Last day in Europe and back home - July 30, 2010

We had a wonderful last four days in Europe - stayed with friends who had a home/chalet in Annecy (French Alps) after meeting them in Luzern and spending 2 days with them there. Joan had a memorable return to Mt. Pilatus where she and her sister had visited in 1970 -young girls galavanting around Europe no less. However ageing does something to the memory cells and she had difficulty recalling much of what had changed (I am sure there had been many changes - they are in the finishing stages of a hotel atop Mt. Pilatus - a mere 480 euros/night! The other highlight with Richard and Denise was getting to the top of Mont-Blanc - 3842 metres - highest peak in Europe located next to Chamonix (property prices??? - 1200 sq. ft. loft for a mere 1.5 million euros!!!). Of course we didn't want to show the locals up so we decided to take the tram up to the top. Good decision as it was raining and -2 at the top amid some swirling snow. Quite a view when the clouds cleared for brief periods of time - had a gorgeous view of the entire valley in and around Chamonix.
Had some fantastic regional food while in Annecy - raclette (about a 1/4-1/3 of one of the large wheel of raclette cheese which is then put under a heating element. You then scrape away the cheese as it melts and put it on your vegetables, potatoes and cold meats. Talk about Cholesterol highs!!! We really enjoyed our time at R. & D.'s chalet and hearing all of their "stories" about its construction, dealings with local contractors, and learning how to boost your knowledge of the French language through the entire process. While it is a work in progress, Joan and I see the most difficult part being behind them. We both suggested that now they both need to do some "nesting" to make it personal and even more cozy than it currently is. Many thanks, Richard and Densie for your most gracious hospitality and friendship.

Didn't encounter any problems during our flight (although were weren't as lucky as our return from our Mediterranean cruise 5 years ago where we were upgraded to first-class on the flight home from Frankfurt). Got a few interesting photos of bergs, snow and ice as we flew over Greenland and the clouds parted. Glad we didn't have to deal with that kind of cold weather on our holidays!

And so our European Adventures - 2010 edition comes to a close. There were many memorable events, people, food experiences and sights that we encountered. Additionally, Joan and I both agreed that this holiday pushed our boundaries considerably what with taking trams, having to find our way around train stations - under construction for the most part - in large European cities, and having to begin most conversations with "Parlez-vous Anglaise?" and then seeing where that would lead us. While we may return, I think that our purpose would be different, more focussed, and likely less tiring. Experience is a wonderful thing.

We welcome any comments, questions, conversations (either online or in person) and hope that those of our friends and relatives who have read our blog have found it informative and entertaining. Talk with all of you in the days and weeks to come.

Jim and Joan

Last Post from Annecy, France

This first pic is of the countryside between Luzern and Annecy (about a 3 hour car drive).
We stopped here for lunch and took some beautiful pics of the farmland.
The next pic is of the second most photographed place in France (2nd only to the Eiffel Tower). It is the old prison in Annecy, France. We arived about 2:00 pm and wandered around the old city before driving around the lake (very beautiful and quite crowded with tourists) and watching the paragliders and wind gliders.

Next pic show Joan blowing a flugelhorn high atop Mt. Pilatus (elevation over 8000 ft.). We tood a fast 25' ride up a funicular, spent some time on tope (restaurant and well established and safe trails, hotel under construction ((470 euros/night))) in the clouds with poor visibility) then the clouds cleared and we could see a lot of the valleys, paths (you can hike up if you want an adventure and challenge), and the other funicular cars coming up. Went down part way on a gondola (about 20 passengers), stopped then switched to a cable car (4 people) the rest of the way. Great day. One of the two highlights of the trip.

Last pic is of the rather heavy key to our hotel room in Luzern - easily weighed close to 14-16 oz. Made sure you didn't walk away with it - cost was 200 CHF if you lost it.

This will be our last post from Annecy France, as we will be flying out from Geneva on Friday (day after tomorrow). We will likely post a final blog on Saturday or Sunday from home and addressing some of the things about our adventures that we have found most interesting.

