Author: tarakauffman
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Buda and Pest
Budapest has old town views from the river that are one of a kind. Since we were here in 2017 the chain bridge where we are docked has had a facelift. We revisited the Matthias church and walked the streets of Buda. This week they prepare for a visit from Xi, China’s President. Chimney Cakes…
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Pécs, Hungary
Mohács, where we docked this morning is the sight of a battle between the Ottoman forces and the Kingdom of Hungary. King Louis II actually drowned trying to retreat from the Ottomans that totally outnumbered the Hungarians. This area is known for its fertile farmland in the Carpathian basin. They do not have to use…
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Croatia
Early this morning we entered Croatia. Here we do not have to keep our passports on us at all times like we did throughout our stay in Serbia. This little town of Ilok, (6,700 folks) took pride in making sure every part of their village was clean and neat. As we walked up the path…
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Novi Sad, Serbia
Novi Sad (New Garden) has been called the “Serbian Athens” and was recently named the “European Capital of Culture”. Today, on Saturday there was a colorful market with processed food, fresh vegetables, meats, household supplies and clothes. They have an abundance of space in their pedestrian area. Lots of shops and churches. The only synagogue…
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Belgrade, Serbia
Today we were up early walking in the rain. The city was quiet and not crowded at all. There were a couple of reasons, one is that it is Good Friday and the other was the weather. The Orthodox Church, which is what the majority of folks belong to in this part of the world,…
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Serbia
Today, on the right side of the ship it is Eastern European (Romania) time and the left side of the ship (Serbia) is Central time. The morning was spent “lock watching”. The largest lock on the Danube is Iron Gate 1. Alongside the gate is one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in Europe. It…
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витан or Vitin
The Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet began in the 9th century. It currently has a total of 30 letters. Most Slavic countries use this alphabet, including Russia. Vidin is known for its castle/fortress “Baba Vida” that was built during the 12th century, the building was overseen by the daughter of a wealthy Bulgarian. Tsar Ivan, the last…
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Pleven, Bulgaria
Pleven is about an hour drive from the Danube. The iron curtain dropped in 1989 and much like Romania it began a slow crawl back from communism. The countryside has rolling hills. We saw field, after field of young wheat and a vineyard. Approximately 60% of the lands are owned by Bulgarians and the other…
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Cernavoda
Due to winds that might shut down the port at Constanta, our ship decided to pull out last evening and dock at Cernavoda, Romania. It is a small town of around 15,000 and not a tourist attraction. It did not affect those guests that had booked a tour in the wine area and the delta.…
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Travel Day to Constanta
During the three hour trip our guide shared loads of information about her country Romania. The minimum wage level was just increased to euro 650 per month. The cost of a communist style flat is around €250 a month. Their tax rate is 25% for the social security tax, 10% for medical and 10% flat…
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Parliament, Mogosoaia Palace & Snagov Monastery
Yesterday we failed to get into the interior of the Parliament building. This was on our list of must sees, so we went to see if our cruise representatives could help. It so happened that one of them knew who to call and we got in at noon today. We were not disappointed, it is…
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Bucharest
Weather wise the morning started as dreary and bleak, the tour we booked was also a dark subject. The title of the tour, “The Ashes of Communism”. To start, we went to see the outside of the parliament building. It is the second largest administrative building in the world, just behind the Pentagon. Imagine that…
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So Long, But Not Good-bye
We really enjoyed our time in Istanbul, maybe more than we expected. As we mentioned on the first day, we found the entire city to be extremely clean, especially for a city of 16 million people. Now, not Holland clean but very few places are that clean. Every shop worker, if not actively selling, is…
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Bazaar & Dolmabahçe Palace
The best time to visit the Grand Bazaar is when it opens at 8:30. Our expectation was that the bazaar would be like the markets in other large European or Asian cities. It was not, the aisles were wide and clean with 4,000 shops. They were somewhat organized by type, scarves, shoes, clothes, bath accessories,…
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Another Continent in the Same City
Our style of travel focuses on history and the culture and lifestyle of the people. Typically we stay in nice hotels, eat really good food, fly expensive and then take public transportation once we get there. Visiting with locals, shopping in ordinary grocery stores and doing our own laundry is our usual. This morning after…
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Palace and Mosques
The Tomtom Suites checks all our boxes. It is in the middle of the new district, which doesn’t really mean new. It was built in 1850 as an annex building for the French palace/foreign embassy and was then used for the Franciscan nuns. In 2000, it was fully restored to a 20 suite hotel. It…
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Turkey
Coming into Istanbul last evening it was cold and pouring down rain, but this morning the sun popped out for us. This made the walk all the better as we wandered to the Hagia Sofia Mosque. This mosque was originally built from 532 – 537 as a Christian church by the Romans. Hagia Sofia means…
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A Little History to Start
It is funny how everyone knows the song about how, “it’s Istanbul not Constantinople”. If not, you should pull it up on YouTube and it will run through your head all day long. Constantinople was the ancient name for modern day Istanbul. It was first settled in 7th century B.C. and with its location, it…
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Istanbul in April
We are busy planning our trip to Istanbul and basically eastern Europe. Most places on this trip will be a first and we are excited to experience the food, culture and the people. Back again soon!
