Avalon Waterways Danube Dreams European River Cruise Blog We were booked into Budapest, Hungary for two nights, then on the Avalon Illumination in an Avalon Waterways Panorama Suite to travel from Budapest to Nuremburg for 7 nights and we continued on by bus to Regensburg and Prague for three nights, before returning to the USA. We ended up assigned the Avalon Passion (an identical boat) after boats were moved around on the river. Danube River Flooding prior to our trip In September Eastern Europe had one of those 100 year rain events which flooded the Danube. River cruising has an occasional water problem, so you are advised in the terms and conditions that adjustments, boat swaps and other factors can complicate a river cruise trip. Previously this summer and for a week or two last summer, low water was the problem but this year towns like Bratislava had as much as 11 feet of water above flood stage. Budapest has built flood walls which actually held during this flood and Vienna built an entire system in the seventies that was tested and was successful at avoiding most of the flooding in the old towns. The main point of this is that river levels rise and fall quickly based on rain so three weeks after the worst Danube flooding in 100 years, we are off on our river cruise. Conversely with low water we just need a little rain and we are sometimes good to go as river cruise boats draft less than 2 feet. For this reason, any changes to itinerary due to low or high water are done at the last minute. We are proceeding with our itinerary as originally scheduled in the same room number on a different identical boat. Hurricane Helene and Milton the Monster Our office and house in Tampa went through 2 hurricanes prior to departure for this trip. Hurricane Helene brushed the entire West Coast of Florida but was 100 miles offshore so we did not see any effect even though our neighbors, customers and business associates had up to 6 feet of water in dwellings. Gulf Coast beach communities are devastated including tons of sand in the streets, wrecked cars and sadly many deaths. North Florida and the Southern USA racked up over 200 deaths from this storm after it made landfall. NHC announced there was a low pressure system north of the Yucatan but it was not supposed to develop. Four days later Milton started to form up as a tropical depression and 48 hours later it was a 165 mile per hour cat 5 monster coming off Merida and heading straight for our house and the Red Barn. The forecast was for dry air dissipation but we were still forecast to get a category 2 storm which arrived Wednesday night. Tampa airport opened Friday at 8A and amazingly our email and Swiss Air app advised us that we had an aircraft coming into Tampa for our scheduled flight. We drove past fallen trees and broken traffic lights to the airport where we had to avoid some downed light poles on the airport approach to economy parking garage. Needless to say the fact that we made our scheduled vacation is amazing and surreal. This is a 40 th wedding anniversary trip for Gina and myself so we feel very lucky to be actually making the trip after working 24/7 for about 2 years after the pandemic booking revenge travel for our entire customer base. To our existing customers, thanks for the trust and referrals after the pandemic as we have been very, very busy. Swiss Air (Edelweiss) & Lufthansa (EW Discover) Edelweiss is a discount carrier that is a subsidiary of Swiss Air. Tampa has a very nice routing via Zurich which is an amazing airport. Our flight was only an hour late which is remarkable given a hurricane passed through our area 48 hours prior. The plane was catered with nonperishable Swiss goodies in lieu of a hot meal because of the Hurricane and we attempted to eat at the airport but had a limited bar menu but we were on vacation! We only had about an hour to clear passport control and switch gates but I am writing this on Helvetic Air, another Swiss Air subsidiary on my way to Budapest Hungary. On the return, we will be flying Prague to Tampa via Frankfurt as we also have a Lufthansa flight (operated by EW Discover) straight to Tampa and we can always ticket Lufthansa and Swiss as they code share on most flights. Ticket was about $1200 plus $80 for two across advance seat assignments with one checked bag included. We got a deal on the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus that is one of the fanciest in Budapest and located next to the Ritz Carlton. We book hotels many ways including direct guarantees with hotel chains through our Amadeus airline computer. We also can add hotels to river cruises as the companies all sell pre and post packages with most itineraries. We also buy from tour operators which we did in this instance using a Travel Agency bed bank called Bedsonline. Sometimes we use Funjet or Classic Vacations but we never use Expedia or Priceline (OTA’s) as our other sources are more competitive plus we don’t charge fees on most hotel bookings. The Kempinski was in a great location and a nice hotel. One of the best things about a 5 star is the concierge. It was Saturday night and we arrived at 4P so we needed some restaurant reservations upon arrival. We asked about Hungarian food for Sunday and maybe Italian tonight as we were not ready for Hungarian after 14 hours in the sky and a hurricane. He asked if we were flexible about time and we said yes. When we came back, he had two reservation cards for us. He had worked us into a 17 table Italian restaurant called Mercantino Ristorante which was wonderful. The owner and staff were Hungarian, so it was Italian with a Hungarian twist but very upscale. The second night we did Hungarian cuisine at El Pesti Reteshaz (The Strudel House) which is one of the most famous in Budapest and had a mixed Hungarian platter for two. This was a huge plate including slow-roasted leg of pork, grilled foie gras (foie gras is a Hungarian specialty), beef tenderloin fillets and leg of duck. Sides were baked potatoes, ’lecsó’ (pepper/tomato ragu (or stew) another Hungarian specialty), braised red cabbage (sweet and sour like my childhood at grannies), onion-mashed potato strudel and mixed pickles. In Budapest, on day 2, we had a very late breakfast at Anna Café. After a hotel stop, we walked to see the St. Stephens