Nice Afternoon

After we returned to our ship we had lunch as we began our first day of sailing the Danube.  The weather was beautiful and we had such a relaxing afternoon.

 The picture at the right is especially for our very special grand daughters, Emily and Katie, who have both spent many hours at my side helping to cook and bake.  Girls, these people are showing us how to make apple strudel.  I have the recipe,  and I can't wait to make it with each of you.

It was such a sunny and warm afternoon.   We spent quite a bit of time enjoying the beautiful views of the Danube.

Still more to come...

City Tour Part 2-Buda

We left the Pest side of the city and drove across one of the pretty bridges that span the Danube.   On the other side, we entered Buda.   We toured this hilly, green area which is so different from Pest.   One of the stops on the tour was the church shown in the next 3 pictures.   It is St. Mathias church.   Yes, named after the very same beloved leader that we learned about when we were in the Heroes Plaza.   It was like no other Catholic church we have been in.



The walls and pillars all over the inside of the church were painted in shades of brown, tan and orange.   It was lovely, but almost had a Middle Eastern feel.   The stained glass windows are the originals that were removed and hidden away.   Amazingly they survived the war and were put back in the church when refurbishing happened.

 Outside the church there the remains of walled fortifications that are called Fishermen's Bastion.   It was named that because the fishermen who lived on the hillside below the church area were responsible for its protection.  It had openings in the wall where you could look out on the Danube below and the Pest side of the city.

This picture is taken looking through one of the arches.   The large building you can see with the dark colored steeple is the Parliament building.  It is quite beautiful, especially with the sun shining on it.

A short distance away we found this monument.   It was dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the terrible plague that hit so much of Europe.





More to come.....

The City Part 1-Pest

After breakfast we left our boat in the steady rain and began our city tour.   Lucky for us, the first part of the tour was basically driving to different parts of the central city.   As we neared our first stop-Hero Square-the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy the spot in dry conditions.  This large plaza was created in 1896 when the World's Fair was held in Budapest.   It contains many statues recognizing important people in the history of the country.

The picture at the left shows one of the heroes.  The center statue is of Mathias.   Apparently he was one of the most well-loved leaders of Hungary.   He was quite handsome and gregarious.

The first statue in the picture at the right is of Saint   Stephan.   He is always pictured holding that double cross because he was the leader during the Austrio-Hungarian reign and that represented both countries. He is the patron saint of the country who is honored by the festival and fireworks that we enjoyed last night.   Only problem is, he didn't really like Budapest and Hungary in general.   Needless to say, the feeling of many of the present countrymen is mutual!

We got back on our bus and continued viewing the Pest side of the city including the Jewish ghetto area. We learned that in just 4 months time, the Nazis exterminated 60,000 men, women and children.   Many of them were chained together at a time at their ankles, forced to stand on the edge of the river, and then the first couple were shot.   As they fell, there was not need to use any more bullets and one by one they pulled each other into the river and drowned.   They were made to leave their shoes on the bank as the shoes had value to the Germans-unlike the people.   The memorial area is now lined with shoes.  Quite moving.  Then we  headed across the Danube to the Buda side of the city.

A Marathon Travel Day

Our long day began on an ominous note in Milwaukee.   Our weather was fine there, but apparently the weather in Chicago was not.   As a result the airport was in a "shutdown" for a time and it didn't take long for everything to get backed up as far as landings and take-offs.   We ended up sitting on the tarmac there in Milwaukee for nearly two hours.   We truly expected that we would not make that connection since we only had a two hour window.   Unbelievably, we did make that flight as it was also delayed due to the back-ups.   The plane was great and not crowded so we had an extra seat in our row and were able to take turns stretching out for naps.   Not what you would call quality sleep but tolerable.   The only problem was that because that flight was delayed and because it was a long process to get off the big plane, through customs and on to our gate in Vienna-we arrived there exhausted, stressed and then disappointed to find we had missed the flight by 5 minutes.   The next 6 hours were spent in a sleep-deprived stupor waiting for the only other flight out that day to Budapest.   We finally got to our departure time.   They took our boarding passes and we walked down a jet-way expecting to enter the plane sitting at the end of it.   Only we didn't.   they put us on a shuttle bus, trucked us out onto the tarmac and these cute little prop jobs are what met us!     I didn't even know they still flew these things!  You can see Bob just about to board in the picture below-at the back of the plane!  Actually was a nice little flight and so low to the ground that we saw all the cities and villages as we made our way to Budapest.   We were happy to see the Viking representative waiting for us at the baggage claim area.   We made it to the ship around 7 and enjoyed the evening that we described yesterday.

