Tuesday, 31 December 2013 - Budapest, Hungary

A not very good photo in Budapest

Overcast, gloomy and bitterly cold, the cold just seems to seep through your jeans and I'm forever thankful we bought such thick coats and jackets in the Czech Republic some years ago.

The big surprise today is what a surprisingly lovely city Budapest is. I'd rank it up there with Paris and certainly a long way ahead of Vienna! The buildings are all beautiful (they seem to have avoided the scourge of the communist concrete block) and there are many lovely wide boulevards with trees either side (well, obviously by definition, but they do deserve the boulevard designation). It must be simply stunning in summer when all the trees are in leaf etc. Even so, the buildings, the river and bridges are quite quite beautiful.
Our tour this morning was a combination of bus and walking round the towns of Buds and Pest. As always it was interesting, entertaining and we learnt a lot. I took lots of photos but whether or not they will download remains to be see. Maybe I'll try doing one at a time today and see if that is more successful. Overall the WiFi in Budapest has been much faster than in Bratislava so Geoff has been able to check etrade which has kept him happy.

Tonight there is an 8 course degustation dinner dance somewhere in town. Sounds a trifle daunting to me but we'll see.

A tourist looking a little chilly in Budapest

but a glass or two of mulled wine soon warmed him up!

St Stephens cathedral was very impressive
 -both inside

- and out.

Monday, 30th December - Bratislava, Slovakia

Dinner last night was interesting. We were bussed to a place on the outskirts of Vienna - city meets Vienna Woods - to and old guesthouse at a vineyard for what was described as a typical rustic Austrian meal at which, in past times, the new vintage was sampled.
It was indeed, very crowded, very noisy and as the evening wore on, exceedingly hot.
Geoff immediately assumed it would be a cross between a BBQ and a hofbrauhaus beer swill so we weren't expecting much in the way of haute cuisine. The meal was a self service buffet thing, but the food was surprisingly good, and the sparkling mineral water was very welcome but the wine was barely drinkable. German oom pah pah music (live) added to the noise and all in all we were glad when it was time to return.
I gather from comments made this morning there were a lot of complaints, but it was an experience and really not too bad.
We went to sleep as usual with the doors and curtains wide open and I woke about 6.30 to lots of lights only to find another boat rafting up to ours and so close that if you put your hand out of our door it would be in their kitchen.  So we were up very quickly to shut doors and curtains.
About 7am we set sail from Vienna, which involved navigating a very deep lock and arrived in Slovakia late morning. (Bratislava is only 35 miles, or maybe kilometres, I'm not sure which, from Vienna).
After lunch we had another walking tour for a few hours and once again learnt a lot of history about the place as we walked. It was very cold, but still clear blue skies and mainly sunny, so we have been very lucky so far. It wouldn't be much fun going on all these walking tours in the pouring rain.
After two hours of waiting for pictures to upload I've given up on then so no pictures tonight. Maybe I'll have a better connection tomorrow.

Sunday 29th December - Vienna, Austria

The weather has deteriorated somewhat with yesterday's clear blue skies and sunshine replaced by miserable overcast.
The morning's excursions offered a choice of Art Galleries, but as Geoff has already outdone himself on this trip by voluntarily going to the Louvre without complaint, we decided not to push it and passed on the excursions.
Austria, like Germany, closes down on a Sunday, so no shops were open, though it is unlikely we would have gone shopping anyway. Instead we ended up going for a long walk along the banks of the Danube. Given that the centre of the city is very elegant, especially the tree-lined boulevards, we were struck by how appallingly ugly are the apartment buildings along the riverside. It seemed a bit incongrous to us.
This evening, it seems, we are being taken to some restaurant in the Vienna Woods for dinner.

So there are no photographs of anything interesting to post today. However, in light of Michele's  excellent gingerbread train that she produced for Christmas, I have an image of one of the pretty gingerbread houses here on the ship.

Saturday 28th December 2013 - Vienna, Austria

So, today we woke up in Vienna, somewhere I have always wanted to visit. We must be moored some way from the famous Ringstrasse as the view from our window was very uninspiring - motley modern buildings and something particularly hideous and out of keeping with the "elegant Europe". That particular building, it turns out, was designed by Harry Seidler. So initially I was very disappointed as Vienna was not as I had imagined.

A bit hard to see, but this "balcony" is actually a very good example of trompe l'oeuil.

