A Full-time Life

VIENNA (part 2)

 

We met Jacob and Maya  after breakfast on the second day that the river boat was docked in Vienna.   Our fellow Viking passengers were preparing to board the usual tour buses for their day's events, but we were excited to meet our grandchildren for more of our own special time on this second day in the City.  (Vienna Part One is here). 

 

Statue of Empress Maria Theresa in front of Natural History Museum

We visited Maria Theresien Platz.  A monument to the Empress is the center point of the huge plaza which includes two almost identical  buildings that house the Vienna Museum of Natural History and the Art Museum.  There are also four fountains, other sculptures, and lovely landscaping.    Our 'guides' told us that at Christmas the whole plaza is transformed into a world-famous Christmas Market -- it sounded amazing!

 

 

The Empress Maria Theresa governed Austria from 1740 to 1780.   What I remembered was that she was the last of the Hapsburg line of rulers of the Austrian empire, that she led major educational reforms, and that she was the ruler in actuality rather than (as would have been expected at the time) ceding complete rule to her husband Francis,who was a royal in his own right from another line ....  And I remembered that she had 16 children!  I went to Wiki to check my memory, which was not wrong (but certainly not complete) -- she definitely deserves to be commemorated.   Here is the link to the wikipedia page.

 This World Heritage monument is huge!  The entire monument is over 60 feet in height; her statue alone is 19 feet. At the corners are statues of four of her Generals on horseback and carvings of other notables are around the bottom of the monument.   

The upper left and lower right pictures in the collage are two of the corners of  the Museum of Natural History.   They were meant to represent the  continents as they were imagined at the time ... the one on the top left is America. 

  

 

 

We got around the City  underground  -- on the subway/tube ..... our private guides were experts on the system (and the language!)   We had fun pretending like we were locals rather than tourists on a bus.   This picture is where we're exiting the Schonbrunn Station to return to the City Center. 

 

 

These pictures are of the grounds at the Schonbrunn Palace. ( (There is a picture of the Palace on the previous post.)   It was hard to get pictures of the buildings without a lot of people -- we were in Vienna on Ascension Thursday,  a Holiday for schools and many businesses were closed.  We certainly weren't the only ones who were enjoying this beautiful place.   

The center photo is (the top of ) The Gloriette which was built in 1775 during the reign of  the same Empress Maria Theresa and Joseph.      It was meant as a place for the royals and visitors to take in the views.  Now it is open to the public .. the Gloriette Cafe is housed on the lower level.   

 

 

Many elaborate sculptures and garden buildings grace the  grounds of the Schonbrunn, which was once the summer residence of the Hapsburg royalty.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

 

Even with our private guides and a one-on-one tour, our one evening plus one full day gave us time for only an overview of the wonders of Vienna.  But we loved every moment of it -- and we learned so much.  What great memories!  

 

 

We are grateful to have had such a special time with our grandchildren in this beautiful city.   At the end of our day, Jacob and Maya went to board a train to Slovakia, where they would visit her family before flying to Finland  (where they now live).  We headed back to the Skirnir in time for its departure to the next port of call -- Melk, Austria.  

 

 

Linking to the following: 

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  TUESDAY TREASURES  ;  SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  

Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEAVING BUDAPEST; SEEING SLOVAKIA; ARRIVING VIENNA

 

Bratislava Castle (Slovakia) as seen from the boat.

 Our river ship departed Budapest at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday and would arrive in Vienna at about the same time the next evening, making Wednesday one of the longer days spent aboard the boat. 

We were looking forward to seeing  Slovakia, the next country we'd pass by.  That's where  our granddaughter-in-law Maya is from -- we would be getting together with  her and Jacob when we reached Vienna.    We'd pass through one of our first locks just before we arrived at that part of the river. 

 

Our ship was waiting to lock through

We didn’t dock in Slovakia, but at the top of the lock,   I was able to reach out from our deck and touch the ground.    (I'm not totally sure the boat was actually passing Slovakia at the exact moment we exited the lock,  but I really really want to believe that at least I've 'set hand' in that country.)

