Budapest to Prague

Taking Off; Friday, September 9, 2016

We were flying British Airways for this trip and our flight was at 9:45pm today. We had business class seats so we were hoping to sleep a few hours before getting to London where we would change our flight to Budapest.

My brother-in-law insisted on taking us to the airport and it was very kind of him! Bob drove his car in and he drove back, this way he would have less driving to do. We were worried that he might get sleepy.

We got to the airport just around 7pm. By the time we checked in the luggage and went through the security line, there were still a couple of hours to kill. We would rather do it this way. We spent the time in the BA lounge which was definitely better than the UA lounge I visited before. We even had some hot food.

The plane from Logan to Heathrow was a Boeing 777. Bob's and my seats were sort of facing each other - it was the first time I experienced this kind of seats. Not bad, even though the seat was a bit narrow. I was tired but just not sleepy and could not fall asleep, so I was awake for the entire 5.5 hours. Sigh ....

Around local time 9am we arrived in London Heathrow, which would be 4am back at home. It was raining in London and heavily overcast. I guess it was a typical London day ... We had to take the bus to go from terminal 5 to terminal 3 and we had 5+ hours to kill. Our flight to Budapest was at 2:50pm local time - Budapest was 1 hour ahead of London. The flight was only 2 hours.

We spent the 5 hours in BA lounge which was really quite nice. They provided decent food and drinks. There were quite a lot of people - the two of us probably stayed there the longest. It was no longer Friday, 9/9, but Saturday 9/10.

Arrived at Budapest; Saturday, September 10, 2016

Our flight from London took off on time. A little more than 2 hours later were were in Budapest, local time before 7pm.

It took a while for our luggage to come out, but we were fortunate that we got all our three pieces! Bob had pre-arranged a taxi pickup to take us to the hotel which was very nice. The taxi driver was helpful with our luggage and he spoke good English. We got to our hotel, Casati Budapest Hotel, before 7:30pm.

The hotel was in the center of Pest, in the middle of everything. And it was a nice hotel. We had a junior suite which was quite spacious. I was happy. The toilet room and the shower room were separate and both were quite large.

I text Ira but he might not have gotten it, so we did not get to hook up with them, and we really did not want to go knocking on their door in case they were resting. We asked the front desk to recommend a dinner place. He recommended a restaurant in the nearby Liszt Square called Menza. It was less than 10 minutes walk and we were able to get a table! While we were waiting for our dinner I got Ira's text msg asking if we arrived. He did not get my text :-( I told them where we were so they came and joined us. Super!! Very nice to see them again after more than a year!

The dinner was good. I had some sort of duck breast risotto and Bob had the traditional Hungary goulash. Both were good. Nothing fancy but good tasting nice food! After dinner we walked back to the hotel. Ira and Fran showed us the Opera House which was very close to our hotel. I think La Traviata is showing right now and I really would like to see it here!!

It was after 10 when we got back to the hotel. Really must go to bed now. Tomorrow Ira has arranged a private tour guide for the 4 of us. I am looking forward to it. The only thing is, Budapest is quite hot, even hotter than home. 

A Good Intro View of Budapest; Sunday, September 11, 2016

Despite the fact that I was tired and lacked sleep, I did not sleep well last night - not sure why, maybe it was because of the jet lag? Anyway I woke up around 5 am and did not really go back to sleep and we were up at 7. Met the Warrens for breakfast then again to meet our guide at 9am in the lobby.

Our guide is Magdi, a 50-ish lady, speaking English very well. She also had a Benz van with a driver. She was very accommodating and we had a flexible schedule. Here were the places/things we went/see/did the whole day till around 5pm:

- Visited a few places in the Jewish quarter where our hotel was actually in. Saw the outside of a couple of synagogues and went into one.

- Drove over to the Buda side on the Elizabeth bridge then up the Castle Hill where we got some nice birdseye views of Pest.

- Visited one of the SPAs to see how fancy/pretty it was inside the building.

- Went to see the Statue of Liberty on the Castle Hill.

- Went in to see the church in the cave.

- Had lunch at a place near the Matthias church. And visited the inside of the church after lunch.

- Visited the Basilica and went on the top to get good views of the city.

- Had some very nice gelato ice-cream outside the Basiica.

- Drove by the Heros Square (we were all too hot and too tired to come out and walk).

- Walked a little bit in the city park where there were some festivals going on and was quite crowded.

It was quite hot and humid today - in the low 90s. Ugh! And it was painful to walk outside. Before we were dropped off at the hotel, we asked them to drop us at the mall where we got Bob a pair of sandals. The weather really was too hot! Then the two of us walked back to the hotel shortly before 7.

The hotel's receptionist gave us a very good recommendation for dinner last night, so I went to ask him again for tonight. And we ended up going to another restaurant, Aszu, he recommended. A bit fancier than last night's and the food was good. I had a goulash soup which was excellent; and a wild bore dish which was OK. The salad however was really not good - some beets salad, tiny amount, with soggy croutons.

After dinner, Bob and I walked to the river and took a look at the lights. Unfortunately I did not find anything too picturesque .... Photography wise, my thinking is to do an early sunrise shoot, probably get  taxi taking us to the Castle Hill; and do a sunset and night shoot, not sure where yet. For the next couple of days, we hope to go see The Market and tour the inside of the Opera House. Unfortunately we will not be able to see La Traviata because it is not on until 9/23. Sigh ....

I sort of regret bringing all the heavy photography equipment and putting the burden on Bob. Budapest is a city with lots of historical buildings, bridges, etc Definitely there're beautiful spots but need the right lights and time to enjoy. It would be hard for me to find either this time....

