Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish all of our family and friends a Very Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy your turkey and all the trimmings. Ricardo will be missing his pumpkin pie and gallons of whipping cream!! Enjoy your celebrations and we are thankful to have you all in our lives.

Disembarkment

Today was the end of our Danube cycle tour. The ship sailed during the night toward Passau and following breakfast we had to vacate our rooms by 9 a.m. Once the ship arrived in Passau and docked we were able to disembark by 11 a.m. We bade farewell to our newfound friends and cycle companions. Even though we all had a great week together with lots of fun and laugther, everyone seemed eager to get on their way either home or to the next stop on their vacations. Some were returning home, others travelling on to Prague or back to Vienna for a longer stay. We are now back in our hotel in Passau and tomorrow will make our way via train to Freising. We will pick up a rental car there and travel to the Black Forest. We have a self-catering apartment at the HausWussler in Gengenbach -- which is a family farm. We will spend the next 5 days exploring the southwest area of Germany before we return to Munich and our flight home. WOW - Looking back over the last 4 weeks, it has been quite an adventure. We are so pleased that we have been able to come here and do and see everything we have. We biked over 175 km in Croatia, lots of it hard climbing for long stretches. Then 250 km in 4 countries, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. 425 km overall - way to go Louisa. It is hard to believe it all but we do have pictures to prove it, so it must be true.

Through the Wachau

Today we rode through the beautiful Wachau Valley of Austria which is its most famous and largest wine country. The hills along both sides of the Danube are all terraced steeply up with grape vines. The route was peppered with the most amazing scenery and wound through s everal quaint, old and historic towns. It wasn’t a long ride (35 km) but we took our time to see all of the towns and enjoy the beautiful day. Again it was a spectacular fall day with temperature in the low 20’s and full sun. There was a coolness of autumn in the air and the trees are started to change colour and drop their leaves--the perfect time to cycle anywhere! The Wachau, besides wine, is also well-known for its apricot production and it seemed there were apricot specialities to be had everywhere -- liquors, candles, soaps, pastries such as the Washauer Marillenknodel - a sweet dumpling filled with apricot. We first visited Durnstein one of the valley’s most famous towns. This is where Duke Leopold V held King Richard the Lion-Heart of England captive. He was held in the Kuenringer Castle and the ruins still overlook the town. The castle was built in the 12th century. The streets of this town were very busy today - a Saturday and a tourist town. It seemed there were a lot of walkers out (perhaps from walking tours in the region) as well as bikers of all sorts. It was interesting navigating these old streets and it is an amazing little town. We were treated to a free apricot candle from one of the main souvenir shops where they also make their own schnapps and chocolate. We passed on the schnapps but did get some chocolate. Again today we travelled on the Euro Velo 6. And again we’ll say ’what an amazing trail!’ There were bikers coming regularly from both directions along this pathway. Some were obviously on a long haul ride (as evidenced by their packed panniers) and others seemed to be out for a Saturday ride with friends to visit a local tavern or coffee shop along the way. It was really such a thoroughly enjoyable day in a beautiful area. What a nice ending to a tremendous week of cycling through Europe along the Donau! We stopped at a coffee shop in one of the towns and had a delicious poppy seed pastry with cappuccino. They use a lot of poppy seed in this area (yum!). We also stopped at a local tavern/restaurant for a beer and then parked ourselves on a bench in the middle of a vineyard to eat the remainder of our lunch and enjoy the setting. We were constantly passed by bikers and some Nordic walkers -- it is so great to see this amazing pathway being so well used in all of the countries we have cycled this trip. We also stopped for a short water break at St. Michael which is a hamlet of only 13 houses and less than three dozen inhabitants. It was, from 987 onward the only parish here and provided care for the people in the Wachau for a very long time. Tonight, prior to our farewell dinner, the captain had a cocktail party where all of the crew were introduced and thanked for their hard work in making the trip successful. Dinner was culminated with the chefs' march through the room with several baked Alaska with sparklers on top. A delightful end to a memorable week on the Danube!

Vienna from a Bike!

