European River Tour

 We woke up this morning as the ship docked in Durnstein. This is one of the most picturesque parts of Austria. As we looked out the window we could see the village (Rossatz) on the opposite bank of the Danube. There was a choice of tours to do. For those who were not able to do the walk to the castle ruins, there was a small train ride through the vineyard to the township. We chose to take the walk and didn't regret it for the first hour or so.  The walk started off along the riverside, and before long a sharp right turn started to ascend the hill to the castle ruin. The houses along the street appeared to be some of the original village buildings, and are still holding ground well. The climb slowly started to become steeper, and steeper, and steeper. We found ourselves in need of a short break half way up the hill as the burn started to kick in in our legs. The weather also took a turn and a light drizzle started to fall. Fortunately it was short lived and we continued all t...

 Just when you thought the day was over, we added a little something special to the night.After our Lippizaner experience, we returned to our ship after Google Maps took us on a wild goose chase to Schwedenplatz (Sweden Square). We had an early dinner and shared our experience with a few interested on board. Dinner was early so we could get into Vienna for our next event. We were going to the Vienna Supreme Concert. The concert was playing the music of Johann Strauss, Johann Strauss Jr, Eduard Strauss, Josef Strauss, W. A Mozart, Franz Lehair, Jaques Offenbach, and others whose names escape me. For those who know us would also know this is not our normal genre of music, but this wasn't no ordinary concert. There were elements of humour in the playing of the music as well as some opera and ballet. The baritone added quite a bit of humour to the opera, and all musicians were enjoying themselves as much as we were. I managed to record a little bit of the concert, but it was so enterta...

Ever since I saw the Disney movie 'Flight of the White Stallions' as a kid, I have had a love for horses and wanted to see these magnificent animals in action. In fact the very first horse I rode was a  white mare, even though I had no horse riding experience at the time. Today not only did I visit the world famous Spanish Riding School with my wife Ann, I got to see these magnificent creatures in a practice session, and get up close with them. The school is in the heart of Vienna and is the world's oldest riding school. It is still using the original arena that was specifically built for these horses in the 1729-35.  Unfortunately we were not permitted to photograph or video during the training session and we respected their privacy on that. Unfortunately  not everyone listened and we saw a few flashes going off. To be on the side of the arena when they were training was a bit overwhelming for me. It brought back memories of my childhood with mum and dad and also a memor...

 We sailed through the night, passing through the first of our locks. I slept through that part of the night but woke at around 3 AM, unable to get back to sleep. At breakfast in the morning everyone was talking about the marvel of going through the lock. To me it was all part of the trip. I have navigated houseboats through locks on the Murray river so it wasn't anything special. We also went through a few on our Russian river cruise. The only real difference was how the lock operated, with a roll down gate instead of sliding or barn door gates. We sailed through breakfast  and casually watched the land go by and noticed a lot of fishing shacks on the side of the river. These can be anything from a basic cabin to what would seem a two story shack. They were dotted on the river bank, some on stilts, some on the levee or dykes as they are called over here. Soon the outskirts of Vienna came into sight and also the second of our locks. The Vega being a relatively new ship has som...

 We are leaving port today but not before we do a guided tour of the city. We have an early start as we also need an early finish so we can steam out to Austria around noon. After a breakfast that should last us a week we gather up for the tours in our respective colour groups. We were in the green group and we hadn't got far down the road when it was apparent the air conditioning in the bus wasn't on. Despite his efforts, the driver was unable to activate the AC on the bus so he had to pull over to contact his boss to find out how it was supposed to work. Eventually he got it working and we were on our way again.  Our guide gave us commentary as we drove from the Pest side to the Buda side and back again and mentioned points of interest with historical value. Eventually stopping at Hero's square, we all got off the bus and went for a walk to the square to view the numerous statues and the tomb of the unknown soldier. Being ex-military, I have a particular interest in milit...

 So today is the day we board the Travel Marvel Vega cruise ship. Before we can do that we do a short 1 hour river tour and stop for lunch. The hotel staff once again were very accomodating and organised the boat tour for us as well as our final transfers to the boat. The river cruise was very interesting and talked about the history of the two towns. Yes Budapest is actually two towns, The hilly side is Buda and the flatter side is pest (pronounced pesht) They are joined together by the river much like a lot of our twin towns. The views from the boat were good although the weather didn't help as it rained most of the time on the boat.  After the tour we strolled back toward the hotel and decided to wander down the mall to the square for lunch. A goulash soup and cold meat platter later and we were back at the hotel waiting for our transfer to the ship. We met another couple from Australia also doing the cruise with us but before we could have much of a conversation we were in...

 Our flight to Budapest could not have started quickly enough, and certainly could have finished quicker. We had 2 seats 1 row back from the front of the economy seats. In front of us were 3 people, one of which could have done with a decent shower, and behind us a noisy obnoxious woman and her husband who persisted in kicking the back of my seat for 5 hours, in between coughing fits. Landing at Budapest, was a  great feeling, until...... Everyone was ready to disembark when the Captain made an announcement for us all to remain seated while he got airport security to come and remove a passenger. The minutes seemed like hours and what made matters worse was the air conditioning had shut down as the engines were off.  Eventually we were cleared to disembark and we did so with a great deal of haste. Getting through immigration was simple, and border control was even easier. With bags in hand we just had to wait for the prearranged driver. Another short wait and we were on ou...

Still at Birdwood and we are finishing off some tasks before heading off. Our house sitters are sorted and the horses know something is happening as they seemed a little restless when I went out this morning. We had a few hours free before we headed to the airport so I ventured out to the paddock to assess the weed situation. Merlin, our always inquisitive Clydesdale quarter horse cross, and his partner in crime Murphy the Donkey had to get their heads down to see what I was looking at. Merlin decided to empty out the bag of weeds I had pulled out for me to make sure I wasn't taking his feed. Storm, the Standardbred was his normal non-plussed self. After we had gone through the afternoon chores we packed and headed to the airport. For once, the traffic was relatively good on the drive in. Check in was fairly simple and we both made it through security without being swab tested. Security at Adelaide airport had me wondering. They have constant announcements about leaving unattended ...