Sat., Oct 7, 2023 Kalocsa, Hungary

Today we arise for our first full day on the riverboat. 145 meters long and 9 meters wide. Interesting ship! Our Panorama Stateroom is on the 2 floor but the first floor above water. The side of the room that faces the water is a floor to ceiling window where the top half drops open to create a ‘Balcony’! We watch the sunrise as we leisurely cruise down the Danube. Breakfast is a buffet and very filling!

We take part in a morning trivia game and come in 3^rd Place with a Team we put together and we call ourselved “Dazed and Confused”. Fun general knowledge questions and we get 12 out of 20 to finish in 3^rd Place. 2^nd Place had 13 and 1^st had 14!

Then lunch is had as we arrive in Kalocsa. At 1:30, we board buses to go into town. We learn some history about this town of 15,000 people that used to be 30,000. But children grow and move away now and they didn’t a couple generations ago. After the tour of the town, we get back on the buses.

We travel to Pueszta in the Great Hungarian Plain and arrive at a horse ranch, Putsca, where we are treated to the exceptional equestrian skills of the Magyar Cowboys in classic costumes. Some really fun demonstrations as you will see in the photos! Then we take a wagon ride around the farm. After we purchase some Paprika as this is the home of the best Paprika in the World! We are in the Hungarian Paprika Capital! We buy Sweet, Savory and Spicy Paprika and I know our kitchen will thank us!

The wagon ride around the farm…

Back on the buses and we head back to the ship. An hour’s nap is refreshing! We go up on deck and play a game of Corn Hole! Neither of us wins, but fun and camaraderie is had by all!

On our time on top of the ship, we are passing under a bridge being built! Such an interesting thing to watch!

Then it’s off to the Daily Briefing where we learn about tomorrow’s excursion in Croatia! At dinner we are given a menu similar to last night where several options are offered on one page and the Chef’s Selection is on the second page! Like last night, we choose the Chef’s Selection! It is a 5 course delicious meal! We meet new friends that join us at our table and all is good conversation. We meet new friends from the UK and another couple from New York!

After dinner there is a “Name That Tune” game in the lounge but I am tired and choose to retire and write this Blog. See you all tomorrow!

Oct 06, 2023, Cruise starts today…

Today we arise a bit early and get packed up for we will leave this apartment behind and start our River Cruise tonight on Emerald Cruise Lines. We walk to the end of the block and buy coffee and gluten free apple pie pastries to bring back the the apartment for breakfast. Man, I hope I never have to go gluten free! While somewhat interesting, the gluten free aspect of dough and pastry has a weird texture!

But it fills the tummies and satiates us for the morning. We call a cab and find it surprisingly easy. Only 5 minutes later the cab is here! The driver takes us and our luggage to the ship and we turn it in even though it is not time to check in! The ship is on the Buda side of the river which we have not explored much as of yet.

We have 8 or more hours before we need to be on the ship. They have gladly taken our luggage so that is taken care of! We walk away from the ship and head for the heart of Buda. We buy a 24 hour Travel Pass for the city and it lets us ride trains, buses and all transportation for the day! We jump on the first train that shows up to find it doesn’t go where we want to go! But hey, this is an adventure, right? So we start trying to read the train maps and with not much luck, we jump on the next train to find it is not the right one either! Elee is more bothered by this than I am and I convince her to follow my sense of direction.

With some chatting with locals in the area, we find that we need to pay close attention to the number of each train which is hard to read in the bright sunlight! But it soon becomes a bit easier and we find the correct train! We are looking to arrive at the “Funicular”, a vertical train up the side of a hill to the Buda Castle.

Once we finally get to the Funicular, we cue up for tickets. The cue is about a hundred people long! A savvy Vendor selling tickets to an enhanced golf cart ride up instead of the Funicular sells us on a golf cart ride that includes a Hop On Hop Off feature at all the stops! And we know that the Castle and Palace are on steep hillsides so we go for it. As fun as a Funicular is, we have ridden Funiculars in many places around the world. So we opt for the easier walking routes!

I even find my own personal car! Check it out! I never do find out what it is!

The Castle, Palace, Cathedrals and even the Fisherman’s Bastion are sights for sore camera lenses and we have a blast, especially because we don’t have to wear out our legs as much! We put in almost 14,000 steps yesterday and todays total will be near 10,000. A good goal for every day of the week! At the Fisherman’s Bastion, there is a restaurant inside the stone structures where we sit and split a Toasted Goat Cheese Burger and a couple glasses of wine and look out and down on the city! The sights from the top of the hill are breathtaking!