A tourist in Vienna

What someone, who shall remain nameless, described as "a tasty pair".  But before you all go "yuck"  I should point out that this statue is completely edible - sculpted from marzipan

St Stephens - for a change a Gothic, rather than baroque, cathedral.

This morning there was a city tour for three hours and this was very interesting. We had a bus ride round the city, along the Ringstrasse and past most things of note and were then dropped off in the centre of town for a visit to the national library (it seems Austrians like their libraries). Apart from all the books, many handwritten centuries ago, there was more interesting trompe l'oeuil to admire. Again a flat roof but you would have sworn there was a balcony up there with people leaning over the balustrades.After that we had an hour or so to wander round town (yet another street lined with brand name shops like Gucci, Armani and Zara) and admire the Gothic cathedral, St Stephens.
After the morning tour we changed our minds and decided Vienna is really a very attractive city. You just have to be in the right part.
At lunch, completely by coincidence we sat with a couple of women who are virtually neighbours of Richard. They live in Effingham, home of the golf course where we were comprehensively beaten by Jack.
Geoff managed to find an English newspaper while we were in town this morning so we are having a relatively quiet afternoon.
Still no snow, but it's cold and sunny, so much more conducive to sightseeing than rain.

Friday, 27th December, 2013 - Durnstein, Austria

During the night we woke a couple of times to find we had slimy stone walls outside the window, blocking all air and views. Eventually we realised these were locks that we were navigating. I think we have been going down to lower levels each time but as it has always been in the dark it's hard to be sure. Also, the ship seems to turn midstream now and then so it is always moored facing the same way. This too usually happens while we are asleep so I find I have totally lost my sense of direction which is very disconcerting.
This morning we woke up in a town called Melk. It is not overly large as towns go but it's claim to fame is its massive abbey, which of course was the focus of this mornings excursion.
They turned on coaches to get us up the hill to the abbey (the first and original Benedictine Abbey I think) and from there we walked in our groups through the museums many rooms ending up in the library with an amazing ceiling which, through the use of trompe l'oeuil looked like it was vaulted but was in fact dead flat. Amazing what can be achieved with paint.
The final stop was the chapel which easily outdid any others we have seen in terms of grandeur.
We opted to walk back as it was a pleasant sunny morning and, as we were scheduled to sail through the Wachau Valley for an hour or so from 1pm, decided to have a light lunch up in the lounge with its big picture windows. Very pretty countryside.
Finally mid-afternoon we tied up here in Durnstein, a small city (and apparently it is actually designated a city) of only 800. There was another walking tour of an hour and a half's duration scheduled for 3.30 so we joined that and admired the pretty vistas from the higher areas.
We were quite glad to get back to the ship though, as it gets very chilly once the sun goes down.

The Wachau Valley

View from Durnstein

Thursday 26th December - Grein, Austria

Not much worth writing about today.
The ship left Linz around 4am and arrived at today's destination - Grein - somewhere around 8.30.
There was a walking tour in the morning to keep us all active and happy, but in a town of 3000 people on Boxing Day with everything closed there is not a lot to see. (Oh there was an historical sketch for an hour before the walk, but decided we'd rather read, so missed out on that).
The town's main claim to fame is an ancient theatre so the history of that was milked for all it was worth and there was also the obligatory visit to the local church. Then back for lunch and now the majority of people have gone off on this afternoon's excursion to some castle for cocktails with Princess someone, a member of the Hapsburg dynasty.
We decided that that really wasn't our thing either so are sitting enjoying the peace and quiet in the ship's library with views all round down the Danube.
I think we made the right decision and it's nice not to be doing anything after yesterday's marathon 10 hour excursion.
(The photos are actually yesterday's ones).

Sound of Music country

Christmas Day lunch venue in Salzburg

Wednesday 25 December, 2013 - Linz, Austria

A somewhat late night last night meant we slept in and had a dreadful rush to make it to the bus on time for its 8am departure. Still the two hours on the bus were an opportunity to catch up on a bit more sleep.
We spent most of the morning in the town of Salzburg, first visiting some place that had something to do with The Sound of Music, followed by a lengthy walking tour through the old town before ending up at St Pieters Monastery which is now a restaurant. Here we stopped for lunch before walking back to the bus for the short journey to Oberdorf, the home of Silent Night. There was a short little concert in the church (Silent Night sung very nicely in German by a couple of Bavarians) followed by more walking then the two hour bus ride back to the ship.
It was certainly a very different Christmas Day from the ones we usually have, but quite enjoyable and visiting all these places is really interesting and the guides are very good.
We seem to be immersed in chocolate here with little boxes appearing in our room every time we go out for a minute.
2014 is obviously going to have to be the year of the diet!
As we have been warned, the internet connection is dubious at times - and this seems to be one of them.
It is proving very difficult to upload pictures, so I will save them for a later date when  it is easier. It's a pity as they would have added a Christmassy touch.

