Travels in Europe - 2018: Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Slovakia and Hungary

Planned Itinerary:

Leave Phuket 22 May 19:10

Arrive Florence 23 May 9:30 

Staying at Old Bridge Elegant Apartment Airbnb
- 23 local area
- ‎24 Hop-on-hop-off (HoHo) Bus (buy 2 day tickets on site)
- ‎25 HoHo Bus
- ‎26 Pisa and Lucca (on our own by bus or train)
- ‎27 Cinque Terre TOUR BOOKED
- ‎28 San Gimignano and Siena and Monteriggioni TOUR BOOKED

Leave Florence 29 May

Arrive Venice 29 May

Staying at Al Campaniel B&B
- 29 local area
- 30 HoHo Boat (buy 2 day tickets on site, 10% discount with Florence stub)
- ‎31 HoHo Boat

Leave Venice 1 June

Arrive Zurich 1 June

Staying at Lovely New Studio Airbnb
- 1 local area
- ‎2 Bern
- ‎3 Lugano
- ‎4 Lucerne
- ‎5 Lausanne
- ‎6 Zurich
- ‎7 Liechtenstein
- ‎8 free day
- ‎9 Basel
- ‎10 Zurich free day walking

Leave Zurich 11 June

Arrive Salzburg 11 June

Staying at Ibis Salzburg North
- 11 HoHo Bus in city TOUR BOOKED
- ‎12 Halstat
- ‎13 HoHo Bus Lake and Mountain BOOK ON SITE 25 EURO

Leave Salzburg 14 June

Arrive Vienna 14 June

Staying at Pakat City Hotel
- 14 local
- ‎15 HoHo Bus TOUR BOOKED
- ‎16 HoHo Bus TOUR BOOKED
- ‎17 Budapest, Turkey
- ‎18 Melk/Krem
- ‎19 Bratislava, Slovakia

Leave Vienna 20 June 23:20

Arrive Phuket 21 June 18:05

BLOG: (Darrel's emails to family)

May 24, 2018 - Florence

We both woke up at 4:00 am due to the 5-hour time difference so we had lots of time to prepare for the day ahead. 

We took our time meandering through the streets en route to the train station where we knew the Hop on Hop off Bus started its route. 

The HoHo bus here has two routes, one is a 2-hour route and the other is a 1-hour route. We took the 2-hour route first (which was closer to 3 hours) noting places we would like to explore further tomorrow, and then the 1-hour route. We spent the rest of the day eating lunch, eating gelato and seeing some local sites.

May 25

Today we slept until 5:00 am, ate breakfast and headed off at 7:30 to see some of the sites we had noted from yesterday. The two highlights were the Florence's Duomo & Giotto Bell Tower and the Palazzo Vecchio.

We then hopped on the HoHo bus and headed to Fiesole which is a small town to the Northeast of Florence. From here you have a great view of Florence and its many old and interesting buildings. We ate lunch there and then headed back to Florence. We hopped off the bus a couple of kilometers away from our apartment so we could see some more sites on the way home.

It was close to 5 by the time we got home so we just relaxed and prepared for tomorrow.  We are taking the train tomorrow to Pisa and Lucca so we booked the tickets online to save time at the train station.

We finished the day by eating a snack, playing puzzles and reading. 

May 26

Today we caught the 08:28 train to Pisa. The train left the station 5 minutes late which would be totally unacceptable in Japan.

Once in Pisa we walked to the site where leans the Leaning Tower of Pisa. After walking 20 minutes we knew we were getting close as we could see the dome roof and cross of the Pisa Cathedral. A few minutes later we came out from between two buildings and could see a large portion of the Cathedral. My eyes quickly wandered a bit to the right and I became dizzy. I was seeing the Tower for the first time and it reminded me of the time when I first saw the Taj Mahal.  The Tower was absolutely breathtaking. After regaining my composure I wondered why I was not hearing any gasping or comments coming from Loretta. I looked at her and could see that she was still taking in the amazing beauty of the Duomo. She had not yet seen the Tower. I said to Loretta, "look a little to the right ", and then came the gasp and the emotions hit her.

It took a long time to be able to take our eyes off of the Tower. Even after taking in the Piazza del Duomo and then glancing back to the Tower, we both could not shake the WOW factor. 