 

Slovakia from the Deck -- and requisite emergency drill

 

We boated past Bratislava, the country's capital city and more of the Slovakian countryside --  we saw the castle shown in the top photo and other castles as well, old stone fortresses, and scenic river shores.   So, whether I actually touched land there or not, we did definitely see and admire this part of Slovakia, if only from the middle of the Danube.

Wednesday was  the requisite safety meeting on the top deck. We had to learn where to go in case of emergency and how to put on our life vest (some people actually did have trouble).  It was funny to see every person on board wearing their  "Mae Wests" while many of them continued to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.   It's really hard to take your eyes off  it.

The day on board went by quickly --besides the safety drill,  there were program talks and of course breakfast and lunch on board -- and always that scenery!   The boat docked in Vienna as scheduled and we disembarked as soon as possible to meet our grandchildren. 

 

 

We caught up with their busy life  over a scenic walk, dinner and dessert -- Sacher Torte in one of the city's classical coffeehouses.  According to what we learned on board about Vienna's cafe society, coffeehouses  have been a tradition in Vienna since 1683.  They wouldn't have been considered complete without red velvet seating and magnificent chandeliers.   Since most people lived in small crowded apartments, coffeehouses were considered to be second living rooms, where people could linger over coffee and conversation.    That last part seemed to still be true today.   At least it certainly was for us!  

 

Schonbrunn Palace -- the next day 

 

The ship would be in port the whole next day ...  and Jacob and Maya had a hotel room just down the street.    I'll show more of what these talented  (brilliant and good-looking)* guides to Vienna showed us in the next post. 

*  I'm a grandmother -- what can I say?

 

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;   TUESDAY TREASURES ; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  FRIDAY  BLISS

 

 

 

 

 

 

WILDLIFE BREAK

 

Taking a little  break  from our Grand Tour 

with pictures from familiar places.

(See the previous two posts for the first two chapters of our trip.)

 

 

 

 This Green Heron was perched in a bare tree at the Delta Ponds near our Eugene apartment.   It was just a short neighborhood walk during the first week we were home.  Not really even looking for birds but very glad I had taken the little camera anyway.  Nice welcome back to the neighborhood.

 

 

 

The week before that we were in Colorado with our son and daughter-in-law, our Colorado family.  Toward the end of our stay,  more-or-less recovered from jet lag and travel weariness,  we spent a day with them in one of our favorite places --  Rocky Mountain National Park.  As always, we had a great time with Geoff and Lisa -- and as always on our Colorado visits we saw beautiful scenery and wildlife.

 

 

The Moose (Mooses?  Meese?) were having a lovely splash in what was really just a large puddle.  (The background photo shows what it looked like from where we stood -- without our binoculars or zoom lens.)

 

LINKING to    WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY ,  NATURE NOTES;  SATURDAY CRITTERS, and RATHER B' BIRDING .  Thank you to the hosts.

 

 

ON BOARD IN BUDAPEST

Budapest Hungary was the first  City on our river cruise vacation.

We cleared customs  at Brussels Airport and then transferred to Belgium Airlines for the final hop to Budapest.    Viking had arranged a car to transfer us to our River boat, the Viking  Skirnir.    It seemed like it had taken a long time from Fort Myers  -- we transferred at Newark before crossing the ocean to Belgium and we were a bit jet-lagged.

But  we arrived at the boat mid-afternoon  Sunday and had the rest of the day to get organized, check out the boat (eat and relax)    -- and  even take a short guided walk in the fresh air.    

 

Chain Bridge (between Buda and Pest) 

 On our brief walk that first day, we saw with our own eyes  that the Danube River divides the two parts of this great  city -- Buda and Pest.  The Boat would be docked here all of the next day and until evening the day after that, so we knew we'd have more time for sightseeing in this beautiful City. 

 

The Skirnr docked in Budapest near the Bridge

(Not a great picture of the boat, but it shows how close we were to the Bridge and town.   Great location for walks -- but in this picture buses like the one at the left were lined up ready to take passengers on the panoramic tour of the  city - the one we took on the second day .)

