#2976 vacation memories: day 6 - Vienna, Austria (10 Sept 2025)

 

a rainy day in Vienna is still a really good day

When I first started thinking about this year's vacation, one thought I had was to see the Big 3 Capitals of Central Europe: Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. I'm not exactly sure why I wanted to see this cities so much, but I really did! When Lizzie and I spoke to our travel advisor, Candice, she recommended the river cruise on the Danube. (Of course Prague is not on the Danube, but we got there anyway. I'll talk about it in a future post.)

Because Vienna was one of my Big 3, I was really excited to visit the city. I was eager to just walk around and soak up the vibes, and I had another dream that I wanted to make come true: to have coffee and apple strudel in a beautiful Viennese coffeehouse. 

If you don't know, the coffeehouse culture in Vienna is a tradition dating back to the 1600s. There are cafes, and then there are the coffeehouses that are beautifully decorated with marble table tops, velvet seats, and elegant chandeliers. That's the type of place I wanted to go. I told Lizzie my dream, and she declared that we would make it happen!

Each of the cities we visited on this cruise had easy, walkable access to the historic districts, except Vienna. We were on a "panoramic tour" which meant that we were on a big bus with lots of other Viking guests. Our guide was born and raised in Vienna, and she had a take-charge demeanor and a no-nonsense way about her that I really liked. As in other cities, she did not shy away from the World War II and Communist history of the city. She also went even further back in history to Maria Theresa, the ruler of the Hapsburg monarchy and the only woman to hold that title in her own right, and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi. You cannot get away from hearing about these two fascinating women in Central Europe. 

On the bus, we passed by many green spaces, which I loved, and the guide pointed out various statues of Mozart, Strauss, and other people of historical importance. She pointed out the Klimt museum and others. Off the bus, we walked around with our group and saw many beautiful buildings, including the Hofburg Palace and St. Stephen's Cathedral. The city is dazzling in it's grandeur. The buildings enormous and wonderful. These are buildings meant for the government of an empire, not a country smaller in size than the state of Maine. 

After the tour, our guide kindly looked at the list of places Lizzie had prepared and offered her opinions on what we must see and what we could save for another time. Based on this information, Lizzie took a few minutes to build a walking map on her phone (she's amazing!) and off we went. We wandered around, stopping in bookshops and churches, and admiring the glorious flower shops. I took photos of a few of them.

I'm going to tell you right now that I don't think any country does window boxes better than Austria. You will hear me say this again when I talk about Salzburg in a future post.

After an hour or so of wandering on our own, we were feeling hungry so we decided to get serious about finding a coffeehouse. We saw a few, but none were grand with chandeliers, so we just kept walking until suddenly, we found ourselves in front of Demel. This coffeehouse showed up on nearly all the lists I saw as one of the premier old school coffeehouses. There was no queue - I think there was only one couple ahead of us to be seated, so in we went. 

Demel was exactly what I had in mind for my coffeehouse experience. We were seated in a room painted Tiffany blue with sketches in white of cakes and coffees painted on the walls. A large chandelier hung in the center of room. There was a red velvet settee at the table next to ours, and our little table had a marble top and a little floor lamp nearby. 

I was excited to be in Demel!

I ordered a cappuccino and apfelstrudel.  Lizzie ordered a cappuccino and Sacher torte. 

Lizzie with our coffee and pastries at Demel

(I took this photo from a strange angle, so my strudel and coffee look enormous.)

apfelstrudel and creme anglais

Well, the strudel was kind of enormous, really. I think there might have been at least two whole apples in that slice. The creme anglais is a light custard sauce that you spoon over the strudel. Oh man...so good!

dreams can come true!