We walked around the entire site looking at the buildings from all vantage points but most of our comments referred back to the Tower.  Inexplicably amazingly incredible and beautiful.  If only those involved with the design and construction could have known that the Tower would eventually lean, becoming one of the most interesting and visited sites in the world.

I would also like to mention that the structural retention work that was completed recently, to stop the Tower from going past the tipping point, is totally invisible. 

We made our way back to the train station and caught our next train to Lucca. Lucca is a beautiful quaint town that we wanted to visit so we could catch a glimpse of Italy outside of a major tourist area. We did some walking and sightseeing but most of our time was spent eating and drinking.

By late afternoon it was time to catch our last train of the day and head back to Florence.

May 27

Today was an early start. We set the alarm for 5:25 am just in case we did not wake up before then, as has been the case so far.

We walked to Stazione Leopoida where we were to meet at 6:45 am for our full-day tour of Cinque Terre which are 5 interconnecting villages that cling to steep cliffs.

We had stops in Manarola, Vernazza, Monterossa, Portovenere and La Spezia. They were all interesting to visit and very picturesque, especially from the water.

Our trip included 2 bus rides, 4 trains and 2 boat trips. It was a very full day and we did not get back to our apartment until almost 10:00 pm.

It was a good tour but I think we both prefer a self-organized tour rather than an organized one. They are too structured, for example you have to pee at the same time as everyone else and you are herded through the streets like cattle. MOO! Having said that we have another organized tour tomorrow. 

May 28

Today we were booked on another organized full-day tour. We were herded onto the bus at 8:45 am and traveled to San Gimignano about 100 km South of Florence.

We had not planned on going to San Gimignano but one of our friends suggested it and we are very grateful that they did. It is the most interesting and beautiful medieval village we have seen in Italy.  Cinque Terre pales in comparison to San Gimignano.

From there we went to a Tuscan Winery called Poggio ai Laghi. Here we got to taste four different kinds of wine plus olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then were served lunch.

Our next stop was Castello di Monteriggioni.

Our last stop was Siena. It was another medieval city but we still have not lost our appreciation of viewing the ancient buildings and narrow cobble stone roads. 

We were herded back to our bus for our return trip to Florence.

Tomorrow we leave Tuscany behind but will take with us all our wonderful memories. 

May 29

This was primarily a moving day, i.e. from Florence to Venice, but soon after checking-in at our B&B we were off walking about the city of Venice.

We were planning on taking the Hop on Hop off Boat but when we went to buy our ticket we were told there was no narrative system operating on the boats. Also the route is very limited and the boats are 1 hour apart. After taking all these factors into consideration we decided to do without. We can use the public water bus to get around if needed.

We have only been here a few hours but found time to eat drink and have a gelato cone.

May 30 and 31

Besides the main island(s) we toured a number of the out-islands of which Venice consists. We went to Murano which is famous for glass-making; Burano which is famous for linen and lace work; Torcello which is famous for an old church; Lido which is off the beaten path for tourists and gave us a better taste of the Italian culture. Our favourite was Burano. It was very quaint, picturesque and offered many pizza and gelato outlets.

But after eating a lot of pizza and gelato and drinking a variety of local beers and wine, and visiting numerous beautiful sites, it is now time to pack our bags again. We catch a water bus tomorrow morning to go to the train station and then we take two trains to Zurich.

June 1 - Zurich

Today was mostly consumed by a 5+ hour train trip. Once we arrived at the Zurich main train station we tried to buy a local train ticket that would take us closer to our Air B&B. Although the machine had an English option we could not figure out how to buy the tickets we wanted. We were to meet the owner in 20 minutes so we did not have time to hoof it. Our only option was to take a taxi, $32.00 CAD for a 10 minute ride.

Once checked in we walked to the local train station and purchased an 8-day Swiss Train Pass to give us unlimited train travel (and most busses and ferries and gondolas etc.) for most of our time here.

We then ate, walked the local area and went shopping for morning grits.

Tomorrow we plan to head to Bern.

June 2 - Bern

After boarding our second train on the way to Bern, the conductor came down the car asking to see passenger's tickets. When I showed him ours he could see we were from Canada and that this was our first time using the Swiss Pass. He welcomed us to Switzerland and then told us the four rules we were to follow during our visit.

