Marilyn and I just returned from an outstanding two weeks in Europe. As I’ve stated before, we really enjoy River Cruises and, while we’ve already previously enjoyed three other River Cruises in Europe, we decided on this trip. We previously had cruised part of the Danube River that this particular trip involved, specifically the portion of the Danube from Vienna, Austria to Linz, Austria. Our trip started in Budapest, Hungary and went west to our debarkation point at Linz Austria. Our ship was the Riverboat BIZET, operated by Grand Circle Cruises. About ten days prior to our original departure date of 11 October, we got a call from Grand Circle asking us if we would consider moving our departure date to 9 October. (It seems they had oversold the scheduled 11 October trip.) In exchange they offered us a voucher for several hundred dollars toward our next trip and a cabin upgrade for this trip. We accepted their offer.
After flying from Indianapolis to Washington, to Frankfort, Germany to Budapest Hungary overnight, we got ourselves settled into our quarters on the river boat. The next day they moved the boat to the other side of the river. The Danube River splits the city of Budapest and the north side of the river is the city of Buda and the south side of the river is Pest. The morning was spent in a tour of the city by bus. After lunch on the boat, we decided to participate in one of the optional tours that was a horse show and evening meal The horse farm featured native “cowboys” and their riding skills. It was interesting but the meal was so-so.
The next day we sailed for Esztergom. The town is the site of the largest church in Hungary and is the center for Hungarian Catholicism and the seat of the cardinal primate of Hungary. The famous anti communist cleric, Cardinal Josef Mindszenty was reburied here 4 May 1991. We sailed at 2;00 pm after bloody-mary’s and were entertained that night in the lounge by the liars club.
The next day we were in Slovakia and first enjoyed a walking tour of the capital, Bratislava in the morning. That afternoon the ship sponsored a question and answer session with two students from the university of Bratislava That evening we were entertained by a student choir in the ship’s lounge.
The next day was Sunday and we were treated to a city tour of Vienna, Austria, walking and by bus. After returning to the ship and lunch in the dining room of the ship, we were able to take shuttle buses to the city center to enjoy time on our own. The city is beautiful and the local people throng to the city center on Sunday afternoon. It’s simply a treat just to see all the people that come downtown during the day. Our ship sailed at 1:00 am. for the town of Melk, Austria and a visit to Melk Abbey.
We arrived at the town of Melk around 1:30 pm and the optional tour of the Abbey. Marilyn and I had visited the Abbey on a previous river trip so we chose to just walk around the town. At 5:30 that evening the ship’s Captain held a farewell reception in the lounge and at 7:00 pm his Farewell Dinner. Marilyn and I were invited to sit at the Captain’s table during the dinner so we felt we had to dress up more than our usual casual attire. We were entertained in the lounge by the ship’s crew. Great entertainment. That night we sailed for Linz, Austria.
We arrived in Linz the next day and after breakfast on the boat we went for an orientation walk to the main square in Linz. Those passengers who signed up for the optional tour to Salzburg spent the day there. Marilyn and I had previously been to Salzburg stayed on the boat for lunch and in the afternoon walked back to the town center and spent the afternoon there. We spent the evening repacking for our debarkation of the BIZET.
The next morning we boarded buses for the trip to Prague, Czeck Republic. The bus ride was broken up by stopping for lunch at the Eggenberg Restaurant in the town of Cesky Krumlov. The menu was a small salad, roasted pork, sauerkraut, Czeck dumplings, walnut cake, and a drink. Good lunch! Following that –on to Prague and checking in to the Don Giovanni Hotel. A buffet dinner in the evening was included at the hotel.
On this day we were scheduled to visit a school and have lunch at the elementary school in Nelahozeves. This is a small Czeck town which was the home of the famous European composer Anton Dvorak. It seems that Grand Circle sponsors a foundation that makes donations to various educational programs in Europe. In this case they had donated $20,000. to this school. The school had used the money to purchase quite versatile computer equipment to teach the kids English language. The children were five to seven years of age and they demonstrated their ability in learning English. The kids were all cute, typical, kids of that age and it was a learning experience for us. The kids sang a song for us and our group, in turn, sang “Ole MacDonald’s Farm” with several choruses for them. They liked that. Later we ate lunch in the school cafeteria. They served a salad, Czeck goulash with rice, and Strudel. After returning to the hotel and resting a bit, we prepared to catch the bus for the second optional tour we signed up for.
Just before departing on the optional tour, the program managers had arranged to have a car put on display in the parking lot of the hotel. The car was called a Trabant and was manufactured during the Communist occupation of Czechoslovakia. The car body and frankly, it looked like the interior also was all plastic and the power. was a one cylinder engine. This one was built in 1983 (?). Fuel had to be a mixture of gasoline and oil. It got fair mileage but was not too reliable even when new.
The optional tour was about 50 kilometers north of Prague to the village of Nosalov and included dinner and Polka demonstrations. This tour was a disappointment. The dinner was on the lean side, the room was too small for the crowd, there was insufficient seating, and the polkas were confined to too small space.
The next day, after breakfast at the hotel, we went on a bus and walking tour of the city of Prague. The city is truly one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Before the WWII, Prague had a much larger Jewish population and one part of the city was called The Jewish Quarter. Only 5000 to 6000 Jewish families remain. The churches, other buildings, and bridges are architectural wonders. Unfortunately, Marilyn got sick about three quarters through the city tour and we had to go back to the hotel on our own. After back-tracking through the city, we found the subway and took it back to the hotel. Later, since Marilyn wasn’t feeling well , I decided to go back to the town center via the subway to see if I could find a music store that sold CD’s. I found one and was able to purchase two James Last (My favorite conductor) CD’s.
The next morning we had an early departure for home which required us to get up at 2:00 am. We traced essentially the same route home as we used getting to Europe at the beginning of our vacation (Frankfurt, Washington, DC, and Indianapolis). We arrive home in Indianapolis at 6:10pm after regaining the six hours we lost going over.
Great Vacation!