After our coffee and cake, we walked around the shop downstairs. The coffeehouse part of the building is upstairs, and the downstairs has a take-away cafe, some outdoor seating, and a retail shop. Demel makes chocolates and all sorts of lovely things. You can even buy a Sachertorte to go (we didn't), but I did like this display:

yes, that is a goat with a Sachertorte

Our food tasting at Demel was not over. Lizzie had read about a dessert called kaiserschmarrn, which are fluffy, shredded pancakes topped with a fruit syrup and powdered sugar. We opted out of the fruit syrup and just had the sugar. We bought ours from the take-out window at Demel, and it was hot and fresh, and amazingly good. It was quite egg-y, and the pancake was really fluffy and flavorful, sweet but not American pancake sweet. We sat on a bench across from the Hofburg Palace and got right after the kaiserschmarrn. It is a fun word to say. Go ahead. Say it out loud. And if you are ever in Vienna, go get some.

We walked around some more, and we were just not ready to go back to the ship because...Vienna. It's marvelous. We decided to try to find another grand coffeehouse we'd read about, and Lizzie lead us, after a slight detour, to Cafe Schwarzenburg, the oldest coffeehouse on the Ringstrasse. This time we sat outside and had our favorite snack: beer and French fries with mayonnaise. 

cheers to Vienna!

By the time we finished our snack, it was starting to rain a bit heavier. There had been light showers off and on through the day, but the rain became pretty steady, so we decided to finish up our time in the city and head back to the ship. I mention this because we stopped at a souvenir shop and we had to leave our umbrellas in a bucket by the door. This is where my umbrella suffered an injury that would eventually lead to it's demise. You'll hear more about my broken umbrella in the Amsterdam post. 

Lizzie and I successfully negotiated the return to the ship via the metro from Stephansplatz to the Vorgartenstrasse. It's just four stops between the two stations. It would have been far to walk, and like I said, it was raining pretty hard by then.  

My favorite part of the day was having strudel and coffee at Demel. 

If I had a regret, it's that we didn't have enough time in the city. I can think of at least three things I would do if I was to go back to Vienna. However, I feel very pleased with all the places I saw and the things we did, and I think we did the best we could in the time we had. You always have to leave something for next time!

My step count on this day was 17,109, a distance of 7.1 miles. 

The next stop is Krems, Austria where we will spend time at Gottweig Abbey and then have a very pleasant afternoon sailing on the Danube through the Wachau Valley and chatting with some new friends.

See you next time!

#2975 vacation memories: Day 5 - Bratislava, Slovakia (9 Sept)

ussie in the Old Town Square, Bratislava

 The cruise from Budapest to Bratislava was the longest of the trip. We left Budapest around 10 pm, I'd say, and we arrived in Bratislava around 2 pm. While we were having breakfast, it was announced that we would be going through a lock and that everyone was welcome to go up to the sun deck to check it out, so we did.

approaching the lock

Of course I have heard of locks, but I've never had the experience. It's basically a boat elevator. The ship pulls in to this cavern (the lock), then water from the river is pumped in and the boat raises to the next level of the river (and vice versa, I guess.) The thing that was most interesting was how close we got to the wall on the left side of the ship. I'm talking less than a foot between the ship and the wall. Why so close? Because another ship pulled into the lock with us.

two ships in the lock

That gate/door you see in the background closed and water came in and the ship slowly, slowly started rising to the top of that wall you see there. It was a really cool experience. There are eleven locks on the Danube between Budapest, Hungary and Passau, Germany. We passed through most of them overnight, but I think I was awake for three of them. None were as cool as this first one, probably because the weather was so delightful and I was excited to be on the river heading to a new place. 

we are in Slovakia!

I think this is a good time to tell you that I had a big crush on the captain of our ship, Tomas. He is tall, dark, and handsome with jet black hair, an awesome beard, and an effortless hotness that never failed to make my heart go pitter-pat. I also admired his skill at getting the long ship so close to the wall. At one point, he was leaning out over the rail and I worried he would scrape his beautiful head on that wall. I stared at him every day, and it's not a stretch to say that my overall enjoyment of the cruise had something to do with seeing him daily. 

Okay...

We had lunch on the ship (I had fish and chips that day) and we sailed along to the capital of Slovakia, the city of Bratislava. Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia until 1993, when the two countries separated. Slovakia joined NATO and the European Union in 2004, and it's main economic money maker is auto manufacturing. I had no idea.

Here's my first glimpse of Bratislava:

Bratislava, Slovakia

A rather unusual thing in Bratislava is the UFO Observation Deck/restaurant. We didn't go there, but we saw it from the ship.

