2016 - Grand European River Cruise From Budapest to Amsterdam & Holland Spring Extension
January 1, 2016 -
Dave & I decided to celebrate our 25th years of Marriage on a River cruise trip to Europe!
We sail on the Danube from the beautiful city of Budapest, then the Main in Germany, Connected via the Europa Canal, then Rhine to the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. After the cruise, a short stay in Holland and of course, do some photography with the spring bloom in Holland!
See River Cruise Map follows. I will try to post from time to time for highlights of the trip, Enjoy!
March 20th, 2016 - Departure Day! After our friend's wedding last night, we leave for Amsterdam then Budapest. We will be arrived afternoon of March 21st, 2016.
Mar 21, 2016 - After a long flight connecting via Amsterdam, we arrived Budapest late in the afternoon. A short ride to our hotel and quickly we head to bed! Tomorrow is gone a be a long day!
March 22, 2016 - Budapest is a beautiful city, many great architecture buildings and along the Danube - amalgamation of 3 areas but as most people known for the 2 major cities - The Buda and the Pest. Many bridges (very beautiful ones) connected 2 sides of the Danube - We stay reasonably centrally located - our room have a RIVERVIEW & the Castles! The castles are all lit during the night so I almost wanna to get up in the middle of the night to photograph the castles!
After a breakfast, Dave and I set out on foot to explore - we walk, and Walk and Walk more!! Take some pictures along the way - the morning is beautiful, with lots clouds and sunny. The public transportation is very convenient so we took the trams often when we do no wanted to walk - see the national treasury, the opera house, hike up the hill to the castles district then walk down back to visiting a friend's family cafe (Krisztina's Sister wasn't there but we enjoyed the Cafe Latte & the yummy ham toast at the cafe ). We then back to our hotel and rest! Later in the afternoon, We went with Miklos from Budapest to do a "food" tour, then follow by a evening photography session. It was lots fun.
We had Hungarian sausages, Pastry (cake - I have a Sache Cake - chocolate with orange Jam filling) at a Pastry Shop - It was Fantastic! If I live here, surely will be gaining 2 pounds a day.... haha
The Night shoot was fun - All the building lit up along the Danube - I like the city's view from the Gellert Hill specially... We then walk to the Fishman's Bastion then back to the Chain Bridge...
March 23, 2016 - Quick ride on the tram to visit the famous market of Budapest - A very beautiful building - lots cure meats, fresh produce (peppers, peppers) and of course - Paprika galore!
We will be transferred to the ship this afternoon so now I am enjoying the moments at the lobby of the hotel to blog for the experience so far... very unique place!
March 24, 2016 - Last day at Budapest. Our ship docked just right across the Danube to the Parliament building - what a gorgeous place. I went out on shore to take some night photos for the building last night after the "surprise Budapest Danube Cruise" by our captain last night... The food is fantastic and the ship is very modern... Wifi everywhere - mini fridge in room... Dave and I enjoyed a lot. We also went on a Hospital on the Rock tour and it is very interesting - any 2 World War or 1956 Revolution buff out there? It definitely is a place should not be miss! Tonight will be the Welcome Dinner and the sail away party at 4:30PM - Bye Budapest, we will be pass 64 locks, 3 rivers and a canal then to Amsterdam.
March 25, 2016 - We sail along the Danube past Solvakia - Bratislava then dock at Vienna.
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March 25th, 2016 - Arrive at Vienna, Austria: the musical capital of the world. Musical Concert at the Liechtenstein Palace - with the Royal Orchestra. A little of Mozart, then Strauss and opera then ballet, a fun evening.
March 26 - Vienna Austria - We visited the Schoenbrunn Palace in the morning with the group tour, no PHOTOS allowed! then went out with the old town and explore on foot. Very good coffee house but crowded, brought some "Mozart Balls" (A chocolate specialty of Vienna) , hopefully will taste up it's reputation!
