December 18

December 18:  Budapest, Hungary

Late last night we sailed into Budapest and the lights on the buildings were amazing.....just a few of the pics from last night to start our final 24 hours of the cruise:

Budapest Panoramic Tour

I joined Dennis & Mary on the included Panoramic Tour of Budapest, highlighted by a visit to Castle Hill and Fisherman's Bastion.  Kim had debated about joining us because she had booked a hike and she was afraid of being out in the mid-20's for four hours, but she decided she really wanted to do it and off she went.  The first hour and change we drove around the city and our guide pointed out some of the iconic sights of Budapest......

The main boulevard - snow covered! - modeled after the Champs Elysee in Paris

One of many government buildings - so festive with the snow

Hero's Square

The famous Chain Bridge

We departed the bus on Castle Hill and made the short walk up to the crest where we explored St. Mathias Church and Fisherman's Bastion.  I continue to be amazed by how no tour/city is the same EVEN if we've been here before.  Kim and I were on this exact tour three years ago and we were never told or given the opportunity to explore the upper levels of the cathedral, which I did with Dennis today.

Inside the cathedral - these flags were hung in 1867 for the coronation of the emperor and the originals are STILL there!

Fisherman's Bastion from below (top) and from the front of the church

The turrets of Fisherman's Bastion

Obviously I am a big fan of Fisherman's Bastion.  I told Dennis & Mary today that of all the trips Kim and I have been on the top five memorable places were the Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat (Cambodia), Marksburg Castle (Germany), the Twelve Apostles (Australia), and Fisherman's Bastion.  I must say that my MOST FAVORITE MOMENT of the trip occurred here today.  While we were on the tour of Castle Hill we walked Fisherman's Bastion, then walked together into the church.  The guide asked us to take a seat and as I was about to enter a pew my cute little wife came racing up with THE BIGGEST smile on her face, gave me a kiss and told me she was NOT cold!  I had thought about her all morning and to see her so very happy was just great!  As we were waiting for the bus to pick us up there was an overlook with several snow-covered pictures waiting to be taken....the best of the bunch I snapped was this one with the church framed in the snow.

Budapest Castle Hill City Hike

While we were on the included tour, Kim joined ten other brave souls who HIKED for four hours (actually more of a walk than an actual hike) from the ship to Castle Hill and back again.

The funicular up the hill which Kim took to get to the top of Castle Hill

The best photo of the day of the Parliament building (used in nearly ALL Viking Cruises television commercials)

We all arrived back at the same time (around 12:30 pm).  After lunch and a couple hours to regroup we headed out to the local Christmas Market, just ten minutes from where the ship was docked.

Welcome to the Budapest Christmas Market

Sooooo many different venues with so much to choose from

But of course, a mug of gluhwein and a souvenir mug!

MANY outdoor cafes on the streets - all with heaters and EACH chair has it's own personal blanket!

One last Christmas Market selfie!

We all headed to bed earlier than usual because our shuttle bus to the airport departs at 3:30 am!  We should land in Fort Lauderdale around 7:00 pm - another amazing adventure!

December 17

December 17:  Home Visit In Bratislava, Slovakia

Today's adventure and excursion was one of the shortest of the trip.  We arrived in Bratislava sometime during the middle of the night last night after departing Vienna.  We'd been here in 2015 and there were only two excursion options for the day - the "Panoramic City Tour" which we'd done before was the default and provided one.  We remembered the town as quaint and a nice place to visit with some typical European sites, but not one that was a "don't miss that!"  So we booked the optional tour, which was at the same time as the provided one.  We joined five other guests outside the ship and discovered that our guide was also our host.  Petr was going to escort us to his home about twenty minutes away on the outskirts of town.