1. Buy and eat lots of Swiss chocolate 

2. Buy a Swiss watch

3. Buy a Swiss knife

4. Open an account to hide our money

After he left us the lady beside me said we are also to buy Swiss cheese. 

Note: neither one told us to buy and eat gelato.

We arrived in Bern an hour earlier than we had planned the night before because when we got to the station there was a train ready to leave and it was a fast one. We were glad we arrived earlier because there was more to see than we expected and the city seemed to be in party mode. (This already proved the advantage of having a Swiss Travel Pass).

After touring the Old Town, eating and enjoying a beer or wine, we made our way back to the train station. We noticed on the announcement board that a fast train was about to take off from platform 4 in three minutes time.  We picked up our pace from a shuffle to a good walking pace, even though my muscles were trying to tell me that they preferred the shuffling pace. We stepped on the train and sat down just as we left the station.

It was then when Loretta asked, "Are we on the right train and going to Zurich?"

No need to worry. We ended up in Zurich where we were supposed to be.

Now we have to decide where we are to head off tomorrow. 

June 3 - Lugano

Today was another great day. We went to Lugano which is about two-and-a-half hours away from Zurich and lies on the border of Italy. It is a very scenic trip so we spent most of the time gazing out the windows, other than when we went through a very long tunnel (I would guess it was more than 45 km long since it took us 18 minutes to go through while travelling at 120 to 150 km/hour).

We knew there was a ferry on the lake which would give us a water perspective of neighbouring villages, and we could use our Swiss Travel Pass to board the ferry. There were a number of routes to choose from. We opted for the shorter 80-minute tour leaving us with enough time to tour the city of Lugano and have lunch. Just after leaving port a waitress came by and asked if we would like something to drink. We don't usually have our beer/wine until after lunch but what a nice way to cruise around this lake on this beautiful day, so we indulged.

After we completed our lake cruise, we had lunch and walked around town. We noticed the main street was blocked off and later discovered that there was a bike race underway. It was our first time seeing one of these races up close and personal. Pretty exciting seeing these guys zoom by while in tight formation with one another. 

During our walking tour we came across an art gallery that had a special exhibition of Picasso. Again, our Swiss Pass allowed us free admission. These days, we don't often do art galleries or museums because we were spoilt by Paris, and we are now quite satisfied by looking at exhibits online, but because I like Picasso and the entry was free, we did this one.

The Picasso exhibit was a disappointment – mostly rough sketches - so we went into the next exhibit on modern art. As we walked through the multiple interconnected rooms I noticed a long leather coat laying on the floor in a corner of one room. I pointed it out to Loretta and said "I really have a hard time appreciating modern art." Knowing perfectly well it was part of the exhibit I could not refrain from telling the nearby security lady that someone dropped their coat over there. From her reaction it probably was not the first time she heard that line.

After we left the Art Gallery (no, we were not forced or escorted out of the building) we walked back to the train station and caught the next train back to Zurich.

June 4 – Lucerne and Rigi

Our original plans for today were to just go to Lucerne and spend the day there sightseeing, eating and drinking. But we noticed there was a side trip to Mount Rigi included in our Swiss Pass that we could take from Lucerne which included a lake cruise, a cogwheel train and a gondola ride. This side trip took about four-and-a-half hours and was well worth it. We took the train up the mountain up to an elevation high enough so we could look across and see the top of some of the Alps sticking up above the clouds. It was a spectacular trip and sight. 

The first part of this side trip was the lake cruise on a very modern and spiffy boat. When we were boarding the boat we just followed the crowd not really paying attention to the signs which were all in Swiss (German possibly). We sat on two seats at the bow of the boat on the upper deck which provided us with a good place to view the scenery.

As we got close to our destination, from where we would catch the cogwheel train, the boat guy came asking to see passenger's tickets. When I showed him ours he informed us that we were in the 1st class section and we had to pay more if we wanted to stay there. I told him we were not aware of this error and besides we were getting off at the next stop.

On our Scandinavian trip a few years ago, we made a similar error on a couple of trains. So when we got off the boat, Loretta said, "We automatically gravitate to 1st class … we must aspire to be 1st class people. We just aren't willing to pay the price."

We finished up the tour without breaking any rules or laws and returned to Lucerne so we could eat, drink and be merry, and see some sights.

We hopped on a 17:10 train to take us back to Zurich.