March 27th, 2016 - Early morning we arrive along the river Duernstein: what a beauty little town right in the heart of Austria's wine produce region. Vineyards are lined both side of the river, along with many monasteries. Meet a nice Austrian couple who own the vineyard - They took a picture with their wine in hand in the field! Thanks for allowing me to photograph in your vineyard!
Duernstein:
More photos as we sail along the Wachau Valley:
In the early afternoon, the ship docked at Melk. We visited the Abby on the hill and wow! This Abby is a live school with a 8 story library - We visited a couple of rooms. one of them is the Theology Book Room - Dave turns around and saw the many volume of book of " St Thomas". It is a pity though - they no longer allow photographs inside the library - it is magnificent!
The quaint town of Melk:
March 28th, 2016 - Early morning we got drop off at a small town and join a full day excursion to Salzburg - the story of "the Song of Music". then coach transfer across the border to Germany to meet our ship at Passau. Ok, "The Song of Music" is a American production, a story written by American - but is a story and music probably most of us grow up with - that is a tradition to watch the movie every Christmas or New year Eve/Day. so, dave and I were looking forward for the excursion. What we don't know was: Mozart was born at Salzburg too!
We took a quick walk in the old town of Salzburg, then be coached to the Austrian Alps and have a nice lunch and watch the local folk show: some songs from "The Song of Music", Mozart, Strauss... and be given a Eidenweiss (a small while Austrian Alps flower) to take away! very fun... This is first time Scenic doing the tour and everyone had a good time!
The Coach tour also gave us bonus in seeing some of the beautiful countryside of Austria and Germany (Barvaria). We arrived Passau just in time to board the ship and then it is anchor up and set sail!
At Passau - the 3 rivers meet: Danube, Inn and shortly we will be leaving the Danube, transfer via the Canal to the Maine River, then the Rhine!
From this point on, due to the low bridge on the river, the Sun deck is closed till April 3rd, when we are in the main river of Rhine.
March 29th, 2016 - WE got to sleep in today! Yay...
The ship passed many locks last night and we got the morning full of programs - Sign up for excursions for the second half of the trip,
a quick German lessons and after a quick lunch and catch up on all emails, Facebook & blog text, we arrived Regensburg, Germany.
Regensburg is very interesting town - it is a few of the town’s in central Europe that did not got destroyed after the wars so we had a good time to walk around the town. A walking tour took us by all the highlights and then we explore on our own a bit before we got back to the ship. Not before eating a "hot dog" and visited maybe the last cuckoo clock shop of the cruise!
Leaving Regensburg the ship are entering the Europa Canal and heading to Nuremburg...
March 30th, 2016 - mid way of our cruise... wake up to a rainy day and internet on the ship has not been working since yesterday afternoon as we enter to the Europa Canal. We have been travelling upstream so far and the Europa canal connect the Danube to Main Rhine… Since the opening of Canal 1992, from the 100+ river cruise ships, as of 2015, there are more than thousands of river cruise ships using the Europa Canal.
We had a small lecture on the Europa Canal – Which connects the Danube to Main then Rhine. It is totally within Germany under 200 KM, very narrow and the bridges are extremely low. At one point, The canal is like an Aqua duct high on the sky and roadway is under it, cool…
I have to find a pair of shoes quick – there is a big crack on my sole of the shoes, it keeps raining for the next day or two, I will be having wet feet every day… Ugh!
I say good bye to my red shoes and exchange to a new pair!!!
After a quick lunch on ship we arrived Nuremburg - place has the first sausage recipe! Dave and I sign up for a walking tour in town and enjoyed the region for Ginger Bread, Brad-wurst and beer!
Well I have to say – I prefer the sausage I had yesterday at the dinner at Regensburg – they are cooked on coal fire and yum yum…
Most of the old fortress is under renovation but the old towers and the wall was interesting in a way. Since the city had been 80% destroyed the Second World War, it was rebuilt as of today. The square hosted the Christmas Market look lovely. I can just imagine it - must be quite a fair!