Back on board that first evening, there was a welcome talk , with a brief overview of what to expect on the voyage.  We would be traveling along three different rivers -- the Danube, the Mine, and the Rhine.   The reason these rivers are relatively easy to navigate is because of the lock system.   Locks work by raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels.  This system  makes a river more easily navigable or allows a canal to take a more direct line across a country that is not level.   

We would be locking through the first of these very soon after the ship set off the next day.

This chart from an on-board book in our cabin  (also sent to us as an E-Book) identifies the twelve  locks through which our ship would pass between Budapest and Passau Germany.   The gray bar represents the elevation at which the ships enter the lock, the red bar the height the ship would rise or lower while in the lock.   In all, during the entire journey on the three rivers our ship would navigate through 68 locks.

 

 

Parliament Buildings on the Danube

The picture above and those following are from the  bus and walking tour we took on the second full day.  This overview tour was included without additional cost -- a feature that was  available at each city where  we docked.   Optional excursions at a cost were also available instead or in addition, depending on the length of each stop.    

Castle Hill

 We walked through narrow streets and shops in Old Town -- many of the buildings dated from medieval times. We visited the Castle Districts and Matthias Church .  We were pleased with the historical overview our guide painlessly provided.  And also that we were given  some time to explore on our own as well.

 

View as the ship left Budapest

This beautiful City was a  grand start to our "Grand European Tour."   

 

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;   TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and FRIDAY  BLISS;   

 

 

 

HOME AGAIN --- with memories!

 

Traveling from the Florida Canal Cottage to Oregon was a bit different this year.  It was an amazing 'detour.'  We're home now and  still sorting out our memories ... and our pictures from the trip.     To get started while I finish that project, here are just a few favorites.  There will be more later.  

 

Budapest

We were on a Viking River Cruise for 15 days -- boarding the boat in Budapest.  The boat docked in a different port almost every day -- we visited twelve cities in four different countries, traveling along three rivers to Amsterdam where we disembarked.     

 

Bill in Ghent 

 

After that, we stayed (all on our own) for two weeks -- spending more time in the Netherlands and adding the countries of Belgium and Luxembourg.  We had a wonderful time -- the whole trip was a triumph for the travel planner (who is pictured above, in Belgium).  

 

With Jacob and Maya at Schonbrunn Palace and also enjoying Sacher Torte in old-town Vienna

Hopping backwards to our time  on the Viking  -- we enjoyed and learned from every one of those twelve stops ... sometimes we went on the   tours the ship offered and sometimes we went out on our own.   The very best guided tour of all though was our own private one during our two-day stop in Vienna.  Here we were met by Jacob and Maya, our European grandson and granddaughter (in-law), who flew to meet us.  It was  wonderful to see them and without doubt we had the best possible tour guides in the world, as Vienna is a familiar city to them. 

 

Castles and colorful villages on the Rhine

One of the best parts of a river cruise is that there are wonderful sights to see almost every minute of daylight.  These rivers aren't wide and the views from our balcony or on the top deck were  amazing.   The pictures in the above collage were taken from the boat on one day's travel --  between Wertheim and Koblenz Germany.

 

Wachau Valley 

 

Every morning of the whole trip, I woke up amazed ... the  boat, the cities, the food, the scenery all really were the stuff of dreams.    But I think even more than anything the  charming views out the window of our room enhanced the dreamlike quality.

This post barely touches the seventeen cities in six countries that we visited, not to mention the scenic points between!   Needless to say, there will be more!   ...   it was a wonderful trip and it is also wonderful to be home!  

 

Back in the USA - Colorado

To get here, we flew from Amsterdam to Colorado where we spent a week with our son and daughter-in-law --mostly decompressing, for which we are enormously grateful.  Then home to Oregon, where our daughter and son-in-law kindly retrieved us from the airport.     Because I always include a picture of the first mountain sighting when we return from low-land Florida -- and since we our trip was about the low  countries of Europe -- Colorado once again has the honors!   The picture is from a walk on the greenbelt near where our family lives.  

 

LINKING this time to:   ALL SEASONS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS ; TUESDAY  TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS   

 

Thank you to all of the hosts.