Pretty exhausted. Can't do the sunrise tomorrow. Hope for Tuesday morning.

An Easy Day in Budapest in the Heat; Monday, September 12, 2016

Got a decent night sleep finally, waking up only once in the middle of the night but was able to fall back to sleep. Up at 7am and met the Warrens for breakfast. We decided to get a taxi to The Market at 9.

It was a good time to be there, before the crowds arrived. The market was clean and full of fresh produce. We walked around and enjoyed the sight of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, etc. On the upper floor of the market was stalls of souvenir, reminding me of the QiuShui Street market in Beijing. Actually I think some of the stuff actually came from China .... At the basement level there was a supermarket and some stores that probably cater more to the locals: pickles, fish, meat, etc.

We left the market before 11am. The Warrens needed to go to the mall, and we came back to the hotel, grabbing my shampoo and some soap from the "dm" store, which was like a 7/11. 

It was as hot as yesterday. We're taking it easy and definitely would not go walking outside in the middle of the day. But around 1pm Bob and I decided to walk out because I wanted to have a giro sandwich for lunch. We went to a Turkish quick food place and I had my fix. On the way back we stepped into a clothing store near the hotel called "COS". I really liked their clothing and their price was quite reasonable. I got a couple of T-shirts. Then we came back. 

After 3 pm, Bob decided to go to "work" for a bit and we would go to see the "Shoes" memorial by the Danube around 5. Ira would go with us. Bob came back before 5 and the hotel receptionist called us a taxi. Unfortunately the taxi driver did not speak English and he could not understand "shoes". He understood "river", so he drove us to the river in opposite direction of the memorial, so we had to walk quite a bit, but we got there. It was actually right around the Parliament building which we sent yesterday. It was an extremely poignant memorial, very touching! I simply could not comprehend how those Nazis could do this kind of killing to those innocent people!! ..... It reminded me of the cultural revolution .....

From there, we walked back to our hotel which was really not that far at all! Then we went to dinner with the Warrens at a strictly kosher orthodox Jewish restaurant which Ira had wanted to try. They were rated very well, especially the "chalent". But it turned out that that dish was like a baked beans, with hardly any meat. I did not like it at all. Their goulash soup was also not good, too much potato and carrots, very few meat, and the soup was oily. The one good dish was the Israeli salad which had hummus, tahini, etc. Very good. We were back at the hotel around 9:30.

Got email from Melissa that Kirsten got bitten by Iubi when they came to take them for the walk and Kirsten was in the emergency room. I was SO SORRY! Should have taken Iubi to meet Kirsten again .... This really ruined my vacation .... Told them not to walk the dogs any more. Now I am so worried .....

Not quite sure what we would do tomorrow .... Somehow I don't feel the energy to be up at sunrise because nothing excites me that much .... Maybe we will get up a bit early and do some shots at the river ... We will see....

Another Relaxing Day; Tuesday, September 13, 2016

A sleepless night last night - literally no sleep no matter how hard I tried. Probably because I was too upset and worried because of the dog bite incident back at home .... I set the alarm for 5:15am thinking we might try to get up early to catch the good lights for some photo. The alarm went off just when I was about to close my eyes. I decided to sleep a little and actually fell asleep until 7:55am! We got up and met the Warrens for breakfast.

Even though no early morning shoot, Bob and I decided to walk to the river by the Parliament building. It was pleasant to talk in the morning around 9:30. I again took a few pictures of the shoes and the buildings on the Buda side. Then we walked back. We went by the bookstore where we bought a couple of gadgets and Bob forgot to take his credit card. Thankfully we found it today! Bob checked our account and it was intact. Phew!

I was dead tired and lied on the couch, took a short nap while turning on the TV. Around 12:30 we met the Warrens (who went to see the Great Synagog this morning) for lunch. Yesterday on our way to the kosher restaurant we saw a Vietnamese Pho place and I said I definitely wanted to go there. It's called Absolute Pho and it was rather good! We were all happy with our pho :-)

The Warrens had discovered an Arcade area nearby where there was this small alley lined with all sorts of restaurants. We walked there after lunch and I decided that's where I would go for dinner. Asian food! Got to have my comfort food before getting on the ship tomorrow!

We decided to meet at 3:30 to go over to the Opera House to attend their 4pm guided tour. Ira, Bob and I went. It's got to be the most boring tour! A total waste of money and time! And I was literally dragging myself as I was sleepy and tired. We came back to the hotel shortly after 5.And we would meet at 7 again for dinner.

I lay on the couch and vega'd for almost 2 hours. And we walked out with the Warrens at 7 for dinner. They both agreed to go for the noodles at the restaurant in the Arcade, which we saw during our walk after lunch. And we went there.

The business was quite good there, but the kitchen had a hard time keeping up. They seated us and it took a LONG time before our food arrived. It was Vietnamese pho plus other kinds of noodles. The food was actually quite good, but the service was really not good. By the time we had our dinner it was after 9pm. And I did not even catch the name of the restaurant ....

After we came back to the hotel and to our individual rooms, Fran called and told us they just received an email from Scenic. We checked ours and we got it also. Apparently part of the Danube between Budapest and our next stop was closed so it impacted our schedule. We still need to get to the Marriott tomorrow before 3pm and they will tell us what to do. They will probably bus us to Bratislava. So we will probably not have another day in Budapest. Oh well, good we got here early.

Packing. Tomorrow we have a tour of the Parliament in the morning then we will taxi over to the Marriott to join the Scenic people.

Not a smooth trip so far ....

Boarded the Ship; Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Today I am turning 68.

