Cruising the Danube and then some!

I am not going to bore everyone with all the details of our very long treks home. It is just a long and exhausting endeavor no matter how you do it. As of Tuesday morning everyone was back home. Mike and Christy did get out of Boston on Sunday. We were short a few suitcases but on the return trip who cares. The suitcases all eventually found their way home. The jet lag set in and it was definitely a few days before we were back on track. Actually I think we caught up just in time to have daylight savings go away and have to adjust again. By now we have all checked in with children, grandchildren, parents and friends and are back to the rat race of our very busy lives.

It was a great trip shared with wonderful friends. Thanks again to Christy and Mike for asking us to tag along on the 60/40 trip. And now a few key words and phrases that should make our merry crew giggle and bring back a few funfilled memories!

"Ya"... frauline...1/2 flush/ full flush...how many people does it take to___?...frauline...trophy wife...hot flashes...did you sleep?...ruffage...teeth..."Ya vo"...let's walk...sweatpant girl...fee pee or free pee...bibman...chinaman...screwdriver man...eye candy boy...it's cold... too much information...trophy wife...trophy husband...enjoying a moment...who is the last to leave the dining room?...give her a glass of wine and she'll get the story...more water...dessert, really?...the California cabernet...check the map...are we going the right way?...the internet is not working...Regina...leisure group...this wine doesn't taste so bad tonight...how many crones/ forints to a dollar or a euro?...can you divide it and put it on four cards?...tall guys are easy to keep track of... and last but not least "God Bless America" !!!!

I think everyone got up with the idea we needed a restful day before our long trip home. Debbie, Andy, Katie and Joe went to church reporting that it was a lovely setting and that they didn't understand much beyond Amen. I think Keith and I missed the time we were supposed to be at breakfast so we arrived in the dining room when the rest of the gang was heading out to church. While they went to church we battled the internet and tried to figure out how we were going to get everything home.

After church the Kanes had their time out while the Gilmours, Keith and I went to the "baths" at the Gellert Hotel. I am not sure what we were expecting but it wasn't what we found. When we arrived we got in line for tickets. What do we buy???? Do we get the snack? Is there something special we should be taking advantage of? Who knows... the language barrier stumped us again. Then we had to find the entrance and get changed. Hmmmm...where do we go and how do these fancy bracelet things work? After wandering around like idiots we finally figured out how to open the dressing room door and lock our stuff in there. Okay now we are ready for the healing powers of the "baths". First stop a large pool with lots of jets and water that wasn't really very warm. I don't love hot spas so if I say it was cool it was really too cool for a cold day inside or not. Andy decided to do some exploring and finds another pool to try out. Okay this is warmer but really just a big pool with jets. What no people to wait on you, no healing powers! Then we locate the steam room. I go in there for one second and think I am going to expire. I'll wait for the rest of you outside. Now it is time to get dressed. Another big problem, Debbie and I can't get back in the dressing room where our clothes are being held hostage. We try everything and are waiting for our guys to rescue us when a guy who works there finally comes with a key and reunites us with our clothes. Keith and I bought the snack ticket. Where do we get the food? Who knows...we never found it. We did get to see the outside "baths" / pools. I am sure they are gorgeous in the summer today they just looked cold.

We got back to the hotel, reconnected with the Kanes and decided to go back to the strudel spot and try the pizza like stuff we had seen the day before. Add in couple of beers from down the street and we were all happy. We did a little more walking around and made our plan to meet for dinner. We met at six for an early dinner as we all had to be up and ready to go very early. Even with the extra hour we had gained having our bags outside the door at 3:45 am was an awful thought. We went to dinner at a place called Kirarlys. We sit down to find we are the only ones eating that early. The waiter brings the menus and wine list. No wine for us tonight we have to get up too early for that and we should probably start the drying out process. We ordered. Keith and Debbie's lamb stew was delicious and Andy's wild boar looked interesting. My chicken, billed as spicy, was just boring and the starchy thing that came with it was the worst texture ever. After a few parting pictures we walked back to the hotel said our good byes to the Gilmours and told the Kanes we would see them on the bus in the morning.