church and down to the Parliament building with the poignant Holocaust “shoes” memorial which are all on the Pest side of the Danube. Later in the day, we walked across the chain bridge and went over to Buda where we rode the funicular to the Palace terrace for the overview picture, visited Fisherman’s Bastian with its spectacular church and finished in the Spiler Biergarten. Check out at a 5 star can be as late as noon so we went to the main food market for Budapest to pick up some Hungarian paprika and some cooking items. The concierge had arranged for a taxi at 12:15P so we arrived at the Avalon Passion about 1P. Avalon has a good system where they take your bags send you to lunch and make sure your room is ready in an hour. Once checked in, we went across the Danube bridge to the Gellert Thermal Baths where we soaked and steamed off the last bits of jet lag and sore muscles. Gellert Spa is the recommended choice even though there are other thermal baths in Budapest and directly across the bridge from the parking place of our Avalon vessel. Cost for a weekday ticket with a locker is 10,500 huf or about $28 US at the time of this writing. After 4 hours in multiple temperature baths both indoor and outside the spa plus use of steam rooms and the sauna we were thoroughly relaxed and thought it was good value for the money as the space was relaxing and well maintained. The Avalon ship overnights in Budapest so the next morning, we had a driving tour of the entire town including some of the further out points of interest like Heroes Square. Much of that region was communist until late into the 20 th Century so much of the history involves being a Soviet State. They even have a Terror Museum which was where the Secret Police tortured and killed political opposition into the 1980s. After the driving tour, they crossed the bridge to Buda and took us back up where we had visited the day before. As it was sunnier, we took a few pictures but the tour guide suggested a nice coffee shop where we tried a great apple strudel. Avalon distributes ear pieces and lanyards. Each morning we took up a whisper base and a colored tag which we returned when we went back to the ship. We did not sign up for any of the “optional” tours so Gina and I walked to and around the Jewish quarter. All aboard time was 5P so we made sure we were back on the ship by 4:00P. In every European city, we try to wander outside the tourist areas to see the real city. Even though we like to see the sights, the crowds in many places mean these days away from the sights can be even more enjoyable. Bratislava, Slovakia Day 2 we are parked near town in Bratislava Slovakia. Walking tours are scheduled for 8:30AM. Bratislava is a small town but also the Capitol of Slovakia. We visited the downtown, saw the opera house, the main cathedral and stopped for an included treat of special cookies made in Bratislava. We went back to the ship after the tour and had lunch. Once again we have decided lunch is the best meal of the day on an Avalon ship as the chef prepared Hungarian/Slovakian specialties like goulash for lunch. After lunch we walk into town for some shopping and come back to the boat in the late afternoon. As we are not used to 3 meals a day we go up to dinner at about 8P. The boat is in Bratislava for the evening but sleep comes easily after 2 hurricanes and transatlantic flights. Tonight we are overnight sailing to Vienna. Vienna, Austria As the sun comes up, we are in Vienna, Austria. Avalon offers a choice of activities so we skip the bus orientation tour and join the morning bike ride with the adventure host. We are riding about 10 miles on the man-made island between the Danube and the man-made canal. This is a beautiful park and Gina even saw a jackrabbit but he was too fast to point out to the rest of us. The ride out to the point of the island is easy but when we turn to go back there is about a 25 knot headwind so the ride home seemed longer than the ride out. We end up back at the ship but we skip the onboard lunch thinking of street food in Vienna. As the legs were rubbery from our ride, I have the front desk call us a taxi originally thinking just a ride to the city center. When we enter the taxi it is a nice ride with an English speaking driver so have him put the meter on hourly and he gave us a tour of the RingStrassae including the monuments and high end hotels. As he is driving us to St. Stephen’s Square, he indicates that is a good restaurant and they are open today. Based on that recommendation we skip the street food and head to that restaurant called Porterhouse. Food has been good on Avalon and also in Budapest but we both agree this is the best meal of the trip as of yet. I have a wiener schnitzel with thin sliced veal that is sizzling as it is served to the table and Gina has a rib eye steak done in an Austrian brown onion sauce with fried onion strings on top. We both have an Austrian beer and life is good. After lunch, we walk around the crowded St. Stephen’s area to see the outside of the church and the horse drawn wagons. Then we take the public transport back to the Avalon Passion Riverboat. After dinner, we have purchased the option excursion to go to the Waltz concert this evening that includes some opera singers. The concert was very entertaining and runs about an hour and a half. Once we are back onboard, we are making an overnight sail to Durnstein in the Wachau Valley. Durnstein, Austria and Melk Abbey We are signed up for the hike to the top of the hill where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned in the 12 th Century. The guide is a nice older lady that was interesting as she has been most of her life in the area. The walk to the top is steep but offers some really nice panoramic views of the Wachau Valley and Durnstein. This is where much of the white wine in this area comes from. We only have a few minutes in the town of Durnstein as today is a busy day with a trip to Melk Abbey, so we head back north on the Danube for a technical stop at Emmersdorf which is close to Melk Abbey. Some of our boat left Durnstein by bicycle riding along the Danube canal with a picnic lunch to meet us at the technical stop. After lunch, we board busses for a quick ride to Melk Abbey. Even the Melk Abbey admission and bus ride are included