Looking forward to a great flight home on Friday. Talk with you all in the next week.

Jim and Joan

Salyburg - Sunday, July 25, 2010

Arrived by train after a 3 hour ride, climbing gradually the better part of the last 1 1/2 hours. We had a clear day to travel although there were clouds scattered throughout, rain clouds as well. After settling in to our hotel room, we made a beeline for the Salyburg Castle high up on the hill getting there by funicular r.r. Quite a view of the surrounding hills and countryside on every side and took a number of interesting pictures. The explanations were not very good as there were very few English translations. As well there was a large section that seemed to deal with the local regiment(s) of soldiers during W.W. I.
Made our way back down and had dinner in front of Mozart´s (sans music) Geburtshaus (house, for those of you who don´t speak Austrian/German), then walked back to our Hotel (about a 15 minute walk). We do have plans to get back down tomorrow to do a bit of quick shopping before we pick up our train ride to Zurich - will have to see what time we leave as there are only a few connections that take us on to Luzern. Scheduled to meet up with Richard and Densie Blum at the Hotel De La Paix there.
If you are wondering about the spelling (I think mom and I got all the mistakes), the keyboard here is a bit different. Most notable is that ´z´and ý´are interchanged as well as a lot of the other symbols. Mr. Qwerty would not be impressed. Now we will try for some pics however, my documents does not seem to be coming up as an option on this computer.
Sorry everyone, unable to upload pics - maybe from Luzern.

Love and kisses to all who are taking the time to read about our journeys in Europe.
Jim and Joan

Vienna by tram - the grasshopper has taught us well!

Well, after getting some fairly simple directions from the hotel clerk today, we headed off by Vienna tram to the Hoffburg Palace. This Palace was the main palace of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. We went through the Sisi Museum (Sisi was the nickname for Princess Elizabeth who after marrying Emporer Franz Joseph, became the Empress). The museum houses items from the kitchen, dining area and so on. Sounds like its boring but the amount, type and nature of the items on display was again indicative of the opulence and decadence of the Empire of the 1800s. Place settings numbering in the hundreds, gold place settings, etc. We then were able to tour the different rooms where the royalty lived, especially Sisi. Her story is very much like the Princess Diana story - rather sad in that she gradually shunned the requirements of her office as Empress and began to isolate herself more and more, not only from the people of her Court, but also of her family. She was assassinated in 1898. Having the ear wands to hear the concise and relevant explanations helped considerably and also took away from the seemingly boring nature of the visit we made there. Took about 5 hours, including lunch (wonderful decadent dessert - but lo-cal, I'm sure)!
Rest of the time we spent cooling our feet in Starbucks, then headed off to one of the main shopping streets. Lots to see, some of it similar to Edmonton, Some of it rather unique. We still haven't found anything major/big/expensive to purchase and bring back home.
We will be off for dinner soon, then off to Salzburg some time tomorrow. It's only a 3 hour ride so I'm not sure what time we will leave. After staying overnight in Salzburg, and still having the Castle there to see, we will likely leave for Zurich and then Luzern on Monday, late morning - the train ride is about 8 hours but apparently it is a very spectacular ride once you get into the Swiss Alps so we have decided that we will do it during the daytime rather than as an overnighter.

More later and hopefully more pics. The download process is different here and as well we are paying 5 euros for 15' of computer time, so no time to fool around.

Weather here has taken a turn and temp today was in the low 20s, with some drops of moisture - it did rain more heavily during the night. First time we have headed out for sight-seeing with our jackets.