Our cruise continues to Bamberg this evening – After Bamberg, we will leave the canal and joint the Maine River in Germany then to the Rhine.
March 31th, 2016 – Bamberg, Germany. A university town with a huge Cathedral on the hill. One must know about the beer culture of Bamberg – apparently, home 40% of the breweries in Bavaria! One of street (1 block) used to have 12 bars (breweries)! A more serious note – very charming little town even we walked in rain…
Wow – many waterways and best of all the city center is located in the middle of the river since the Prince Bishop do not permit the town hall to be built on land so, people put some piles of foundation on the river bed and built it – benefit! No taxes as it was on a no man land.
In the afternoon, we leaving Bamberg and sail to Wuerzburg and transit to the Maine River in Germany.
Still no internet… Sigh. Oh, just before supper, we have internet again… Yay!
April 1st, 2016 - We arrived early morning at Wurzburg. We signed up for a shore excursion to Rothenberg so there will be very little time to wonder around the town of Wuerzburg.
So There is NO TIME for Wuerzburg... After our excursion to Rothenburg and back to the ship, we set sail almost right away to Freudenberg. The ship is sailing on Maine now, a tributary of The Rhine - after Frankfurt, we will be on the Rhine and leaving Germany to the Netherlands.
Rothenburg - the town of Christmas and famous by its Christmas Markets is a very neat place. It is kinda touristie but in a good way. Lots cuckoo clocks, Christmas oranamants, wood declarations and toys. There is also a Steiff bear shop! The town is famous by its "snow ball" sweat treats.
We tasted the local made sausages and "Snow Balls", they are great! after a short walk and a bit shopping - we enjoyed Rothenburg very much.
April 2, 2016 - We will arrive Freudenberg around noon then will attend the local Spring " October Fest" event. It will be just a just stay as the ship will be set sail again to Rudesheim at 3 PM...
OK - I am taking abreak from photography... I took a few birds along the river but will have to wait till I am home the pick out the ones I like, The Octoberfest event was a lot of fun! We had sausages again and beer, then schnop!
This stretch of the Mainz/Rhine is very beautiful and full of Vineyards and towns...
April 3rd, 2016 - Ruedesheim & Marksburg Castle. Last night, we sail by Frankfurt in the middle of the night and join the Main River of Rhine. Early arrival to Ruedesheim. We will take the choo-choo train at Ruedesheim to the summit then a cable car up to the top for the pano view. the last small village we will visit on our trip then will be all big cities. In the afternoon, we will sail thru the Rhine Gorge - dotted with many castles that we can view from the sun deck. Just in time for the Sun deck re-opening! In the evening, we will be attending a dinner at a castle! looking forward to it!
There is no photos on the Marksburg castle - we have to hike up the hill to the castle! Riseling Wine capital Rudeisheim... In the afternoon, we sail pass many castles including passing the Rhine Gorge and the ship docked at Kloblentz and will set sail at 2 AM to Cologne, Germany. More pictures later on castles on the hills along the Rhine.
House along the riverbend
April 4th, 2016 - Only a few more days for our cruise... This morning we sign up for a walking tour for Cologne. City of major trade hubs since the Roman time. The ship docked very close to the old town so the walking tour only taking us about 1 hour...
In the afternoon, we continue the cruise to Amsterdam. Home of the Windmills & Tulips! Can't wait! We will also leave the comfort of our home away from home - the Scenic Jade then spent sometime with thv spring flowers in the Netherlands!
Tonight, we attended the Captain's Farewell Dinner and 2 more nights on the ship at Amsterdam, we will conclude our Scenic cruise! I will miss the Lattes, drinks and food for a long time!
April 5th, 2015 Amsterdam - We sign up for the tour to Zaanse Schans with Scenic - a Dutch village with windmills!
