April 22nd: Day with Jan and Radka

And we are off for our tour of the city!  

It was so wonderful to spend the day with Radka and Jan – with people like these two Prague and the rest of the country will do very well in the future.  They love the USA and are proud the US Embassy flies the Stars and Stripes high on the hill over the city. 

We walk around 7 miles today and a lot of it is up steps!  But it is so worth every drop of sweat – and there are lots of them!  We make a circle of the city with stops by the Old Town Square and the castle and St. Vitkuske Cathedral but especially nice was to get off the tourist trail walking through beautiful parks and delighting in the best ice cream place in the city.  After ice cream we enter into a beautiful park and right in the middle of the park is a memorial to the victims of communism which provides an insight to the feelings of the Prague people.

Huffing and puffing we end the day at a roof top café with great food and wonderful wonderful beer!  The food looked great but the beer, after all the walking was wonderful.  

Jim and Tina are headed out for a fancy dinner tonight.

 Clyde and Krim are staying close to the room to do some washing and Blog writing but best to do a face time with our Son Derek and his new baby born 5 days ago!  He is so cute and what a cool thing these days to be in Prague and get to see him on video!  Lazy day tomorrow with no particular plans.  

We shall walk around and see what catches our fancy. Another great day!

April 21st: Prague, Jan and Radka.

Driving to Prague and it takes nearly 5 hours – unless your driver goes 85 all the way and then it takes only 4 and a half.  

Tina spends most of the trip on her laptop arranging photos and working on reservations for dinner with friends.  Radka was an exchange student in Ohio where she lived with Wayne and Mary Johnson and Wayne was on the Board of a Credit Union.  That lead to her meeting Krim and Clyde at a gathering at the Aho's.  

Radka is meeting us in Prague and bringing her man Jan with her to show us around.  What a special couple!  

The dinner is great and they take us for a walk across the oldest bridge named after St. Charles.  Radka is studying with the eventual aim of working for high level equivalent of our Homeland Security or FBI for Europe and Jan works in a think tank.  Both are very knowledgeable of political activities and history.  

The people of Prague have suffered from the many years under the control of Soviets and are happy to be free.  A giant stature overlooking Prague of Stalin was torn down and replaced with a pendulum.  An artist has erected a moving series in a park showing how communism eats away at the soul of a person.  These people are proud and are not going back to that crap!  Radka and Jan are taking us for a walk of their city tomorrow!

April 20th: Budapest is a hit!

Jim and Rick are up early to catch an early message to start the day.  The “Girls” are on the hunt for a message, a foot and hand nail treatment and I head out to explore the city some more.  The Opera house is being renovated but for a small fee that will give a tour of some of it and let you experience a 10 minute Opera performance on the staircase.  

Love the sidewalk cafes so a long stop for a beer and people watching then back to meet up with everyone. 

Jim and Tina and Clyde and Krim went out for dinner at Tigus the food was fantastic and the cherry dessert was the best! 

We all walked to the harbor for a river cruise to see the City lights from the River which Rick said was fantastic. 

It is fantastic, except for the occasional diesel fumes and chilly night air but the sights were wonderful and would not have wanted to miss seeing  Budapest like that.  Time for bed.  We are headed to Prague tomorrow!

April 19th: To The Citadel!

The steps to the Citadel are many many many and steep steep steep. 

We take the shady steps but summer has hit with highs near 80 and humidity at least 1000%.  It is a noteworthy trek but the views are absolutely awesome.  

At the top stands a gigantic stature of a lady holding a feather over her head as a symbol of peace between the cities of Buda on one side of the river Danube and Pest on the other.  The cities joined forces to combat a common enemy as the Turks and Muslims advanced.  It is a beautiful spot but we must head down and back up again to the castle district where much history and views await.  

After stumbling through a movie set we ascend a bunch more stairs to the top of the castle and home of the President.  Here we part as Jim and our new friend Rick and Tina, Krim and new friend Erika have an appointment with a Thai Massage said to be a whole new and improved message.  Clyde is headed out alone to explore the area.

The Matthias Church is a gothic beauty.  It was here in 1456 that Hungry was the only Christian outpost standing against the Islamic army as the Hapsburg army left in retreat.  The Pope Callixtus ordered bells to be rung every noon and the people of the church to pray.  Sure enough, another army came to the rescue and defeated the Sultans army.  The church also was the spot that young Queen Elisabeth (Sisi) was given the coronation as Queen of Hungry for her support of their cause.  The great composer Franz Lisit wrote the music.  Down the road stands Mary Magdalena Tower.  

