ship takes the high road.  We’ll even cruise a bridge over the Autobahn.  I guess I’m not the only one who was ignorant about the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal (RMD) because onboard lecture about it was packed.  The first false start on a connection between the North Sea and Atlantic to the Black sea was launched by my great (to some immense power) uncle Charlemagne in the 700s.  The efforts that followed were only semi-successful until the RMD Canal opened in 1992.  The big hang-up was crossing the continental divide, which the RMD Canal manages with 16 locks to float […]