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Frankfurt Finish
Our last stop before returning to the U.S! Always an enjoyable time visiting with Victor and his family. They stay very busy, so we really appreciate them making us feel so much like extended family. The first night we ate along the Main. I had Schnitzel for the third time in as many days. This…
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Hamburg, Germany
We heard from several Viking cruise travelers that the Miniatur Wunderland trains were something not to miss in Hamburg. They require a reserved time slot and so when we went to get our Hamburg card they were able to reserve a time for us this morning. It was amazing, with over a million man hours…
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Moving Day
We had a relaxing morning compared to the majority of folks leaving the ship around 3:00 am. After a leisurely breakfast at 7:30 we caught a taxi to the train station. We watched two large cruise ships dock on either side of us this morning too. Our train to Hamburg was delayed about 30 minutes,…
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Copenhagen, Denmark
The Little Mermaid is an iconic sight in Copenhagen. The sculpture was inspired by ballerina Ellen Price, who in 1909 danced the lead role in the ballet “The Little Mermaid” at the Royal Theatre. It is not the same story as our Disney movie. This story is the Hans Christian Andersen (I’m sure the original…
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Århus, Denmark
It’s a boy!! Coming in big at 1,100 lbs. I really wanted to touch this statue. It looked like it would really feel like real skin. The “Far from Home” exhibit at the ARoS Museum focuses on the idea of home and the challenges faced by individuals in modern society, the exhibition asks the question…
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Lübeck & Wismar, Germany
Lübeck was the capital of the Hanseatic League. Most of the cities that we have traveled to on this trip were part of this group. In the 13th to the 15th century there was a need for merchants to have protection and trade connections. These Baltic cities thrived on the Hanseatic League trade. One of…
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Gudhjem, Bornholm, Denmark
In order to make Gin there must be Juniper berries. Other fruits can be added for flavor, even rhubarb after distilling. There are different types of tonic and it does make a difference, either to be sweeter or have a milder sweetness. On up the hill to another little village called Gudhjem. This is a…
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Karlskrona, Sweden
We continue to see parts of the archipelago, the thousands of very small islands that are all around Sweden. Today is our last Swedish stop, in Karlskrona. The Swedish Navy has been located at Karlskrona since 1680. We saw several small military boats in the water around the port. Pictures are not allowed to be…
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Gdansk, Poland
We came into the port in Gdansk just before noon. This port area has great importance. It is where the first shots were fired on September 1, 1939 which started WWII. The Solidarity movement came out of protests in 1980, but before the 1980 protest, workers had tried in 1956 and 1970 to get better…
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Visby, Gotland, Sweden
Visby is such a picturesque city of only about 24,000 folks. From Vikings, to pirates, to Danish for 300 years and finally in 1645 to Sweden. Many churches were burned out by the Danish when they knew the Swedish were taking over. The German church was the only one that we saw in the old…
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