June 5 - Scenic Train Tour

Today was a day of rest for our hoofs but a day of work for our butts.

After seeing the Alps off in a distance from Rigi yesterday we wanted to take a train trip (actually 8 different trains) from Zurich to Montreux which takes us well into the Alps. One segment of the trip (Zweisimmen to Montreux) included a panoramic car which really allowed us to take in the beauty of the Alps without getting off our butts. I think we were in the 1^st-class car, but no one kicked us out.

June 6 - Zurich

There have been a few instances, when we meet people while traveling around Switzerland and when they hear we are staying in Zurich, they ask us how we like Zurich and is it worth visiting. We feel a bit silly telling them we have no idea what it is like or has to offer even though we have stayed there for a number of days. Truthfully, we have been here for 5 days and until today the only thing we have seen in Zurich is the Main Train Station and our local station, along with some local grocery stores.

Today we changed that. We stayed in Zurich and went on a few trams (one more than necessary because we got lost) and then took two different boat tours. The first one was a four-hour cruise on Lake Zurich (so wonderfully calm for our cruise) and the second was a river cruise which took us through Old Town in Zurich. We wanted to do these tours today before our Swiss Travel Pass runs out on the 9th.

We will do a more thorough walking tour of Zurich on June 10th after the Pass has expired.

June 7 - Liechtenstein

After a relaxing day yesterday and staying close to home, we are back on the train today. 

We left Switzerland today and went to the 6th smallest country in the world, Liechtenstein.  (Here is a trivia question for you: What is the smallest country in the world?) Liechtenstein is only 62 square miles in area and is approximately 6 miles wide by 12 miles long. We took a train to the Swiss border and then hopped on a bus to Vaduz which is the capital of Liechtenstein. 

It was a beautiful day with some cloud cover keeping it quite comfortable. We decided that we would eat a cheap lunch today, that way we would have enough money left over to buy an ice cream cone. We went to a grocery store and bought a ready-made spicy chicken and avocado wrap, tortilla chips, a red rhubarb beer and a small bottle of wine. We then found a bench in a lovely little park overlooking a creek and had a picnic. While we were eating/drinking, a number of locals came by with Chinese take-out food to eat in the same park. I have a common rant that whenever you see someone eating Chinese food on TV or in a movie it is always in cardboard boxes. In all my life (at least that part I can remember) we have never been able to find Chinese take-out in these cardboard boxes. Well, here we saw a number of people carrying them. So after finishing our lunch we took a short walk in the direction where these people were coming from and found the Chinese restaurant. We bought an order of sweet and sour chicken to go just so I could strike that from my bucket list. We sat on a bench with a local who shared his random thoughts on random things.

Vaduz was much more than we expected. Besides the historic castle and churches etc. it has a lot of interesting architecture and art sculptures mixed throughout the city. And the surrounding mountains make us think we are in Banff. The castle on the hill, overlooking the country, gives it a fairy-tale feel.

After spending the day there, following our regular regime of touring, eating and drinking, we returned to Zurich.

By the way we did get our ice cream cones.

Answer to the trivia question: The smallest country in the world is Vatican City.

June 8 - Basel

Today we went to our last "planned city" in Switzerland.  We chose Basel because it took us to the north of Zurich and it sits close to the German and France borders.

When we first arrived we were not sure what Basel had to offer but once we got into old town we quite enjoyed the place.

When we visited the iconic Muenster Cathedral we decided to climb the bell tower. We have done this in other locations but not during this vacation.

By the way, this was Loretta's suggestion which surprised me since she is scared of heights. What sealed the deal for her was the offer of a Senior Discount that the ticket agent offered us. (Loretta claims that the agent was looking at me when the offer was made). There were 240 steps to climb and the stairway was much rougher, narrower and disjointed than others we have climbed. The view at the top included the Rhine River and the surrounding area into Germany and France and Switzerland. On the way down I heard Loretta say, "This is the coolest bell tower I have ever been in", or at least that is what I think I heard over my deep breathing and screaming muscles.

We then had lunch, ice cream and an ice cold beer/wine before continuing our sightseeing and walk back to the train station.