We all meet in the lounge to share stories of the day and plan our dinner in town.  

The dinner was wonderful and the walk back passed by the giant ferriswheel and that is when the “Girls” decided to take a spin.  It was scary was all they said. We closed the lounge and headed to Ricks room for a drink and a rousing card game of “Bullshit” won by Tina.  What a fun day and evening!

April 18th: Budapest and More

We are on the road again.  Here we come Budapest.  The miles roll on and the countryside is pleasant with farmland and gentle hills.  

We loved the Ritz so much we booked another in Budapest.  It is a nice building, across the street from a park with a gigantic Ferris wheel. We have to register at the desk, not the lounge, and not champagne and not chocolate and no upgrade.  Still, it is the Ritz so it is super clean and nice.  

Standing in line at the check-in area when a fellow of considerable size pops over and says; “I saw you in Vienna this morning at the Ritz!  See you in the lounge”.  We settle in, journey to the lounge and there again is the fellow of considerable size and introduces himself and we soon become quick friends with Rick.  

Rick is taking a journey with his daughter Erika who has been studying in Europe for a few months.  These people are fun and Rick loves history and wants to share.  He is joined by our host of the lounge named Norbert.  

While Rick loves the history of the area, Norbert has lived it and the conversation is deep and disturbing with the abuse the people of Hungary have endured by Germans, Russians, Austrians (before they formed one of the great empires in Europe together) and others.  The freshest scars are from the occupation of the Soviet Union and there is no love for the Soviets in this country.  We talk late into the night and consume a bit too much of the so-so wine that the VIP lounge has to offer. 

Rick is planning a walk in the morning and invites us to join and we plan our tomorrow with an assault on the mountain across the river leading to the Citadel. And with that in our future we find our way to our rooms and drop into bed, looking forward to tomorrow.

April 17th: Vienna’s Beauty

This city is among the most beautiful we have ever seen.  At every corner there is a beautiful building, a lovely park, a stature, a decorated window front, flowers in every corner and along every walkway.  

Jim and Tina dive into the shopping district and hidden places to discover.  Clyde and Krim are on a mission to see the Hofburg Palace so much in the memory of the people in Austria and Hungary.   

Elisabeth was born to a wealthy family in Bavaria and an ambitious mother.  Her mother was working with the Hapsburgs in Vienna to arrange a marriage of her oldest daughter to the future Emperor Franz Joseph.  A meeting was arranged for the two to meet but Franz Joseph was so smitten when he spied the 15 year old Elisabeth (nicknamed Sisi by her family) that he could think of no one else.  Sisi could not believe it when the future Emperor proposed; she declared herself not worthy.  But the pressure was on and before she could adjust, she found herself in the arms of one of the most wealthy and powerful families in Europe since the 1200s. 

 Never comfortable and feeling confined by the responsibilities of her position, the queen Sisi was never the less seen as the most beautiful women in Europe and later, for her support of Hungary  crowned Queen of Hungary   Her life was not happy and finally ended with her being assassinated when she was not yet 50.  

We take a break to duck into the St. Stephans that is a beautiful gothic church to again be amazed by the ability of man to construct such a structure. As early as 1147 the site was dedicated to the church but as usual, it takes money and it takes time to construct these monuments.  Through fits and starts construction resulted in more or less completion in the early 1500s.  Following World War Two the cathedral was damaged by fire but rebuilt in 1952.  It is a beauty more than worthy of a visit.  

We stop by the Opera to see this famous building but alas, no tour until Friday and we will not be there so no tour for us.  “Too soon we cry, we love Vienna and our Hotel”! 

The VIP Lounge is the place to be when not outside exploring the city. At the end of the day that’s where it is happening. We meet Victoria and she treats us like royalty. She always makes sure there is something special there for us and that we are enjoying all that the VIP room has to offer. Victoria is from Tallin, Estonia and talks about her town and tells us about her family. She’s the oldest of the children in her family and is the only one that has ventured away from home. She’s very proud to be working at the Ritz in Vienna and absolutely loves the city. Good luck in the future Victoria, until we meet again!