with the Avalon river cruise. Melk Abbey was pretty spectacular as we are given a guided tour with a local guide. The tour is of a museum that explains the life and philosophy of the Benedictine Monks that operate Melk. The ticket also allows admission to the Melk Abbey Gardens and we spend about two hours at Melk Abbey. We rejoin the boat at Ybbs for an overnight sail to Linz. Linz Austria After breakfast, we meet the local guides for a walking tour in Linz, Austria. Linz is the 3 rd largest city in Austria and a beautiful town. Mozart lived for a while in Linz where they have a modern art museum and an electronics museum. We visit the Linz Cathedral on the walk and see the old wall fortifications. This is the home of the Linzer Torte cake and coffee in Austria seems like it is a religious experience so we stop for a couple of late morning cappuccinos and a slice of what is supposedly the best Linzer Torte cake in town. This is a heavy cake with red current jam that is served with whipped cream and they are correct it is very good with coffee. Saturday is the local flea market in the Hauptplatz (main square), so we do a little shopping at the market. I find a vinyl record guy and pick up a 1972 Best of Otis Redding double album in mint condition with only one scratch. He has it marked 20e but takes 15 with the scratch and I joke Otis is finally going home to America in my suitcase. He is a nice Austrian and we have a laugh. Gina stops in a vintage shop and finds a really nice antique black cross body purse and we also stop into the grocery store for some local food items to take home. As you may know from my earlier blogs grocery stores across the world are always worth a stop for local food items cheaper than in souvenir stores or famous city markets. We also walk some of the non-touristy areas of the city and then along the Danube to go back to the boat for lunch. After lunch, we take the tram up the hill to the Postlingberg church for the panoramic view. When we get to the church, there is a LOT of fire equipment as they have just extinguished a small fire inside the church. The tram is one of the steepest regular (not cogwheel or funicular type) trams in Europe and the expensive houses on the hill overlooking the Danube are pretty spectacular. Linz is an industrial town on the outskirts so the entire area can be seen from the panorama point by this church. We stop for a coffee and then head back to the boat. We are parked until about 4A in Linz as we are sailing through the Oxbow of the Danube this morning so we are doing a morning of scenic cruising on the way to Passau, Germany. The Danube is a pretty river with banks that rise up to small hills in this area. Wine Cruise The night we depart Linz is the food and wine pairing dinner. This is a wine lover’s cruise which we picked because of the date availability but the wine aspects are nice. Our Budapest tour included a stop at a wine cave for lunch and a tasting. We are traveling with a wine expert who has run a wine seminar with wine tasting one night. This was followed by a wine and cheese pairing as we sailed out of Durnstein which is the best wine producing region in Austria. The wine and cheese pairing was very interesting with some very good cheeses. Dinner as we depart Linz was a wine pairing dinner where each course was served with a different wine including a port with dessert. The Avalon dining room staff do a very good job with this as it is not a normal activity on the boat. As you can imagine they used quite a few more wine glasses than usual during a five course meal. Passau, Germany Passau is a college town and the most bohemian of the cities we have visited. Our tour guide was extremely funny and extremely educated as he was trained as a lawyer and hated the job so went back to tour guiding. There are quite a few churches in Passau including a cathedral that is done in Italian Baroque style. Sometimes tour guides cover too much history but this guide gave us a real feel for the town of Passau with lively culture along the Danube as it was the guide’s college town. As it is Sunday most of the stores are closed but we find a neat little boutique where we buy some items for our home. His tour runs about two hours so we are back at the boat around 4. We are starting to need a little rest time and we are lucky enough to have the river view as we are the outside boat of a double docking with another Avalon ship so we spend an hour on the top deck in the sun and then a while in the suite before dinner. Tonight is the grand farewell dinner where all the staff gets introduced. We have a toast with the captain in the lounge before dinner. Tomorrow is the departure from the Avalon boat for Prague so we head back to the suite to pack with a bottle of brut rose sect (Austrian champagne) from the Melk Abbey. Regensburg, Germany We are docked in Deggensdorf, Germany this morning when we wake up. Breakfast starts at 6:30A, bags are out at 7:45A and bus rolls at 8:30A. It takes about an hour from the boat to Regensburg which is one of the “Romantic Road” towns in Germany. This town was not bombed during WW2 so it is completely intact including some Roman influences. We start in Stadtamhof and walk across the Old Stone Bridge from the new town to Regensburg. This seems to be the best preserved town we have visited as most of the capitals we visited had a collection of old and new buildings. We have a nice classic walking tour including a lot of small passageways from street to street and the guide is interesting. Avalon Waterways have provided us with a voucher for the Old Sausage Kitchen that includes a plate with six sausages, sauerkraut, a rye bread roll and either a small or medium sized beer. The voucher is readily accepted and we sit outside by the river with a bier garden atmosphere. The sausages are really great including the sweet mustard so we are taking a jar of that home with us. We have collected so much food product on this trip, we are hoping we have stayed under 50 pounds as we went out with about 42 pounds each in our checked bag. On day 10 of a multiple city trip, we are kind of shopped out so we stop for an expresso macchiato on the way back to the bus. Prague, Czech Republic (Czechia) After lunch in Regensburg, is about a 3.5 hour bus ride to Prague for