Regensburg

Regensburg will be our second stop in Germany.  Largely undamaged during WWII, you can still see its medieval heritage.  One of the key sites is Steinerne Brucke (Stone Bridge), which was built between 1135 - 1146

Along the shore, just past the base of the stone bridge, is Wurstkuche, the famous sausage kitchen.  Regensburger sausages are renowned and you'll have a chance to try them out while we're in town.

Wurstkuche

For more information on Regensburg, check out the brochure on the city web site here: Regensburg brochure

Three Rivers City

No, we're not going to Pittsburgh.  Passau, our first stop in Germany, is known as "The Three Rivers City" according to the town web site.  It's located at the confluence of the Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz.

Dom St. Stephan, or St. Steven's Cathedral, was built by Italian architect Carlo Lurago in the Italian Baroque style, after a fire that destroyed much of the city in the 17th century.  St. Steven's claims to have the world's largest cathedral organ with 17,974 organ pipes, 233 stops, and 4 carillons.

Fires in the 17th century and floods in the 21st.  You may remember my June 24th posting about the floods (here).  Passau was up and welcoming tourists within weeks and things are pretty much back to normal for visitors.

You can read more about Passau on the town web site.

Melk Abbey

Melk Abbey

Melk Abbey was built as a palace between 1702 - 1736 in the Baroque style.  It's known for its frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr.

It's also known as the place Napoleon selected as his headquarters during the campaign against Austria.

You can read more about the abbey on their web site here,

Durnstein

Durnstein calls itself "the most romantic place in the Wachau".  The town was founded in 1476 and now includes the villages of Oberloiben, Unterloiben and Rothenhof, to the east, along the road to Krem.  Even so, the total population is under 1,000 inhabitants.

We'll have a short visit here on Friday morning - you can feel free to wander about the town.

 To read more about Durnstein, take a look at their web site here.

Vienna Coffeehouses

Vienna is famous for, among other things, its coffeehouses.  After dinner you might want to stop into one of the popular ones, such as Cafe Central (live piano music each evening) or Cafe Sperl, where you can play billiards.

Cafe Central

Coffeehouses usually serve more than just coffee and desserts, in many you can also get wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages.  The desserts, however ...

If you'd like to read more about the coffeehouses of Vienna, here's a link to an article from Travel and Leisure magazine.

Vienna

Three days, three countries, three capital cities.  Vienna, the capital of the Republic of Austria, will be our second overnight port.

We'll arrive just before dinner, in time for the group attending the dinner and concert in town to meet their bus (approximately 7 PM).  Anyone else who wishes to leave the ship and go into town for the evening is welcome to do so, but you'll need to provide your own transportation.

We'll be docked at Handelskai on the Danube River (the Danube Canal also goes through town, so it can be a bit confusing at first).

Our docking point is A on the map above.  The key sites I've included on the map are:

• B - Opera House
• C - Naschmarkt
• D - Botanical Gardens
• E - Konzerthaus
• F - Stadtpark

For perspective, the walking distance from the dock to the historic center of Vienna (just south of the canal in the map above) is about two and a half miles.

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, the second of the three capital cities we will visit on the cruise.

It's also the capital of Slovak culture and sports, displaying the multi-ethic makeup of the country.  Food, music and the arts have strong German, Hungarian, and Jewish influences.

There's even a white water rafting center on the Danube, about a half hour outside of the city.

Old Town Bratislava

We'll be focused on the heart of old town Bratislava.  Many of the key sites are only steps from our dock:

A = Dock
B = Hviezdoslavovo Square
C = St. Martin's Cathedral
D = St. Michael's Gate
E = Grassalkovich Palace
F = Old Town Hall/Main Square
G = Primatial Palace
H = National Theatre