June 9 – St. Gallen and Rapperswil

Today is our last day with the Swiss Travel Pass. We have really enjoyed using it for accessing trains, trams, busses, ferries, boats, cable cars, cog wheel trains, and museums. The greatest advantage of it was being able to just hop on or change any train, trolley, etc. without having to stop and get a ticket. There was one day we were sitting on a train and I looked out the window and noticed there was another train on the next platform that was going to the same destination but on a better route. So we hopped off our train and onto the other.

We had left today open so we could go to a place we didn't plan to go but may have heard about it during our visit to other places. Because we did not hear we missed anything, we looked at the map of Switzerland and chose a route that took us to a region we had not been to.

When we left our apartment we intended on doing a loop and make one stop along the way where we would have lunch, ice cream and a beer. But while we were underway we decided we would stop in St. Gallen to see if it had anything of interest. I knew that there would be a later train to hop on and continue our loop so off we hopped off to explore the unknown.

St. Gallen was not unlike other Swiss cities/towns and had a section of "old town" which provided numerous buildings of interest. It also had a gelato shop.

After our tour of St. Gallen and having lunch we grabbed the next train to take us to our previously planned lunch stop.

The trip skirted the Alps to the north and went alongside a number of lakes and rivers so most of our travel time was spent sightseeing.  We went past one spectacular set of falls but we were so busy looking we forgot to take a photo.

We got off the train in Rapperswil for our last stop before going home. Rapperswil sits on the edge of Lake Zurich, and appears to be a popular summer resort town. It was a great place to tour and then sit and have a cold beer and glass of wine.

The very red "Red Square" outdoor lounge in St. Gallen. Very cushy. 

We loved the rail system. On time, great condition, comfy, fast, with amazing views.
Accommodated bikes, luggage, baby carriages, etc.

Stopping to smell the roses in Rappperswil.

A beautiful (and popular) spot for a wedding. 

June 10 – Zurich Formula E Race

This was our last full day in Zurich and Switzerland.  We catch our train to Austria tomorrow morning.

We had no plans for today other than to walk around Zurich. We left our apartment at 08:00 am, our usual time, and headed down to the waterfront and over the bridge. As we crossed the bridge I noticed it was a crystal clear day with no clouds. As I looked across the lake I saw the Alps. I was not aware until today that they could be seen from Zurich.

As we strolled along the waterside walkway we noticed there was some activity going on with the roads. They were setting up barricades and a lot of signs and banners were already in place. We stopped at an information stand and asked what was going on. They told us there was a Formula E race today (electric-powered cars). They said the actual race starts at 6:00 pm but there was a trial race at 9:00 am. That was in 20 minutes. We walked to the race track area and picked a spot where the cars would be turning a 90-degree turn. Later we walked to the straight-away where the cars would be going 220 km/hr.  It was pretty exciting to see. 

Afterwards we remembered that it was last Sunday when we accidentally came across a bicycle race in Lugano.  Perhaps Sunday here is not a day of rest but rather a day of race. Maybe it got lost in the translation of the Bible.

After the race and viewing all the infrastructure that was set up to accommodate the race we headed into the heart of Zurich.  Again we were amazed at all the beautiful sites to see.

One thing we didn't like to see ... all the graffiti.

We often had to climb a lot of stairs to see what we could see.

The weather was very cooperative -- blue skies on most days.

We don't shop much when we travel, except for window-shopping.

Cranes (the structural kind) are everywhere we go. It's a busy world.

It was exciting to see the electric cars racing.

Not quite the "Red Square", but an interesting layout for a special event during the car races.

The town was well prepared - extra walking bridges over the track, extra security, and extra toilets.

All along this trip, there were lovely water fountains where we could refill our bottles.

We had lunch and then started making our way home so we could do laundry, pack and prepare for tomorrow's journey. 

June 11 – Austria

Today was mostly spent riding a train (two actually) for about six hours to go from Zurich to Salzburg, Austria.

We really enjoyed Switzerland but found everything very expensive, even ice cream! We are hoping Austria will be more reasonable.

While we were on the train and not eating, sightseeing or reading, Loretta showed me how easy it is to do a photo collage so I could email more photos. Amazingly, a collage of 4 or 5 photos takes less megabytes than an individual photo – go figure.

The scenery on the train ride was spectacular.

The scenery out the front door of our hotel was pretty special, but only on clear days.

We were lucky to have a bus stop right in front of the hotel.