Had a decent night's sleep and we were up before 7. I finished the last bit of packing before breakfast. Then we checked out of the hotel around 9:20 and stored our luggage at the hotel before we got in a taxi to the Parliament for our 10am tour.

We got to the Parliament building way before 10pm. There were quite some people for the English tour so they had to divide us into 2 groups. The Parliament building, inside and out, was indeed quite impressive! I thought it used to be palace but it was actually built for the parliament from the beginning, probably the most impressive one in the world. The tour was only less than an hour and we were out of there before 11. After taking a taxi back to the hotel, we picked up our luggage and got two taxis to head to the Marriott hotel where the Scenic cruise people were supposed to meet.

The Marriott hotel was near the Elisabeth bridge where we drove over on Sunday to/from the Castle hill. I was told about the statue of Sandor Petofi and it was a few steps away from the hotel. After we dropped off our luggage and met the Scenic staff, we went over to see the statue, then a church Ira wanted to see, then the shopping street which was supposed to be the most popular one in Budapest. That area was a lot more contemporary than where the Casati hotel was.

Fran stayed back at Marriott so we walked back and had lunch there in the hotel restaurant. A burger. At 3pm, we boarded the bus towards Bratislava. Everything was smooth. 2+ hours later we reached Bratislava. Off the bus we walked a small distance onto the ship. There were only about 165 passengers on this cruise, and the ship was very similar to the Viking river cruise ship I saw on the Danube by Budapest. Very different from the ocean liners we're used to - much smaller.

The cruise ship staff came to the bus to welcome us. The boarding process was simple and fast. We were taken to our cabin, 315. It was one of the "royal suites", with a small sitting quarter in addition to the bed. But compared to the rooms on the ocean liners, it was rather small, and not too much storage. Our 3 suitcases arrived shortly and I started unpacking. Again I way overpacked and there was really no need for the warm clothes so I left them mostly in the suitcases. Before dinner at 7:15, I was almost all unpacked.

Tonight's dinner was buffet and casual - we went in our shorts, same as we wore all day. Dinner was at the Crystal dining room, the only dining room, aside from the other 2 specialty restaurants which have been assigned dates for everyone. Dinner was fine, but not as fancy or full of choices as we were used to on the ocean liners. The ship gave me a big surprise by presenting me a birthday cake! I was so pleasantly surprised, and thankful. It was very nice of them! They all sang happy birthday for me :-)

After dinner, at 9pm, we all went to the Ruby Lounge where the captain, the hotel manager, and the cruise director all talked with us, about safety and other ship logistics. Tomorrow we will go with the ship's city tour starting at 9:30pm.

I am not sure when we will sail, probably tomorrow night. The first stop will be Viena and we will have 2 days there.

So far, the river cruise ship has not wowed me even though I am pleased with the room. I think I still like the ocean cruise better....

Visit to Bratislava; Thursday, September 15, 2016

We were up at 7 to have breakfast around 7:30. Buffet breakfast, the normal stuff, attentive service (better than the buffet breakfast on Celebrity). After breakfast Bob and I went on the sundeck the first time to see what it is like. Similar to what we saw on Viking, it was just a big deck, with chairs and some canopies. Smoking was allowed there so I guess we would not be using it much because of that. Sigh ....

The city tour was at 9:30. We were on bus #1 (there were 4 buses as all the 160+ people all wanted to go to Bratislava (there was the option to go to Budapest but no-one was interested). The bus took us around the town and the guide introduced to us the notable places. It went up the hill and allowed us to have a better view of the city. It is a small city, with only about 450K people, about 1/10 of the population of Slovakia which was split from Czechovakia. Small country, and small capital. The bus drove by the US ambassador's residence which was built like a small white house. We also drove by the Chinese ambassador's residence nearby which had a Chinese emblem outside. They were both on the hill, in the most expensive area of the town.

It was a short bus ride and it dropped us at the old town and our guide took us around the old town. We had an hour free time and were to meet at 12:15pm to ride the bus back, but a few of us chose to go on our own and walk back to the ship by ourselves which turned out to be a very short walk.

Bob and I wandered around town a bit Most of the shops were closed today because of some holiday, and only the souvenir shops were open. They all sold similar stuff. I got a couple of enameled cups. We found 2 Chinese restaurants and 1 oriental one (owned by Chinese it seemed). I really would like to have some oriental food as opposed to the ship food (which was not bad). We walked into a Chinese restaurant called (The Great Wall restaurant). But as soon as I walked through the door and saw the stairs leading to the basement, we walked out. We had lunch at the oriental restaurant in the square next to the McDonald (whose name I did not really catch, but there were the Chinese characters outside saying "One Family" - 一家). I honestly did not have any expectations, especially I saw a group of Chinese tourists walking into it right before us. But we were pleasantly surprised. With a very limited menu, a hodge lodge of Chinese, Thai, Japanese items, we ordered a Kongpao chicken, a curry chicken, and a stir fried vegetable. All turned out to be quite tasty and fresh! I was very happy :-)

After lunch, we walked back to the ship - a short and easy 15 minutes walk. After we came back to the ship, we met with the Warrens and played Rummy Cube for a while. Quite relaxing. 

The evening was, however, quite jam packed with activities. First the mandatory security drill where we all went on the sun deck and put on/take off the life jackets. Then we all met in the lounge where the cruise director explained the activities for tomorrow, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. We had to sign up for our choices. Rather confusing, I found. Then the captain's cocktail party where he introduced all his officers. Then dinner at 7. Phew!

It was a sit down dinner with full service. I took the chef's suggestion and had the lamb chops which were good. I again ate too much, not the main course, but all the appetizer, salad, etc. 

