Blog Note
You can see more photo's on our shared Google Photos album for our Europe, 2017 trip. If you want to see where a photo was taken, you can click on the Info icon to see a map of where the picture was taken.My Funny Wedding Story
Cathy and I were married in the summer of 1987, in Nuevo, California. A very nice backyard ceremony at a friends house of my mother's. This was a rural setting, with a small animal farm behind the yard where our wedding took place. Our ceremony was set to take place in the late afternoon. Turns out that the farmer next door normally feeds their animals around the same time as our ceremony. The owners of the farm were being nice and waited a bit to feed the cows, goats, sheep and various egg laying fowl. Unfortunately, we were running a little late on starting our ceremony and the animals got anxious. The started making noises to remind the owners it was feeding time. I bet there aren't many folks that can claim to have had a chorus of moos, bleats, neighs and clucking, while taking their vows of the heart and admonitions of love and commitment to one other. Needless to say, we have enjoyed 30 years of love, raising two wonderful boys.
17 Day Trip Overview
Day 1 - Home to Budapest (Travel Day)
Day 2 - Budapest (Hotel)
It's a long flight to Europe. We had a short layover in Amsterdam. Eventually we landed in Budapest. Oddly enough, there was virtually no security. We walked off the plane grabbed our bags and out of the airport. Since we were a day early, we setup to stay at Lart'otel Budapest Hotel (by Park Plaza). I had arranged a van to pick us up at the airport to take us to our hotel. Very clean, no breakfast buffet, but available for cost.
This afternoon we walked along the Danube, going south about 2 miles. We crossed over the beautiful bridges, enjoying all the sights and headed back. We had a great Hungarian meal at Horgásztanya Restaurant, just around the corner from our hotel. It was a great meal.
Travel Note
Be aware of the ATM's while traveling in Europe. Not for security reasons, but for confusion on how the operate. The Hungarian Forint is about 2670 HUF to 10 USD. The ATM shows 200, 500, 1000, 1200, 1500. I picked 1500. Turns out that was 150,000 HUF, or about $560 USD. They chop off 2 zeros for the ATM display.
Day 3 - Budapest (Viking)
We had to relocate to the ship this day. I booked another taxi/van to get from hotel to cruise ship. Last minute booking was confusing for the desk folks. It appears you need to book hours in advance, if not the day before. They were able to get a van for us. |
| Romantic Danube 7-Day Viking River Cruise |
We got to the ship and they were very accommodating, even offering us lunch. We left our luggage and explored the local area. The first night on the ship, they un-dock and sail up and down the Danube, north and south of Budapest. It was a beautiful evening.
The Viking Longship Var was our accommodations for 7 days, taking the Romantic Danube cruise. The ship has about 50 crew and can handle upwards of 190 passengers. Very clean and easy access around the 4 decks. Our meals were business casual for dinner and casual for other meals. Meals had continued flow of beer or wine while at the table too.
Day 4 - Budapest (Viking)
The tour offers an included excursion each day. You have the option to go, obviously, or to do something else. They offer additional paid excursions as well.
Tour Note
One thing we didn't know was the ship leaves it's docked location on this morning. The ship relocates after we leave on our included excursion. We had planned on going to one of the famous baths, but had to pass. Jen and Annette had enough energy to go out early this morning, before the excursion, and get about 40 minutes running around Gellért Thermal Bath. Fortunately our ship was docked very close to this location.
I was in Budapest in 1980, but had a very different experience this time. I was young and Hungary was still behind the Iron Curtain. I noticed a very modern city with happy people. I felt very safe and welcome.
The Budapest area we stayed in is a great "walking city." I would go back.
Day 5 - Vienna, Austria (Viking)
Our first morning we docked outside of Vienna. They had a great morning excursion. Once it was done, we decided to leave the tour to run around on our own. Figured out the subway and went out to Schönbrunn Palace. This was a very interesting place to walk around for a few hours.On the ship the night before, we had heard about an Oktoberfest going on at Kaiserwiese Park. Large beer tents setup with great music, beer, sausages and pretzels. We only spent about 2 hours, but had a crazy fun time.
Tour Note
Unfortunately the only bad "happening" on the ship is one of our couples had problem with drain back up in shower in their room. Got pretty gross. One crew member mentioned this could be an issue with being on the lower cabins. The ship has a sump pump in the wall to evacuate the liquids from shower and stuff. Made a lot of noise while running.
Day 6 - Krems, Austria (Viking)
We went on the included morning tour to Göttweig Abbey. This was a great historic place.
Tour Note
We wanted to ride bikes in this valley. The add-on excursion was about $120pp and seemed very expensive. We had the idea of doing this on our own in the afternoon. Unfortunately the ship needed to leave again.
Day 7 - Passau, Germany (Viking)
Annette and Daryl took the Passau included excursion and said it was mildly interesting. Jen, Mitch, Cathy and I didn't take it. Instead, we took an add-on excursion to Salzburg, Austria. Cost a good amount of money for this tour. I didn't know we'd need 2 hours to drive there and 2 hours to return. I love Salzburg, but 4 hours of commuting for 4 hours of visit wasn't a good exchange. I'd probably not do this excursion again. There just wasn't enough time to see everything.Day 8 - Regensburg, Germany (Viking)
The morning excursion was nice. 
