Brno, Czech Republic

This morning we woke to glorious sunshine.....a beautiful morning in Budapest.  Up out of bed at 6:30 and into hotel dining room by 7.......for not being a morning person I am even impressing myself! Yes, you have to be on the ball or you miss the bus and that's not an option I want to consider.

Now that we are a group of only 11 we are travelling in an 18 seater mini bus thing....a Mercedes.....pulling a luggage trailer. It's quite comfortable with a good recline option on the seats.....which is wonderful as we have about a 5 hour trip to Brno, in the Czech Republic.

I have decided to write a little during the day instead of leaving it until last thing at night.  Sometimes by then my mind is so muddled as to where we've been and what we've seen, my 'bergs' and 'burgs' are all muddled and I don't know if we've been in castles, palaces or cathedrals!

So it's mid morning and we've been on the road awhile.....looking forward to our first coffee stop sometime soon :-). Speaking of coffee.....I've had all sorts I can tell you. I figured 'when in Rome'!  Sometimes in restaurants at the end of the meal you are served short blacks.....they're always good for giving you a kick.....must be designed to spur you onto the next tourist attraction...Ha!  Another reason to go with the coffee is that to get a nice cup of tea has proved a challenge in some places so I've pretty much given up on that.  Every now and then I think of my teapot and leaf tea in my kitchen back home......hmmm......that can wait though.....all too soon this trip will be over and I don't want to regret not trying new things!

I mentioned in a previous blog how green and lush the countryside is.....and that continues as we motor through Hungary. One obvious thing is the lack of fences - apart from along the motorways - this is because there are no animals!! No cows, no sheep, no goats, no pigs......nothing!  So don't know where they all are?

Just had our first coffee break at a very busy truck stop with an awesome cafe/restaurant/bakery/restroom....you name it - it had it!  Good coffee with some amazing apple thing.....which I didn't need....and met some kiwi girls from Christchurch.  Kiwis are everywhere you find.

Just passed the border into Slovakia, so goodbye to Hungary.....I'm going to see more countries than I thought!  The border between Hungary and Slovakia.....

Driving through Bratislava ........... we were supposed to come into here on the cruise but some photos from the bus window will have to do!

Just had a lunch stop in another truck stop......so many huge trucks on the roads!  Challenging to order off the menu in a strange language ....ended up with a very large home made sausage with mustard and horse radish.....actually tasted not too bad! 

Just crossed into the Czech Republic.....is that some hills in the distance??

It's now nearly 10pm.....just had a fabulous dinner!

But to back track....we arrived in Brno mid afternoon. This city is the second largest in the Czech Republic with 400,000 residents, and is located in the area of Moravia. We are staying in the most fabulous hotel, probably one of the flashest I've ever been in....not that I've been in that many...ha!

It used to be a palace and was so tastefully turned into a hotel some years back, evidently it's the best hotel in the city! This is the interior courtyard which is the reception area.

My room......

After a quick check in we headed out with a guide for a walking tour of the inner city. Another fascinating city.....with the usual beautiful old architecture.

The main church in the city is called St Peter and St Paul cathedral, built in baroque style that is seen so much through this part of the world.

Walked past the Green market - or cabbage market....did you know that cabbage, dumplings and pork is the national food here?

We climbed to a roof top restaurant/bar and gazed over the city.....

But the highlight - along with staying in a palace - was wandering around the main city square. 

There were people everywhere......it had a real buzz. There was live music playing on a stage outdoors....so a few of us sat and listened for awhile....try and keep me away! A brass band was playing jazz.....so good......the there were young people dressed in national costume playing in a small string orchestra.

We also found a free concert happening not far from the square with more traditional song and dance....it was all so enjoyable.....loved it!

Dinner was in the hotel in a beautiful dining room full of mirrors and chandeliers.....a perfect end to a long but interesting day.  This is taken from a glass lift that looks down on the internal courtyard...the furniture is all lit up at night!

Tomorrow we head to Prague.

Till next time.....

Budapest

Today was another early start as we headed off on a 4 hour bus trip from Vienna to Budapest.

I must say I am impressed with the people I am travelling with - even though they are my generation and older - they all get on the bus armed with their iPads, kindles and phones ready to read, sort photos, listen to music, write, play games and so forth. And when we arrive somewhere most of us are asking about wifi as soon as we hit the ground.....ha!  Age is just a number!!

Travelling through the borders here is a non event really and I wasn't really sure when we actually left Austria and entered Hungary.....although someone did say there was a border with buildings etc.....but I missed it......probably playing a game on my iPad that I've become addicted to since being on this trip!  But I did notice when we stopped for a coffee/bathroom break that English was not being used and we got some coins in change that weren't Euro.....so I figured.....yep, we are in Hungary.

Some impressions from the bus window en route to Hungary......