Ta-ta for now,
Jim and Joan

Tales from the Vienna Woods - a.k.a. Hotel Prince Eugen, Vienna

Following a leisurely b'fast in Prague, we left via train (in the pouring rain) for a 4.5 hour ride to Wein (aka Vienna). Eight years ago, Kendra's directions got us through these crowded European rail stations. Today we managed it on our own. Had a leisurely bowl of soup on the dining car - Baba's special Potatoe Soup and some Goulash Soup, then enjoyed the scenery. Almost went too far on the train through - good thing there are porters!
Arrived at the Hotel by 5. After settling in, we walked to the Belevedere Palace, Prince Eugene's summer home (very similar to Schronbrunn Palace, but not as elaborate). Then went to Sperl, a small outdoor restaurant and had wiener schnitzel and a very decadant dessert - apricot sorbet, apricot yogurt in a pint sealer, apricot kutchen (pastry), and marinated apricot.
We are planning for tomorrow - what we will see.
No pictures today.
Jim and Joan

Last Day in Prague - Boo-Hoo!

Last day in Prague and here are some pics from yesterday that we had difficulty uploading. The first pic is looking down on Wenceslas Square from high atop the Astronomical Clock Tower. We had a 360 degree view of Prague. Today we went back and watched the apostles/knights go through the two openings at 2 pm followed by the trumpeter even higher up. I tried to take a video of it but it didn't come out too well because of distance.

Next pic is for you, Kendra. Her Majesty's fingers stretch far and wide throughout the world. We bought some fresh fruit and a coke there last night and thought of your time in Cheltenham. (Guess what - Coke in Czech is still Coke!!!) This store was probably 5-6 times larger than the one we visited in Cheltenham. They even had TUCS!!!!!! (they're made by Kraft and come in different flavors - salt & pepper, paprika, original). We will see if we can bring some back for you through Customs.
We'll probably have to smuggle them back in our shorts so as not to upset Safeway!!!

Next two pics are of the stained glass windows on two naves in St. Vitus's Cathedral, high atop the hill at the Prague Castle complex. Beautiful beyond description in their grandeur and majesty.

The first pic is from the Prague version of the Eiffel Tower high atop the Prague Castle complex. We are looking down on St. Vitus Cathedral. The white building in the front running horizontally is the Palace proper. We didn't go into it - temperature was just getting too hot.

Today we walked over to the Jewish Quarters. Went through the Spanish Synagogue (quite beautiful) and the Maisel Synagogue. We also went through the old Jewish cemetary with 12000 graves/tombs - the oldest dating back to the late 1430s. They bury one on top of the other (only 55 cm of vertical separation req'd) and the gravestones are scattered hither and yon because of tree roots upheaval, different depths of burials, etc. Some of the grave markers had tree roots and tree stumps actually growing around the stone. Didn't post any pics as all of the gravestones are in Hebrew - I don't think any of our friends/family are fluent in that language!
Finally broke down and went to Starbucks for a Frappuchino! Sure tasted good on this hot day (35).

Tomorrow, it's off to the train station and on to Vienna. Unsure of internet access at the Prince Eugen Hotel in Vienna.

Love to all,

Jim and Joan

Day 3 from Prague

Since our last addition to our blog we have spent a fair bit of time walking to the main tourist arrea of Old Prague - Wenceslas Square, seeing the Astronomical Clock (I won't try to describe its workings - Mom's comment was that you needed an engineering and astronomy degree to understand the brochure I picked up that describes what it is all about), walking down the long,long street to get to the National Museum (paleoentology, geology, fossils, etc.) at the end, then walked over to the train station so that we would know where to go on Friday when we head off to Vienna. Made our way back to the room where we had a bit of rest then went back to the Charles bridge and ended up haveing dinner on the river just under the Bridge (have included a picture of the beautiful couple on their vacation!!), then walked against the backdrop of the early evening and the lights on the Prague Castle complex - Mom's description of it was "medieval fairy-tale" and it was all that.

Today we took the funicular r.r. up to the Castle complex, did a lot more walking, just saw the church (St. Vitus Church) that is part of the complex (have included a pic of one of the huge stained glass windows in it - quite amazing.

It has been getting hotter and hotter, 35 today scheduled to go up to 38 tomorrow. It gets to be rather incapacitating after a while. For lunch today, we went to a restaurant, next to the Crown Plaza-Prague Castle Hotel that was built inside one of the old catacombs - really neat atmosphere, the real McCoy and about 20 degrees cooler.