But leave we must for there are other things we must visit.

April 16th: On to Vienna

Today is our drive to Vienna...but wait, the hotel has a parting surprise waiting for us at breakfast. The hotel manager presents a birthday cake with a sparkler on top, which he brings to the table and lights. Along with that he pours beautiful glasses of Champaign for us. What a send off!

A big shout out to everyone at the Sheraton Hotel in Salzberg, you really have a great management team and fantastic staff and make guests feel like they are family. Thank you Lars and Marik for everything!!

Our VIP Lounge super hero is Marik, he made us super fantastic cosmopolitans each evening, what a special person he is! Marik is from Prague so he gives us a list of things to do, restaurants he likes and even makes dinner reservations at a hard to get into restaurant for us.

We are on the road but we ask our driver, and he agrees for a price, to take a detour through the beautiful Wachau Valley along the Danube River.  This is wine country and the hills are covered with vines on both sides of the river.  A few small villages occupy the valley and we stop to sample some wine, buy some and head on to Vienna.  

And then we arrive to Vienna  – we booked at the Ritz cause it sounds wonderful.  And it turns out to be absolutely wonderful.  From the moment we step in we are whisked away to the executive lounge, supplied with tasty chocolate and champagne and a registration card and after an hour or so of pampering, we head to our rooms.  Oh yeah, we also hear the magic words; “we have upgraded you”.   This upgrade was to a flat with two bathrooms, several closets, a living room and more chocolates.  

The lounge is run by Victor and he informs us they serve breakfast to order, snacks, deserts at all times, a nearly fully stacked bar, several wines to drink, a few beers and a hot entrée for dinner each day.  We are staying here!  We are not leaving until morning and already we regret we are only staying two nights.

April 15th: Salzburg Castle

It is Sunday and mostly all the shops are closed (except of course the souvenir shops)!  This is a good time then to make the trip up the mountain in the middle of the city to see Hohensalzburg Fortress.  

The fortress looms over the city giving the feelings of protection or being watched.  But the fortress held for hundreds of years and to look at that steep mountain and imagine attacking it looks impossible.  We  take the funicular for a small fee and we land at the castle in no time flat.  The view is fantastic of the beautiful River, City and bordering all is the beautiful Alps.  It is simply stunning.  

A walk through the castle proves fascinating as there is displayed various weapons and defenses as well as various tortures forced upon those that got sideways with the authorities.  Do not ever estimate the ability of man to do unspeakable things to other humans!  There are drawing of a mans hand about to be crushed with a large hammer,  men being stretched until the arms are pulled from the socket and other gastly things.  The weapons of war include poles with hooks to jerk a warrior close for bludgeon them.  As war progressed the guns and rockets and gas was introduced.  We take a deep breath and go on to other parts of the castle.  

There is a room dedicated to the art form of puppets and displays from the early 1900s from the famous puppeteers from Salzburg.  Mozarts “Queen of the night” out of the magic flute plays and the puppets act out the opera.  Outside the views beg you to stay and have wine or a beer and Krim and Clyde take advantage.  

We all walk down and enjoy a different view at each turn.  Down to the city and over the bridge and through the park and up the stairs where The Sound of Music Kids danced and sang.  Up to our Lounge for wine to finish another lovely day in this special place.  Time to leave, tomorrow we head for Vienna.

April 14th: Beautiful Salzburg

We begin with a lovely breakfast, strap on our walking shoes and head for the slightly less traveled bridge down the River and stroll the river watching the folks enjoy the sunshine by the river.  Many a day has been spoiled by rain in this city so we want to take advantage of our good luck and enjoy the day.  

Somewhere along the way the Aho people go one way and the Brooker people take a different route to compare notes later.  It is just fun exploring side streets and shops and stops for a beer or wine and people watching.  It is very busy now and hard to imagine anyone enjoying the city in the busy summer time.  

We spot each other and the Aho pair take us to a wine bar in a cave run by a lady named Barbara.  Barbara is a kick.  We try some wine and she invites us to scribble our signatures as proof we were here on the cave wall.  Tina is into this task and takes several colored pens and starts her masterpiece.  It is good enough for us all to add our name and we mark our calendar to return in 25 years to see if our mark is still on the wall.  Barbara brings us Bruschetta that is to die for and insisted we try some cake she made.  Barbara is an artist at heart and has some things in her small shop from other artists.  Off the tract and away from the tourists this was a fun stop where the locals hang out.  A very nice day and time to hit the hotel for more free wine and eats.  

