Back from the beautiful Blue Danube.. .

Well it isn't exactly blue, but it is definitely beautiful.  Paul and I just returned from our second Viking River Cruise, this one starting in Prague, Czech Republic, and ending in Budapest, Hungary.

After three days in Prague at the Art Nouveau Palace Hotel, we headed via bus to Passau, Germany to pick up our ship, the Viking Hermod, and start our 6 day cruise down the Danube.  One night in Prague we went on an evening tour to a restaurant/winery where I unexpectedly learned to dance the polka, (take look at the attached video) and we met some of the couples we were to spend time with throughout the cruise. Meeting and making interesting new friends is a wonderful part of this kind of trip.

I made good use of my heavy duty sneakers for most of the trip because this part of Europe still believes in cobblestones and lots of steps.  Pretty shoes are definitely a no-no if you want to make it through the week.  There were many highlights, some of which are pictured below.  My return, after some twenty-one years, to Hungary, the country of my Mother's family, was nostalgic, to say the least.  The magnificent Dohany Street Synagogue, the second largest synagogue in the world, had just reopened for the first time after the Fall of the Iron Curtain when my sister Fran and I visited there in 1966.  Today it is an awesome sight, totally restored and very beautiful.

All in all, it was a great trip and we really enjoyed the ship.  There is something about having the river, right outside your cabin's glass wall of doors when you wake up in the morning, that is very special. I highly recommend it!

View of  the Danube from our cabin

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Off on a tour of Prague on our first day of trip

Paul dancing the minuet on ship at night. Who
knew he had such talent!

Church in Prague.  We saw lots of beautiful churches
on this trip. Oddly enough, the area is almost atheistic
since the Communist days.

View of the Danube approaching Durstein

Drinking "melange". . kind of a delishViennese latte

The Great Synagogue on Dohany Street in Budapest

Communing with a Golden Eagle in Budapest

As he sits on my head!
 

Our guide and the really funny owner of winery we visited in Durnstein

Incredible view of Budapest as we sail into port late at night.

Attending the Mozart concert in Vienna with our friend Robert, a real life composer

Hat's off in Bratislava



We snuck into a rehearsal of a kid's show at the great concert hall in Linz

The Danube from Melk Abbey

Some of our favorite dinner companions, Arnie and Lin Sonsteby
and Dottie and Harry Winn

Heroes Square in Budapest

The incredible Mozart Concert  we attended

Interior of the Great Synagogue in Budapest

No, I'm not standing in a hole. . Adam, in back of me, is 6'8", and I'm 4'11".
Off to lunch with Adam, Jodie, Jennifer and Charlie Robert,at the 
Black Camel in Vienna.

Dancing in Prague.  I think I'll keep my day job.  (That's me
in the purple shirt and white pants, in case you don't recognize my moves.)

Last day of a great trip.