UFO Observation Deck

I just mention it because it's unusual.

We had a walking tour of the old town that took us past a bunch of pretty buildings, one of which had a cannonball embedded in it that was from the time Napoleon Bonaparte bombarded the city. Besides Napoleon,  the Nazis were there in the 1930s, then the Communists came and didn't leave until the late 1980s. The place has seen some stuff.

When the tour was over, Lizzie and I explored on our own. Lizzie had a few places on her list for us to see. Our first stop was a cute shop that sold locally made crafts and things. I bought some postcards and a darling little watercolor, plus a couple of stickers. The next stop was a nice, modern bookstore in the not-touristic part of the city.  (Fun fact: Lizzie and I went into bookstore in every city we visited!) The bookshop in Bratislava was two levels. The first level had books in different languages, mostly Slovak, but also German, Hungarian, and English. The second level had more books and a really cute café.

café in the bookshop

cute!

Walking back to the older part of town, we saw a street lined with trees, restaurants, and shops so we decided to check it out.

Lizzie looking sassy in Bratislava

We happened upon a restaurant that Lizzie had tagged in her notes called Bratislava Flagship Restaurant. We saw a empty tables outside and decided to stop for a drink and maybe a snack.

Bratislava Flagship Restaurant

We were more likely in the pub part of the restaurant. I think part of it was a monastery and the monks brewed beer, as is pretty common in this part of the world. An interesting thing about most cafes in Europe is that you sit down and a server comes to you. You don't wait around for them to show you to a table, or you'll be standing around looking like a dumb tourist for awhile. Most of the time a server comes over right away. That was not really the case at this café, but a young woman did eventually come to take our order of "pivo and chipsy." Pivo is a draught beer, and chipsy is potato chips that come with a freaking delicious garlic dip.

Lizzie is delighted with pivo and chipsy!

This little snack was really, really good. The chips were freshly cooked, the dip was fantastic (I'll be looking for this recipe!), and the beer was excellent, so good, in fact, that we ordered another round. We were surrounded by folks walking home from work and school. People were out walking their dogs. Kids were running around and playing in the little park across the way. It was lovely.

After our snack, we walked back to the old town and looked at a confectionary shop that was absolutely beautiful and had gorgeous cakes. I didn't take a photo, though. (I don't know why. Maybe because there was so much décor I couldn't focus on any one thing.) From another shop, we bought something called a bajgel. Yes, it is similar to a bagel, but in Slovakia it is filled with "something," typically poppy seeds (very popular in Central Europe) or walnuts or other things. We bought one filled with walnuts in sort of a sweet mixture. It was tasty, and I bet they are delicious when warm. 

On our way back to the ship, we walked down a pedestrian walkway that was shaded by lots of trees. There were fountains and pots full of flowers hanging from the lampposts. There were benches full of people enjoying the late afternoon. The walkway was bordered by restaurants and cafes that were starting to fill up for drinks and later, dinner. I was charmed.

pedestrian thoroughfare

We got back to the ship and were rewarded with a glimpse of Hot Captain Tomas in shorts and a t-shirt. I think he got a fresh haircut in town, too. He has lots of tattoos, which just added to his allure. I'm surprised I didn't trip walking onto the ship. 

For dinner that night, Chef George prepared a traditional Slovak dish called halusky.  It might be compared to macaroni and cheese, but the "macaroni" is made from potatoes and flour, like gnocchi in Italy, and the cheese is not cheddar, but a sheep's milk cheese. We were told that the dish is usually topped with bacon crumbles, but Chef George topped his dish with crispy onions. I won't lie: it was astoundingly delicious.

halusky with a glass of sauvignon blanc

I enjoyed the day in Bratislava very much. I loved going to the non-touristy part of town to see what the locals do. There was one thing, though, that Bratislava is known for, and that is the big castle on the hill. We didn't go up there, and I think if I ever had a chance to go back to this city, I would go to the castle. It's said that the view is lovely and the gardens are nice. 