What a beautiful city.

April 13th: To Salzberg

We are leaving the driving to the our hired driver and it is relaxing to ride and look at the beautiful countryside on the way to Salzburg.  Every mile is picture post card beautiful! As we approach, the Bavarian Alps leap up on our right and are covered with snow.  In the distance the Alps meet the horizon and we know we are soon in the fantastic land of Salzburg.   

So different from Greece yet both places are beautiful. It is so cool to see one right after the other.  Our hotel is just a short walk through the beautiful Mirabell gardens and over the Salzach River bridge to the old town and shopping street of dreams Getreidegasse.   The evening breeze picks up and it is a chilly one but as soon as we check in we decide to take a walk to the old city and get a feel for the city we all knew years ago.  Still beautiful but we notice the Getreidegasse has many wonderful high end shops, many with local fashion but several souvenir shops and cheaper shops.  Still, it is all beautiful.  And we have a lovely executive lounge waiting for us in the Sheraton with free wine and food so we head back.  

Marek is our host at the lounge and he just cannot do enough for us.  Good conversation, make a reservation, consult on places, he does it all and always with a; “No problem”.  And so we end the evening here with a glass or 3 of wine.  

Tomorrow we hit the old town.

April 12th: The Danube, Mini Golf and Tapas

We meet up with Tommy and Gisi for a walk along the Danube River to a park where Tommy plays competitive mini golf.  This mini golf is not our kind of mini golf and these people are serious.  Tommy is the current champion of Bavaria so he knows his way around.  Lots of strokes and laughs.  

Typical for Germany we are forced to stop play for a passing rain shower.  And the Germans are prepared as they break out the playing cards to pass the time until the rain passes and golf starts up again.  The weather has been cold but the season is changing and the flowers are breaking out all over so our walk is charming back to the city.  

Ingolstadt is old – as old as 800 AD.  No much going on in this part of Europe in those days – just a few major cities scattered around.  It feels very safe and pretty here and as we approach the busy parts the sidewalks are crowed with tables and people enjoying a drink and food and  Spring finally arriving.  Like many places around the world, Germans like a little coffee and cake in the afternoon so we hit one of the wonderful bakeries Germans have everywhere.  Gisi makes a side trip for some of the excellent ice cream made in the Italian way to top off the desert.  Oh my was it delicious!  

We are going out tonight and Tommy and Gisi have selected a Spanish Restaurant.  Reservations are required even on a Thursday and it is easy to see why – the food is wonderful.  So much fun and such a pretty city.  Germany looks to be doing very well indeed and it is so nice to be here.  But sad to say, we leave tomorrow.  But other beautiful places await.

April 11: To Germany!

We leave for the airport unsure of flights as there is word that Lufthansa is on strike and that is our next plane.  We should be worried but it is difficult to worry too much on this island. Turns out the Germans are now happy and Lufthansa is willing to fly us to Munich.  We are headed to Ingolstadt where Audi’s are born to visit our friends Tommy and Gisi.  

We last saw Tommy and Gisi in Iceland where we spent a part of our vacation with them. 

Tommy and Gisi are great and Gisi has prepared a wonderful dinner for us! We tell stories and laugh and enjoy a great evening.  

April 10th & Morning of April 11th 2018

Slow day to enjoy the resort and causal shopping.  It takes all of 2 minutes after sitting at the pool for water and ice to arrive for our pleasure and drinks for the asking.  

We have reservations for dinner at the bottom of those 300 steps so we pass the donkeys and the donkeys used food and arrive at our restaurant.  We send a couple of our party to select the fish for dinner from the catch of the day.  I think it was Sea Bass and Grouper with a couple of big lobsters and it was yummy.  A very nice relaxing day in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  

And, it’s the beginning of a new day and all good things come to an end and so our time on Santorini is over.  

Javier and Rachel wake very early to see us off, after many hugs, we hit road and we are off to the airport.  We had a wonderful time with our friends and it’s sad to leave such a beautiful place, but it will always be in our hearts..

