Bratislava, Slovakia - Day 9 Danube

Slovakia is the East part of what was Czechoslovakia. Bratislava is again a quaint old city with lots of alleys, cafes and outdoor restaurants. This capital of Slovakia was where Liszt, Beethoven and Mozart had concerts. Liszt actually started his career here.

Slovakia borders Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine. Since the fall of communism, the “old town” part of Bratislava abounds with charming houses and buildings that have been restored and repainted.

There is some interesting public art in this town. Much of this is in the form of statues around the town. For instance, back when mini-skirts became popular, there was a local artist that enjoyed the view. But as he was walking around town one day, he realized that the sewer workers were very slow in going down into and coming up out of their manholes. Then it dawned on him… they too were enjoying the view. So he created a statue for in town called “Man Working” (see picture).

Another is of a famous Frenchman that lived here. He was a struggling businessman in France but was having all kinds of problems because of the regulations from the French government. Finally he moved to Bratislava and eventually became a very successful businessman. He then commissioned a very special statue to b e constructed in one of the squares in town. It is a man leaning over a park bench. Oh, yes… it just so happens that his butt is toward the French Embassy!

Today we walked up to the Palace where we took pictures that overlook the city. This palace dates back to 1760 and now the president lives there. The view out over the city and the Danube river is dramatic.

We stopped by at a few kiosks where the locals are selling their handmade crafts. Again, we found something for Oathen (grandson), a wooden toy puzzle with the English Alphabet on it.

Vienna, Austria - Day 8 Danube

Vienna is the Capital of Austria and home to 1.7 million people. Known for architecture, St. Stephen’s Cathedral is probably the most well known building in Vienna. This cathedral is where Mozart and Haydn were married.

Beethoven was an admirer of Mozart’s music so came to Vienna to meet Amadeus. Composers came here to compose because the Imperials paid them to write their music. Composers who came to write were: Schubert, Strauss, Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart. An interesting fact about Schubert is that he never owned a piano here in Vienna. He always used friends pianos. Maybe not owning a piano is because he had 14 kids; unfortunately, only 5 survived.

Another interesting fact is that in the 19^th Century ladies would walk down the main streets of Vienna to let others know they did not need to work. Our tour guide said that today, too, it is very important for ladies to “show off” in Vienna. The ladies are very stylish here, some looking very chic.

Today we went to the market and saw their lovely meats, cheeses and fruits and vegetables. We had lamb kebobs for lunch—huge sandwiches and delicious. We wanted to sit down to eat and had to pay another Euro to do that. To finish off the meal, we had a

big date stuffed with walnut. It was so good!

After 6 ½ miles of walking in Vienna (we had the pedometer), we got on a bus to go back to the ship to get ready for our concert. The concert was at the Palais Auersperg where a string sextet accompanied by piano played a Mozart and Strauss concert. The concert included singing and ballet but the most interesting thing was that the 1^st violinist, or director, played a 1726 Stradavarius.

What a beautiful way to end a day in Vienna.

Melk/Durnstein/Krems - Day 7 Danube

Melk is most famous for its Benedictine Monastery where it has been a spiritual and cultural center in Austria for over 1000 years. Built in 1089, the monks have continually lived and worked here for over 900 years. Today 30 monks live in the Melk Abbey where they teach some 750 students ranging in age from 10 to 18.

One of the more interesting items we saw at the abbey was their version of being "green" - recycling caskets. The wooden casket had a trap door in the bottom and a release that would open it after it was lowered into the ground. The body would simply fall out the bottom and the casket could be brought up and reused.

This abbey is huge; 100 windows, over 50 rooms, and an active library of 100,000 books. Some books here are from the 16^th century. It is important to know that Mozart played here for the Imperials at the age of six.

After re-boarding our ship and having an Austrian lunch, we set sail down the Danube River. The middle part of the Danube, where we are, is probably the most scenic part of the river. Everywhere you look there are hillsides covered with vineyards, ancient fortresses high on the hills, and small towns with cathedral spires reaching to the sky.

At 3:30 we stopped at the small town of Durnstein. The town of 400 people sits on the edge of the Danube - in fact, so close that there is no room for the main road to go through. SO they built a ¼ mile long tunnel under the town for this main road.