As we sailed away that night, Lizzie and I were on the top deck toasting the city with a glass of prosecco. The castle was all lit up, shining a bright white with a dark orange roof. We were excited to take a photo as we sailed by. We heard the church bells chime 10 or 11 times, and then...poof...the lights on the castle went out! So here's a pic of the dark castle:

Bratislava Castle

 I thought of something to add to the posts: how many steps I took and number of miles walked each day.

Tuesday 9 Sept - Bratislava: 12,408 steps, 5.05 miles 

Monday 8 Sept - Budapest: 13,476 steps, 5.53 miles

Sunday 7 Sept - Budapest 10,117 steps, 4.23 miles

Saturday 6 Sept - travel day Amsterdam to Budapest: 9,636 steps, 3.93 miles

In the next post I'll tell you about my day in Vienna, Austria. Vienna was city number 2 of the Big Four Central European capitals. Spoiler: Vienna is grand and awesome and I want to go back! 

 

#2974 vacation memories: day 4 - Budapest (8 Sept)

 

ussie with the ship and the Chain Bridge in background

As I looked through the photos from day four, I have lots of pics of the pretty buildings, but you can google Budapest and you'll see all the pretty buildings much more beautifully photographed. I'll focus more on things that caught my attention.

At the end of the last post, Lizzie and I had returned from our night cruise of the Danube. What I forgot to say is that when everyone was back on board, the ship moved from the temporary dock to the regular docking place. We stayed up a little while to get the feel for the moving ship, but we had to get to bed. When we got up in the morning, the ship was docked right under the Chain Bridge, a pedestrian and vehicle bridge that spans the Danube, of course, and connects the two sides of the city. Buda is the older, hilly side of the city where the castle is. Pest is the more modern, flat side of the city. The hotel we stayed in on the first night is in Pest.

A cool thing about Viking cruises is that there is an excursion included every day you are in port. Usually it is a motor coach or walking tour of the town. I figured out that if the description includes the word "panoramic," you're on a bus. We took the Panoramic Budapest tour. The bus drove us around Pest, including the street where Lizzie and I had breakfast, past the Opera House and St. Stephens and s all the way down to Hero's Square. Then we crossed the river on the Elisabeth Bridge and up to Buda Castle.  I learned that when we're talking about a castle, it's not necessarily a single building like Sleeping Beauty's castle. Usually it is a compound made up of many buildings and palaces, although there is an actual Buda Castle. Matthias Church is part of Buda Castle. We were able to get off the bus there and walk around. The roads in that part of the city are extremely narrow, and there's no way a bus could navigate. Here's a pic of our group, plus others being herded toward Matthias Church.

walking in Buda

I want to take a quick minute to tell you about Matthias Church because it is so unique. The tiles on the roof were surprising to me because they are so colorful and not the norm on neo-Gothic churches. Another thing is that it is not called St. Matthias Church, which is also unusual. I can't remember the reason for that; maybe because it was once used as a mosque. The building has been through a lot of changes. The inside is unlike any Catholic Church I've seen because of all the patterns on the columns. I think it's left over from Ottoman times, but you can google it if you are interested. I thought it was all marvelous.

Matthias Church (check out the roof tiles!)

an interior column, Matthias Church

As you might imagine, Lizzie and I were eager to get away from the crowd and explore a bit on our own. Here's some photos from that time.

a cool door and windows with flower boxes

this was our view when we called Mom

a nice street

Soon enough it was time to get on the bus and go back to the ship. We had lunch, then we decided to explore on our own. We walked across the Chain Bridge and back. We would have taken the funicular back up to the castle, but the funicular is closed on Monday for maintenance. We walked down the river to see the Shoes on the Danube memorial.

Shoes on the Danube

(The Nazis made the Jews take their shoes off, then the Nazis shot them and the bodies fell into the river. Now there are these bronze shoes along a section of the riverbank to commemorate that horror. It is very moving. There are all types and sizes of shoes represented. Dark history.)