We also signed up for the Weltenburg Abbey and the Danube Narrows tour. This was a very cool add-on.
Day 9 - Nuremberg, Germany (Viking)
Got in a little late due to river lock problems. The tour was previously scheduled in the afternoon, so Viking probably knew of this problem. I really enjoyed the free time at the end of the tour though. Cathy and I walked around the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg. Lots of walking areas.I would go back to Nuremberg. I brought up AirBnB while walking inside the historic castle walls. Room costs were very reasonable.
Day 10 - Nuremberg to Prague (Travel Day)
It was now the day to leave the Viking Longship Var and head out on our own. Viking offered a 3 night stay in Prague for $750pp, so I thought we could do it on our own.
I arranged to have a private van service pick up the 6 of us at the ship. The owner Chris is from Detroit and really nice. I only communicated with him via email. He has several English speaking drivers available, with vans or cars. Site is here. He suggested the Pilsner Urquell brewery tour. Very flexible on pickup times.
On our way to Prague, we stopped at the Pilsner Urquell Brewery for a tour. Much better that I anticipated. I made tour reservations ahead of time, so that was taken care of. Our driver mentioned they had a restaurant on premise. We called but they had no openings available for a group of 6. Instead we found a small restaurant Brewery taproom Parkán, walking distance from the brewery. We ate quickly and walked over.
Our driver took us directly to our Hotel Clementin Old Town. I wasn't sure what I reserved for all of us, but was pleasantly surprised. The hotel is centrally located, right down from the Charles Bridge. Very busy area with lots of sightseers, due to it's location. The hotel is on the way from the Charles Bridge to the Town Square. Very clean, great breakfast buffet. Beds comfortable, full bath for the shower.Day 11 - Prague, Czech Republic (Clementin Old Town Hotel)
This morning Cathy and I decided we need to wash a few items. Spent the morning relaxing and washing close at a public laundry mat we found in old town Prague. In the afternoon we saw a few more sights. One of my favorite discoveries was a place called Choco Café U Červené židle. Actually our van driver recommended it. Amazing cups of melted chocolate. Cathy got one with cream and nuts, I got some cyan pepper with mine. Annette ordered a drink using chocolate from Venezuela. It did have a slightly different flavor.
Travel Note
BTW - I ran in to the confusing Prague ATMs again. Chopped off 2 zero's from the value. They were easy to find though.
Day 12 - Prague, Czech Republic (Clementin Old Town Hotel)
All 6 of us loved Prague. Great food and people watching. Today was Cathy and I jumping on the Hop On-Hop Off tour around Prague. Good bus route coverage, with audio description while driving around. This also included a 1 hour boat ride up and down the Vltava River. For the old town Prague, this town is so walk-able. There are roads and some walking areas that a few daring cars drive through.Day 13 - Prague, Czech Republic (Clementin Old Town Hotel)
Today was a biking day. Daryl, Annette and Cathy found a great bike shop to rent from. The owner was from the US, so asking questions about our ride was easy. The shop is Praha Bike. Bikes were fine and safe for riding, but a little noisy in the bearings.Day 14 - Prague to Berlin (Travel Day)
Today we said good-bye to Prague, and to Daryl and Annette. They returned to the US. I ordered the same van service to pick us up at our hotel so we could get to Berlin. A little longer ride this time, but more room in the van since there were only 4 of us. The ride was uneventful and we only made one break after 2 hours.
Hotel 38 was very functional. Rooms were a bit odd with glass block wall to separate shower from sleeping area. Great breakfast buffet. Do have a bar downstairs where breakfast is served. Didn't know that and brought in a bottle of sparking wine we won on the cruise. Desk clerk let us know it wasn't acceptable to bring in our own wine, but would let us this time.Day 15 - Berlin, Germany (Hotel 38)
Today we decided to purchase our Hop On-Hop Off tour again. Mitch, Jen, Cathy and I hopped on for an hour or so. Cathy and I got off at Checkpoint Charlie for a few shots, and decided to walk around the area. Lots of interesting museums in the area. Mitch and Jen continued on with the riding tour.
Day 16 - Berlin, Germany (Hotel 38)
Mitch and Jen decided to hit some museums this day, but Cathy and I wanted to finish our hop-on hop-off tour around Berlin. Cathy and I saw several existing samples of the Berlin wall and we got to the Brandenburg Gate. Across is a park we walked across to get back to our hop-on, hop-off tour.
Day 17 - Berlin to Home (Travel Day)
Today was our day to head back to the States. Had another great breakfast at Hotel 38, and got in our taxi to the airport. Had a problem at the airport though. Our tickets had reservations, but were never ticketed. I ended up having to purchase our change in tickets to get on the plane. Just a note about that. I'm still following up with Viking to get our compensation.
Summary
We had a great trip. Good friends made it even more special. Lots of great conversations.