We get back on the ‘Castle Bus’ and ride down to the bottom. We then ride a train tram for a mile or so along the river. We get off when the tram starts to turn in and up the hill of the city. We need to travel 2-3 more miles along the river to get to our Ship. We start walking with neither of us looking forward to an hour plus hike. But public transportation here is prevalent and cheap. So we call out at a bus stop, “Do you speak English?” And a young guy says, “I do!” (people here are all friendly and helpful) So we describe our dilemma and where we need to go and he explains to us that we need to take the 107 Bus and it will take us right by our ship! I look over and see a blue bus pulling up to the stop (that has ‘107’ on the marquee) and say, “Like That one?” And he says, “Yes, that one!”

So we jog for 5 seconds and jump on the bus. Sure enough, the bus takes us within walking distance of our ship! Bless that young man’s heart! We make it to the ship and concierge shows us to our room. We take a couple hour nap and then attend an orientation meeting on the ship! We have logged almost 10,000 steps today and are glad to be “home” for the next 8 days!

After the orientation meeting where the Captain and Crew introduce themselves along with the Cruise Director, we go to the Dining Room for dinner where we choose the Chef’s Recommendations for the meal and are not disappointed. We start to get to know our table mates for the evening, a couple from south of London and a couple from Colorado. Some Art Deco decorations in the stairwell catch my camera’s attention!

The ship tours up and down the Danube through Budapest and we get to see the infamous Parliament Building that we saw last night and all of the river sights again. What a great place to visit! The ship stops and we start to take on water. No, relax, not what you are thinking! We are taking on drinking water! We walk around the decks and marvel at the sights. Then we go into the lounge and meet back up with our dinner mates from Colorado and chat for a bit. But now it’s back to our room to wind down (and get this Blog written!)

Good night all! Tomorrow is coming soon!

Oct 5, 2023, Budapest

This morning, we get up around 9 AM after some much needed sleep. Elee has heard of a famous pastry shop called Gerbaud and we head out in search of it. We go the wrong way and stop to ask a few people and we still don’t find it. So I opt to activate my phone’s GPS (I have several days saved up on my phone plan) and it leads us straight to the place. So we have around 5000 steps in before breakfast!

I order bacon and eggs and Elee orders a custom layer cake that is decadent and delicious! We look up the local Hop On, Hop Off Bus and buy tickets online. We see there is a bus stop at St. Stevens Basilica and we walk there. It is a half mile away or around 8-10 minutes. The Basilica is fantastic and we buy tickets to go inside and even ride the elevators to the top! Maximum of 4 persons in the elevator!

I love plays on words and this is no exception! The elevators can only carry 4 persons at a time! As the sign says, “4 Smelly Persons”, LOL

We photograph the city from the top and marvel at the architecture of the city. It is simply stunning! we get back in line to ride the elevators down. There are two sets of elevators, the top set only takes 4 people at a time and the lower elevators take 6. So we cue up and make our way down and out. We inquire and are told where the Hop On Hop Off Bus stops and we make our way to that spot.

Our legs and feet thank us for the break and we ride around the city on the top, open air deck of the bus. We notice that this bus is very similar to the buses around different cities in the world and we are wise to stay seated! This city is the same as others in the fact that they trim the trees so these buses barely fit under them! At one point a branch even smacks me in the head! Keep your arms and body inside the bus at all times!

The bus mainly tours the Pest (pronounced Pesht) side of the river but eventually goes over a bridge to the Buda side for a while. Yes, you heard me correctly. How many of you knew that Budapest (pronounced Boo-da-pesht) is made up of two cities, Buda and Pest? And did you know the original city was called Pestbuda (Pesht-boo-da)? Interesting what you find out when you travel! We get many photos of different parts of both cities including daytime shots of the famous Parliament Building on the Pest side of the river. We are staying in an apartment about 8 blocks from Parliament, about a ten minute walk!