I just realized that the cruise will be over before we knew it! It's like we just unpacked and will be packing up next Tuesday. Gee!!.... I would not want to do another cruise that's shorter than 10 days! Not relaxing....

The old town of Bratislava was and old city with a long history. It was somewhat quaint. The ships usually don't stop here but today the Danube was full of cruise ships, and the town was full of batches of tour groups. A bit crazy.

Our ship will sail tonight and get to Vienna around 7am tomorrow. All the passengers will have a city tour, and an evening concert. Our plan is to take the bus tour and then stay in the city on our own, then take the 3:30pm shuttle bus back. We will see ....

Vienna; Friday, September 16, 2016

We had the normal morning schedule: went to breakfast at 7:30 and got on the bus at 9 to start the short guided tour of Vienna. I did not sleep too well. When I woke up in the middle of the night I peeked out of the curtain and noticed that our ship had moved but it was not moving at that moment. When I woke up around 6 and looked out, the ship was moving. Very smooth. I would not have known if I did not look out. The ship actually reached Vienna before 7. Our room was on the starboard side so when I looked out of the window I saw the other side of the Danube, not the side where we docked. It's the first time I activated the big window and lowered it. Very nice! I took a couple of pictures of the modern high-rise building.

The bus tour took us around the ring-road around Vienna old city, full of old historical buildings. Then we got off near the palace where the Spanish riding school was located. Our guide told us a bit about the various buildings and took us around that area, through the most fancy shopping street, then we got our free time at the place outside of the St. Steven's cathedral. I remember that cathedral. When Bob and I were here 30 or so years ago, we visited it. It was under construction, and so it was today.

The Warrens and us sat down at a cafe and had a cup of coffee and some pastry. Afterwards we split to go our own ways. Bob and I walked down the shopping street a little bit, mostly for me to poke into the stores to look around. The souvenir shops had a lot of Klimt stuff which I really loved, but they became mass-produced stuff and quite expensive. We walked around a little and then found a Chinese restaurant to have lunch. Decent Chinese food, nothing great but enjoyable. Funny thing was that they did not have the usual Chinese dishes like we do in the US. For example, for the chicken dish, they had one called "Sichuan Chicken", that's it. I bet it would taste very similar to the couple of other chicken dishes. They had a wood ear dish, simply stir fried. That's something we do not have in the states.

After lunch, we walked towards where we would get on the shuttle bus. There was one at 3:30 and we got there almost an hour early except we missed the previous bus. Then there were only 4 people on the bus, the two of us plus two others. We got back on the ship before 4.

The schedule was a bit tight this evening. At 4:45, the cruise director talked about tomorrow's excursions. Ours will start at 8am! Then we had dinner at 5pm because of the concert tonight. This was a special concert specifically for Scenic, at the Liechtenstein Palace, at their garden palace. It's just for the 100+ people. And it turned out to be a very delightful and enjoyable concert. There was a 10-person ensemble, a soprano, a tenor (?) and two ballet dancers who danced to the music of Blue Danube. It was not a formal theater seating, but a large fancy room with rounded rows of chairs. It was a lot lighter than a usual concert. And it was quite short. We were back to the ship shortly after 9.

Tomorrow our excursion was to visit the Schoenbrunn Palaces. We need to be up early and get on the bus at 8. I sure hope it would be a worthwhile visit!

Vienna Day 2: Visit to Schonbrun Palace; Saturday, September 17, 2016

We were up at 6am because our tour would leave at 8am. I woke up much earlier and did not really sleep that well. It was an overcast day and much cooler than the last few days. I had my long pants on.

There were 3 Scenic buses to the Schonbrun Place which was supposed to be the #1 attraction of Europe. The bus ride was about half an hour. Our tour guide was named Irene, an Australian woman, 50-ish. She told us a lot stories about Maria Theresa and the palace, but I did not have any background knowledge of the Australian history which I hope to educate myself.

Irene led us through a few rooms of the palace. It was quite gorgeous. But I think the even more beautiful part of the palace was the outside, the gardens. The inside tour got quite stuffy and we were glad to come out an hour later. Then we took the little train which took us to the top of the hill where we stopped for 10 minutes and got a very nice view of Vienna and the palace. If and when we ever come back to this area, I would like to come back here and spend more time just outside, in the gardens, in the zoo, etc.

We were to meet outside the palace at 12pm sharp to take the bus back. We finished our train tour around 11:20, so we killed a few minutes at the restaurant which was supposed to be famous of its strudel so we had coffee and shared a piece of apple strudel. I did not think too much of it and unimpressed with the waiter's attitude.

The bus took us back to the ship around 1pm. We were lucky that it stopped raining while we toured the palace. And it started raining when we got back to the ship. We had lunch on the ship. Nothing exciting: some fried chicken strips (cold) and decent salad. I was very very tired so we both came back to the room right after lunch to take a nap. We slept for 2+ hours then met the Warrens in the lounge to play some games.

At 6:45, our cruise director gave us a talk about tomorrow's schedule. It looks like tomorrow we will have a gorgeous day: arrive in Durnstein around 6am and tour the town on our own in the morning if we want, back at the ship by 10:45. The the ship would sail down the Danube, through the Wachau Valley which was supposed to be one the most beautiful sights on Danube. Then around 2pm we would have a short bus ride to the Melk Abbey which was also supposed to be very beautiful. After that tour, a sundowner in Castle Aggstein before coming back to the ship. I am really looking forward to it! Since we got on the ship, we honestly have not experienced much river cruising and seen any scenery along the river. Tomorrow will be the first!