The town is best known for having Richard the Lionhearted imprisoned here. Another less-known, but probably more interesting fact, is that King Wenceslas went to the town priest and asked what his wife was confessing to him. The priest said, “I can’t tell you that!” After asking numerous times and being rebuffed numerous times, the priests body was found floating in the river. The priest is honored everywhere here because of his commitment.

After we returned to our ship, we had an Austrian dinner with our new AUSTRALIAN friends. Now you would think that would be enough for one day, but we left at 8:30 pm for Krems where there was a wine tasting of local Austrian red and white wines. They demonstrated how the grapes are grown, picked and processed into their wines. It was a fun and very full day.

Salzburg - Day 6 Danube

We docked in Linz, Austria early this morning. After a late breakfast we got on a bus and headed for Salzburg, Austria. We passed through Ansfelden—birthplace of organ composer and teacher, Bruckner. He later moved to Vienna where he got a job playing the organ. This is also the small town where much of The Sound of Music was filmed. The town sits on the edge of a lake with the first mountains of the Alps just across the lake.

We then proceeded to Salzburg. The first stop was the gardens where Marie and the children often played in The Sound of Music. The gardens are beautiful at this time of year with many different kinds of flowers in bloom.

Salzburg means, “salt”. Three thousand years ago the mining of salt here was called “white gold” as it was so important for the keeping of meat and the making of sauerkraut. Today they still use the term “white gold”, but it means something different – tourists!

This city of 150,000 people is famous for being the birthplace of Mozart. He died at the young age of 35 of respiratory disease, but in those short years composed over 600 pieces of music. He was buried with the common people in Vienna.

Salzburg dates back to 696 A.D. when the Catholic Church had all power in the city until 1803. We went to the Salzburg Cathedral today, where Mozart played piano, organ, violin and flute. This church, which dates back to 774 A.D., has 5 pipe organs. It is interesting to note that the old Franciscan Monastery was the seat of the German Gestapo during WWII. Today Salzburg attracts thousands of visitors to its summer music festivals. It also has many quaint streets with all kinds of shops.

We also heard about the Von Trapp family today. The grandparents of our guide, Victoria, knew Captain Vann Trapp who later married Maria. There are differences to the original story and the movie, “The Sound of Music”; but he did have 7 children and was a widower who later married the schoolteacher Maria.

Here in Salzburg is also located the oldest café in Europe. It’s the St. Peter’s Cellar. This restaurant has been in continuous use since 803 A.D. I just hope none of the food it that old!

On the way back to Linz, we had a little surprise. We were sitting in the front seat of the motorcoach and had a very good view of the road. Suddenly, I saw a huge pheasant fly up from the field beside the road and head across the highway in front of us. All I could think was “he won’t make it… I don’t think…” BANG! He hit the windshield. Pheasant – 0. Bus – 1 (but with one broken windshield.) At any rate, we arrived safely back at our ship in time to enjoy a fabulous dinner and another concert on board.

Our guide was excellent today and our day was so rich in history and beauty of the Alps in addition to the grand old cities of Europe.

Passau - Day 5 Danube

Monks, Beer and Three Rivers. What do these all in common? Passau, of course! This “Town of Three Rivers” stands at the confluence of the Danube, the Inn joining it from the south and the little Ilz river from the north. The city sits on the eastern border of Germany, near the borders of Czech Republic and Austria.

In this area there are archeological finds dating back 25,000 years that indicate that even then, the Danube was a major trade route. The finds show that people were settling this area around 5000 B.C. The “Blue Danube”, as it was referred to by Strauss, is not blue, but rather brown. The water is fairly clear, but the bottom is clay – hence the brown color. But I suspect that when Strauss told Mrs. Strauss that he was writing a song called the “Brown Danube”, she convinced him to change the title.

OK, now for the Monks. What would they have to do with beer? Now back in the 12^th century, some of the Monks in this area were a little tired of having nothing but water and bread for lent. One year as they were discussing and lamenting the up-coming lent, one of the monks suggested that they should be able to drink beer during lent – after all, beer is made of water, hops, barley and malt, so it’s really only liquid bread… sort of. So the monks decided to send a sample barrel to Rome for the pope’s OK. Well, on the long trip to Rome, the beer became very bitter. So when the pope tasted it, he said, “that stuff is so bitter, you can drink as much as you can stand”. So that’s how the Monks still have some of the best breweries even today.

