The Opera House in Budapest

Budapest central market

Day 9: Last port at Budapest.

Budapest is the pearl on the Danube, with Buda city on the hills and Pest city across the river. The two sides are joined by 6 bridges. Palaces and churches were built on Buda's side, the Parliament buildings and high-rise hotels are found on the Pest land.
City Tour began at 9:30 a.m. First we came upon the Budapest Market, the 19th century building is a striking beauty. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we could not take a look at the inside or their agricultural products. The bus took us throungh the city of Pest first and then cross over to the Buda side, where we visited the Matthias church,, the Castle's District, the Fishermens' Bastion, the outdoor arts-and-crafts market and the former Royal Palace which is now a museum.
In the afternoon, we toured the city on our own. We walked down Vaci Ut, the city's main commercial boulevard, known for offering goods that were unobtainable elsewhere in Eastern Europe. None of us bought anything though, except Grace bought a bottle of water from McDonald, because she had to use their bathroom. We walked a long, long way before we found the Opera House. We were told it is worth a look at the beautiful inside. Unfortunately we got there too late, and we missed the guided tour. In order to get back to the ship on time, we had to turn around after taking a few pictures. Another thing that we did not get to experience were the Turkish baths. The indoor pool is supposed to be stunning, bathing there is like bathing in a cathedral! As our Eastern Europe Tour was coming to an end, we might as well leave something good for our next trip :)

Day 8 : Vienna City Tour

We departed at 8:30 a.m. for our Vienna city tour. Again we drove through the Ringstrasse district. The local tourist guide pointed out each famous buildings and architectures to us, the opera house, the museums, the imperial palace, the Figaro House where Mozart used to live etc. This time in daylight we could see much better. Both Daniel and I fell in love with Vienna. Our first stop was the magnificent St. Stephen Cathedral, which is the finest Gothic building in Austria. Then our guide took us for a walking tour which ended at the Albertina. We decided to skip lunch on the ship in order to see and enjoy more of Vienna.
With map in hand, Paul guided us through the city. We admired each ancient grand buildidng. When we got to the park, we took our lunch break, to enjoy the sandwiches, snacks, fruits and drinks, whatever we each prepared for ourselves before leaving the ship. We fed the birds with our leftovers and had a good rest there. Then we continue our walk till we came upon the place where they hold beach volley ball competitions. So we sat down to watch the girls play one set of games. Beach volley ball in the middle of the city, it was rather unusual. On our way to the subway station, we passed by the state Opera House. We remembered Nancy mentioned that we should go to the Hotel Sacher behind the Opera House, to try their famous chocolate cake Sacher Torte. The menu looked expensive, but we couldn't resist our temptation, so we each ordered a cup of coffee and a piece of Sacher Torte. Much to our disappointment, the cake wasn't that great as recommended. As we still had a little time, we wondered through a street full of shops, where Daniel went to hunt for his turtles again. Then we went back to the ship by subway train and a short walk to the harbour. We had a full enjoyable day in Vienna.

Entrance to the Benedictine Abbey.

The splendid Melk Abbey

What a sight from afar!

Day 7:The Little town of Melk

Melk is indeed a very small town, population 7000 only. We hardly saw any local residents except those few tending the gift shops. The town is dominated by the great Benedictine Abbey, which is painted in yellow and white. Sitting on top of the cliff, with its huge size and bright color, the Abbey can be seen from very far far away. It is too grand looking to be a monastery, because it is in fact a palace given to the Benedictine monks. The most beautiful room inside is the Marble Room, with the tall pillars and exquisite ceiling fresco. The most impressive room is the library. Its inlayed bookselves built from the floor up all the way to the ceiling, with all the books bound to match them. The ceiling fresco again adds elegance to the entire room.

Day 7:The Little town of Melk

Melk is indeed a very small town, population 7000 only. We hardly saw any local residents except those few tending the gift shops. The town is dominated by the great Benedictine Abbey, which is painted in yellow and white. Sitting on top of the cliff, with its huge size and bright color, the Abbey can be seen from very far far away. It is too grand looking to be a monastery, because it is in fact a palace given to the Benedictine monks. The most beautiful room inside is the Marble Room, with the tall pillars and exquisite ceiling fresco. The most impressive room is the library. Its inlayed bookselves built from the floor up all the way to the ceiling, with all the books bound to match them. The ceiling fresco again adds elegance to the entire room.