Here are some more pics with brief descriptions of what we are seeing.

Sorry gang - tried to upload 6 pics and only 3 came through - the computer was swearing at us in Czech or something so you will have to settle for these three. Will try to send more tomorrow.

Jim & Joan

Behind the Iron Curtain - Day 1 in Prague

Here are some pics from our Danube

tour. First pic is of Valerie May, a

singer who came on board for some

terrific entertainment - wonderful

voice. Sorry that I didn't rotate it.

Second pic - we were really good

doobies during the cruise so we got to sit at the Captain's table for dinner the last evening on board. This pic is

of everyone at the table while the next one is of Joan rubbing shoulders

with Captain Vlad (yes he is from

Romania and no he's not related to Count Vlad - Dracula that is).

Pic 4 is one taken when we are in the lock, the water has been filled in and the gate is open so that we can head out to higher ground.

Here is Captain Vlad at the helm in the wheelhouse. We go under many bridges and some are so low that they have to lower the wheelhouse hydralically so that the wheelhouse doesn't get taken out. We were sitting on deck while going under some of these bridges and could reach up and touch the cement girders with our hands!

Here's one of Joan and me while the AMACELLO is in one of the locks. The highest lock we went through raised us 81'. We went through the 'continental divide' for the Danube during our last day then went down (lowered) during the last 4-5 locks. Celebrated the occasion with 'Blue Danube Champagne' and wind in our hair.

Here's one of Joan helping Lorenzo put things right when we were in Regensberg. He even let her work the push-button controls to bring up the gang-plank!!!

Last pic is of "Walhalla" the German Hall of Fame - celebrating people like Goethe, Wagner, Kepler, Durer, Einstein. It is built on the side of a hill out of Regensberg and barely accessible to the general public.

Arrived in Prague around 5 pm and to our hotel by 5:30. After settling in, walked over to the Charles Bridge - very famous - it was like walking into a fairytale, medieval castle - together with all of the modern tourist kiosks!! From Nuremburg, we drove to a small city (Kaelvay Vary)just into the Czech Republic where there are many hot springs with healing baths. Beautiful place - had lunch there but very little time to shop.

Will post again, with more pics in two days.

Jim and Joan

Newest members of the Captain's Circle

10:30 PM Last night on ship...
Big treat...big surprise. We got to dine at the Captain's table tonight with two other couples and the Cruise Director! Envy flowed throughout the room..The invitation/meal was on par with our first class seats from Frankfurt to Calgary in 2005.
We are back in our room packing up. Our suitcases need to be out by 0700 and we depart by bus for Prague at 0830. It has been a great day, and wonderful relaxing afternoon on deck as we passed under any bridges and through 10 locks.
Will continue the blog in Prague, with pictures we hope.
Jim and Joan.

Last day of Cruising the Danube

Alas, all good things muct come to an end. We spent a rather disoriented day today what with all of the best made plans being affected by the Bavaria Ironman Competition (second year only). It meant that we did our touring in the morning rather than the afternoon so that we could quickly get back in cue to get through the Main-Danube canal/locks (the man-made portion of the Danube). What it meant is that we did not seem to have as much time to spend in Nuremberg as we might have liked. The tour up to the Nuremberg castle (dating back to 1040) was very interestsing and we are looking forward to doing a comparison with the castle in Prague.
Once we got back to the boat around 2:00 pm (via a series of backroads because of detours and a bus driver who had a tendency to get lost in the back country!), we sat up on deck with drinks and enjoyed the sunshine (about 27-28) and the ride through the last lock before we began to go down the other side - crossing the so-called continental divide on the Danube. From here we empty out into the Black Sea (hope we can call you from a Russian gulag).
We continue to have interesting conversations with people from USA, Ireeland and Ontario and everyone onboard is really quite friendly and sociable.
Special invite from Captain Vlad Voinea to dine at the Capatain's Table this evening - after meeting him at the Bar in the Lounge before dinner. Just rubbing shoulders with the Upper Crust (I think everyone got the invite - darn!).
Tomorrow we disembark and hop on a bus ride to Prague, hopefully to arrive around 5 pm. As much as the day tours were worthwhile, it really was quite nice to simply sit on the top deck and simply watch the scenery go by. Sorry David, we didn't get to see any of the Ironman competition and we really didn't have any time to find any type of jerseys or other stuff.
Well, we are just entering the lock to begin our downward journdy on the Danube (the wall outside our stateroom - we can open our balcony door - is only about 8-9" away! yikes)t - however, we only go down to Nuremberg, dock, stay overnight then off to Prague.
Still promising some pics tomorrow but given the novice nature of our techno skills - don't hold your breath.