Tuesday, 24 December, 2013 - Passau, Germany

We had an earlyish start this morning - not necessarily by design but because we were expected to be all present and correct and ready to start a walking tour at 9am. We'd had a bit of a late night last night as we'd been invited to a fine dining evening where we had pre-arranged seating at a table with a very interesting couple from Florida. The dinner was five courses so quite late by the time we'd finished, then rather stupidly we sat up and watched an old black and white version of "A Christmas Carol".
Anyway, after a quick breakfast we just made it to our group armed with individual headset things which enable you to wander off or lag behind and still hear

St Paul's in the process of being dressed up for the children's service 

Christmas carols at every street corner - and they were very good!

Our current home

the guide's commentary.
Although we opted for the strong walker's group (as opposed to gentle walking) it was still very much an amble as there is not heaps to see in Passau and we had two hours to fill in. We visited the cathedral again, and a quite magnificent parish church, St Paul's, and were given a demonstration of gingerbread making and wreath-making (the excitement was too much). Interesting tasting gingerbread, though.
By the time we got back for lunch we were frozen and definitely over the idea of going out tonight at 10 for midnight mass in a vast and unheated Cathedral.
Instead, we decided that a good alternative would be the "kindermassen" (children's service) at four at St Paul's.
Our friends from Florida had come to the same conclusion so we set out about three to walk up to the church and as the others said afterwards "aren't we glad we did that!"
It was really quite lovely, a mix of church service and nativity play with lots of carols and beautiful music and singing from all the children, albeit all in German. (So impressed by how such small children speak the language so well!). But, we understood most of it and, as dad said, it helped knowing the story.
The church was stunningly decorated with Christmas trees, twinkle lights etc (dad wouldn't let me take the tablet so can't post any pics of it all lit up) and at the end all the lights were dimmed and candles lit for Silent Night/Stille Nacht sung in a variety of languages depending on the nationality of the singer. A bit of a mish mash, but still quite a spectacle.
Arrived back in time for the briefing on tomorrow's excursion which starts at 8am and decided to give the captain's cocktail party a miss. The gala dinner will be quite enough.
Frohlische Weinachten!

Monday, 23 December 2013 - Passau, Germany

Another chance to get know the airport well with most of the morning spent waiting there.
We had been allocated an Easy jet flight from Gatwick at 9.15 to "arrive" on, which would be met by the riverboat company. Obviously we didn't actually get the flight as we were already in Munich, but that's where they would pick us up. Forgetting it was holidays we somewhat over-estimated the time needed to get to the airport so were very early. As was the flight, so we hung around and more or less on time a representative carrying a sign materialised to announce the bus was held up in a traffic jam which meant waiting another hour.
But eventually it turned up - just a little mini-bus and we had a pleasant couple of hours being driven to Passau.
Once we got on the boat we were offered a light lunch then they announced that they had decided to put on a couple of buses so anyone who was interested could go into town and wander through the Christmas markets.
We decided this was as good a way as any to spend the afternoon and, having exhausted the markets in 10 minutes or so, wandered into the very magnificent St Stephen's cathedral which boasts the biggest pipe organ in Europe.
This is where we are supposed to go for midnight mass tomorrow night.
Back at the boat we made a quick detour to the Lidl (supermarket) across the road to stock up on the oh so vital whisky supplies, and settled down to wait for the compulsory briefing at 6.
My main aim of the day was to get to the laundry room and organise a load of washing, but the room butler was horrified when we asked where it was. Apparently it is all part of the service so we decided to go with the flow. In the meantime all our suitcase creases clothes were ironed and returned to our room while we were out.
I could get used to service like this.
Sadly it seems we are unlikely to get snow for Christmas, so we're glad we had a few days of it in the Alps.

Light lunch

The river Danube

St Stephens and the markets

Christmas markets

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.....