The iconic "UFO" restaurant in Brataslava above the Danube River

The history of the town and the country were provided as we cruised out of town.  We were fortunate with our 8:30 am departure that we were heading against the traffic flow.  We arrived soon at our drop off spot and we got off the bus and walked about five minutes down the street to Petr's private home.  We were greeted by his wife Lucia and their five-year-old son (and the cat).  They have an older daughter (11) who was at school.  For over 2 1/2 hours we just talked about life in Slovakia and his family.  They were very gracious and at least half the time they were answering our questions.  They provided home-made apple strudel and I told them my story about how we had gone to Schonbrunn Palace for the best strudel in the world, but that TODAY .... THIS was the best I'd ever had!  And it was.  Kim only had a bite of hers and I finished it of course.  They also gave us their own homemade gluhwein - which also was the best we've had.  Lucia explained she made it with wine and a mixture of sugar water.  About 2 1/2 hours later we all said our goodbyes and headed back as the ship was leaving at 11:30 am.

Tonight when we reach Budapest around 11 pm we will see the city all lit up, so we are encouraged to stay up!  Pictures tomorrow!

December 16

December 16:  Vienna City Tour / Schonbrunn Palace

Vienna City Tour

This morning, when the temperature was a little below 30 degrees, we boarded the bus for about a 40 minute bus ride around Vienna where our guide Gabriela explained the history of the city and described all the buildings on the ring-strasse which is the main thoroughfare that circles the city center.

We disembarked the bus and then had a walking tour around the palace area.  It was cold, but not nearly as cold as the second day! 

When the tour was complete we had an hour to ourselves so we visited St. Stephens Cathedral.  And then walked around the Christmas Market in the square outside the church.  Of COURSE I found the gluhwein and Dennis & Kim found their sausage!  We got our Christmas Market souvenir and pretty soon returned to the bus and drove back to the ship.

Schonbrunn Palace

It's a "funny tale" to tell, but this is how the second half of the day unfolded.  The original plan was for us to do the city tour with Dennis & Mary in the morning; then do Schonbrunn Palace with them.  Finally, Kim and I were doing an evening tour where we went to a wine/pub and spent the evening with other guests celebrating the day.  But this meant - we realized - that we wouldn't see any of the Vienna Christmas Markets at night with the lights.  So we decided to ditch the evening plan and we planned to take the metro or a taxi into the city to see the Christmas Markets.  THEN our guide (in the morning) explained that shuttles were running until 5 pm and since it gets dark around 3:30 we could come back in the city to see markets under lights if we ditched the Palace tour.  So we switched that plan so we'd be on guided events and not on our own.  Then it occurred to us with the Schonbrunn Palace tour ending at 5:30 pm we could see the market there under the lights and stick with the original plan.  But by the time we were done with the afternoon tour we decided we just too tired from the full day (and being out in the cold most of the day)....couple that with an 8:30 am excursion tomorrow and we opted to spend the evening on the ship.  Sooooo - we got to see the city; we saw the palace; we visited two Christmas Markets; AND we saw the market all lit up!

You probably noted in the photo at the top of the page our Santa hats!  We had purchased these when we bought the door decorations in Fort Lauderdale and have been waiting for the right excursion to wear them for a photo op.  The Schonbrunn Palace excursion seemed ideal so all four of us wore them.  From the moment we walked into the lobby we got comments all afternoon about how great our hats were :)  The palace tour was excellent - note that we were not allowed to photograph inside so the interior shots below were grabbed off the Internet.  We then had about an hour to explore the Christmas Market.  Yes....I got more gluhwein (and the souvenir cup) and we got another Christmas souvenir.  

The last thing to "check off" on the to do list for today was to return to the coffee shop at Schonbrunn Palace where when were here three years ago we got THE BEST apple strudel I've ever had.  Mission completed!  After a late dinner we were ready for bed and to prepare for the early morning excursion tomorrow.  AND we were informed at our "Port Talk" that if ANY night we could stay up, it should be tomorrow because around 11 pm we will be sailing into Budapest and the lights will be amazing!