Hope all is well back home. Don't tell Mom, but I do miss all of you and as wonderful as this holiday is, it will be nice to get back home, even if it has been raining cats and dogs.

Dad

Our day in Regensburg

Witnessed a wonderful sheet lightning storm last night. The light actually came in through the sheers and the black out drapes! By 9:00 am, the sky was a bit cloudy - likely temperature was 70-75 for the remainder of the day, with high humidity. A terrific relief after the 90s.
Travelled through several canals/locks today; each one was different.
Today was a day to get in the mood for Bavaria. Fruehschoppen was served in the Lounge; that means Bavarian traditional white sausage with beer at 11 AM. Prost!!! Mmmm good! A Bavarian lunch was also served in the Restaurant and the Lounge.
We arrived in Regensburg about 2:30 and had a walking tour. We walked on the oldest stone bridge built in the 12th century. Regensburg is famous for the manufacture of BMW 3 series convertibles and coupes, and the manufacture of microchips for mobile phones.
Note to Rene: we have a picture that shows how high the Danube flooded in Regensburg during the few weeks you were here in Bavaria.
We are off to Nuremberg tomorrow. Because the Bavaria Ironman is being run tomorrow morning, we are doing the Nurem. medeval castle tour in the morning and then traveling through the highest lock on the Danube (81 feet) in the afternoon. We disembark from Nuremberg on Monday morning and should arrive in Prague (by bus) about 5:00 pm for a four night stay. Will try to send pictures from Prague.
We are booked into 2 nights in Vienna (Hotel Prinz Eugen) and 1 night in Salzburg (Mercure Salzburg City) before training to Lucerne via Zurich.
Jim and Joan

Day 6 on the Danube

Greetings on Saturday morning from the Beautiful Danube.
We are coming into Regensburg this afternoon. Since our last post we have spent a full day in Salzburg and Lake Monsee - both places having been involved in the making of the Sound of Music. Unfortunately Julie and Christopher were indisposed and unable to have tea with us. The Mother Superior insisted we go through confession before she would have tea with us so we decided instead to just cruise through the stores and eateries available (we only had about 2 hours on our own). The drive up to Salzburg was extremely scenic and enjoyable - good guide who was most willing to answer our different questions.
The weather continues to be the biggest obstacle with temps. in the mid-30s and higher and the humidity being as high as it is doesn't help either. Hot and sticky!!!
People continue to be very helpful and friendly, also able to communicate via English for the most part. We are still unsure if we will come back to Vienna for 1-2 days and the remainder in Salzburg. There is some type of a festival in Salzburg the weekend we plan on being there so we may encounter difficulties with hotels. I guess we can always sleep in the Hills - alive with music as well as mosquitos!!!
We continue to hear about the rain in Edmonton, so I guess the flowers are fully abloom. Hope you can find some time between the rains to cut the grass, David. The last couple of nights here on the Danube we have witnessed some spectacular lightning storms - sheet lightning.
Quite spectacular.
Given that I was able to buy a recharger for my camera I am happy once more. Taking pics together with Mom. Once we get to Prague, we will try and upload some. I even took a couple of 15" videos and may try to upload one of them although I realize that this may take a considerable amount of time. We'll see how it goes.
While in Salzburg, the Captain took those remaining on board for tours through the Wheelhouse, showing them how it can be raised and lowered (about 4-5') because of some of the low abridges we go under. Quite ingenious.