Durnstein and Melk Abbey, Austria; Sunday, September 18, 2016

Today we had a leisurely morning even though I woke up at 6 and did not really sleep that well.

We already docked at Durnstein, a small historical town by the Danube in Australia. We were free to get on shore and walk around the town, as far as we came back to the ship before 10:45am. The town was right by where we docked.

Ira, Bob and I walked to town shortly after breakfast (Ira did not even eat breakfast), before 9. It was a very short walk by the Danube. And it was a lovely old small town. Even though it was Sunday, the shops were mostly open, to cater to the cruise ships - there were at least two other cruise ships besides ours. The things that were well known here were apricot stuff - drinks, jams, chocolate, etc. We walked around and took pictures. We saw as much as there was to see and came back to the ship before 10. Then the 4 of us sat in the lounge and played Rummi Kub. The ship started sailing around 11. The Wachau Valley where we sailed through was one the most beautiful spot along the Danube. It was indeed pretty. Mountains in the background; terraced grape fields on the mountain side; spired old church steeples, colored roofs, very picturesque! We stepped out to take pictures now and then.

Lunch was at 1pm. By 2pm we were ready to get on our afternoon excursion which was to visit the Melk Abbey, which was an old beautiful abbey. 4 big Senic buses took all of us there (only a 10-minute ride) and we had a 2-hour tour of the Abbey. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed inside anywhere of the Abbey. The tour ended before 5pm. Then there was a "sundowner" at a nearby old castle. The buses took us there. They served us drinks, and two old men played guitar there to entertain us. The castle was called Aggstein castle and was an old, kind of dilapidated. We really had no interest in the music so we climbed the wooden steps to the top of the old castle, hoping to get some good views. Unfortunately the good views were in the wrong light so I was not able to take any decent pictures. Even though the castle was really not that interesting, we do appreciate Scenic's intention and effort!

The buses took us back to the ship around 6:30. A 6:45, our cruise director gave us the port talk for tomorrow. Then 7:15 it's dinner. There was some sort of a performance after dinner but the performers had not arrived by 10pm. We decided to sleep in.... Tomorrow will be another early one - we must be ready to leave at 8am. We will be going to Pesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.

One Day, Three Countries; Monday, September 19, 2016

Our ship docked at Brandstatt, Austria, before 6am when the alarm got us both up - I was awake way before that. Our tour bus would leave at 8 so we got ready before that.

Our destination today was Pesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, and it was more than 2 hours bus ride away. Our guide was Daniel, a German tour guide living in Passau who was very knowledgeable and very nice. We were warned to bring our passports with us in case the border people might want to check, but they did not. Now that the Soviet Union was dissolved and there was no longer a socialist block, traveling in Europe has become very very convenient. Our bus passed through the boarder building easier than passing a toll booth. After we were in Czech, we stopped at a border shop which was like a duty free shop at the airport - full of liquor and cigarets. Daniel told us things were cheaper in that store. We stopped to use the restrooms and spent a few minutes getting things from the store.

It was an overcast day with rain now and then. But we were very lucky that we almost experienced no rain. We got to Pesky Krumlov shortly before 11. Daniel gave us a short walking tour around the old town, showed us what is where and suggestions on where to go during our free time, then we were taken to lunch. It was a simple lunch with typical local food. After lunch, Ira, Bob and I (Fran did not come) first headed to the castle to get some good views of the town, then we walked around town and visited a couple of shops. The most famous stuff here were wooden carvings, crystals, and two kinds of jewelry in addition to amber, etc. - one was some kind of black rock, the other was some sort of a green mineral. I really liked their multi-colored amber bracelet. It was actually the least expensive because it was made using scratch amber then going through some pressing process. It would cost $500 USD, compared to other good amber bracelets that would cost many times more. This reminded me of the bracelet I saw a few years ago in China which I have been regretting not getting it. I was right not to get it then because it was the same as I saw today and I would have paid less if I got it here. But I did not want to spend the $....

Pesky Krumlov was a really lovely small old town! I could easily spend a few days here to take many photos! The castle, the steeples, the colored roof, the river, the mountain, just beautiful! But it was full of tourists. We were sort of lucky today because of the weather, it was not as crowded as it could be. Daniel said he was here a couple of months ago and he literally could not move! .... Today there were multiple groups of Japanese and Chinese ....

Our group met at 3pm in the main square to walk back to the bus. The bus then drove us to Vilshofen, which was in Germany. Our ship had sailed to this town to wait for us. Our bus was stuck in the traffic for a while so by the time we came back to the ship, it was already 6pm. Then at 7pm, our cruise director gave us the port talk for tomorrow, but more importantly he gave us the talk about disembarkation - we would be disembarking the day after tomorrow, Wednesday, 9/21. I really felt like we had barely got on the ship, now it's time to pack up and disembark ....

Our arranged dinner at the specialty restaurant "Portobello" was tonight. It was a 6-course dinner at the back of the lounge. Everyone on the ship gets to eat there once, arranged by the ship. Ours was tonight. It was fine. But 3 of us 4 chose to have the main entree from the regular dining room because it was crispy duck which was quite good.

After dinner, the ship's crew gave us a performance. We all waited and watched. It was entertaining. But it started quite late, not until after 10. After coming back to the cabin, we got detailed info about our disembarkation. I started packing ....

Last Day on the Ship; Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Today we got up at 7am and got off the ship at 9am, to tour the city of Regensburg, which was a UNESCO site, and was a rather large city, with a historical old town. Another option was to tour the Weltenburg Abbey which would involve taking a bus then another river boat. Hard choices as we had not seen either, but we chose Regenburg with the Warrens.