After this sobering sight, Lizzie and I were faced with a decision of what to do next. It was a hot day, in the 80s and the sun was bright. Should we go back to the ship and relax? Should we walk into the Pest and find a chimney cake? I wanted to buy a couple of souvenirs, so we decided to go to Pest after we had a drink at an open air terrace bar on the river's edge. Here's a quirky thing: we had to basically rent the glass the beer came in. When we were done, we took the glass, which was actually really heavy-duty plastic, back to the counter and we got our two forints (HUF) for each glass. Cuts down on garbage, and if you walk off with the cup, you paid for it, I suppose.

a pedestrian only street in Budapest

The walk back into Pest near St. Stephen's Basilica only took about 20 minutes. We did find a souvenir shop that was air conditioned (!) and we bought some postcards and stickers and a t-shirt for T. Our main objective, though, was to have chimney cake. Lizzie had found a place that had good reviews, so that's where we headed. The interesting/funny thing is that I'd seen the place on Saturday night when we were in St. Stephen's Square, and the place was packed, so it must be good.

What is a chimney cake?

chimney cake

It is a sturdy pastry dough that is wrapped around a cylinder about the length of my forearm. The cylinder is then placed on a spit over hot coals and cooked until the outside is crispy and the inside is done. I'm not exactly sure when the "seasoning" goes on it, but it must happen when it's hot because the sugar and cinnamon are stuck right on it. There are different flavors you can get; cinnamon, vanilla, and walnuts are the three most common and authentic. You can also get them filled with ice cream or Nutella or cream, but our guide begged us not to do that because it is not traditional. Chimney cakes used to be special Christmas treats, but now, because of tourism, I guess, they are available year round. 

How did it taste? Well, the first bite was kinda different because we didn't know what to expect. It was cinnamon-y and sweet. Kind of crisp on the outside, and tender on the inside. It wasn't like a cake or like a pastry - it was some kind of magical mixture of the two. We didn't think we would finish it because it was as long as my forearm, as I mentioned, but you know what? We did finish it and it was damn good.

Back on the ship, we went to the lounge where the captain and the officers welcomed everyone on board with a champagne toast. The Program Director, Adrian, gave a little talk about our next destination, then it was time for dinner. That night I had a Caesar salad, a generous crab cake along with sweet potato fries, and a lava cake for dessert. It was all delicious!

We started sailing as we were eating dinner, so we passed all the beautiful buildings that I had sort of seen the night before on the drunken Danube excursion. Lizzie and I decided to keep a tradition that MT and I have when we sail of toasting the place we are leaving, so we raised a glass to Budapest and marveled at her beauty. She is a spectacular city. 

There was a full moon that night, and there was a lightning storm happening inland. I took a jillion photos trying to capture the lightning. Most of them were just dark, but here's one I like:

lightning in the clouds on the left and a full moon on the right

Here are a couple of pics of my travel journal pages:

Up next: sailing through a lock and an afternoon in Bratislava, Slovakia.

#2973 vacation memories: day 3 - Budapest (7 Sept 2025)

on the ship - ussie pic by Lizzie

Looking back through the photos and my notes from this day, it really is a day in three acts. Here's the story:

Part 1: We explore 

Lizzie and I were up fairly early because we wanted to walk around the city a bit before our driver came to pick us up at noon to take us to the ship. The hotel offered breakfast, but through her impeccable research, Lizzie had found a beautiful cafe not far from where we were staying, so we opted to breakfast at the cafe. 

The hotel was literally steps away from the Opera House, and it was spectacular and grand. 

Hungarian State Opera House

We walked around the area. It was Sunday morning, and the streets were quiet and everything was very clean. I didn't see a scrap of garbage anywhere. We were in the ritzy part of Budapest on the Rodeo Drive of the city. There was Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel...you get the picture. We turned down a side street lined with trees and saw this interesting statue:

statue in Budapest

I just googled what it was all about, and you can too, if you are interested. I didn't really care much about "the what" at the time as about the "wow, this cool" factor. I still kinda feel that way.