our last three nights of this trip. This is not scenic touring but the scenery is pretty on the Autobahn and the Czech version of the same. We make a bathroom stop at about 2.5 hours, at a European truck stop; so we are now about an hour and a half from Prague. We left the boat this morning at 8:30A and we have arrived at the Cosmopolitan Hotel at about 4P. The Tour Director and hotel staff are responsible for luggage porterage and there are two busses checking in, so we head out for a walk. Cosmopolitan is in a good central location in the Old Town and we are walking along the river in a few minutes. After an hour or so checking out the neighborhood, we are back at the room for a shower and dinner. We have been eating local food on the Avalon Passion and had sausages and sauerkraut for lunch so we check out Alforno Trattoria, around the corner for a margarita pizza and big salad. Breakfast is included and we are off on the included Prague City Tour at 8:30A so we are up early one more time. We wonder why so early, but we are at Prague Castle before the crowds on a very pretty but foggy morning. Breakfast is great at this hotel including a full range of items and local specialties. Our guide is very knowledgeable as he also runs private tours in Prague. Prague Castle is beautiful and the clouds are clearing, so we can see the entire city emerging from the overlook. We do not enter the Castle as it is a working building with government functions but we see the entire complex with the church. As we are leaving, crowds of people are streaming in so we realize the reason for the early start. Back on the bus and the sun is shining so we are off the Prague’s Jewish Quarter for a walking tour that will end at exactly 11A for the Astronomical Clock. The clock is large and mechanical with figures that display at the hour mark. It takes about a minute so the guide then jokes you have come thousands of kilometers for this and now it is over. This is the end of the tour so you can walk back to the hotel with the guide or go off on your own. We choose to go off on our own, so we tip the guide and return the headsets to the guide at the square. We are in 3 currencies on this trip, but we are carrying $100 US in Czech Crown and try to break bills for bathrooms and local guide tips. Especially on this type of trip, we get local currency from an ATM as we were in Forints in Hungary, Euros along the Danube and Czech Crown when we get to Prague. It is such a beautiful day that we head off to the Charles Bridge which is another hub of activity for tourists in Prague. It is full but we have an enjoyable crossing after listening to the Charles Bridge Swing Band for a while and checking out all the statues. The bridge is full of musicians and artists that seem to be approved by the local authorities. It is a beautiful day and very enjoyable crossing the entire span which took 45 minutes including sightseeing. On the other side of the river, we tour some neighborhoods that look like embassy, government and other buildings converted to offices. As it is mid- afternoon, we stop for some local food at U Shnellu Restaurant that has been serving local Prague cuisine since 1789. This will be our big meal of the day and a well needed rest after a good bit of walking. As we are in Prague, we have the local beer Pilsner Urquell. I have the price fix lunch for about 21 e with potato soup, beef goulash and apple strudel for dessert. Gina makes a wise choice of the porcini mushroom soup as it is fall in Europe and fresh mushrooms are in season. I say wise choice as I am a big eater and I am very full even after sharing some of my potato soup and strudel courses with Gina. After lunch, we walk across the Charles Bridge to a different crop of musicians and artists and make our way back to the hotel. Tonight we have the only bad experience on this trip. Taxi’s must be a problem in Prague as we had two taxi problems in the same evening. First our hotel calls one and we ask to be dropped off a few blocks away to shoot a picture of the Charles Bridge at night. Quickly we are in the tunnel and on the highway crossing the river. The driver dropped us on the other side of the bridge to run up the taxi fare and it was starting to drizzle. When we got back to the other side of the bridge, we climbed in a second taxi that took us about six blocks and asked for the equivalent of $83 US in taxi fare talking in broken English about “night fares” then he said he would settle for about $40. I instructed Gina to get out of the taxi and head into the restaurant and put the equivalent of about $8 on the seat in local currency and indicated if he wanted more he should follow us into the restaurant where I would ask them to call the police. Needless to say, we walked back to the hotel even with a light drizzle rather than dealing with another taxi. Our last day in Prague was colder but beautiful. We took out our maps and planned a self-guided walking tour heading in the direction of Wenceslas Square which is currently under construction. Yes, we still grab a city map at the hotel as it is helpful even with phone maps to figure out where you are. This is a big shopping/hotel area bookended by the Narodni Museum and the statue of St. Wenceslas. From there, we navigated to the Basilica of St. Ludmily in Nemesti Miru or “Peace Square”. When we are in Europe, these days we spend wandering are our happiest as you can get away from the tourists and really see the vibe of a European city. Since we had a big buffet breakfast included with our Avalon hotel it is too early for lunch so we stop for a cappuccino in a nice local coffee spot and enjoy the local vibe. From this point we backtrack past the Opera House and across the large park in front of the main train station. Prague is a good walking town as some of the busiest streets in this area have tunnels so you don’t have to cross traffic. We are heading to another Jewish Quarter where the Jerusalem Synagogue which is very pretty as it has all been refurbished. We stopped at a hidden jewel called the Church of St. Henry and St. Cunigunde before walking to Franz Kafka’s rotating head by David Cerny. Luckily the head was outside a shopping mall so we stopped to use the bathrooms but skipped the food court for our last big meal in Prague. We had