Saturday 10/29 Budapest Overcast 60

Rise and shine and get off the ship, there is another crowd headed in the door. We had breakfast together. Then we grabbed our belongings
and went to the lounge to wait for our turn to leave. We had scheduled a tour so we had something to do before our rooms would be ready at the Buda Hilton. Our first stop was the big market again. We bought a couple of gifts as did Katie. Then we headed to an art deco building for a snack and tour of the building. It was kids of like a period antique store. There were some nice pieces. Frankly touring Keith's house is more of an adventure. Next stop a statue in honor of the Soviets that only got to stay because there were human remains below it. We continued walking until we were across from the Parliament building. We passed buildings where they have metal balls attached on the outside to show where bullets hit from the last revolution to rid the country of communism. Back on the bus we go and up to Buda to check into the hotel. At 4:30 we met for a quick walking tour of the caste area. It is really interesting how the Hilton hotel was built around the ruins of a monastery. Existing old pieces were incorporated in the Hilton itself and the original wine cellar is still part of the premises. We also got some more information on the buildings in the area, had some great strudel and saw where the tour for the underground hospital begins. What to do tomorrow? Baths, underground tours ?????

We met for dinner at 7:15 pm ad walked to the Pierrot restaurant. It was lovely inside very continental. Pictures of movie stars adorned the wall. We had Hungarian wines and the pumpkin soup in the shot glass was absolutely delicious. By the time dinner was done everyone had hit the wall and was ready for bed. No night life for us!

Morning update from Mike. They got redirected from NY to Boston and as of now are in a Boston hotel waiting for a flight out. Let's hope the weather on the east coast is better tomorrow and Air France doesn't cancel the Kane's flight due to their strike. 

Friday  10/28  Semi overcast/sunny  60

We arrived in Budapest a little before 9 and got started on our up close tour of the city. We walked across the Chain Bridge and got on the 16 bus to go up to the Castle a top the hill over looking the Danube in Buda. It was a miracle the rickety old bus made it up the hill. Our tour guide took us around to see all the important land marks up on the hill which included a beautiful lookout point, some ruins, and quite a few buildings in disrepair. Matthias Church and the stone fortress wall were lovely picture opportunities. We made our way aroud the Castle area and had a bathroom break. While the group was paying to pee Mike and Christy were lookoutset some falconers. We then got back on the bus to head to Pest. As we were walking in Pest Mike went to grab his camera from his pocket and it was gone. He must have had his pocket picked while he was looking at the birds. It is just so crummy to lose all your pictures not to mention a new camera. We continued on through the walk shopping area to the big market place. It s full of food vendors on the first floor and local goods and souvenirs on the second. Christy bought a beautiful tablecloth. After shopping we got on the underground to go back to the ship for lunch. 

After lunch we decided to hop back on the underground and go to the Museum of Terrors. It was fascinating and made us even more uncomfortable by being extremely hot inside. The museum told the story of the Nazi occupation followed by the Soviet occupation. One was as bad as the other. Throughout history it seems this country has been taken over by one outsider after another.

We got our table back for dinner, don't mess with us, and had a fun last night on the Viking Legend. 

Ready to see as much of Vienna as you can see in one day at 9:00 am we were all on the bus for the city tour. They drove us around to see the important sites and then let us off the bus in the walking area aka expensive shopping area. We saw more statues, the Spanish Riding School (home of the Lipizans) and then had an hour to do what we wanted. Christy and I had seen a shop we wanted to go back to so we went there and Keith, who is a little tired of the inside of churches, joined us. Mike, Debbie and Andy went to see St. Stephan's Cathedral the had a cafe Vienna at a shop frequented by a 100 year old man. The old guy was there and Debbie has a picture. They also found a wine store and bought a couple of bottles for dinner. Katie and Joe took off on their own for the afternoon. Their high point  was a tour of the Opera House and conquering the subway to get back to the ship and out of the cold windy weather.

The rest of us came back to the ship for lunch and then got back on a bus to tour the Schonbrunn Palace, the summer palace of Maria Theresa. It was beautiful and the grounds are amazing. We just didn't have time to do it justice and it was very cold and windy outside but fortunately not raining.

We returned to the ship, showered and were in the lounge by 6:45 for our final informational meeting and the Captain's toast aka free champagne. Then it was down to the dining room for dinner. What someone took our  round table at the back...how dare they! An hour later seated on the starboard side of the boat we have the last laugh. We got to see a cool castle ad the shoreline of Slovakia from our "new table". They didn't see squat from the round table in the back. Hahaha! It was the Captain's dinner night and unfortunately the worst meal we have had but it did end with that cruise ship favorite,Baked Alaska parading around the room. On to Budapest!

PS Be sure to ask Keith about the the bathroom at the Schonbrunn Palace.