June 12 – Salzburg and Lake & Mountain Tour

Today we had a 4-hour bus tour booked at 2:00 pm so we took the morning to wander the city. Without doing much research, we just walked by the river and then headed down some interesting looking streets. Again, we just kept running, well walking, into beautiful and interesting buildings and squares with lots of activities.

In one of the squares, Loretta met an older man who wanted to chat with her knowing she was a tourist. I was in another area of the square, probably looking for a gelato vender, but keeping an eye on Loretta and her new friend. I could see his arm pointing in different directions but then I noticed it pointing up very high and towards an old tower on the cliff. I was hoping he was showing Loretta that that is where he lives in case she ever wanted to visit him for tea. But after they shook hands and said goodbye, Loretta came to me and told me how helpful this man had been. She told me we just 'had to' walk up to that tower where we would have a spectacular view of the city. That is the last time I leave Loretta on her own!

After climbing the numerous sets of stairs and upward sloping trails we made it to the top. Once my gasping for air and pounding heartbeat settled down, I was amazed to see that there was a restaurant up there. And then I noticed a car. What!? We could have gotten a ride up here? I wondered if Loretta's old friend told her that little detail.

Oh well, live and learn. I can't wait until I am an OLD man and can give helpful advice to young beautiful women.

However, two great things resulted from our climb. Firstly, the view was spectacular, but secondly, and more importantly, the restaurant had apple strudel on their menu. And it was 10:00 am – coffee-break time.

So we sat down at a table right beside the cliff overlooking the city and asked the man who was setting up chairs if he was open for business. We told him we would like the strudel. He said yes he was open and then brought us a menu. We opened the menu to the desserts and saw we could order the strudel with whipping cream or with ice cream.  We pointed to the apple strudel option that indicated ice cream and said ice cream.  He looked at us and said something in Austrian (German I think) and it ended with something that sounded like ice cream. We nodded and said ice cream. He repeated his phrase again and walked away.

A few minutes later a young lady came out with a huge warm piece of apple strudel with two huge mounds of whipping cream. We then surmised that the male waiter must have been trying to communicate that they did not have ice cream. We dug into our strudel and it was delicious even with the whipping cream. I just hope that the whipping cream is not fattening.

When we were done I went to pay for our mid-morning treat and I told the young lady that the apple strudel was delicious.  She looked back at me and said "REALLY?" Loretta and I talked about her response but could not be certain what she meant by it. Perhaps a translation thing.

We then walked down the trails and steps passing a number of deep breathing people going in the opposite direction. I guess the old guy talked to a few other women.

Eating (a Salzburger of course) and washing in the street.

We then had lunch and then continued the tour to the lake and mountain district which offered some breathtaking scenes. Unfortunately, it rained heavily when we were in the most picturesque town of Wolfgang, so we took refuge in a cathedral and did a bit of contemplating. We were lucky that the rain held off for our scenic tour of Wolfgang Lake (which in some parts reminded us of the breath-taking Phang Nga Bay in Thailand). We were provided with some entertainment when a pair of passengers got left behind at one stop and the boat had to turn around to get them. Glad to say it wasn’t us.

The clouds were so thick and the rain so heavy that it seemed like nightime. It was only late afternoon.

The rain eventually stopped. We were very lucky that we only had two bad day for weather during the whole trip.

June 13 – Salzburg HoHo Tour

This was a very rainy day. Our main objective today was to take the Hop on Hop off Bus today but I think it will primarily be a Hop on Stay on Bus. Our hotel is beside a McDonald’s, so our breakfast and dinner weren’t exactly “local”.

 

 

 

June 14 - Vienna

We left Salzburg this morning and headed further East to Vienna, Austria. We will remain there for the remainder of our trip but will visit Hungary and Slovakia from Vienna.

When we arrived at the Salzburg Train Station I noticed on the board that there was an earlier train to Vienna. I immediately thought of hopping on it, but because we had a train ticket and not a train pass we would have to go to the ticket booth, stand in line and perhaps pay to change our ticket.  Oh how we miss the travel pass.

When we got to the Vienna train station there were scads of restaurants but we decided we were not yet ready for lunch. But as we walked from the train station to our hotel Loretta noticed a sign on a restaurant window that said “Perogies” (although I think it was spelt somewhat different). We decided we were hungry so we went in for lunch. We both agreed these were the best perogies we have ever eaten. 