intended to visit the Reduta Jazz Club but were too tired as a head cold was going around the ship and we finally succumbed during our last few days on tour. We stopped for a late lunch at Pilsnerka Narodni which is upscale modern Czech cuisine next door to Reduta. An unfiltered Octoberfest Pilsner was the beer of the month and Gina finally had a goulash which was excellent. I had seen roasted beef with cranberries and whipped cream so chose that as I had enjoyed goulash and schnitzel a few times already. All of the food was excellent at this upscale modern Prague dining spot. On the way back to the hotel we walked the pedestrian area of 28 Rinja/Na Prikope which is known as the best shopping street in Prague. As we completed our huge circle for the day we were back at the Prasna Brana or old gate and the Namesti Republiky near the Palladium Mall so we are back at our hotel. As our alarm is set for 2:45A for a 6AM airplane, we are packed by 6P and have a quick pizza with a salad about 8P at Papaiolo near our hotel to bookend Prague and head to bed. What a long strange trip it has been! (Jerry Garcia 1977) The Avalon car service is right on time at 3:15A and the trip to the airport is quick even though it was far from the city center. The hotel has prepared breakfast boxes courtesy of Avalon. This is something you should ask about if you have a very early departure but you have breakfast included as many European hotels will provide a breakfast box in lieu of an included breakfast. We are at the airport a little before 4A so we wait for the counter to open and we are checked in for Frankfurt on Lufthansa. We have four hours for the connection in Frankfurt so we are not worried when the pilot announces they sucked a “little tiny birdy” into the engine and they are running some tests. We are a little worried when they bring in a technician and remove the engine cowling for further inspection but we are only about an hour late into Frankfurt. I am like a zombie with the early wakeup call and forget my airplane water so I get secondary inspection from an old German guy who is having a bad day as he takes everything out of my carryon bag. We are supposed to depart at 11:15A so we are kind of in disbelief when they announce the flight is cancelled at 10:30A. The flight is Lufthansa operated by EW Discover so we are sent to the Lufthansa service center for rerouting. Apparently even though they are owned by Lufthansa Group, EW no longer has handling services by Lufthansa so a single gate agent was trying to get a whole airplane rerouted. We are instructed to clear passport control back into the EU and proceed downstairs where more gate agents are available. At Lufthansa, we are told they no longer “handle” Discover so we are sent around the corner to stand in line for 2.5 hours as there is no support from any kind of central reservations. We have our airline computer so we had identified flights we could use to get home. These had all departed and the backup seats we booked on the nonstop EW Discover for Saturday (2 days later) were overbooked by the time we got to the counter. The gate agent said the only thing she could offer was a United that departed Frankfurt at 5PM, went via Dulles in DC and arrived in Orlando (yes Orlando when we departed from Tampa) at 12:45A. We accepted as we had to get back to work and at least we would be in Florida by next morning. We had a decent carbonara pasta at the Frankfurt airport and at least United was on time getting out of Frankfurt. Food was terrible on United so we stopped to nourish in Dulles after we got a little thrill when we passed John Legend at the airport. Gina pointed him out to me and he heard and nodded greetings as we all headed for different airplanes. After some decent chips and guacamole, half a burger each and 2 glasses of wine for $69 at Dulles we were finally off to Orlando where I thankfully got an hour of sleep on the plane. At Frankfurt airport, I booked a room at the Hyatt Orlando Airport terminal hotel for $424 as we had insurance and this was going on to 48 hours so we thought we had $800 in delay coverage. If you look at your travel insurance policy, it will give you a breakdown of coverages for the various events. You don’t want to spend too much but you might as well have a nice hotel with breakfast if you have coverage and get stranded under the policy. This hotel booking was priceless given we headed upstairs to a luxury hotel without a shuttle at 1:15A which was about 29 hours after we woke up in Prague. In Dulles, I was shocked to find there were zero cars available for rental at Orlando International, since everybody had long term rentals after the hurricane. We had figured we would get a one way car for $50 and we would be home when EW Discover, hatched this plan to get home. We finally found a shuttle service that ran vans between Orlando and Tampa which cost us $186 including the prepaid 22% gratuity but we thought we were still within the insurance budget when we hit long term parking at TIA +1 day at 2P. We have settled our insurance claim for a little less than we thought. Seems the daily limits are not cumulative so we got maximum $400 for day one and our expenses for day 2. We had to go back to Travel Insured to point out our breakfast was on day 2 as they excluded it in the initial settlement since it was on the bottom of the day 1 hotel bill. Bottom line we got most of our expenses reimbursed under the policy but overspent with our expensive airport terminal hotel by about $130 but it was still worth it at 1A. We are also pursuing the mandatory 600e consumer payment from EW Discover Airlines as the EU has strict penalties for trip interruptions over six hours. We are requesting our seat assignment payments be refunded since Lufthansa operated by EW Discover was canceled. Avalon Passion Romantic Danube for Wine Lovers with Prague In spite of the multiple hurricanes prior to departure and transportation woes coming home, this was a fantastic trip. We visited 3 European Capitals – Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. Spent 7 days on the Danube River traveling with a nice group of people including visits to smaller European towns like Durnstein, Linz and Passau. We wrapped the trip with a 3 day land tour to Regensburg Germany and Prague. The