18 August - Danube River Cruise, Budapest to Passau

We boarded to river cruise with great expectations of seeing some great scenery, hopefully not too many more ancient ruins and not too many old churches.  Well, you win some and you lose some.

The boat is lovely and the food is spectacular.  Everything is very opulent and every time we turn around someone is trying to feed us again or give us a glass of wine.  I feel like a turkey being fed and marinated before Christmas. 

We did a driving and walking tour around Budapest in Hungary and for those in my family, that is where Frank Szabo (Pop's friend) came from after the second war.  Hungary was controlled by the Communists for a long time after the war and now enjoy the freedom of the west but not so much the affluence.

The next day we continued west toward Vienna and we saw some lovely scenery.  At about 6.00 pm, we passed through a lock.  It was very long and narrow but was wide enough for 2 of the river cruise boats to pull up side by side.  You really didn't feel the ship rise just saw the walls disappear below you as we went up.  

Just coming into the lock on the left side.

The other boat just coming in

The gates behind us swinging closed

The water almost up to the level and then the gate dropped down to let us pass

We must have gone through about 10 or more locks between Budapest and Pasau in Germany.

On Wednesday we went into Vienna on a tour and visited the Baroque State Hall of the Austrian National Library.  It was built between 1723 and 1726 and houses 200,000 books printed between 1501 and 1850.

We also saw some of the books printed on Papyrus as early as the 12th century.

We also saw an old globe which at the time it was made showed Australia with no Eastern Shore.

After leaving Vienna minus my glasses as they fell out of my stuff while walking through the ancient city wearing my sunglasses,  we travelled slowly down the Danube toward Germany in the distance in 3 days time.  We didnt spend enough time in Vienna so that will have to be a next time also.

After many phone calls I have found that I cannot get another pair of glasses until we get home to Australia.  Thank God I had had the left eye done or I would have been in trouble.

Wednesday morning we went to a small boutique winery which is environmentally sound.  The huge oak casks that house the ageing wine are in a cellar that was used as early as 1200 years ago.

The owners son with a cask with his family crest and his name carved into it

The 1200 year old stone stairway leading up out of the wine cellar

It wasn't long before we were back on board and heading past the castle Dûrnstein where the king of Austria fought with King Richard (Richard the Lionheart) in the middle of the 1100's?  

Robin Hood fans will remember the story about how the king of the day (Richard 1 ) was on crusades and put in prison for a couple of years.  His brother who took his place put such high taxes on the country Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave the money to the poor.   In order to be released his ally's paid a ransom to Austria which built an entire city in Austria and set it up even until today.

We came through a few more locks and then came to the port of Linz where we boarded a bus for a 2 hour trip to Salzburg.

Salzburg is where the Von Trapp family came from and of course where the movie Sound of music was filmed.

The real Von Trapp Family

Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer from the movie

The magnificent chapel of Mirabell Palace

Elizabeth Von Trapp

Singing in the magnificent Chapel of the Mirabell Palace

With Elizabeth Von Trapp after signing my CD

We went to a small chapel at the Palace and then were entertained by the granddaughter of the original Von Trapps, Baron George and Baroness Maria Von Trapp, Elizabeth Von Trapp.

Elizabeth is the daughter of the Werner Von Trapp

She sang a couple of the songs from the movie and some of her own and in the magnificent chapel it sounded wonderful.

We saw the steps where the children sang the Do Re Me song in the movie

The fountain which featured in the movie

The Von Trapp Palace

As we left the large church of the Mirabell Palace there was a wedding just finishing up and the guide said that as the couple walked down this staircase the groom rubbed the head of the angel for luck as the angel appears to be tapping his head and saying what have you done....

Stuart is wondering the same thing but I told him its too late.

 That evening we had a visit from the reigning King of the area King Franz Joseph and his wife Queen Sissy. (Dressed in Period costume) who gave us a running commentary on the way things were in the day and how they met and ran their country.  A small sketchy but interestingly funny skit.