April 9, 2018: Out to the Aegean Sea

You can drive but we all decide to walk to the boat and the walk includes 300 steps down to the harbor.  100 of the 300 steps involves dancing around the donkey droppings and the occasional donkey.  You can walk, you can drive or you can ride a donkey.  We keep walking and find our boat.  

We have a beautiful catamaran for just the six of us and a crew of 3.  The crew is mellow and we join the vibe as we motor out to sea.  The crew is a couple and a hired hand and they make us happy with drinks.  We hug the island and between two bits of land in the center of the caldera we are given the chance to swim up a channel of mixed warm and cold water.  Only Javier takes the bait while we cheer him from the safety of the boat.  Our hosts fix an amazing dinner of prawns and pork and it is wonderful.  

Now we head to a special vantage point to see the famous sunsets of Santorini.  The sun, the clouds and sea all cooperate and we get a beauty of a sunset.  It is so beautiful and relaxing and we so enjoy the company of each other in a blissful experience.  Just to make it a bit more wonderful, Krim talks the crew into playing and singing for us and after a bit more encouraging we are treated to old folk songs of Greece and it is special.  It is a shame the day has to end but it helps to know we are driving back and our own hot bath awaits.  What a day!

April 8, 2018: Beautiful Santorini

45 minutes and there it is, in the middle of the Aegean Sea..Like the fabled city of Atlantis (and some say this is the spot) Santorini is a half circle of island surrounding the caldera of the volcano.  

Our Hotel is a half hour ride through rocks and colored soil that the volcano has thrown up over the centuries. We are required to walk the final block or so cause autos are not allowed.  But the effect is magnified as we step to the rim of a cliff to view the white houses and sea and our Hotel.  Now we hit the jackpot here cause the Andronis Boutique is simply amazing.  Lots of steep steps with a pool and restaurant below and rooms tucked into the cliffs all the way down.  Our rooms are cave-like cut into the cliff with our own private hot pool for each room with a view overlooking the caldera of the volcano.  Wow! It is so beautiful!  

Of course there are cute little shops along quaint narrow trails with beautiful views of the sea, churches with beautiful brilliant blue domes, smells of food and folks.  It is busy but in summer is is a zoo, so they say. 

Our wonderful friend from Spain, Javier,  is going to join us at the resort and he is bringing his lady for us to meet.  Here they are and we meet Rachael and she fits right in right away.  What a cute couple!  

Dinner at the hotel is outside by the pool and the attention we get is outstanding.  There must have been a million people making sure we are happy.  

Santorini runs on tourist money and is doing fine.  The rest of Greece struggles with an economy that is still one of the sick ones in Europe with high unemployment so these folks on Santorini know they are lucky and they work like crazy.  But the friendly attitude does not feel forced – the people at the hotel and in the shops are great and take there time without being pushy.  People here like this time of year when life is slower and they can visit.  We ask the hotel to book a boat tomorrow and they hook us up.  To our cave, a dip in the hot bath and sleep.  

April 6-7, 2018: To Athens

The day starts so early we are not sure the oxygen has been turned on. But the shuttle driver is waiting so it must be time to go.  Clyde and Krim are trying luxury going and torture coming back so first class to Dallas is a treat – you can actually move around in you seat and they call you by name and bring you stuff all the time – can you imagine?  We are in the Dallas American Airlines lounge which we think is pretty nice when Tina sends a text they are going to try the British Air lounge since we are flying with them.  The next text says, “oh yeah, this is where you want to be”.  Riding the coattails of the million mile Aho status we are in!  Oh my, this is a whole other world and it makes the American Lounge look like Chucky Cheese Pizza parlor on a Friday night.  

Time goes quickly and there we are boarding.  It is hard to imagine what First Class is like because Clyde and Krim are wide eyed giggle happy with our new digs in Business Class. The food is great, the seat goes to flat and a shelf drops for your feet and you actually sleep!  This flight ends too soon – never thought I would say that!  

The pilot finds England and we find the British Air Lounge for more pampering – this time by Lufthansa and it is time to hit the air for Athens.  Our plans call for us to sleep before the next flight and we booked a room right across the street – how sweet it is to skip the taxi and check into our room!  The hotel has a great bar and the bartender is a master award winning mixologist who whips up a couple of beauties.  

Time for bed – tomorrow we take a short flight to Santorini to see if the island looks anything as beautiful as the pictures.