Avalon Passion is a great river boat and our Panorama Suite gave us some ideal views of the Danube River as we traveled along its path. The Panorama Suites have all the space inside the room including a love seat and chair plus glass pocket doors that open the entire room the the river with a French balcony. Avalon Waterways had great food and wines onboard. Service levels on Avalon Waterways was fantastic including restaurants, bars, wine tastings and housekeeping. The local guides were all interesting ambassadors for their hometowns; so we could understand life and highlights of these European river villages. The fall weather was actually warm enough to open the doors while we sailed. We have booked many people on this trip so it will be helpful in the future that we have visited these Eastern European cities. Overall we really enjoyed Our Danube Dreams River Cruise with through Eastern Europe, Germany and Austria on the Avalon Waterways Passion. Our stay prior to the cruise in Budapest was very enjoyable and Prague was spectacular. We enjoyed both of those cities a lot more than we had expected. Eastern Europe from the Hapsburgs to Khrushchev We visited 3 European Capitals – Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. Spent 7 days on the Danube River traveling with a nice group of people including visits to smaller European towns like Durnstein, Linz and Passau. We wrapped the trip with a 3 day land tour to Regensburg, Germany and Prague. As I inidicate above, we purposely take a day to travel away from the main tourism sites, as you really want to experience a city and get a feel for the real soul of each area you visit but also you have to be empethetic about the life experiences of the population as you travel. As I get older, I reflect on my knowledge of history to understand current events. This part of the world was a mix of the Hapsburg Empire, Slavik and modern history as part of the Soviet Union. We travel these countries as tourists, but only recently as the landscapes are dotted with concentation camps and the architecture is a mix of the Hapsburg age and boring Soviet simplicity. I am a fan of jazz music and I can illustrate the recent history using Jazz as an example. Musical credits to The Charles Bridge Swing Band Live and Recorded music from the Charles Bridge Swing Band No. 4 Dedicated to the “Jazz Section” of the Czechoslovak Musicians’ Union 1971 to 1986. Year’s ago I was on the Rhine with a musician who was a one man band and DJ on a riverboat. Late one night at the bar we talked jazz and he got tears in his eyes when I told him I had seen Count Basie and other jazz greats as my dad was a band leader. He was Czech and explained that jazz was mostly hidden and played in the basement when his dad was involved in the jazz scene. The Americans beamed jazz across the AM radio airwaves as a weapon against Communism via Voice of America. Under Stalin, jazz was banned starting in 1948 but was gradually the political climate in the Czech CSSR period relaxed and the Russians even tried to take ownership of the origins of jazz at a certain point. Even in the late 80s there were politically motivated prosecutions of Musicians Union members in Czech Republic that were carried out when jazz became too much of a cultural force for the local Soviet puppetmasters. As I walked across the Charles Bridge (which is a cultural icon in Prague) listening to swinging jazz in the sunshine these thoughts all raced through my mind. Because Prague is now a free society jazz music shines like the sun, scheduled for tourists by the local government, when it used to be played privately in the basement under Stalin. My point is if you travel through the world with your eyes open, employ your past experiences and knowledge of the world learned up to that point, you will gain deeper understandings that will enrich your travel experience, as they have done for me.

Avalon Waterways Danube Dreams European River Cruise Blog We were booked into Budapest, Hungary for two nights, then on the Avalon Illumination in an Avalon Waterways Panorama Suite to travel from Budapest to Nuremburg for 7 nights and we continued on by bus to Regensburg and Prague for three nights, before returning to the USA. We ended up assigned the Avalon Passion (an identical boat) after boats were moved around on the river. Danube River Flooding prior to our trip In September Eastern Europe had one of those 100 year rain events which flooded the Danube. River cruising has an occasional water problem, so you are advised in the terms and conditions that adjustments, boat swaps and other factors can complicate a river cruise trip. Previously this summer and for a week or two last summer, low water was the problem but this year towns like Bratislava had as much as 11 feet of water above flood stage. Budapest has built flood walls which actually held during this flood and Vienna built an entire system in the seventies that was tested and was successful at avoiding most of the flooding in the old towns. The main point of this is that river levels rise and fall quickly based on rain so three weeks after the worst Danube flooding in 100 years, we are off on our river cruise. Conversely with low water we just need a little rain and we are sometimes good to go as river cruise boats draft less than 2 feet. For this reason, any changes to itinerary due to low or high water are done at the last minute. We are proceeding with our itinerary as originally scheduled in the same room number on a different identical boat. Hurricane Helene and Milton the Monster Our office and house in Tampa went through 2 hurricanes prior to departure for this trip. Hurricane Helene brushed the entire West Coast of Florida but was 100 miles offshore so we did not see any effect even though our neighbors, customers and business associates had up to 6 feet of water in dwellings. Gulf Coast beach communities are devastated including tons of sand in the streets, wrecked cars and sadly many deaths. North Florida and the Southern USA racked up over 200 deaths from this storm after it made landfall. NHC announced there was a low pressure system north of the Yucatan but it was not supposed to develop. Four days later Milton started to form up as a tropical depression and 48 hours later it was a 165 mile