2017 Adler Danube trip

Szofia met us at the hotel for the 45 minute ride to Szentendre, a small historic town which is now famous for its crafts. Along the way we passed numerous Roman ruins, including parts of an aqueduct and two coliseums dating to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. With all the changing country borders over time it is hard to keep track of which ethnic groups were in which areas. Szentendre is ethnically Serbian and there are numerous Serbian Orthodox churches in the town which are elaborately decorated inside. Serbian Church Altar Szentendre has a large main square with a Baroque cross erected in the middle in 1763 to commemorate the plague avoiding the town. We had a photo of our Woodstock tour group taken in front of the cross. Szofia, our Hungarian tour guide, is at the far left. The two ladies next to her are Joann and Adriana, identical twins - I had a hard time telling them apart. We visited the marzipan museum that has various elaborate scenes and statues made out of marzipan -...

The sights that we plan to visit in Pest are not within walking distance so a van arrived to take us to various places. This was one of the more depressing days in terms of learning about the tragic histor of Europe and Hungary in particular. The first stop was the historic parliament building (third largest, after Argentina and England). It is right on the bank of the Danube and is an impressive sight from the Buda side of the river. Needless to say, it is quite impressive inside with a massive entrance staircase and gold leaf adorning much of the interior. We were able to see the crown jewels which were saved by the Americans after WWII and returned at the end of the Soviet regime. The area outside the Parliament was the site of the uprising in 1956 and one can still see the bullet holes in adjoining buildings. Many students were killed in the courtyard by Soviet snipers on the rooftops. Entrance to Parliament building The next stop was the main synagogue in Budapest which was ...

After breakfast at the Hilton overlooking the Danube, we were met by Szofia for the walking tour of Buda. The first stop was St. Mattias church, founded in the 13th century and named after King Mattias who held the Ottoman's at bay in the 15th century. Unfortunately, after the Ottoman conquest in the 16th century, it was turned into a mosque and the interior covered with white paint. After the expulsion of the Turks in the 17th century it was returned to being a Catholic church. When the Hudson Valley Youth Chorale toured in Budapest in 2002, our daughter Anna sang with the chorale in the church. Carmen who came along as a chaperone said it was a very emotional experience. St. Mattias Church with statue of St. Stephen in the foreground (St. Stephen was responsible for bringing Christianity to Hungary) Our tour took us down to the old palace (now a government building) where we were able to see the changing of the guard. This is quite a choreographed procedure with drums, ...

We arrived in Amsterdam right on time at 7:30 and got through immigration fairly quickly. Ginny had arranged for us to use the airport lounge as our connecting flight wasn't until 11:30. This was a more comfortable place to spend the time, with comfortable seats and complimentary food and drinks. I had another chance to use the shiatsu massage chair which is quite intense, giving a vigorous massage while showing soothing videos and playing relaxing music. Amy and I really enjoyed using it when we traveled through Amsterdam last year. The flight to Budapest was fairly short and smooth. We were met at the airport by Szofia who was our tour guide for the next three days. We are staying at the Budapest Hilton which is on the top of the Buda hill overlooking the Danube. Interestingly, when the ground was being excavated for the Hilton in 1976, they found the ruins of a 13th century cloister that had been covered for centuries. The lower level of the Hilton has a reproduction of the or...

Last year, our friends Betty and Dave Noone invited us to join them on a river cruise through Provence but Carmen was needed to take care of her mother's final days in hospice. David and our daughter Amelia went on the cruise instead and had a wonderful time. Around the same time, our friend and travel agent, Ginny Barthel, announced a trip to Budapest and cruise up the Danube to Vienna and Nurenberg. As a surprise anniversary present I signed us up. So this morning we are on our way. The route of our cruise is shown on the map below: Our friend Brian picked us up and brought us to the office of Booked by Barthel to get our limo to Newark airport. The limo was quite luxurious for the 14 of us going on the trip, a "party" limo with lights on the ceiling, controls for disco music and padded bench seats all around the inside. We made it down to Newark in just under two hours, faster than usual when we drive - it was certainly nice having someone else drive ...