Today we also visited the little town of Vilshofen. This is a quaint little town. As you walk over the cobblestones of the quite alleys, you pass buildings that were constructed in the 14^th century that are now painted various pastel colors. The town is not a commercial center, so all the small shops that you pass service the local population. No souvenir shops, just bakeries, wine shops, handicrafts, etc. The town put on a special Octoberfest just for our ship. The assistant mayor attended, as did Miss. Vilshofen – Queen of Beer.

After returning to our ship, we ate a great German dinner and then enjoyed a concert aboard the ship. The concert was classical guitar and two violins.

Regensburg - Day 4 Danube

This morning after having breakfast at our hotel in Prague, we took a motorcoach headed to Passau to board our riverboat. But along the way we spent part of the day in Regensburg, Germany.

Leaving Prague, Czech Republic we drove south and crossed the border into Germany. Until recently, crossing the border was a big deal that could take hours, but since Germany and the Czech Republic are both now part of the European Union, the crossing has all the challenges of crossing from Georgia to Florida on Interstate 75. Heading further south, we came to Regensburg.

Now Regensburg is known for many things. The current pope is from here, it was founded in the 8^th century, its hay day was in the middle ages (mostly from all the trade on the Danube River) and it was unscathed in WWII. But the thing most remembered by me and Carol from previous trips is the quality of the sausage and sauerkraut with sweet mustard at the Old Sausage House.

The Old Sausage House is adjacent to the Danube River and is run by the local historical society. The building is actually part of the original city wall. Here, on open grills, the ladies roast hot, succulent sausages until they are perfectly done. They load a plate with a generous portion of wonderfully seasoned German sauerkraut and place the sausages on top. This is then served with some of the best sweet mustard you ever tasted. This is the only item on their menu… you only have to choose how many sausages you want.

Oh yeah… Regensburg is full of history also. It has the oldest stone-arch bridge in Germany built in the 12^th century (see picture of Carol on the bridge with the town in the background).

After touring Regensburg (and having lunch at the Old Sausage House, of course), we continued on to Passau where we boarded our Riverboat that we will call home for the rest of the trip.

Prague - Day 3

I promised I’d let you know how last night went. We left the hotel at 7 pm headed for a local restaurant with a Czech Folklore Dinner Show. The dinner was very good, beginning with an appetizer of Halusky – a typical Czech specialty made from potatoes with ham and cabbage. I know! It doesn’t sound all that good, does it? But it was very tasty. The entrée was a Czech grilled kabob with chicken, beef and vegetables. Then dessert was crepes with fruit and ice cream.

Accompanying dinner was a Czech band (that played all kinds of local instruments) and Czech dancers. The evening went on until about 10:30 with everyone having a great time.

Today we went to Terezin. From 1940-1943 this was a “holding place” for Jews, political people with power, intellectuals, writers and other Europeans who resisted the Nazis. The length of each person’s interrogation depended on who they were, who they knew, etc. After a time of intense questioning, they were given a cup, a spoon, a bar of soap and a blanket. More than 30,000 people died here from harsh conditions.

Over 155,000 people passed through here before going by train to Auschwitz and other death chambers. Terezin was a concentration camp and Jewish Ghetto. Families were split up from each other. The women were treated better than the children. The children were taken to nearby buildings where they all lived together, and after 3 or more years, the young ones no longer recognized their parents.

For breakfast prisoners would have a piece of stale bread and brown water. For lunch, soup with rotten vegetables and sometimes one would find a needle in his soup. For dinner they had brown water or “coffee”.

Nearby was the underground factory where the stronger men made military parts. The weekly shower time was a time to be cherished for these people because they were brought out of the rooms 100 at a time and while waiting for the usually cold shower, they were able to talk with each other. Finding out who was alive or not, and getting some small bit of news from the new folks in camp were the highlight of the week. After their showers, they would put on deloused clothes that were steamed and wet and head back to the cold cells.