We spent the remainder of the day familiarizing ourselves with our local area and preparing for our invasion of Vienna. The Belvedere Palace and its gardens are in our neighbourhood – a peaceful place to wander.

It took us a while to get used to Wien as Vienna.

Best perogies ever!

The Belvedere Palace.

And more cranes.

June 15 - Vienna

Today was our first full day in Vienna. We spent the day doing the two different routes of the Hop on Hop off bus and a 90-minute walking tour of old town which was part of the HoHo bus ticket. By the time we ate (the most delicious goulash soup in an outdoor restaurant right beside the cathedral), drank and had ice cream, the day was done and we did not have time to hop off at any of the 20 different stops along the two routes. So we will do that tomorrow.  Our hotel is close enough to the town center, so we are able to walk back and forth to the bus pickup point – a nice way to get a feel for the local culture.

The Blue Danube isn't blue at all. And so much graffiti!

Horses seemed to be a theme.

June 16 - Vienna

Today was the continuation of the Hop on Hop off bus. We spent the morning using the HoHo bus and hopping off at a couple of sites, stopping at an outdoor café for pizza, and the rest of the day we spent watching the Gay Pride Parade. We were two of the more than 100,000 other participants and viewers. There were some interesting costumes and floats, and the event was well organized. 

June 17 - Melk

Today we left Vienna and took 2 trains to Melk. Melk is famous for its Abbey with an amazing library and gardens, and anything made with apricots. Plus it is a quaint little town to escape to from the large city of Vienna.

After spending the morning touring the town and its Abbey and gardens, we caught a river cruise ship to Krems with an additional stopover in Durnstein. It was here where we found time (between much climbing of paths and stairs) to try a glass of apricot brandy and apricot liqueur, and then best of all, apricot ice cream. Krems is a very old city dating back to the year 995 (no there is not a 1 missing in front of the 995). From here we caught a train back to Vienna. Because we arrived at a different train station than from the one near where we are staying, we had to catch a tram to take us to the main train station in Vienna.

A typical day of trains, ice cream, window shopping and a selfie.

 Melk:

 

And then a boat ride to Krems:

A steep climb to a precious little village.

The local specialty - apricot liqueur - in the quaintest little pub.

  

June 18 – Bratislava, Slovakia

We were back on the trains today heading for Bratislava. 

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia but not a very large city so it still offered quaintness and numerous historic sites. And of course we found the stairs to the castle. You would think we love to climb! Lunch was dumplings and schnitzel.

We noticed that as we moved from Italy to Switzerland to Austria to Slovakia to Hungary, the difference of wealth of each was observable. This was evident in the infrastructure, architecture, types of cars, real estate, and price of meals (and costs in general). Switzerland was unbelievably expensive, and we didn’t eat in restaurants there too often. In all countries, there was a lot of graffiti in public places – probably something we noticed because we travelled by train.

We found it interesting that we grew up while the country of Czechoslovakia existed, and now we have visited the capitals of both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Men at work and a tribute to men at work.

June 19, 2018 – Budapest, Hungary

Today we went on a tour to Budapest, Hungary. We were picked up at our hotel at 06:30 am and taken to a location where we boarded a very new and comfortable tour bus. It was about a 3-hour drive each way allowing 7 hours to tour Budapest and its historic sites, plenty of time to stop at an outdoor pub for beer/wine.

Budapest was formed by the amalgamation of two cities, Buda and Pest. I don't know what their reasoning was but I think they amalgamated because they were constantly faced with the problem of what they should be called. For example, people from Buda wouldn't feel right being called Buddhists, and people from Pest ...

And what a treat … we were driven up to the castle. No stairs today. The castle grounds were bright and sunny, so we spent some time looking for shade. It was a well-kept site and there was a good view of the city. As almost everywhere we have been on this trip, there was a fountain where we could fill our water bottles, so we didn’t face the danger of dehydration in the hot sun. For lunch, we were taken to a restaurant which had a good view of a man-made lake and another castle, and we were treated to local delights – including goulash, of course, which wasn’t quite as good as the goulash in Vienna.

This was our last full day here in Europe. We leave tomorrow evening and most the day will be spent packing, checking out of hotel, checking in to airport, oh and of course eating our last ice cream cone until our next trip.

We had a good rest when we got back to our hotel, preparing for our long trip back to Thailand.

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