Vienna night tour and concert

After visit of the Melk Abbey, we went back to the ship for lunch. The ship set sail for Vienna. We took a quick lunch and then went to the main lounge to watch the beautiful Wachau Valley, with Nancy pointing out the points of interest to us. As we are joining the Vienna night tour and concert, we had an early dinner at 5:30pm.
Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria, of the 9 Austrian provinces, even though it is the smallest in area, it is the most densely populated and the most heavily industrialized. Vienna is beautiful at night. The bus drove us through the Ringstrase area. We marvelled at its ancient architecture and monuments. Before long, we arrived at the majestic looking concert hall, where we enjoy the sound of Vienna by the Johann Strauss Salonorchester. There was a few dances in between. The whole program was wonderful, much more enjoyable than I expected.

What a great piece of art work!

The beautiful ceiling of the Cathedral of St. Stephen.

Standing in awesome beauty!

At the far end is the altar

How magnificent it looks and sounds!

The largest pipe organ in the world, having 5 manuals, 231 steps and 17,463 pipes

Peaceful and Beautiful

View of Passau from the castle

Treasure of the past and present

Samples of glasswork exhibited

Day 6: Tour of Passau, the city of 3 rivers

Local guides took us for a walking city tour in the morning. Passau is located where the River Danube, Inn and Ilz join. It is counted among the 7 most beautifully situated town in the world. In 1662, a fire broke out, the whole city was burning after 2-3 hours. In 1680 there was another fire. Two third of the town was destroyed. They also have problems of flooding with the 3 rivers flowing together. Most houses are in the Italian style. We were most impressed by the magnificent St. Stephen Cathedral which is the largest in Germany. Everything inside, the altar, the pillars, the statues, every inch of the ceiling is so beautiful, it is really beyond description. This Cathedral also houses the largest church pipe organ in the world. Before ending our morning tour, we enjoyed a 15 minutes concert in St. Stephen by paying a small amount of fee.
We then hurried back to the ship for a quick lunch. In the afternoon we set off to explore the town on our own. First we visited the glass museum. Quite a large collection of beautiful glassware there. 30,000 items were on display, collected from Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia and other parts of Europe from over 250 years. Then we took the city bus to go uphill to see the Castle Veste Oberhaus, built by Passau's Prince Bishops. Today it is used as a Cultural History Museum. We tried to time ourselves carefully, in order to catch the last bus and return to the ship before 5:00 pm.

Glories of the past

The 500 years old Sausage Kitchen was a traditional meeting place for those who enjoy eating little grilled sausages and sauerkraut. The green building on the right was the city's biggest salt store (seven-storey high). Regensburg held the monopoly for trading in salt, and salt was regarded as "white gold"

Competition Among the Noble families

Towers belonging to the noble families were built as a demonstration of their wealth and power

Same building in two different styles

The Bishop's palace. Building mainly Gothic and Renaissance. They were often used by the emperors when they stayed in Regensburg

Places Of Interest in Regensburg

St. Peters Cathedral, built in the 13th century, the finest Gothic building in Bavaria

Day 5: Tour of Regensburg

Our next port is Regensburg. It is a beautiful city that lies on the banks of the Danube River. Originally it was a Roman garrison. The town has numerous churches and towers belonging to the great noble families and patrician houses of the the 13th and 14th century.
Regensburg is the 4th largest city in Bavaria. It has also been an university city, having a polytechnic and academy of church music and music education.
A tour in the city led us to the Roman Praetorian Gate, which is the oldest part of Regensbury. It was built of massive blocks of stone. Going through this gate, we came upon the St. Peter's Cathedral. It has beautiful stained glass windows, cloisters, statues and a high silver and copper altar. Next we visited the Palace of Thurn and Taxis, who organized postal service in Europe from Innsbruck to Brussels, and then extended to Vienna.
Turning back towards the harbour, we walked over the Old Stone Bridge which is a mastserpiece of Romanesque architecture. Daniel did not pay much attention to the city. He was hunting around for turtle souvenir to add to his collection. He managed to find one in a small shop by the Bridge, while the rest of the group was waiting for us to go to the Susage Kitchen, to try out their famous grilled sausages and sauerkraut. We enjoyed both the beer and the sausages.

Nuremberg's largest church-the St. Lawrence Church

St. Lawrence Church by the open market for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Hauptmarkt - Open Market in Nuremberg

Beautiful 14th century fountain decorated with numerous golden figures

Visiting the Nuremberg Palace

Going up to the Palace

Nazi Rally Ground where Hitler used to stand

Nazi Party Rally Grounds

Floor Plan for the huge Nazi compound

Site map of the large Stadium with the victory arch, Nazi March ground, Congress Hall documentation center etc.