Inside St Stephen's

The pipe organ

                                                                  More church interior

Sunday 22 December 2013 - Munich, Germany

Another day with not much to report. Today was always going to be a bit of a nothing day anyway - just a day to regroup, as it were, before the next leg of our journey starts tomorrow.
Extreme heat woke us early. Nothing like everyone in Australia is suffering, obviously but I think the doonas here must be super strength as we turn off all heating and open as many windows as we can at night but it's still hot.
Anyway, it's far more bearable than a Sydney heatwave which actually made the news over here, so is obviously super horrendous.
Felt bad (only a bit) not going to church. The bells are frequent and long lasting - obviously calling the faithful to worship,  not unpleasant actually and I do like the ones in the villages that ring every quarter hour so you always know what time it is.
The hotel breakfast was surprisingly formal - no help yourself buffet style here. Everything you could want (or maybe not) in the way of smoked salmon, cheeses and meats was brought to the table on a Victorian style three-tiered cake stand, along with baskets of breads and pastries, butters, jams, juices etc and tea in delicate bone china teapots.
After breakfast we made use of our sunny little conservatory (four storeys up) and read for a couple of hours before venturing out.
I had looked at the Google maps in some detail and found we could halve the distance we walked yesterday to get to Marienplatz, the centre of the old town and the only place where anything was likely to be open on a Sunday.
Just out of interest - and, no, we didn't stop for a drink - we wandered into and through a couple of traditional Bavarian pubs that were filled to overflowing (the Hofbrauhaus, for example, can accommodate up to 4000 beer-swilling patrons) and had live oom-pah-pah bands. Came to the conclusion that Munich's entire male population must desert its families and go to the pub on a Sunday.
After lunch we retreated to our reading room again.

Today's major activity!

Saturday 21st December, 2013 - Munich, Germany

This morning was spent on the train returning from Fussen to Munich. A very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, especially the first one when we were still in the Bavarian Alps where the scenery was magnificent with a backdrop of sunshine and clear blue skies.
Checked into the hotel and found we were in a very modern room, but it must be one of the smallest bedrooms we've seen. But then there was a bonus - a sort of conservatory style sitting area overlooking the courtyard garden.
It is quite well situated only a couple of minutes walk from the main shopping street. We went for a walk in the afternoon and were kept entertained by the hundreds of people pouring into the horrendously expensive shops with every label you could possibly think of, represented. Interesting too, the number of people coming out of the shops with armfuls of shopping bags.
I don't think retail in Munich  is suffering a downturn.
Other than that, there is little worth writing about, today.

Travelling through the Bavarian countryside

Hotel Opera, Munich

A guest at  the Hotel Opera

Friday, 20th December , 2013 - Hohenschwangau, Germany

Well, we have finally ascertained for certain that "blondness" is an inherited condition. So anyone in the family who has been described as "blond" can rightly claim it is not their fault!
Today we had tickets to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. You buy them the day before and are given a tour number and time and have to be in the forecourt of the castle when your number comes up or you miss out.
The get to the castle you either walk ( a good 40 minute uphill slog) or go by horse and carriage. We opted for the latter and were sent out to join the queue, which was non-existent at the relatively early hour of the morning.
Once the carriage had its full complement of passengers and was ready to go, the two horses stomped around making a house rather like an engine turning over, so I commented, as I do on a train or bus " oh good the engine's starting, we should be off soon."
It wasn't till about 10 minutes later when we passed another horse drawn carriage coming down the hill that Geoff said "you know I don't think they do have engines - it's just the horses!"
The few other English speaking people in the carriage also enjoyed the joke.
Once at the end of the ride it was a further 15 minute walk uphill filled by seemingly hundreds of stairs since inside - all those towers and turrets. Interesting though quite dark and gloomy inside - probably the result of King Ludwig's obsession with Wagner.
We walked down, luckily avoiding the intermittent showers and although we had considered visiting the other castle this afternoon decided that one castle a day was more than enough and besides we have a lovely view of the other one from our nice warm room.

Supposed to be a picture of the village Christmas tree

                                      Geoffrey and the two horsepower carriage

Colour coordinated and warm ( I was made to post this picture)

Thursday, 19th December 2013 - Hohenschwangau, Germany

Another day of travelling, but of the more enjoyable kind. I discovered with the aid of the increasingly indispensable tablet that trains to Fussen, today's destination left from Munich every hour but only didn't require a change of train on every second one. So we decided to target the one leaving around midday which was direct and, being a two hour journey had the advantage of getting us to our destination at a time we could check in.