On Saturday, we arrived in Passau and after a walk round the ancient city where we saw the height of the Danube river when it flooded in June (up to 3 stories high) we were entertained by a performance in the local cathedral of the Pipe Organ with over 12,000 pipes.

A taste of the local brew was called for 

And as we left Stuart wanted to go in this building but didnt think he qualified.

Mozart lived on the 3rd floor

We visited the home that Mozart lived in in his composing days and saw a very dodgy Mozart beneath it...

The bell tower which also featured in the movie

This street entertainer appeared to be standing on nothing and we couldn't work out just what held him up off the ground - his left hand never left the keyboard so we suspect a steel bar curved for him to sit on a seat?????

The front door of a privately owned Palace

On of the many side streets in Passau

Sorry Zac, I did try to get you a pair of lederhosen but 199 euros amount to about A$360 and really I thought you would have a problem with where the coat hanger had to hang.....

We had to be on a bus at 4.30am to get to our flight to Munich to fly to Copenhagen.  Will be happy when the early mornings finish....

10 August - Edinburgh Tattoo

Wanting to get the most out of our overnight in Edinburgh for the Tattoo, I booked an early flight from Heathrow.  The car picked us up at 3.30am for a 7.00 am flight. Boy did I stuff up on that one.

Our hotel was right in the middle of the city and within walking distance to everything.  We got a cab to the Castle but the driver had to park about 3 blocks away where it was cordoned off.  there were police everywhere and souvenir shops on either side of the walk called the royal mile and as Edinburgh holds a Fringe Festival in conjunction with the Tattoo, the population grows each year from the approx 500,000 people living there to twice that for the month of August.  it was shoulder to shoulder for the full width of the street for the entire length up to the Castle gates.  I have never seen so many people in one place before.

This is one of the tallest monuments I have seen and is in memory of one of Scotland's greatest writers, Sir Walter Scott.

The start of the Royal Mile which is the road way leading up to the gates of the Edinburgh Castle which is lined with tourist type shops and stalls.

Our seats were perfect.  When booking them, I asked for the best seats and was informed that they were reserved for Her Maj.  We had plenty of room and faced front on to everything.  The program was very good and the light show off the walls of the castle was terrific.

The weather held off but as the sun went down it got very cold.

I was rugged up in scarf, gloves and huge coat but was still cold till I remembered the cashmere scarves I purchased earlier and wrapped them round me as well.

The show was amazing but we were thrilled with the light show that was displayed on the Castle wall with each performance.

The evening ended with a single piper playing a Scottish Hymn from the walls of the Castle.

Never have I heard a more emotional recital from one bagpipe.

A statue of Shirlock Holmes in the street near where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born

Next day we booked out of the hotel and went on the hop on and off bus to some of the highlights of the city, had lunch at the "Conan Doyle" Hotel which is very close to the birthplace of the author of the Sherlock Holmes series, Arthur Conan Doyle.  Unfortunately, there is a roundabout on that spot now.

The hotel was oozing atmosphere with small levels only a few steps apart.  The walls were covered with old wallpaper and very old photos and lined with bookcases with very old books.  You could almost expect to see Sherlock Holmes on his hands and knees under one of the tables with his deer hat and magnifying glass calling to his trusty Watson.

Of course a visit to Scotland wouldn't be complete without a taste of the real thing.

Haggis, taties and neeps. (Turnips)

A little cafe we went into for morning tea had an original roof dating to the thirteenth century.

It was called the Deacon Brodie after a business man of the day who subsidised his gambling by being a house breaker by night and was eventually caught and hanged.  It is said it inspired Robert Louis Stevensons book Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde.

An interesting array of soups.  The first two would have been ok but I think they must have got the recipe for the last one from Mr Heinz.

As we were leaving we spotted this sign above the door on the way out.  Just as well neither of us wanted to go or we would have needed a ladder.

All too soon we had to get back to the airport for our flight back to London and then off to Budapest.  But we will leave that for another time.