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).

Daydreaming and getting in the mood

I found this web cam that pans across the Danube at Budapest.  You can watch the boat traffic and dream about being on one of those boats twelve weeks and two days from now!

Budapest web cam

(warning - it takes several moments to load)

Who are we?

So who are these people you'll be traveling with in October?

There are forty of us in the group.  We range in age from 23 - 90, with an average age of 69 years.

Some other fun facts about us:

• One third of the group are members of Christ Episcopal Church, two thirds are not
• 40% of the group have traveled with us before
• Two members of the group share a birthday (although not the same year), while three others share another birthday (also different years)
• For the first time, in all of our trips over the past four years, no one will be celebrating a birthday during the trip
• We come from 19 different towns in New Jersey, plus three out-of-state (two from South Carolina, one from Pennsylvania)
• We are predominantly female (28 women, 12 men)
• We're all looking forward to a great time!

and away we go!

The Happy Dance

The paperwork is done!  Color me happy.  With that out of the way I'll turn my attention to this blog and to planning for a gathering in September, when we can get to know one another before the trip.

The folks in Passau are happier these days as well; clean up efforts are well underway, the river is open and tourists are returning in full force.

The web cam that overlooks the city and the river tells the tale:  Passau web cam

Passau Cleanup

Scenic Cruises, our agency (Jet Travel), and I are all monitoring the post-flood situation along the Danube.

You may have read (or seen on the news) about the record flooding that happened in early June.  River cruises along the Danube were disrupted for weeks afterwards, but now all but one set of locks are up and running again.  The locks in Austria are projected to be repaired by the end of June so we don't anticipate any problems at all as a result of this for our October cruise.

Among our stops, the city of Passau (in southeast Germany, on the Austrian border) was the worst hit.  The pictures are sad and far too reminiscent of the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy here at home.

Passau, June 2013

The folks in Passau are working hard to restore their community and to welcome visitors.  We'll continue to keep an eye on their progress and, closer to our trip, if necessary we'll substitute another stop for Passau although I doubt that will be necessary.

Just a reminder - those of us who are going on the excursion to Salzburg will miss Passau anyway.

Passau, June 2013

Passau, June 2013

You can read more about the clean up efforts here.

Dinner and a Concert in Vienna

Kursalon

On Thursday evening we have the option to attend a dinner and concert in Vienna at Kursalon Wien Concert Hall.

This excursion includes round trip bus travel from the dock to Stastpark (approximately 2.5 miles), Vienna's first communal park and the location of Kursalon.

Stastpark

The evening will begin with a three-course dinner at the restaurant Johann (located inside Kursalon) before moving on to Lanner Hall for a Strauss and Mozart concert.

The price for this excursion is $175 per person.