per hour cat 5 monster coming off Merida and heading straight for our house and the Red Barn. The forecast was for dry air dissipation but we were still forecast to get a category 2 storm which arrived Wednesday night. Tampa airport opened Friday at 8A and amazingly our email and Swiss Air app advised us that we had an aircraft coming into Tampa for our scheduled flight. We drove past fallen trees and broken traffic lights to the airport where we had to avoid some downed light poles on the airport approach to economy parking garage. Needless to say the fact that we made our scheduled vacation is amazing and surreal. This is a 40 th wedding anniversary trip for Gina and myself so we feel very lucky to be actually making the trip after working 24/7 for about 2 years after the pandemic booking revenge travel for our entire customer base. To our existing customers, thanks for the trust and referrals after the pandemic as we have been very, very busy. Swiss Air (Edelweiss) & Lufthansa (EW Discover) Edelweiss is a discount carrier that is a subsidiary of Swiss Air. Tampa has a very nice routing via Zurich which is an amazing airport. Our flight was only an hour late which is remarkable given a hurricane passed through our area 48 hours prior. The plane was catered with nonperishable Swiss goodies in lieu of a hot meal because of the Hurricane and we attempted to eat at the airport but had a limited bar menu but we were on vacation! We only had about an hour to clear passport control and switch gates but I am writing this on Helvetic Air, another Swiss Air subsidiary on my way to Budapest Hungary. On the return, we will be flying Prague to Tampa via Frankfurt as we also have a Lufthansa flight (operated by EW Discover) straight to Tampa and we can always ticket Lufthansa and Swiss as they code share on most flights. Ticket was about $1200 plus $80 for two across advance seat assignments with one checked bag included. We got a deal on the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus that is one of the fanciest in Budapest and located next to the Ritz Carlton. We book hotels many ways including direct guarantees with hotel chains through our Amadeus airline computer. We also can add hotels to river cruises as the companies all sell pre and post packages with most itineraries. We also buy from tour operators which we did in this instance using a Travel Agency bed bank called Bedsonline. Sometimes we use Funjet or Classic Vacations but we never use Expedia or Priceline (OTA’s) as our other sources are more competitive plus we don’t charge fees on most hotel bookings. The Kempinski was in a great location and a nice hotel. One of the best things about a 5 star is the concierge. It was Saturday night and we arrived at 4P so we needed some restaurant reservations upon arrival. We asked about Hungarian food for Sunday and maybe Italian tonight as we were not ready for Hungarian after 14 hours in the sky and a hurricane. He asked if we were flexible about time and we said yes. When we came back, he had two reservation cards for us. He had worked us into a 17 table Italian restaurant called Mercantino Ristorante which was wonderful. The owner and staff were Hungarian, so it was Italian with a Hungarian twist but very upscale. The second night we did Hungarian cuisine at El Pesti Reteshaz (The Strudel House) which is one of the most famous in Budapest and had a mixed Hungarian platter for two. This was a huge plate including slow-roasted leg of pork, grilled foie gras (foie gras is a Hungarian specialty), beef tenderloin fillets and leg of duck. Sides were baked potatoes, ’lecsó’ (pepper/tomato ragu (or stew) another Hungarian specialty), braised red cabbage (sweet and sour like my childhood at grannies), onion-mashed potato strudel and mixed pickles. In Budapest, on day 2, we had a very late breakfast at Anna Café. After a hotel stop, we walked to see the St. Stephens church and down to the Parliament building with the poignant Holocaust “shoes” memorial which are all on the Pest side of the Danube. Later in the day, we walked across the chain bridge and went over to Buda where we rode the funicular to the Palace terrace for the overview picture, visited Fisherman’s Bastian with its spectacular church and finished in the Spiler Biergarten. Check out at a 5 star can be as late as noon so we went to the main food market for Budapest to pick up some Hungarian paprika and some cooking items. The concierge had arranged for a taxi at 12:15P so we arrived at the Avalon Passion about 1P. Avalon has a good system where they take your bags send you to lunch and make sure your room is ready in an hour. Once checked in, we went across the Danube bridge to the Gellert Thermal Baths where we soaked and steamed off the last bits of jet lag and sore muscles. Gellert Spa is the recommended choice even though there are other thermal baths in Budapest and directly across the bridge from the parking place of our Avalon vessel. Cost for a weekday ticket with a locker is 10,500 huf or about $28 US at the time of this writing. After 4 hours in multiple temperature baths both indoor and outside the spa plus use of steam rooms and the sauna we were thoroughly relaxed and thought it was good value for the money as the space was relaxing and well maintained. The Avalon ship overnights in Budapest so the next morning, we had a driving tour of the entire town including some of the further out points of interest like Heroes Square. Much of that region was communist until late into the 20 th Century so much of the history involves being a Soviet State. They even have a Terror Museum which was where the Secret Police tortured and killed political opposition into the 1980s. After the driving tour, they crossed the bridge to Buda and took us back up where we had visited the day before. As it was sunnier, we took a few pictures but the tour guide suggested a nice coffee shop where we tried a great apple strudel. Avalon distributes ear pieces and lanyards. Each morning we took up a whisper base and a colored tag which we returned when we went back to the ship. We did not sign up for any of the “optional” tours so Gina and I walked to and around the Jewish quarter. All aboard time was 5P so we made sure we were back on the ship by 4:00P. In every European city, we try