Our cruise portion of the trip coming to an end! I like this "all inclusive thing" - no bill at the end!
We arrived Amsterdam this morning and went on a tour to the Zaanse Sichuans - a village with working windmills, then visited Eidam (home of the cheeses) and take a walk at city center of Amsterdam! Enjoy a few pics from today. We will be leaving the ship tomorrow morning early and may not have any internet connection for a while so this will be my last post (may be) - till I am home!
April 6, 2016 – After Disembarkation of the Scenic Jade, Take the complimentary transfer to Airport, We are on our own!
After a hearty breakfast, we disembark to ship and take the transfer to airport to pick up the rental car. Scenic was very good to help everyone – they have representatives all the way including helping people to check-in at the airport.
Both the Hilton & Sheraton can be connected directly to the airport terminal. After pick up the rental car, we head off to find the B & B farm house in South Holland. If is not so easy to drive in Holland! The speed limits are erratic so must pay close attention to all signs.
Since it is too early to check-in the B&B so we decided to do some sightseeing at Delft – home the the Royal Blue Porcelain Factory. We did a tour there and keep us inside as we got rain on quite a bit. Hopefully the weather will be dry for the next few days so that we can visit at least Keukenhof!
The GPS help us located the B&B no problem at all, Annette & Marcos (our hosts) are great We are very happy with the B&B. Only problem is to take the luggage up 3 set of staircases.
See through the window from our Room
April 7th, 2016 – Cloudy day but weather forecast said should be partly sunny so we decided to go to Keukenhof… Pass Leiden, many the flower fields are starting to bloom so very pretty, arrive at Keukenhof about 10 AM – OOPS, Dave forgot the tickets so we brought a new set and thinking that if the weather is nice we will come back tomorrow again.
A lot of the flowers are still in bulbs only some tulips are in bloom inside the park. Tried to get a photo of the windmill with flowers but most of the fields next to the windmill are not in bloom yet. Still having a good time! We will be back in the morning for more…!
After Keukenhof, we went back to Delft to photograph the gate and the town square and got lost. It took us ½ hour more to find the car. I can’t photograph the town hall because it is market day and the square was full of merchants.
April 8th, 2016 – Saturday, bright and sunny today. We went back to Keukenhof for the second day as it was just amazing! I never seen so many variety of tulips and some of them are really in giant size – the bloom is bigger than my hand! There are a lot more bloom today as the weather is warmer so are the flower fields around Lissie and Leiden. Great day to enjoy nature’s rainbow of colors.
April 9th, 2016 – We decided to visit Gouda: where the famous Dutch cheese (Baby Bell) was named after. A interesting little town. The town hall building was beautiful: too bad it was market day here also and lots merchant set up shops at the square.
After Gouda: we visited the De Haar Castle – now day use for wedding and other events.
April 10th, 2016 – Leaving Zuidplas B&B and driving back to Amsterdam. We will be stay at Amsterdam for 2 more nights then go home. The drive to the Airport is about 45 minutes and we drop off the car then use the Connexxion shuttle to get to our hotel in Amsterdam. It was very easy. Just one comment about driving in Holland – Most part is very relax and beautiful in the countryside. But definitely not for the faint hearted – sometimes country roads have only one lane but with both direction traffic include huge big trucks. There is not only no border, it only a feet or two to the deep water filled gully on both side!!
In the afternoon, we walk the Centrum of Amsterdam and take photos of the canal bridges and Flower Market. We then took a canal cruise and did the “touristie” sort of things. I tasted a Grand Marnier Dutch Pancake – it was very tasty!
April 11th, 2016 – A leisure day… Tried to go back to the Flower Market early in the morning to watch the delivery but was told they moved the flower market out of town and now only for tourists! Sigh…
Dave picked up the bug from the shipmates and finally passed to me, so we are taking easy today and prepare for our homebound flight.
Good Bye Holland!