Today was a down day -- no scheduled biking program as we sailed Vienna this morning. There were a couple of tours planned and we again opted for the bike tour of Vienna. What a crazy, inspired idea!! It was surely more treacherous than Budapest. The streets of Vienna are so busy with car, pedestrian and bike traffic. It is difficult to navigate through all of this when you don’t understand the rules of the road. Every city has its own traffic signals, bike paths, and hierarchy on the road. So it is difficult to enjoy the sights of a magnificent city when you are constantly on the look-out for the next person, car or bike that is going to kill you!! Vienna does not command the same attention from the Danube entry as does Budapest. The city centre is set back from the river and it takes some pedalling to reach it. Once there, though, it is majestic. The circular-built Ringestrasse encircles the baroque splendor of the city. Here you will find the famous Lipizzan horses of the Spanish Horse Riding School. The famous composers Mozart, Strauss, Beethoven and Haydn are all a part of this city. The Habsburg Palace is an amazing architectural structure that takes up what appears to be an entire city block. The Hapsburgs resided here only in the winter months! We visited the Vienna Prater and viewed the oldest ferris wheel in the world - if no longer the highest. We also stopped to view Hundertwasserhaus which is an architectural conversion of public housing apartments in 1983 by Freidensreich Hundertwasser, a Austrian artist interested in architecture. He felt architecture should be closer to nature without unnatural straight lines and his project features bizarre colorful patchworks with irregular patterns and windows. The famous Vienna Woods is 600 hectares of green belt park which surrounds the city centre like a horse shoe. This land was pledged to the city of Vienna by the Hapsburg family. It was once their private park land but is now available for all Viennese to enjoy. We saw a lot in Vienna but very quickly on our bikes and not always at a great vantage point. We left feeling that Vienna is a city of art, culture and music which cannot really be captured from the street. You have to be able to take time in the city and visit the opera houses, art galleries and museums to understand the true magnificence and culture of such a city. Louisa was particularly disappointed not to have time to visit the Klimt exhibit at the Belvedere gallery. Our bike tour lasted 3 hours so we can say that we have cycled through the heart of Vienna and lived to tell the tale -- although Louisa nearly got smushed by a trolley car which seemed to think it had the right of way ! (lol) In the evening we went to a typically Austrian wine tavern for a night of musical entertainment featuring a violinist and cellist who played the beautiful Strauss music of Vienna featuring a small operetta with a soprano and tenor. They were joined by two dancers who performed typical Austrian dances. The tavern owners served us a glass of Most accompanied by fresh breads and spreads. Tomorrow is our last ride through the wine country of Austria.

Cycling in the Hungarian Countryside

We cycled today from Visegrad to Estergom which was a 63 km ride. This involved crossing on three different ferries and also cycling on Szentedre Island at the knee of the Danube. This is one of the most scenic areas of Hungary and over a distance of about 20 km the river breaks through mountain sides and flows down toward Szentendre. Visegrad is scenically embedded in the Danube Bend and is sometimes referred to as the “diamond of the Danube Bend.” We did not see much of Visegrad as this was our departure point and the boat had docked there over night. We took a ferry across the Danube fromVisegrad and after a 12 km ride to the village of Tahitotfalu we crossed over on another ferry to the lovely town of Vac. We were encouraged to explore this particular town and enjoy some fabulous baking in the town square--which is exactly what we did in the company of 4 of our cycling companions from the boat. We had a very congenial and lively coffee break enjoying fantastic pastries (again, Louisa found the chocolate jam-jams!). It was also Market Day in Vac and there were many booths where the little old Hungarian women in their babushkas were selling their meagre produce. Vac is really a lovely town with a large pedestrian/cyclist area. It seems bikes are a very popular mode of transportation in Hungary, particularly in the countryside and smaller towns. We should add here that while the countryside is very pretty, the poverty is also readily apparent. There is a better standard of living in the cities but those living outside of the main centres continue to have a very poor standard of living. The route took us again along the Euro Velo 6. The pathway was tremendous today -- very easy to follow weaving through some very quiet and peaceful landscapes, small towns and agricultural lands. We cycled on through the day with our coffee companions -- Susan and Alan from Wisconsin (our dinner partners at Table 8) and Jim and Linda from California. It was such a relaxing and enjoyable day with lots of laughter and interesting conversations as we got to know each other a bit better. When we reached the last ferry our tour guide, Leslie Ringwald, joined us. He usually leaves the boat after everyone else has departed and cycles the route. He must cycle very fast as we were one of the first groups to leave and he caught up to us with just 12km left on the route. He said he would take all of us to a great restaurant where we could have some delicious fish. Leslie is Hungarian and knows where all of the good food is along these routes. As a matter of fact he was born in Hungary and his father was a freedom fighter in the 1956 revolution. They soon after fled Hungary and lived for many years in Austria and the United States. He is quite a character with a quick wit. He loves both Hungary and Austria dearly and encouraged us to enjoy the local cultures of both. At the restaurant we had a very mild white fish which was battered and deep fried with chips and pickles -- and very LARGE beers! Ricardo had an opportunity to get a hair cut as the waitress is also the local hairdresser. He passed on this as we were running out of time as we needed to be back on the boat by 3:30. Leslie tried to talk him into it and said he needed a haircut as he had “hippy hair”!! Up to this point that was our best day of cycling. It was a superb day. It started off at departure in a bit of fog and mist but as we crossed over on the ferry to Vac the sun broke through, the skies cleared and it was perfect for the remainder of the day. What a spectacular day with great people, great food and an even greater cycle route!! We only have one more cycle day left -- in the Wachau Valley although we are signed up to cycle tour Vienna tomorrow. We are finding that this week is going by quickly and it will be sad to see the week end. Then again it will be off to another adventure in the Black Forest area. Life is good--we both feel so lucky to be here having this wonderful time!

