So what is next on our travel agenda?

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Sunday April 27th – Munich, Germany

Our river cruise is now officially over.  Yesterday was supposed to be spent in Nuremberg, but with the long bus rides and still fighting to get over my cold I chose to take it easy on board our boat.

Today we had a very early morning with wake up at 5:00, bags out at 5:30, breakfast and then loaded on the bus and on our way to the Munich airport by 7:00 am.

We had been planning on spending the day in Munich today and flying out tomorrow. Instead we snagged an inexpensive hotel near the airport (Holiday Inn Express) and are waiting out the rainy weather until we fly tomorrow to Albania.

12 day Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia Map (courtesy of Gate 1)

12 day Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia Map (courtesy of Gate 1)

We have a 12 day tour that takes us from Albania to Continue reading →

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Good News and Bad News – Our cruising ends early

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Friday, April 25th – In Germany, stuck on the Danube…

Regensburg, Germany - Old stone bridge (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Regensburg, Germany – Old stone bridge (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

The original itinerary for our river trip was to cruise from Passau to Regensburg on Thursday night.  Then have a full day in Regensburg on Friday and that evening sail on toward Nuremberg.  Saturday was to be spent cruising through the Main-Danube canal and just after lunch on-board arrive for our guided tour of the Palace of Justice and Market Square.

Well, things did not pan out quite as planned. Continue reading →

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We start the day in Austria and end it in Germany

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Thursday April 24th –  Celebrating our 22nd anniversary with an optional full day trip to Salzburg.

I got behind in writing my blog with lousy Internet service here on the boat.  Some of the days have run together for me a bit as I am now trying to get caught up with our day-by-day excursions, actually writing about them in some cases several days after they occurred.

I really wanted to start singing as we passed through this area

I really wanted to start singing as we passed through this area

“The hills are alive with the sound of music 
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears“

A few people had decided to stay on board to cruise through a very scenic part of the Danube, but Tim and I along with 3/4 of the passengers loaded onto two busses and rode on to Salzburg.  The scenery was so pretty as we passed by brilliant yellow fields of rapeseed plants, mountain lakes and rocky crags.

Rapeseed Plants

Rapeseed Plants

Continue reading →

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Austria ~ Dürnstein, Wachau Valley, Melk

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Wednesday April 23rd ~ Austria – Another very long and scenic day…

Dürnstein

Dürnstein

Dürnstein

Now we are talking!  This was one of the first places that we have fallen in love with as soon as we walked off the boat.  A tiny little village sitting on the bank of the Danube River, cozy family owned shops, ivy covered walls, vineyards cover the sloping hills and a fortress sits high on the hill guarding over the town. Continue reading →

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Vienna, Austria ~ City Tour, Schönbrunn Palace, Viennese Classical Concert

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Tuesday April 22 ~Vienna, Austria

Vienna is the capital and largest city in Austria.  Known locally as Wien, it has a population of approximately 1.75 million people.  The city center has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Palace in Vienna

Palace in Vienna

When I hear the name Vienna, it immediately gets me thinking about music, pastries and the Viennese waltz.  The “cream of the crop” of musical nobility have at one point either been from, studied in, moved to or performed in Vienna.  Names like Mozart, Johann Strauss (both father and son), Haydn, Beethoven, The Vienna Boys Choir,  and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are all associated with this fair city.

“Ode to Joy”, a classic Beethoven composition is one of my favorites.  It was recently adopted by the EU as the Anthem of Europe. Continue reading →

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Bratislava, Slovakia ~ charmed and amused us

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

DSC06181Monday April 21st, Bratislava, Slovakia

Slovakia became Europe’s youngest country when they gained their independence from the Czech Republic in 1993.

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, has a population of just under 1/2 a million people and is their largest city.  From 1536 to 1783 it served as the capital of Hungary.

We enjoyed an informative walking tour through this charming town.  The things that stood out for me were the statues, some varied architecture, natural beauty and the artistic graffiti. Continue reading →

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Going through a lock on a river boat

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Monday April 21st – Danube River Lock Transit

Going through the lock system on a river boat is quite interesting.  I took several pictures (because that is what I do (big grin)) to show the procedure.  It had started to rain just before getting to the lock, but stopped just long enough for us to go on the top deck to watch everything as we traveled through.

This is the largest lock along this section of the Danube.  We are scheduled to pass through 25 of them between Budapest and Nuremberg.   Continue reading →

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The Sound of Music ~ A tour of our river boat

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Sunday, April 20th, Danube River Cruise

I have been looking forward to our river cruise for weeks.  We have only taken one other river cruise and that was about 5-6 years ago.  We went from Moscow to St. Petersburg.  I loved it, but Tim was sick almost the entire trip so he does not have fond memories.  This is my chance to “sell” him on taking another river cruise in the future.

And guess what, Tim woke me up at 5:00 this morning asking for medicine.  He was feeling rotten… Continue reading →

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Saying viszontlátásra to Budapest and jó napot to our Danube Cruise

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Sunday April 20, Budapest, Hungary ~ Happy Easter!

From the top of Citadel Hill with the Danube River behind us

From the top of Citadel Hill with the Danube River behind us

The rest of our time in Budapest was pretty low-keyed.  We did a fair bit of walking on Citadel Hill which affords a magnificent view over the Danube.  It is also where you can find the Liberty Statue.

We had our lunch on Castle Hill which is home to another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Buda Castle has sadly been built, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times over a very tumultuous history. Continue reading →

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Budapest ~ Home of goulash, paprika and five UNESCO sites

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Thursday April 17th, Budapest, Hungary

We are starting to feel more and more like travelers and not just tourists.  Yesterday was a travel day flying on Ryan Air from Barcelona to Budapest.  We walked from our apartment in the Barri Gothic to the main square where we picked up the local bus to go to the airport.  Upon arrival in Budapest we used Skylines to take us to the center of town and then walked to our hotel, just around the corner.

We chose K+K Opera Hotel because it is centrally located just a few doors from the Hungarian State Opera House and a couple of blocks from St Stephen’s Basilica.  We are also only about a 10 minute walk to the Danube River, and under 5 minutes to a metro station. Continue reading →

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