We get off the bus at the river and walk about a quarter mile to find the famous Shoe Memorial that remembers the 3,500 people, 800 of them Jews, who were shot into the Danube during the time of the Arrow Cross terror that occurred in late 1944 and early 1945, shortly before Russia liberated Hungary from the Nazis. The sculptor created sixty pairs of period-appropriate shoes out of iron. The shoes are attached to the stone embankment, and behind them lies a 40 meter long, 70 cm high stone bench. At three points are cast iron signs, with the following text in Hungarian, English, and Hebrew: “To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45”. People com along and put different flowers, flags, colored shoelaces and other decorations on them!

We walk from the shoes about 10 blocks to our apartment and lie down and rest for an hour or so. One and a half hours later we head out in search of dinner. Elee has spotted a specific restaurant she would like to check out and I put it into my GPS. 8 or 9 minutes later, the GPS says we have arrived. we are in front of a bank. We walk into another nearby restaurant and they direct us a couple blocks away. The place we are looking for is called ‘Corso’. What we are directed to is called ‘DomoCorso’. We figure it is one and the same so we get seated and have dinner. We are a little disappointed because the menu is not the same as what Elee saw online. But the food is good and there are a couple live musicians to entertain us and we enjoy!

We then walk across the street to the river Danube and we board a riverboat that was included in our Hop On Hop Off Bus from earlier in the day. So it is after dark and we get to take photos of the lit up buildings on the river! Including the famous Parliament Building that is so famously photographed! A narrator gives us background on the buildings and their significance to society.

As we are finishing our hour and a half tour, a full size River Boat comes powering up the river and we turn to take photos of it. Suddenly Elee exclaims, “Look, it is our cruise ship!”. Sure enough, it is the Emerald Sun, the ship we will board tomorrow for our 8 day River Cruise! We get several photos of the ship and our river tour ends.

We head back towards our apartment and agree to stop for a glass of wine. Suddenly, we find ourselves in front of ‘Corso’, the restaurant we looked for earlier! We check the menu and sure enough it is the one Elee saw on line! We get seated and decide to at least have a glass of wine here. Oh well, we’ll have to get a taste of Foie Gras somewhere else!

We take a couple selfie photos with the illuminated buildings in the background before arriving back at our apartment and turn in for the night.

See you all tomorrow!

Oct 3 & 4, 2023 Travel Days!

We arise today excited for our newest adventure! We zip up our bags that were mostly packed last night. Just the final essentials to put in and we/re ready to go! Our shuttle driver arrives on time. All is good. We are traveling with full size Check In Luggage this time for laundry mid trip will be expensive and unpredictable. I entertain myself by photographing Southern California from the plane window.

And then a few shots as we land in Atlanta!

Our first flight leaves LAX on time, however, we are informed there will be a delay in Atlanta to go to Amsterdam. (Atlanta has been one of our troublesome airports in the past and has lost our luggage) We attempt to try and rebook our third flight but we are assured the time will be made up in the air. We have been gullible in the past and we wonder if we’ll be caught again! So we board and the first leg of the trip is not only uneventful, but very comfortable! It didn’t hurt that we paid for “Comfort+”! Roomy leg room, Front of the plane, etc. Food is plentiful, yet a bit tasteless. (Can’t win them all!) So we land with high expectations. (Did I really say that?)

As informed in Los Angeles, the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam is delayed 40 minutes. Did I say 40 minutes? That is airport speak for one hour (if you’re lucky!). Now considering that we only are allotted 1.5 hours in Amsterdam, this will be cutting things a bit close! But we landed in Atlanta 30 minutes early so a 5 hour flight CAN be done in 4.5 hours, right? So that translates to an 8 hour flight being done in less time, doesn’t it? All is good, we say!

Why do I sound like the doomsday predictor? Get a life Don and suck it up! Stop this naysaying! Everything is good so far! We even see the flight crew walk past us and we suggest they ‘Step on the gas!’ They tell us it will be no problem! So calm down! We’ve got this! The Equipment (Plane) finally arrives and it’s taking an exorbitant amount of time for the cleaning crews to finish their job before we can board. Someone suggests that likely someone got sick on the plane and they had to spend extra time cleaning it! Sounds reasonable!

So we finally board the plane and we are off! Into the wild blue yonder! I watch a movie. Then it gets dark. I put on the complimentary blindfold that comes in the Comfort+ Package (along with toothbrush and toothpaste!) and lay back for a much needed nap! Rest comes my way but never in the form of actual sleep. But an hour or two of much needed rest in the middle of the night is welcomed! But anyone who has ever said that the comfort of an airline seat can induce sleep and slumber is quite a bit mistaken! So, after a couple hours of restless sleep and I am awake again! Another movie. And another. I should probably be picking movies that are boring and will put me to sleep. But not me! I like stimulating movies that challenge the senses!