Our tour guides met us right off the ship and there were three groups, each having 20+ people. We walked across the famous stone bridge which was built in the 1100s and was now under construction, then around the old town. Then we had a little less than 2 hours free time which really was not much time. Bob and I went to the old sausage factory/restaurant and I had a take-out roll with 2 sausages plus some sour kraut which was nice. Then we stopped at a strudel place and had a strudel and coffee. Then it was pretty much time to meet the group at 12:15 to walk to the bus - the buses were waiting for us to take us to the ship which had sailed to Kelheim. When we got there, the ship was not there yet but it arrived within minutes. We watched how it anchor and how the staff set up the gangway.

Lunch today was Bavarian style - a couple of kinds of roasted pork, some red cabbage pastry (which did nothing for me), sausage, etc. The dining room staff were all dressed in Bavarian style clothes. Then there was a presentation on the Danube canal which we did not go to. Oh BTW we had left the Danube since Regensburg and got on a different river to go to Nuremberg. At 4:20, Fran and I took part in the ships galley tour. Serving only around 200 people, the kitchen was a lot smaller than the one we saw on Celebrity Refection which served around 3000 people. But everything was very well organized and I sharply realized how hard the crew has been working! I was very impressed and touched, especially since the crew has been always so nice, so pleasant, polite and answered to our every need. Most of them were Asian, from the Philippines or Indonesia, others were from the east European countries - Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc. A really really nice crew!

After the galley tour, the 4 of us played games for a little bit. Then the Bavarian brass band came on board and gave us a performance. Nice! Then it was dinner. Tonight we were assigned the specialty restaurant La Rive which was the few tables at the back of the dining room. Again a 6-course dinner paired with wines. For the main entree, in addition to the beef dish, they also added the lobster tail that was being served at the regular dining room. Very nice of them! We did not finish dinner until almost 10, when we came back to the cabin to finish packing.

I am packing up my electronics tonight. No more blogging until we settle into the Prague hotel.

From the Ship to Nuremberg then Prague; Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Today was the day for us to disembark our ship the Scenic Ruby and continue the land portion of this trip - Nuremberg, then Prague.

We were up at 6 and got all our luggage out of our cabin door by 7. After breakfast, we were out of our cabin before 8:30. We were to board number 1 bus, with red luggage tags. We waited in the lounge for a while until it was time for us to get on the bus. Our luggage got on the same bus with us - the ship's crew handled all the luggage.

Disembarkation day must be the most hectic day for Adrin, our cruise director, who did an excellent job. There were 2 big buses heading to Prague to continue the land portion of the trip. And there were other buses that were to take others to different places - some were to fly to Munich, some were to fly to other places, and some were to stay in Nuremberg ....

Our bus first took us a short distance away to near the Nuremberg city center. We had a local guide, a rather young girl, who took us through part of the old town. Then we had about two hours free time. Bob and I walked through the market (not sure if this was some sort of holiday market or an everyday market, but there were many stalls selling different things, and there were fresh vegetable stands, flower stands, fruit stands. really nice and fresh. After wandering for an hour, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant to have lunch. The restaurant turned out to be just a few steps from our meeting place, right by where all the tour buses pick up people. I had a nice big bowl of pho, Bob had a delicious bowl of pan fried noodles. Delicious!! I was so pleasantly surprised that we were able to find an Asian restaurant in Nuremberg! And a really nice one! The manager of the restaurant was a 2nd generation Vietnamese boy who spoke 7 or 8 languages, with hair dyed blue.

At around 1pm, we boarded our bus heading towards Prague. The drive would take 4-5 hours. We sat in the last row and I was able to take a good nap. We drove by some very nice fields, with various shades of green. And the clouds on the blue sky were really beautiful! Too bad I was not able to take any good pictures from the bus.

Our tour guide was a Czech lady named Martina. She worked for Scenic and she was very nice. She explained to us a lot details of what would happen tonight and tomorrow. There were 80+ people from Scenic, divided into two groups/buses, and we were all staying the Marriott hotel in Prague. Scenic had everything arranged - we signed the registration paper on the bus and our rooms were all assigned. Martina got us the room keys as soon as we got to the hotel, and Scenic paid the porters already who delivered our luggage to our rooms. Scenic has been doing a superb job service wise! Just for this, I will take another cruise with them some day! And we will definitely write a note to Lori.

We settled in our hotel room before 6. At 6:30, we all gathered in the function room of the hotel for a welcome drink. Then we headed towards the beer hall of the Municipal building for dinner. It was a big beer hall, filled with tour groups like ours. We were served soup, then crispy duck. There was a dessert but Bob and I did not wait - it took a while for us to all get served food. We finished our main course and decided to walk through the old town and to have a look at the Charles bridge.

It was SO crowded even at night! We walked through the old town and to the front of the Charles bridge. It was indeed a beautiful sight! And the many old buildings. Gorgeous! I already liked Prague better than Budapest!

On the way back to the hotel, I got some fruit from the supermarket next to the hotel. Tomorrow we will meet Martina at 8:15am for the morning tour. Then we will be on our own for the rest of the day.

Oh, the Marriott room was very nice! Even though we did not upgrade to a suite, it was very satisfactory. Good old Marriott!