Our Current Itinerary

Things can change, but as of right now this is our itinerary

Day	Date	City	Arrive	Depart
Sunday	Oct. 20	Newark		18:05
Monday	Oct. 21	Budapest	14:10
Tuesday	Oct. 22	Budapest		16:30
Wednesday	Oct. 23	Bratislava	7:30	11:00
		Vienna	19:00
Thursday	Oct. 24	Vienna		23:45
Friday	Oct. 25	Durnstein	8:00	10:30
		Melk	13:30	16:00
Saturday	Oct. 26	Scholgen* drop off Salzburg tour group	8:45	9:30
		Passau	15:30	18:00
Sunday	Oct. 27	Regensburg	8:00	14:00
Monday	Oct. 28	Nuremberg	5:30	10:00
		Munich		19:35

19:35

The Great Market Hall, Budapest

CNN called it the best market in Europe last year.  Built in 1897, this huge three story building is a great place to people watch, shop, and mingle with the citizens of Budapest.

Budapest Central Market

You can even take a "nibbles" tour offered by Bridgetours (http://www.bridgetours-ca.com/en/own-programs/2-taste-the-good-things-in-budapest-s-pantry.html) or simply create your own gastronomical tour by wandering around and sampling.

CNN article on the great markets of Europe

A short article on the Great Market (includes a link to the Rick Steves's video on the market)

More on the history of the Great Market

Budapest Free Time

Our included tour in Budapest will focus on the Buda side of the river (Buda Castle, the Royal Palace, St. Matthias Church) and will end around noon on Tuesday.  After that we'll have several hours of free time before our departure for Bratislava.

We'll be docked on the Buda side of the river, right near the Batthyány tér station on the M2 Metro line.    Using the metro is a quick and easy way to get to the Pest side of the river, where you'll find the Parliament building, the Opera, the Synagogue, St. Stephen's, Vaci Square, and the Great Market.

Pest Key Sites

On this map, we'll be docked across the river from A, which is Parliament.

• A - Parliament
• B - St. Stephans
• C - Opera House
• D - Synagogue
• E - Vaci Square
• F - Museum of Applied Arts

Although it's not noted on this map, the Great Market can be found between E and F, near the water and next to Corvinus University.  

Budapest Metro Map

The metro stops closest to each key site are:

• Parliament - Kossuth ter (M2 red line)
• St. Stephans - Bajcsy-Zsilinszky ut (M1 yellow line)
• Opera House - Opera (M1 yellow line)
• Synagogue - Astoria (M2 red line)
• Vaci Square - Ferenciek tere (M3 blue line)
• Great Market - Kalvin ted (M3 blue line)

There are single tickets, which you'd use for trips that do not require a transfer (if you start at Battyhany ter, where the ship is docked, this ticket would only be good for stops on the M2 Red line).  This ticket costs 350 HUF (≈ $1.50).

There are also transfer tickets, which are good for any point-to-point trip, for 530 HUF (≈ $2.35).

Finally, there is a daily ticket if you think you'll be using the metro a lot throughout the afternoon of our free day.  This ticket costs 1,650 HUF (≈ $7.30).

ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST VALIDATE YOUR TICKETS BEFORE THE TRIP STARTS!

Flight Details

All of our flights are on Lufthansa.

We depart on Sunday, October 20th, from Newark Liberty International Airport as follows:

From Newark (EWR) to Budapest (BUD)
	Departure			Arrival
Flight	Date	City	Time	Date	City	Time
403	Oct. 20	EWR	6:05 PM	Oct. 21	FRA	7:35 AM
1138	Oct. 21	FRA	12:40 PM	Oct. 21	BUD	2:10 PM

We return from Munich on Monday, October 28th as follows:

From Munich (MUC) to Newark (EWR)
	Departure			Arrival
Flight	Date	City	Time	Date	City	Time
412	Oct. 28	MUC	3:30 PM	Oct. 28	EWR	7:55 PM

For those going on to Prague, your return is on Thursday, October 31st:

From Prague (PRG) to Newark (EWR) with transfer in Dusseldorf (DUS)
	Departure			Arrival
Flight	Date	City	Time	Date	City	Time
3051	Oct. 31	PRG	8:50 AM	Oct. 31	DUS	10:00 AM
408	Oct. 31	DUS	12:15 PM	Oct. 31	EWR	4:06 PM