We were so looking forward to a long, peaceful night of sleeping in our comfy bed.   Not so much.   We both feel like our bodies were not quite adjusted to the time change.   Slept well, but only in stretches.  

We looked forward to our Budapest city tour....to be continued

First Day on the Danube

Well, here we are in Budapest, Hungary.   It was a marathon of a day which I will cover more tomorrow, but we finally made it to the ship around 7:00.   Greeted by anniversary balloons and towel creatures and note.   Nice dinner and then there just happened to be fireworks over the Danube tonight as it is St. Stephens Day.   He is apparently the patron saint of Hungary.  Very pretty with everything lit up.   You can see some of the background in the pictures below.

After the fireworks we had some authentic Hungarian entertainment.   Only I looked over and Bob was nodding off after the third selection.


Now showered and ready to hit the sack.   Not sure I slept at all since we left Green Bay on Tuesday morning and Bob has had a few hours.   Looking forward to a long, peaceful night.   Since we are 7 hours ahead here, you are all just getting done with work or school!

Promise there will be lots more tomorrow when my head doesn't feel like a cabbage.

Love to  All,

Deb and Bob

Packing Our Bags

Hello to All,

It is only 4 days from departing for our Danube River Cruise.  It is time to get organized.  The picture at the right is our starting point.  Our cruise boat will be docked by this bridge for 2 days (Wed. & Thurs.).  We will be exploring Budapest, which is actually two cities, Buda and Pest separated by the river. Similar to Paris. Budapest is called the city of light because of how it is lit up at night. Our next stop will be Vienna, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.  We hope you will join us on our journey.  We hope and pray for a safe journey and all goes well.

Love to all,

Bob and Deb

Bandelier National Monument

Adolph Bandelier was an anthropologist who came to New Mexico to study and document the lives of the Ancient Pueblo Indians.   He studied this area extensively and thus the National Monument is named after him.   We walked a 1.2 mile trail through the Frijoles Canyon along the Frijoles Creek.   (Yes, all you Skippy John Jones fans-"Canyon of the Beans").   Generations of  Puebloans lived in this canyon from around 1100 to 1600.   There were dwelling foundation remnants in the floor of the canyon.   The picture at the right shows these foundations ringing the common area of the community.  

As we left the floor of the canyon and climbed toward the canyon wall we could see the cliff dwellings. 
Here you can see Deb climbing a ladder to reach one of the small "rooms" in the canyon wall.
The rock looked like sandstone to us, but it is not.   This was actually a highly active volcanic area and the stone is volcanic in nature and is called "tuff".   It is quite soft and easily eroded by wind and rain, thus creating the myriad of  holes which became rooms for the people.   

There were also areas where the people built up walls with adobe brick.   You can see Bob at the right looking into one of these rooms.

Both of us climbed the ladder below and entered quite a large area which included several rooms.   The picture of Deb is inside one of the rooms.

The Ancient Puebloans (which we used to call Anasazi) grew corn, beans and squash in the fertile volcanic soil of the area and many of the rooms were used for storage of their crops.   They usually tried to have a store of dried field products which would last a couple of years in order to deal with the inevitable drought years.

In the next two pictures you can get an idea of the length of the canyon.   The holes you can see in the canyon wall were where there were at one time timbers that defined "floors" of the dwellings.  In many areas you could clearly see where there had been at least three levels in the dwelling.   Deb is standing next to a beautiful petroglyph which archaeologists uncovered during one of their digs.  Apparently even thousands of years ago folks liked to have artwork on their walls!

We were making our way back to our car when there was an informational sign telling of the wildlife that could be seen.   We literally looked up from the sign and saw this guy standing literally five feet from us!

On our way back to Santa Fe, we passed through the city of White Rocks.   Deb had read about a scenic overlook from the town.   Sure enough.   It was quite amazing.   We could see the Rio Grande River flowing below us and canyons, mesas,  and mountains in all directions.

All in all it was quite a wonderful last day.     The nickname for the state of New Mexico is The Land of Enchantment and we have certainly becoming enchanted with the beauty and amazing history and culture of the area.  

We will finally be heading north tomorrow morning.      It is hard to believe our winter adventure is ending.   It has been wonderful and amazing.   

Hugs to Everyone,

Bob and Deb