All in all… not a very nice place to be.

Tomorrow we head for our Riverboat on the Danube River. We’ll talk to you from there!

Prague - Day 2

This morning we got up at about 7:30 (that would be 1:30 am Eastern Time!) and had a good breakfast at the Hilton. Then it was time to hit the city. But first we had a small surprise. There were all kinds of security in front of our hotel when we were about to leave and we got out front just in time to see the arrival at our hotel of the Presidents of the Czech Republic and Portugal (see picture). It seems they were scheduled to hold meetings today at our hotel. OK, so NOW we are off to see the city.

We started with the Castle District. This is across the river and up the hill on the other side. We entered through the Castle Gates into one of three courtyards and saw such places as St. Vitus’s Cathedral which was commissioned in 1344. The Cathedral was closed to the public today for a special service commemorating the murder of over 9000 polish militants under Stalins orders. This special service was conducted by the resident Archbishop.

The archbishops house (see picture) is located right on the castle grounds. It was quite windy high on this hill and we were all glad to have our jackets along (just observe the picture of Mike and Nancy Sheridan on Castle Hill overlooking the city).

After spending some time exploring the Castle District, we started down into the Lesser District. Along the way were many very interesting old houses – every one decorated differently. We soon learned that in years gone by (or should I say centuries gone by), the location of one’s home was by description. So maybe the Jones live in the “Flying Fish” house while the Smiths live in the “White Swan” house. An example is the Yellow house pictured here. It is the “House of the Golden Suns”, and if you look closely you will see above the doorway a painting of two golden suns.

Also in the Lesser District, Carol came across a rare find - an old 1970’s Police Car from the communist times. These are no longer in use, of course. This is an example of an old Russian-made “Lada”. (The people used to joke “Yeah, they are a “lada” junk)

When we came to the river, we crossed by way of the Charles Bridge. This is by far the most famous bridge in the city, built in the 14th century, during the reign of Charles IV. This is a pedestrian bridge and as you stroll across, you can take time to admire the thirty statues and purchase items from the many street vendors along the way. (Yes, Carol did find a necklace and ear rings she liked, and at a very good price).

Upon exiting the bridge, we were then in Old Town. This is really the “heart” of Prague, with many old churches and pedestrian streets full of tiny, very original shops selling all kinds of hand crafted goodies. While walking through Old Town, we wee invited to no less the six different classical concerts for this evening. This was not a special evening… that’s the way it is every night in Prague. We did some shopping and settled on some fine Bohemian Lead Crystal glasses.

It’s now about 6 pm and in a little while we will be off to a Folklore Dinner Show. It’s at a local restaurant and features Czech food, song and dance. So… we’ll let you know about that tomorrow. See you then!

Prague - Day 1

Hi Everyone. This is Thursday and we made it to Prague, Czech Republic. We beat the volcanic dust cloud from Iceland, landing this morning in Paris and then on to Prague. By this afternoon, all the airports in the UK, Sweden, Finland, etc were closed.

Since we red-eyed over the Atlantic, we took a nap when we got here and then hit the streets. We are staying at the Old Town Hilton, located right downtown.

Prague is divided by the Vltava River and consists for four districts. On the one side are the Castle District (more on that tomorrow) and the Lesser Quarter. On the other side of the river are Old Town (where our hotel is located) and New Town.

As you enter the city from the airport, you will discover that the once grim, gray facades of Prague now glow with a fresh coat of pastel colors. After breaking with communism during the 1989 “Velvet Revolution”, the new Czech Republic eagerly embraced the market economy.

At any rate, tomorrow brings a city tour of Prague and a Folklore Show, so more on the city of Prague tomorrow. See you then.

Pictured above is the Prague Municipal Building - Lots of classical concerts are held here.

Looking ahead to the Danube

Well, it's only a week away that Carol and I will head to Prague to begin a River cruise on the Danube river. We'll spend 3 days in Prague, Czech Republic and then board our Riverboat in Regensburg, Germany. From there we will sail to Passau, Germany; Linz, Melk,Krems, and Vienna, Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia and end with a couple of days in Budapest, Hungary.

We'll be posting with pictures and video as we travel, so to follow us, just check back here next week. See you then.