Into Hungary......still very green and lush like Germany and Austria

Windmills everywhere

Hello Budapest 

Of all the places on our itinerary Budapest is the one I was least interested in if I am being honest.....maybe because I didn't really know much about it......but I have been pleasantly surprised today and it is a place I would like to return to someday.

Some of my first impressions of Budapest 

Budapest is the capital of Hungary and about 2.5 million people live here.......and there's about 1.6 million cars!  The city is split into 2 parts by the Danube River - in fact it is called the Pearl of the Danube - one part is Buda and the other Pest.  Buda is more hilly and seems to be more affluent, while Pest has the Parliament.....that's how our guide said is an easy way to remember - P for parliament!

Of course the river is central to everything - and we got to see it running very high still - with some magnificent bridges.

The Lion bridge

You can see the high water levels.....normally cars are travelling along this lower road but it is completely underwater. Notice the road signs peeping out above the water in the second photo.

We ventured high up and saw a magnificent panorama of the whole city

Hungary officially became a nation in 896. In 1000 they appointed their first King....King Stephen.

St Stephens basilica was named after him and is the largest church in Hungary.

Budapest also has a huge synagogue - in fact the second largest in the world - the largest being in New York. We only saw it driving by on the the bus...but it was impressive.

The actor Tony Curtis, has contributed a lot to the Jewish community here. Although he was born in the USA, his parents were from Hungary and he spoke only Hungarian until he started school in the States.

There is a lot of thermal activity in Budapest so thermal baths are well established.  In fact, health tourism is becoming more and more popular with claims that the mineral content of the water has real healing properties for those suffering from rheumatic problems and the like.

Along with these types of treatments, Budapest is becoming more and more popular as a destination for plastic surgery and dentistry! Much cheaper than Germany and other places.

This is one part of huge thermal baths.

It was most interesting to walk around the huge square that I have only seen on TV and gaze at the massive monuments.

Our cruise directors from the Amadeus, Andrea and Mirela, had never been to Budapest before either!

Just across the road from the square a familiar name on the skyline!

Our tour guide insisted they have the most beautiful McDonalds building in the world....what do you think?

It seems every city here has a palace and Budapest is no exception 

And of course an opera house

And outdoor restaurants and cafes 

And fascinating old buildings

So as I said, I am left with a very favourable impression of Budapest, and it's once again disappointing that the floods have meant we only had a little time here as there is so much more to see....that will have to wait for another time.

Tonight was our final dinner together as a large group - so there were quite a few tearful farewells! 

Because this trip has been so unpredictable and we have had to really be flexible and pull together, it has knitted us together in a unique way. Plus, we are some of the minority of people in the world who have witnessed raging rivers and flooding that only happens once in a blue moon!

Tomorrow morning half the group is returning to NZ or going onto to other travel, while the rest of us are continuing on for another week. We will once again board a bus in the morning (aargh) and head off on a few hours drive in the direction of the Czech Republic. I must remember to charge my iPad......ha!

The adventure continues:-)

Till next time......

Vienna

Vienna is a place I have always wanted to visit.....and today was the day!

It didn't start out too flash but it has ended up pretty wonderful :-)

We left our boat this morning in the rain and that continued until well into the afternoon. We arrived in Vienna with it still raining.....so disappointing! We were supposed to have 2 days in this beautiful city but because of the floods we only get one day here ......today!!

Vienna is the capital of Austria with 1.7 million residents.....there's 8 million in all of Austria.......and it's considered the music capital of the world!

We did a city tour by bus and by foot.....thankfully by the time we got walking the rain had eased.

We ate lunch in a very authentic Austrian restaurant.......great atmosphere!

We did a little shopping......mainly window shopping in the high end stores...all so beautiful:-)

We visited famous buildings.......so many stunning buildings one after another....the architecture takes your breath away!

We learned more about Vienna's famous sons.....Strauss and Mozart especially.

We checked into a beautiful hotel......never had such a huge hotel room to myself!

We got all dressed up and went for dinner and a concert.

So today has ended up in a pretty magical way and I had to pinch myself at times that I am really here!

The best way to tell you about it is by pictures......so here is my day in Vienna.

The famous architect Gustav Klimt's house......he designed the public toilets in Kawakawa in little old NZ!

St Stephens Cathedral

Inside the cathedral

The pipe organ 

The Imperial Palace

Around the streets of Vienna today

Starbucks is the second dearest place to get coffee here.....4-5 Euro.....that's $6-$8 NZ!

Where we had lunch they served wine in a beer mug!

Beautiful shops

This dress is made of icing......yes, icing!

And the bouquet.....

And the shoes....

Finally saw some cows.....but they were in a shop!

Lots of this little guy around....

Ended up having a beautiful dinner and concert......the Sounds of Vienna....with music from Strauss and Mozart.

With Margaret and Robyn

Inside the concert hall

A glass of bubbles during the interval with Janet and Patty

The end of a magic day!

Till next time..........