The Queen of the Danube -- Budapest!!

We woke up this morning with the boat sailing in to Budapest harbour. After breakfast we had a short briefing of the day’s activities and then were all invited up on the sundeck for a Hungarian Buffet. This consisted of a delicious goulash soup with bread and a spicy paprika relish. What a view of Budapest as we approached the city! The city is separated by the Danube and the two sides are joined by a series of beautiful bridges. The Buda side is the hilly side and the Pest side is where the Old Town is as well as the Parliament Buildings. The boat docked on the Buda side near the Lion’s Head Bridge. We signed up for a bike tour of the Old City and this began at 11:30 a.m. We crossed the Lions’ Head Bridge - an old chain bridge with imposing Lion’s Heads on either end. We were then lead through an amazing labyrinth of streets to spectacular sights within the Old City. It was at times a bit scary cycling through these very busy streets. When you are not used to the traffic flows and rules of the road, or how vehicular traffic will respond to cyclists, it is a bit unnerving. There were only 8 cyclists in our small group and we managed to complete the tour without any casualties. And now we can say we have cycled on the streets of Budapest!!! What can one say about this city! What a jewel in Europe. Often referred to as the “Paris of the East” it is now a UNESCO World Heritage city. The architecture is simply amazing although many of the buildings have suffered such damage which is still apparent from WWII. There is such a shortage of money in Hungary that many of these beautiful historic buildings are not maintained. But we saw the State Opera House (one of the most beautiful in the world), the museums and galleries which house thousands of Renaissance paintings -- some of the best collections of art in all of Europe (but with limited time we only saw them from the outside). We saw the Heroes Square with its imposing sculptures and columns of the Millenium Monument and the statues of Hungarian Kings. It would be easy to run out of superlatives in describing this incredible city -- the National Parliament Buildings, the St. Stephen’s Basilica with its neoclassical architecture (where the mummified hand of Hungary’s first King St. Stephen is kept in the chapel), the House of Terror housed in the secret police headquarters of the Communist era which documents the terror of both the Nazi and Communist regimes. And then, the last vestige of Turkish culture in Budapest, the thermal baths. We saw the Szechenyi Spa. This is the largest spa in Europe and the nicest in Budapest with 3 outdoor pools, 3 sauna rooms and many indoor pools at different temperatures. Near the Spa is a 10,000 sq. m. manmade ice skating ring which is open all winter. After the tour we set off on foot to find the famous Market Hall, known as the “stomach of Budapest”. This is in an enormous old building at the end of a long pedestrian walkway--Vaci Ulica. The building is filled with stalls marketing fresh produce, baking, the Hungarian sausages and the notable paprikas which are central to the Hungarian cuisine. What a delightful experience! We found paprika! We found the best baking! Louisa found a cookie that she can only describe as a large jam-jam dipped in chocolate! We had to hurry back to the boat afterward for an early dinner as we had also signed up for a night bus tour of Budapest -- to view it in all its beauty when all of the incredible buildings and bridges are illuminated. This tour culminated on Gellert Hill on the Buda side of the river with the most impressive view over the river -- the parliament buildings and all the bridges illuminated. It was absolutely breathtaking. We were treated to a glass of champagne by our tour guides as we gazed out over the magnificent city of Budapest! The Queen of the Danube!