Breakfast was nice. We had cappuccino and a croissant on the sidewalk watching Budapest wake up on a Sunday morning. We heard the bells of St. Stephens. I could see the gorgeous Opera House to my left. I felt very satisfied and happy. The inside of the cafe was lovely. I've got a thing for chandeliers.

inside Muvez Kavehaz

Lizzie and I both love to visit local bookshops, and she'd found one about a 15 minute walk from our location. On that walk, we might have walked down the ugliest street in Budapest, then through a cute little park and into a sweet little bookshop with a cafe and a back garden. Since we'd just had breakfast, we didn't get another coffee, but we did buy a couple of postcards and I took this photo:

Massolit Books and Cafe, Budapest

From the bookshop, we took a different route through pretty streets with pretty buildings, and got back to our hotel with 15 minutes to spare before checkout. (oops!) We hung out in the lobby until the driver came to take us to the Viking dock.

Part 2: welcome aboard the Viking Aegir

Because there was a half-marathon happening in Budapest that morning, our ship was docked in a spot that was not it's usual berth, along with all the other river cruise ships that were in Budapest that morning. Our driver did try to drop us off a a different Viking ship, but I wasn't having it, and had him keep driving until we got to our ship, the Aegir. (It wasn't too far from where he wanted to drop us.) Crew members quickly came to the car, took our luggage, and escorted us on board. We were invited to go the the Aquavit dining area for a buffet lunch. I had the trofie pasta with pesto and a salad, along with a glass of white wine. I think Lizzie had the same. This was our first meeting with Leslie, a server from Budapest who would become a favorite of ours. He was funny and kind, and when he brought me that first glass of wine, I told him he was my new best friend, and that was that. 

After lunch we walked around the ship to get the feel of our home for the next seven days. It wasn't super fancy, but it was very clean and easy to get around. The guest capacity is 190, so compared to some ocean cruise ships with thousands of passengers and hundreds of staff, the Viking ship felt intimate and cozy.

Cozy is exactly the word I use to describe our stateroom. We were below deck, and there was a window, but all we could see were trees, mostly. We did have a stowaway spider on the outside in the window who spun a big web and rode along the entire trip. 

Here's a pic of our room (109) and a view of the ship from the upper deck:

room 109

the Danube River with Margaret Island on the left

We didn't leave the ship because it's location would have required us to get a taxi and we didn't know where we would go anyway. After we unpacked and got settled in, we sat up on the sun deck and continued to drink wine. It was sometime on the sundeck that I had the bright idea that we should take a night cruise on the Danube. Lizzie, who is/was not a fan of boats was up for it (probably because wine), so I booked the excursion, and we arranged a taxi through the customer relations desk on the ship to pick up us and take us to excursion dock. We had some dinner, which I really only know because I have pictures of it (chicken paprikas) and more wine, and then it was time to see the city at night. 

Part 3: night cruise on the Danube

The taxi came and took us to the dock where the cruise boats were. The price included a listening device in our language and a drink. I did not have the drink because, well, I fell asleep, or maybe more accurately, I passed out, just for a little while. I'm not proud of this, but it happened and that's that. I did wake up in time to see the Hungarian Parliament Building and it is glorious.

Hungarian Parliament Building

There were other buildings, too, but seeing this one was worth every penny of the price of that excursion. It's just stunning at night.

Luckily, our cab driver was there to take us back to the Aegir after the boat ride. I think Lizzie made the arrangement with him. I don't remember all that much about the rest of the night except that I was really happy.

The best part of the day was spending time day-drinking on a cruise ship with my sister.

I don't have any regrets. I'd do everything just the same way if I had a do-over.

travel journal

In the next post: learning about Pest and Buda, exploring on our own, and setting sail. 

 

#2972 vacation memories: day 1 and 2 Budapest (UPDATED)

 

next stop: Amsterdam then on to Budapest

I have spent the most marvelous half hour looking at photos from just the first couple days of the vacation. I smiled and giggled a little. I'm taking the time to put the pics in folders on my external hard drive as I go, and I think I'll be happy about it in the long run. 

I've been thinking about how I want to tell you about the trip. Of course I took pics of pretty buildings and some random stuff that maybe I thought would look cool and maybe art-y. You'll likely see some of that, and I also really hope I can describe the feelings and thoughts I was having as I whisked through those two weeks. 