Surprisingly (?) we arrived at the Munich Hauptbahnhof with plenty of time to spare

which it turned out we were glad of when we had to queue for ages (admittedly in the dedicated English speaking queue) to get our tickets. I could gladly have throttled the very ditzy party of four kiwis in front of us who each insisted on paying for each of many bookings separately and slowly - and just when you thought they were all done and sorted and about to move on when then say in a very kiwi accent  " and while we are here ......." and off they would go for another 10 minutes of questions, more questions and long drawn out fumblings for cash and passports (the ones with

Hohenschwangau

Hohenschwangau Castle

Hotel Muller, Hohenschwangau

Neuschwanstein Castle (up on the hill in the background)

More castle

Alpsee

the pretty silver ferns on).

Finally got our tickets and made it on to the train time and thoroughly enjoyed the train trip through the countryside.

The further we got from Munich the higher we seemed to get and finally there it was ...snow!

The tiny town of Hohenschwangau is only a short distance from Fussen where we left the train so were checked into the hotel quickly and found something reasonable but unexciting for lunch. Then walked to the nearby lake and admired the two castles from afar - Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. King Ludwig's two little abodes. Guided tours through yet more glitzy castle rooms holds little appeal but having come all this way it would be silly not to. So we have booked for tomorrow morning and will get our dose of culture then.

In the meantime I can't help feeling that Neuschwanstein is, in the flesh as it were, somewhat underwhelming, a bit like the pyramids.

We'll see tomorrow.

Anyway a few snow filled pics follow to set the scene.

Oops they have put themselves in the middle of the post. Not sure how this happened. But I'll get better at it eventually.

Wednesday, 18th December, 2013

You vill enjoy zis blog!!
Yes we are in Germany.
In Munich, to be precise, where Chamberlain, Hitler and Mussolini signed their ill-fated and short-lived non-aggression pact.
Something is wrong. There is no snow and only a week to go.
Lack of schnee notwithstanding, the Christmas atmosphere shines through. This morning we walked to Marienplatz the heart of the old town which has been turned into massive Christmas Market, surrounded by cathedrals and the very gothic architecture of the Rathaus with its famous glockenspiel. We happened to be there at 11 when it chimed the hour and burst into life to the great joy of all the groups of  schoolchildren in the square. Certainly bigger and much older than the clock in Sydney's QVB but better ......debatable.
Geoff of course used the excuse of being frozen to stop for a while at a Gluhwein stand and sample the product. Hadn't realised you could get so many varieties of mulled wine but the one he got was very cinnamony and christmassy. Quite different from the ones you used to get in Queenstown when we were students.
Suitably warmed, we found the bus stop for the tourist bus tours of Munich and hopped on. Within five minutes it was obvious we were going nowhere fast. The bus had turned into one of those old narrow streets and couldn't get past a huge lorry illegally parked. Within seconds there was a massive traffic jam with lots of hooting and shouting and cars pushing their way past along the footpath. Eventually the driver of the truck ambled back, climbed up into his cab and proceeded to drive on to much abuse. Turns out he was Polish and hadn't realised you couldn't stop there!
Forced stops aside, this wasn't one of the better bus trips we have taken - or maybe we were spoilt by Paris's elegant boulevards, stunning vistas and eloquent commentary. The hour it took to get round Munich was enough and the thought of a nice lunch was sustaining.
We decided to forgo the sausages and sauerkraut and wound up at a nice Italian place (Galeria Italiano) or some such and to our surprise had some stunning (and stunningly pricey) pasta. Sandwiches in our room tonight after that!
Around 5, we piled on all the outdoor gear again and set out back to the Marienplatz with tablet in hand to try and catch some of the magic of the Christmas lights.
I suspect that the fact our route would take us right past Munich's famed Hofbrauhaus had something to do with Geoff's acquiescence to the idea of an evening outing.
It was well worth going out after dark - the atmosphere was great. And we did go through the Hofbrauhaus but in the end didn't stop for a beer. It really is, as the guide books say, nothing more than a great big hall for beer swilling.
Watching the weather forecasts - but the chances of a White Christmas seem to be getting slimmer.

 This does actually say Hofbrauhaus spelled out in lights - but it just didn't want to photograph properly no matter how many times I tried. Very annoying.

                        The Christmas tree in front of the Rathaus in Marianplatz.

                                                A shop's Christmas window scene

And another

                                                          And another.

                        Yet another - they were very good and attracted huge crowds.

                                The Rathaus, Marianplatz and the Christmas markets

 I took a picture of this interesting church. Surely you don't expect me to name it too?

All that really mattered - a Gluhwein stand.