More later, but unable to say when as the onboard computer hook-up via satellite tends to fluctuate wildly. More later.
Mom and Dad

Day 8 of our European Adventures

Good Evening everyone,
It's 11:30 pm here in Vienna (I imagine that for most of you it is probably early Tuesday morning, at work).

Joan and I have just returned from a concert at the Vienna Opera House with the Weiner-Hofburg Orchestra. They played songs and light opera pieces (music by Lehar, Mozart and Strauss) that were familiar to just about everyone present and it was fantastic - price of the cruise was worth this concert alone in my opinion. They had 5 singers helping out (2 sopranos, 1 mezzo-soprano, 1 tenor and 1 baritone. The crowd (about 900) gave all a standing ovation near the end - well deserved. We spent the morning on a walking tour of downtown Vienna and had about an hour or so to wander trying to get our bearings for how we want to spend our time when we return next week. Then this afternoon, we did the guided tour of the Schonbrunn Palace. This was the summer residence of the last of the Austrian royal family before they had to abdicate in the early 1900s. Talk about oppulence to the nth degree. It is easy to understand the background for the French Revolution when you see the amount and type of luxury that the Royal family lived with while they were ruling. The temperature was the only drawback. We would love to get some of the rain that we hear is falling in Edmonton. It was between 36-38 today, depending on where you weres standing. Even the water doesn't help much as it warms up so quickly.
I have still to eat a piece of Sacher Torte - Mom seems to see it as an evil to be avoided. the staff continue to be extremely helpful and with the river cruise being so small (144 passengers) it is quite easy to get to know a great many different people. Lots of Americans along but also some people from N.Z., Australia, Canada, and Great Britain. Everyone is quite sociable and the chatter is generally about what we have all done during the day as well as a bit about our respective backgrounds.
David, try and resend the photo to my telus acct. (jeliuk@telus.net) as I was unable to download the pic. It is also possible that the problem is at our end on the ship - all internet traffic is via satellite and a few people have complained that they have been totally unable to get an internet hookup at all! It is possible that they are trying to control the bandwith usage on the ship by limiting the internet use to text only.
Covering more ground tomorrow - some of the people are doing a 24. mile bike trip while the boat gets to its next stop. They bike past castles, vineyards and small villages. Mom and I didn't want to show the guests up so we are letting some of the other "fit" people use the 19 bikes that are available. I think that we will sleep in and sit back and enjoy the river cruise.
More to come after our next stop.

Lots of love to all,
from
Jim and Joan in Vienna - home of Strauss (not Levi-Strauss either!!)

Tuesday, 10:55pm - Leaving Brataslava

From Budapest, we travelled (mostly at night) 139 km by river to Brataskava. After breakfast, we arrived back in our room to find two towels and a facecloth had been folded and manipulated into a lovely bouquet of flowers. Enroute to Brat., we spent about 60 minutes going through the first set of locks. Our ship was so close to the side of the lock that we could reach out and touch the wet sites. The captain actually steered the ship from controls on the port side of the ship. There were "bouys" of some type that kept the ship from rubbing the sides of the lock. The lock and dam make up a hydroelectric project for the surrounding areas. The lock was different from the ones in Panama. This one closed at both ends and water rose the ship up about 80 feet. A curved metal barrier at the front of the lock dropped about 5 feet and we simply motored over it. In the lock with us was another river cruise ship and 2-3 tugs. Several times throughout the morning we saw small tankers picking up oil. The water continued to stay very brown, and there were no oil slicks to be seen!
Onboard the ship, we attended a 20 minute presentation on Vienna/Salzburg and the excursions/optional tours. Then it was noon....time to eat again!! At 1:30 we were headed off on our walking tour of Brataslava (Opera House, castle, church, Main Square. On our own we went past Trum Gate to the much newer section of Brtaslava. Stopped for a Citronelada (lemonade). It was soooo hot. Went through the Palace Museum (1500's paintins, huge tapestries, beautiful furniture) for Euro 2 each. I can't believe the reasonable prices for museums, galleries, etc. Only in Europe you say...
Entertainment tonight was The Five Aprodites (very little Slovakian music/song; more American stuff).
We are just leaving Brat. now. I got to raise and stow the gangplank, thanks to Lorenzo of Romania. We passed under the bridge with the UFO Bar on top. Interesting...made me think of St. Paul, Alberta.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a full day: AM bus/walking tour of Vienna, afternoon tour of Schonbrunn Palace, and PM visit to the Opera House for a Mozart/Strauss concert.
That's it for tonight...early morning tomorrow.....
Love Mom and Dad