Prague Day 2, a Quick Tour; Thursday, September 22, 2016

Our room at the Prague Marriott was nice and comfortable and I slept relatively well, even though not for many hours. We were up at 6 and started our tour with Martina at 8:15. She took us through various streets, through part of the old town, to the Charles bridge. Then crossed the Charles bridge to the other side of the river, through the Little Quarter, then the Jewish quarter, then the main square, then the old town, back to the hotel, shortly before 1pm. She told us a lot of the Czech history and some of her personal stories while she was growing up here. We also had a couple of small breaks. During one of them she took out the Czech liquor, Becherovka, which she brought two bottles with her to let us have a taste. A nice tour to orient us! And she was great!

Back to the hotel. After we took a small rest, the group met again to have lunch which was still covered by Scenic. Afterwards, Bob and I walked across the street to look at the jewelry store which had the special kind of blue jewelry I was interested in. I got a necklace which I loved.

Bob rested a little bit and he could not leave until 4pm because he needed to watch the stocks. I went down to talk with Martina to ask about how to get to the "little Eiffel tower". Then Bob and I took the tram, following Martina's directions and made it to the tower. We got the tickets and took the elevator to the top, which had a rather narrow and small platform to get a birdseye view of the whole city. Fortunately a few of the glass windows were allowed to be opened so I took as many pictures as I could, using my real camera. Then we came down to the level above the ground level, where the space was bigger but the view was not as good. Then we walked the 117 steps down (the walk up to the top was 299 steps).

We would have loved to walk down the mountain instead of taking the funicular, but there was no sign or explanation we could understand, and there was no obvious path, so we took the funicular down, then the tram back. I felt quite accomplished that we successfully managed the public transportation!

Ira and Fran were interested in having Asian dinner so we went out together. Martina had told me about two places nearby. One was a Thai place, the other a Vietnamese one. We decided to try the Vietnamese one. But it turned out to be very mediocre - definitely not worth going back. Nowhere to be compared with the one in Nuremberg. Sigh ....

Tomorrow we will get up at 5:30 to join Martina for an early morning 6:30am walk. I am debating if I should bother to carry the good camera .... We'll see.

Prague Day 3: Early Morning Tour; Friday, September 23, 2016

We got up at 5:30am and met Martina for the 6:30am walk in the hotel lobby. I did not expect we would have that many people for such an early morning walk! Martina's group had 13, and the other group had a similar number. Wow! Many enthusiastic people! I was impressed.

It was quite chilly when we walked out, and the sun was not out yet. But it was such a joy to walk on the streets while there were no crowds and very little traffic! At the old town square, there were almost no people! Joy!! We walked to the Charles Bridge through a bunch of small streets that Martina knew and we would not have ventured them ourselves. Charles Bridge already had some people there, but nowhere to be compared with the crowds during the day. Then we walked back through another route, We were in the hotel just about 8am.

After breakfast, Bob said he would rather rest since he did not sleep too well last night, so I went with Ira and Fran. We were going to walk through the old town then to do the Jewish quarter tour, but since it was Fran's first day going out, we spent all the time in the old town, stopping to look into stores and to take photos. By the time we came back to the hotel, it was already 1pm and we never did the Jewish quarter tour. On the way back to the hotel, we found a Chinese restaurant called the Great wall restaurant. We decided to go back there for lunch. We collected Bob who had been taking a nap all this time. 

The Chinese restaurant was right near the entrance of the old town. It turned out to be quite good! All the dishes were quite tasty. We all enjoyed it very much. Nothing fancy, rather salty, but all tasty. Except for one or two dishes, food was not very authentic. But we were happy.

After the late lunch, Bob and I wanted to get our VAT refund as the shop keepers told us to, right in the mall near us. But it took us more than an hour to get it done. The two shops where we bought things from turned out to belong to two different tax refund organizations. One of them had a lady who was outright nasty - we had to go back to the store and the one of the store people went back with us to straighten things out. The other place had a girl who was very pleasant and very helpful. Now all we needed to do was to get the stamps at the airport custom service and mail the forms. Phew!

By the time we got things done and came back to the hotel, it was past 4. The Warrens decided to rest. Bob and I walked out again, towards the bridge to the south of the Charles bridge, hoping to take some photos of Charles bridge with good lighting. We got there. But the sun was behind the clouds and we were too tired to walk down to the shore where we might be able to get some good angles. Well, another day! 

I sure got a lot of walks today. My iWatch recorded 9.78 miles.

Back to the hotel around 6. At around 7, we went with the Warrens to dinner at the La Republica restaurant across the street, which Martina recommended. It was a traditional Czech food restaurant. I would really preferred to go to an Oriental place (we found a couple of more decent looking Chinese places), but I guess we should try Czech food at least once. I ordered my pig knuckle. A LOT of meat. Not bad.

Back to the hotel before 9:30, after walking around searching for gelato without success. Tomorrow we will go to The Castle. We will try to get there after 11am - Martina said not to get there between 9 and 11am when it was the most crowded.

Want to write down 2 stories Martina told us during the early morning walk:

Martina was born and raised in the old town here. We walked by a church this morning. When she was 6 or 7, her parents sent her to the building next to the church to take dancing class. That was still during the communist time and the church was abandoned. Her father told them a story which made her scared. The story went as follows: there used to be noble man living there near the church. He was very afraid that if one day he died they might bury him in the crypt while he was still alive. So he told his doctor that his last wish was for his doctor to stick a knife in his heart when he died, to make sure he was dead. Later he died. His friend the doctor checked everything to make sure he was dead, but the doctor did not have the guts to stick a knife in his heart. Then they buried him in the crypt. That night, people heard screaming and scratching on the doors of the crypt. For days people did not dare to go into the church. Later there was no more noise. In later years people opened up the crypt and found someone on the steps. It was this noble man. His hair turned white and his fingers were all scratched .....