Let's start at the very beginning / A very fine place to start (IYKYK)

Lizzie and I switched things up by flying out of SLC instead of LAX. I only saw one downside to this plan: I didn't get to see my mom like I do when we fly from LAX. Other than that, flying out of SLC was fantastic. We waltzed right in to check our bags. No line, no fuss. Security was super easy and we were very quickly sitting at one of the airport bars toasting our upcoming trip before boarding the plane. We chose to sit in the middle section so no one would have to climb over us or we wouldn't have to climb over anyone to go to the WC. Lizzie had the aisle (because I sleep, so I don't get up much), and on the outbound flight, no one was sitting next to me. It was great! I slept most of the eight hour and 45 minute flight because I can.

We arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in the early afternoon. We had a layover of about three hours, so we walked around a little to stretch our legs, then had a drink and a snack at a bar before boarding the flight for Budapest. I think there may have been a bus ride out to the airplane in Amsterdam, but I don't really remember. Maybe it was when we came back to Amsterdam from Prague? Those details are fuzzy.

After a bit of anxiety and miscommunication, we finally met up with our driver in Budapest. He immediately began talking about American politics and shared a bit about Hungarian politics, too. It seemed like a long way from the airport to the hotel, but maybe it was just that I was kind of uncomfortable with the conversation.

The hotel, K + K Opera Budapest, is in a terrific location within easy walking distance of some cool things.  Our room had been upgraded, so it was quite large by European standards. 

hello from my hotel room in Budapest

Before we left, Lizzie did some research and found an authentic Hungarian restaurant less than ten minutes walk from the hotel, so we decided to go there since we were pretty hungry. I'd eaten dinner on the plane, but slept through breakfast, and that beer and snack in Holland was long gone. 

The restaurant was cool. There wasn't space to sit outside, but the doors/walls were open so we had a half-in-half-out table situation. We ordered local beer and traditional Hungarian food. This is what I had:

veal paprikas with dumplings

I had the third item on the menu, the veal paprikas with dumplings. Let me just take a moment to tell you about this dish because it was truly so, so good. The veal was melt-in-your-mouth tender. The gravy had a smoky paprika flavor that was tamed by the creme fraiche drizzled on top. The dumplings were slightly chewy and absorbed the gravy when I mixed it all together. I know I was hungry, and I also know that the dish was delicious and I would have it again in a heartbeat. 

For dessert, we shared a traditional Hungarian treat:

lugas

It reminded me a a trifle. It was chunks of sponge cake, giant dollops of whipped cream, and generous globs of chocolate and caramel sauces. I'm glad we shared it, because it was big, and damn, it was good. Capped off with a wee espresso, what a gorgeous meal and wonderful welcome to Budapest. Lizzie dazzled the servers with a few Hungarian words. She and I had a hearty giggle over a photo I took that included her but looked like she'd been splinched, (Harry Potter reference!) I wondered if we were just a little goofy from the long travel day, but when I looked at the photo just now, I laughed out loud again. Out of respect for my sister, I won't post the pic. lol

After dinner, we walked around just a little. We were both pretty tired and ready to stretch out on a bed. On our way to the hotel, we walked into a big plaza in front of this building:

St. Stephens Basilica

This is St. Stephens Basilica, the cathedral of Budapest. It was Saturday night (Sept 6) and there were lots of people out and about in restaurants around the square and walking in streets. My initial impression of Budapest is that it is a very clean city, at least what little I'd seen so far. Usually in these big European cities, the buildings look a little grimy, there's garbage and dog poop on the sidewalks, and it's just kinda grungy. I didn't see any of that in the couple of hours that we spent out that night. I also felt very safe. I realize I was in a nice part of the city, but even when we walked a little closer to the river and there were more people, I felt fine. No weird vibes. 

In my last post, I mentioned that I was making a travel journal. I took a pic of the Day 1 and Day 2 pages, but it doesn't seem like it has gone into the cloud yet. I'll add it next time I write so you can see a bit of my creative madness. Stickers! Little doodles! Scribbles!

travel journal 

Up next: a morning stroll, embarkation on the Viking Aegir, and a drunken night cruise on the Danube.