Greetings from the AMACELLO

Monday, July 12, 2010

Greetings from onboard the AMACELLO, our cruising ship/boat down the Danube for the next 7 days. Since out last post, we were able to see more of Budapest - Hero's Square down Andreaszy Street (Budapest's version of the Champs d' Elysees), stopped in at the Opera Hall, went through and about 1/2 way up St. Stephen's Basilica (absolutely stunning, both the views inside of the religious paintings, scenes, religious imagery, etc. as well as the 360 degree view of Budapest from the outside of the dome). More good food throughout the different restaurants.

We went back up to the National Gallery today in the hope of seeing a lot of the Art collection in Budapest only to find that it was closed on Monday - such are the hardships of holidays. However we did go through the Labyrinths, a series of natural underground tunnels under the area where St. Matthais Church and the Fisherman's Bastion is. This is all part of the Buda Palace complex so I imagine that 500 - 800 years ago, there were many nefarious and sinister goings-on in the Labyrinths. Given that it was +30 outside/topside, the 18-20 degree temp in the Labyrinth was quite welcome. Not a place for claustrophobics however!
The tempersture has been steadily climbing during the last 3 days and with reports via t.v., it seems as if Prague is going to be in the mid-30s if not higher. Hopefully the next seven days on the Danube will give us a bit of respite.

The Danube is just as muddy as the North Sask. except it is perhaps 1 1/2 to 2 times broader. It also looks considerably deeper.

Joan informs me she has already found the cappuchino maker on the ship so all is well with her world!

Here's Joan with some pics. Whoops, just found out that we cannot upload pictures on the computers in the staterooms so we will have to wait until we get into Prague in seven days for more pics. Everyone will just have to put up with my witty (?) dialogue.
That's all for now folks.

For all of you who are back from or going on holidays, we wish you a pleasant summer.

J. & J.

Good Evening everyone. For those of you who are wondering the picture on our blog spot was from a themed wedding (20s and 30s) in mid-June.

Anyways, we have arrived in Budapest and after taking an evening to get over jeg lag, we finally began touring the city on foot yesterday. Our hotel is very centrally located and we have been able to walk to see things over the past 2 days. The Buda Palace complex holds the National Art Gallery (yet to see), St. Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion, and the President's Residence. Beautiful view of Buda after crossing the Chain Bridge and taking the funicular railway to the complex.

Today, we sent to the City Market (two stories), National Hungarian Museum which housed a great deal of history of Hungary from 1000AD onward. Very few people at the Museum, but it was worth the $5.50 CDN entrance.

Food has been great and very reasonable! And fairly ethnic - goulash soup is hot and spicy. People are kind, friendly, helpful, and somewhat reserved. Not quite sure what to make of some of our Western idioms (skinny latte?)! Weather is mid to high 20s. Evenings cool off nicely. Our hotel room has 20' ceiling and we overlook a beautiful courtyard/restaurant, shaded by a large elm tree. The tree shades our small balcony as well, and we have been enjoying a nice glass of wine each afternoon, as we observe others in the restaurant and tourists.

No promises, but we will try to download 2-3 pics for the viewing pleasure....no promises!

Folkart

View from our Balcony

On the plane, awaiting takeoff

St. Matthais Church near Fishermans Bastion

Beginning of our adventure

We are soon to be off on our European adventure.