Then Sunrise appears out the window! The angle from my window isn’t perfect but the deep blue sky dropping down the the glowing orange sunrise followed down by the deep blue sea is fun to watch. Pausing the movie to admire Mother Nature’s display over the Northern Oceans keeps my mind active and my senses full! So much for sleep! We have an uneventful landing in Schiphol (pronounced Shih-pole) Airport.

Now that we have touched down, we taxi for what seems forever! We taxi and I look out and the Control Tower looks miles away! In fact, it is! We have landed on Schiphol’s “Polderbaan” Runway! It is literally 3 freaking miles from the terminals! Look it up!!! And at the speed that a jet taxies, it takes us about 50 minutes to taxi to the terminals! Now I have to give credit to our pilots for landing us 20 minutes ahead of (our delayed) schedule! Oh right, that leaves 30 minutes of taxing left to our schedule!

Needless to say, all of the foreboding I have taken to and the foreshadowing that I have alluded to here come true. We remember the Schiphol Airport from our first encounter 11 years ago but it has changed. And not in a good way! This once tiny airport has blossomed into one of the largest airports we have ever encountered! Comparable to Chicago’s Midway or Philadelphia’s International Airport. Travel through them and you’ll know what I mean! We had to walk about 2 miles to only find out that we had missed our 3rd flight! But an attendant was there waiting for us, saying there were 10 more, making it 12 people that missed it. What happened to the good old days that when an airline KNEW people were coming, they would hold the flight for 10-15 minutes???

The plane was right there in plain (pun intended) sight but they had pulled the gate a couple feet away from it and they said the ‘Paperwork’ was already delivered to the plane! But, in the airlines defense, the attendant walked with us back to the point (One mile back!) and helped us rebook our flight 3 hours later!

Now I have to say, at this point, that we had been already traveling for 21 hours with little to no sleep. Miles of walking (I guess we got our steps in!) we were a couple of tired campers! But hey, wait! There’s a restaurant that serves booze AND food! So we manage to spend an hour there. Slightly refreshed, we head for our new Terminal (another mile away!) and we sit and wait, (almost comatose) and our new flight is also delayed almost 40 more minutes! But we hang in there and finally board the final leg from Amsterdam to Budapest!

Elee clears the line and gets seated next to a young lady who is very conversational (to her benefit, considering her exhaustion level!) but I get flagged (Oh great! What now???) and I’m told my seat has been changed. But the good news they tell me is I have an empty row and have 3 seats to myself! Looking forward to this arrangement, i get on board the plane and find I have been assigned to an overwing exit row (that doesn’t have reclining seats) and I actually look forward to it! The plane takes off and I strap myself into the middle of 3 seats and lay down across the 3 seats, not really comfortable, but doable! I close my eyes and try to sleep, fitfully and somewhat unsuccessful for sleep but I get some rest!

We land and I sit up. We have an uneventful time retrieving our luggage (which has actually followed us this time!) and we arrange for a van to take us to our apartment. We chat amicably with the others in the van and finally arrive at our apartment. We have only 10 minutes of difficulty arranging to get into the 2 bedroom apartment and we drop our luggage and grab our cameras and head out in search of dinner and adventure! We buy a few bottles of much desired bottled water at a small grocery store and find a Hungarian Bistro and indulge in Hungarian Ratatouille!

We then drop off our heavy water purchases at our apartment and take our cameras down by the river for some night photos! The sights are fantastic and the Parliament building is fun to photograph at night!

Until tomorrow Peeps!

May 6, 2023 Day in Vancouver

Today we buy tickets for the Hop On Hop Off Bus and ride instead of walk. We are constantly amazed at the architecture!

It rains on and off like yesterday. We stop for lunch and a drink at Joey Burrard. Good food and drinks! The architecture just keeps amazing us!

We get back on the bus and ride it back to the Steam Clock where we get off and walk around a bit.

As the day winds down, we get back on the bus for a final trip out to Vancouver Island and back. Random sights, an Indian Bride, a Hot Dog Cart, and more architecture to check out.

We arrive back at our hotel and decide to have dinner in the hotel pub.

The next morning we go to the modern airport for the flight home!

See you all next trip!