Another story: In that church there was a statue of virgin Mary who had a nice necklace on her. One night a thief came and wanted to steal it. While the thief tried to take it off the statue, the statue grabbed his arm. Later the priest came and did not know what to do, so he cut off the thief's arm. The arm was still in the statue's hand, hanging there today, all dried up .....

Ugh!! ....

The Prague Castle; Saturday, September 24, 2016

Ah! We had a good night's sleep, no crack-of-dawn getup and went to bed before midnight. Bob went to work for a while but came back around 11. This morning we did not get up until 8!

We left the hotel shortly before 11, with the Warrens, for the Prague Castle. Martina told us to avoid 9am-11am at the front entrance, and because of Fran's legs we had to use the front entrance. We took the tram. But when we got there around 11:30, the line to the Castle was SO LONG that no matter how good the place was I would not stand in that line! So we decided to take the way Martina had recommended to us, to go through the Summer Place, the garden route. We did that which was a few tram stops back. It turned out that there was no steep incline and not many steps at all! We enjoyed the garden walk and toured the castle leisurely.

The first thing we visited was the St. Vitus cathedral which was quite impressive. Then we visited the old palace which must be the most plain palace I had ever seen. Then we went into the St. George's Basilica. And finally we went through the Golden Lane which was a narrow lane lined up with tiny stores on one side. I did not bother to read the details of the lane and the stores, except only one of them, which used to be a store of a psychic who was persecuted by the Gestapo. 

My right foot was hurting badly so that made me very tired. We grabbed an ice-cream  bar and shared a panini in the castle. By the time we came back to the hotel, it was after 4pm. No more touring today. We would meet for dinner.

At 6:30 we went out for dinner. They all agreed with me to go to the Macau Wok Chinese restaurant close to the hotel. The menu outside looked good. We ordered a number of dishes. But aside from the two vegetable dishes, the others were very mediocre, not like the Chinese food we're familiar with at all! I would go back to that Great Wall restaurant.

We were back to the hotel before nine. Somehow my legs were quite sore and tired. Bob went out to "work" again and I am staying in, going to bed early. Tomorrow will be our last full day in Prague. We plan to cover the Jewish quarter, the library, and a boat ride. I want to take a buggy ride as well. Hope we get to do all that! 

Oh, forgot to write: today's highlight was not any of the churches or palaces, it was our encounter with the birds - owls and eagles! Before we entered the castle, while we walked in the royal garden towards the castle, we saw a sign with the words "owl" and an arrow pointing. We were not sure what the sign meant so I asked a man who came from that direction. I asked him if there were really owls. He said yes. So we immediately walked over. Ah! They had a number of owls and eagles there! It turned out that they were all tied on strings so they would not fly away and they were standing on top or inside their shelters. And we were allowed to touch them with 100 Czech money (approx. $4 USD). I could not wait! As soon as the lady finished explaining these birds, I paid the 100 and the handler put a glove on my left arm, and I held one of the owls! I was SO VERY HAPPY!! The owl was absolutely SO CUTE! I learned that they could turn their neck 270 degrees because they could not move their eyes. Oh how I LOVED them!!!!

Busy Last Full Day in Prague; Sunday, September 25, 2016

Today we were totally on our own - meaning that everything Scenic had ended. We met the Warrens at around 8:30am and went out to look for a more reasonably priced breakfast - Marriott here would charge $25 Euros for the breakfast buffet which we thought was a bit much. We ended up going across the street to the Imperial Art Deco hotel for breakfast. They had a very nice breakfast buffet with only half the price. Not bad.

By the time we set out to fulfill our plans for today, it was already past 10. Our first item was the Klementinum library, which turned out to be very impressive. We went all the way up to the top of the tower, through the narrow spiral staircases. I felt quite accomplished :-) It made me very dizzy. Standing in the library which was a few thousand years old, looking at the places where those people used to sit and read books, and looking at the thousands of books on the shelves, it was an awe inspiring feeling.

After the library tour, it was already past noon. We then went on the Jewish quarter tour. We toured 2 or 3 synagogs and the famous Jewish cemetery. The memorial hall which recorded the names of all the Jews killed by the Nazis was very touching and beautiful.

After the Jewish quarter tour, it was after two. We were tired and hungry so we picked a restaurant nearby to have lunch. It was call "No Stress" and it turned out to be very very nice! Delicious food, pleasant environment. But somehow the lunch made us all more tired and sleepy. We wanted to take a boat tour on the river, so we did. But it turned out to be a real rip-off and very boring. The highlight was the many many swans on the river, but I was not able to get any good pictures because the boat was moving and we could not get close.

After the boat tour, we walked back to the hotel. I wanted to do a buggy ride, but thought perhaps we would do it after dinner - the horse cart operated until 10pm. 

We met the Warrens again before 7 to head out to dinner. We decided to go to the Summer Palace restaurant again. The food was quite tasty and the service was friendly and accommodating.

Back in the hotel around 9. I needed to pack as we will leave tomorrow. We need to get our luggage out by 9:45am and the car will pick us up at 10. 

The trip will be over. What's my impression of the river cruise and how I feel about this trip:

We enjoyed the river cruise which was quite different from the ocean cruise. What I enjoyed most was the service of Scenic Ruby and their organized excursions. But we hardly felt the cruising part - only that one afternoon after Pesky Krumlov was really cruising. Also the 7 day cruise was really too short - just unpacked and had to repack again, kind of stressful. I also like the ocean liner better than the river ships - much more spacious and more relaxing.

Of the places we visited, Cesky Krumlov was #1 for sure, followed by Prague, the Budapest. Bob and I might come back here some day and do a driving tour around Czech!