Day 4: City Tour of Nuremberg

Breakfast and lunch are served in buffet style here on the ship. There were plenty to eat, but we often had to ask for coffee or cream as the waiters are always too busy. After breakfast we were put on three buses and headed out for the Nuremberg excursion.
Nuremberg is a chief German commercial center. It is the second largest city in Bavaria. The city is known for its toys, metalware, electrical machinery, vehicles and office equipments. An international toy fair is held here every year. Nuremberg was the site of the first steam powered railway in 1835, and the first pocket-watch, the so-called "Nurnberg Egg" was produced here.
During the World WarII Nuremberg became famous of its Nazi rallies. The war caused 90% destruction in the city. The widely known Nurnber-War-Trials were conducted here. At the Palace of Justice, Nazi were put to trial for war crimes.

Taking dinner leisurely on board of River Princess

We were glad to have this dinner table big enough for the eight of us.

View from our bus

Beautiful scenery on our way to Nuremberg

Day 3: Heading for Nuremberg

After another nice buffet breakfast at our hotel restaurant, we were divided into three groups. While enjoying the nice music and songs from our i-pod, I was also admiring the beautiful rural scenery during our bus ride on our way to Nuremberg. We arrived there around 5:00PM and got on board of River Princess. After a little refreshment, we gathered at the lounge for a welcome speech from the captain. Then we had a safety drill on the top deck and that was the highlight for today. Dinner was served rather slowly and the portion size for the main dish was surprisingly small. We spent the rest of the night playing cards.

Second Day in Prague

On the second day, we explored Prague's new town on our own. It is not far from our hotel, but we took the subway just for fun. We then spent a few hours visiting the Museum of Natural Science. In this picture, we were posting in front of its beautiful fountain. In the evening, we went to the same restaurant where we had dinner the night before. We enjoyed their most popular dish of Pork's knee but not the potato dumplings which taste and look like a round soft ball of dough. When our bill came, Paul discovered they had overcharged us an extra 200.00 Crown (Local money). The waiter claimed that it was a setting fee - 3 Crowns per person. We ate mostly the same things last night and we were even seated at the same table, except we had a different waiter, but no such setting fee was charged last time. We believed that we were being cheated.

City Tour of Prague

This is the famous St. Charles Bridge, where you can view the imposing castle overlooking the city of Prague.

Spectacular View of the city of Prague

View of Prague from the Palace Castle.

Highlight of the Prague Old Town

The famous Astronomical Clock in Old Town. Each day at Noon, the two small windows at the top will open and out come the little figures of angels blowing the horns.

Blue Danube & Prague, 5/2005 Eastern Europe Trip

May 4, 2005 - We were all excited and ready to start our vacation when Kwok Fui came to give us a ride to the airport. Our luggage barely fit into their trunk because he has other stuffs in there. I hurried into the back seat. Much to my surprise half of the back seat was piled with all kinds of things. Alice told me to get out because she wants to go in first and the two of us had to sit tightly together back there. The conversation on the way to the airport was nice, but I felt really cramped and my left leg was getting numb by the time we arrived there. We had little trouble checking in with KLM airline and we had plenty of time before boarding. Daddy browse around and he was very happy to find the kind of air cushion for his back. It is a little more expensive but much nicer than the ones he got before. He left it in his seat while he went off again to hunt for newspaper. I stuck the aircushion behind my back to try it out. Ah, yes, it felt very comfortable for the back. Before long, it was time for boarding. As usual Daddy went ahead of me to line up, so I put my reading material back in my bag and ran after him. While waiting in line, I casually asked him, did you remember to get your aircushion? His staring at me reminded me that I was the one using it and I completely forgot about that. Boy, if I lost it I really would be in deep trouble. I rushed back to where I was sitting. Thank God, the aircushion was still there!!!

The plane was not the modern type, so we did not have a personal TV that allowed us more choices to watch. The food was so so. I managed to sleep a little. We arrived in Amsterdam in about 9 hours to get our transfer to Prague.
Uniworld staff was waiting for us when we got out from the plane. We were guided to a big bus which took us to the Renaissance Hotel. We took a nap after checking in. When we woke up around 6:00PM, Paul called and we met for dinner understairs. A new couple, Paul's in-laws, joined us on this trip.

Dinner was not too bad. Nancy , our curise director from Uniworld came to give us a little talk about the weather, the curency, where to see, where to eat and where to attend a concert etc. After dinner, she took us for a walk to the Old Town.

Prague, with all the ancient buildings, is quite pretty with purple lilac blooming everywhere. The next morning, we started with a very nice buffet breakfast at the restaurant. Then we headed out for our city tour. Highlight of the tour is the Prague Castle where the ancient palace and St Vitus Cathedral stand.

Entrance Gate of Prague Castle

First Courtyard Inside the Castle

View of Prague Castle from the Outside