First stop, Budapest

There has been a town or a settlement in the area of Budapest since the Palaeolithic era because it's at a narrow point of the Danube river, making it easy to cross. The Romans had a settlement here until the 5th century, when Attila the Hun took over. Since then the area has been controlled by various forces, including the Goths, the Turks, and the Communists. Democratic uprisings in the 1980's led to free elections in 1990 and the city has experienced tremendous growth since then.

Did you know that until they were unified in 1873, Buda and Pest were two different cities?

Parliament

We will be docked on the Buda side of the river, almost directly across from the Parliament building (above) on the Pest side.

Our guided tour will cover many of the main sites located in the Castle District in Buda.  During your free time you might want to explore some of the sites on the Pest side of the river, such as their world-famous opera house.

Budapest Opera House

For more information on Budapest, check the city guide found here.

Budapest - getting in the mood

Here's a beautifully shot, short video overview of Budapest with music by Brahms. Enjoy!

Countdown

Pre-cruise gathering

The votes are in, and Saturday September 7th is the winner!

We'll get together from 5:30 - 7:00 PM in the Guilds Room at Christ Episcopal Church (105 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ) to meet one another, learn more about the trip, get our questions answered, etc.

Among other things, we'll learn who all these folks are who share birthdays (see the July 23rd blog entry).  Those of you who are interested in sharing rides to and from the airport will also be able to chat and get things set up (I'll provide a list of travelers by hometown to make it easier to find possible ride share partners).

For those who are new to our gatherings, they are BYOB.  We'll provide the glasses, soft drinks, corkscrews (you know, all of the really important stuff) etc.

It's also BYO munchies, if you'd like.  In the past folks have been pretty creative ... for this trip you've got a variety of cuisines to choose from (Hungarian, Viennese, Bavarian).

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!

The art of marrying well

We'll be hearing a lot about the Habsburg family throughout our cruise, as we'll be on their old stomping grounds.  This is a family that knew a thing or two about marrying for money and power.

The dynasty got started with Rudolf I (1218-1291), who conquered Austria, but things really stepped up when several generations later Maximilian I (1459-1519) married Mary of Burgundy and picked up The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Burgundy in the deal.

Maximilian I and family

Since the strategy worked so well the first time (aside from some sticky inheritance issues they faced when Mary died in a riding accident), Maximilian arranged an even better deal for his son Philip (also known as "Philip the Handsome").  Philip married Joanna of Castile, bringing Castile, Aragon, the Spanish New World possessions, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia into the Habsburg fold.  That's quite a wedding gift!

Philip I

Maybe it's me, or maybe it's place and time, or perhaps just this portrait, but I'm not getting the "handsome" here.

The high point of the Habsburg empire came under Philip and Joanna's son, Charles I.  He was the King of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor when only 19 years old (in 1519).

Charles V painted by Titian

Things get more confusing after this, as the family splits into two lines.

The Austrian line, which becomes the House of Habsburg-Lorraine after yet another power marriage, flourished under Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II.  The Napoleonic wars were costly for the dynasty and resulted in the loss of the Austrian Netherlands and the title of Holy Roman Emperor.

Ultimately, it was the rise of nationalist aspirations that led to the disintegration of the empire during World War I.  Emperor Charles I of Austria (also known as Charles IV of Hungary) was the end of the line, renouncing his title in 1918.

Charles I of Austria

Four countries, three capital cities

We will travel through four countries on our cruise and will visit the capital cities of three of them.

We start in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

Hungarian flag

According to mapsoftheworld.com, this flag was approved as the national flag of the country in 1867. It was officially used to represent Hungary during the First World War when the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. During the Second World War, after Germany occupied Hungary, the flag was abolished and was replaced by five different national flags. It was only in 1956 when anti-Soviet sentiments began to surface, that the plain tricolor of red, white, and green was formally adopted as the official flag of Hungary.

Our next stop will be Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak Republic.

Slovakian flag

Adopted on January 1, 1992, the flag of the Slovak Republic includes the country's coat of arms.  The cross symbolizes traditional Christianity, the meaning of the three "mountains" is less clear.  Some claim they represent three mountains (or mountain ranges) called Tatra, Fatra, and Matra, but many historians claim that this is simply a theory and has no historical relevancy.

Our third stop in our tour of Danube capitals is Vienna, the capital of Austria.

Austrian flag

This is one of the world's oldest flags, in use since the 13th century when Duke Friedrich II adopted a red-white-red flag to differentiate Austria from the Roman Empire.  Vienna has been the capital of Austria since the 12th century, when Henry II moved his residence there.

Our final two stops, Passau and Regensburg, are in Germany.  Berlin, the capital, is nearly 400 miles north of the Danube.

Flag of the Federal Republic of Germany

Another way to get in the mood

Want to preview what our trip may be like?  Check out Burt Wolfe's DVD "Travels & Traditions/Great River Cruises of Europe.

I found it at the library (www.bccls.org for those in Bergen County).