to wander outside the tourist areas to see the real city. Even though we like to see the sights, the crowds in many places mean these days away from the sights can be even more enjoyable. Bratislava, Slovakia Day 2 we are parked near town in Bratislava Slovakia. Walking tours are scheduled for 8:30AM. Bratislava is a small town but also the Capitol of Slovakia. We visited the downtown, saw the opera house, the main cathedral and stopped for an included treat of special cookies made in Bratislava. We went back to the ship after the tour and had lunch. Once again we have decided lunch is the best meal of the day on an Avalon ship as the chef prepared Hungarian/Slovakian specialties like goulash for lunch. After lunch we walk into town for some shopping and come back to the boat in the late afternoon. As we are not used to 3 meals a day we go up to dinner at about 8P. The boat is in Bratislava for the evening but sleep comes easily after 2 hurricanes and transatlantic flights. Tonight we are overnight sailing to Vienna. Vienna, Austria As the sun comes up, we are in Vienna, Austria. Avalon offers a choice of activities so we skip the bus orientation tour and join the morning bike ride with the adventure host. We are riding about 10 miles on the man-made island between the Danube and the man-made canal. This is a beautiful park and Gina even saw a jackrabbit but he was too fast to point out to the rest of us. The ride out to the point of the island is easy but when we turn to go back there is about a 25 knot headwind so the ride home seemed longer than the ride out. We end up back at the ship but we skip the onboard lunch thinking of street food in Vienna. As the legs were rubbery from our ride, I have the front desk call us a taxi originally thinking just a ride to the city center. When we enter the taxi it is a nice ride with an English speaking driver so have him put the meter on hourly and he gave us a tour of the RingStrassae including the monuments and high end hotels. As he is driving us to St. Stephen’s Square, he indicates that is a good restaurant and they are open today. Based on that recommendation we skip the street food and head to that restaurant called Porterhouse. Food has been good on Avalon and also in Budapest but we both agree this is the best meal of the trip as of yet. I have a wiener schnitzel with thin sliced veal that is sizzling as it is served to the table and Gina has a rib eye steak done in an Austrian brown onion sauce with fried onion strings on top. We both have an Austrian beer and life is good. After lunch, we walk around the crowded St. Stephen’s area to see the outside of the church and the horse drawn wagons. Then we take the public transport back to the Avalon Passion Riverboat. After dinner, we have purchased the option excursion to go to the Waltz concert this evening that includes some opera singers. The concert was very entertaining and runs about an hour and a half. Once we are back onboard, we are making an overnight sail to Durnstein in the Wachau Valley. Durnstein, Austria and Melk Abbey We are signed up for the hike to the top of the hill where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned in the 12 th Century. The guide is a nice older lady that was interesting as she has been most of her life in the area. The walk to the top is steep but offers some really nice panoramic views of the Wachau Valley and Durnstein. This is where much of the white wine in this area comes from. We only have a few minutes in the town of Durnstein as today is a busy day with a trip to Melk Abbey, so we head back north on the Danube for a technical stop at Emmersdorf which is close to Melk Abbey. Some of our boat left Durnstein by bicycle riding along the Danube canal with a picnic lunch to meet us at the technical stop. After lunch, we board busses for a quick ride to Melk Abbey. Even the Melk Abbey admission and bus ride are included with the Avalon river cruise. Melk Abbey was pretty spectacular as we are given a guided tour with a local guide. The tour is of a museum that explains the life and philosophy of the Benedictine Monks that operate Melk. The ticket also allows admission to the Melk Abbey Gardens and we spend about two hours at Melk Abbey. We rejoin the boat at Ybbs for an overnight sail to Linz. Linz Austria After breakfast, we meet the local guides for a walking tour in Linz, Austria. Linz is the 3 rd largest city in Austria and a beautiful town. Mozart lived for a while in Linz where they have a modern art museum and an electronics museum. We visit the Linz Cathedral on the walk and see the old wall fortifications. This is the home of the Linzer Torte cake and coffee in Austria seems like it is a religious experience so we stop for a couple of late morning cappuccinos and a slice of what is supposedly the best Linzer Torte cake in town. This is a heavy cake with red current jam that is served with whipped cream and they are correct it is very good with coffee. Saturday is the local flea market in the Hauptplatz (main square), so we do a little shopping at the market. I find a vinyl record guy and pick up a 1972 Best of Otis Redding double album in mint condition with only one scratch. He has it marked 20e but takes 15 with the scratch and I joke Otis is finally going home to America in my suitcase. He is a nice Austrian and we have a laugh. Gina stops in a vintage shop and finds a really nice antique black cross body purse and we also stop into the grocery store for some local food items to take home. As you may know from my earlier blogs grocery stores across the world are always worth a stop for local food items cheaper than in souvenir stores or famous city markets. We also walk some of the non-touristy areas of the city and then along the Danube to go back to the boat for lunch. After lunch, we take the tram up the hill to the Postlingberg church for the panoramic view. When we get to the church, there is a LOT of fire equipment as they have just extinguished a small fire inside the church. The tram is one of the steepest regular (not cogwheel or funicular type) trams in Europe and the expensive houses on the hill overlooking the Danube are pretty spectacular. Linz is an industrial town on the outskirts so the entire area can be seen from the panorama point by this church. We stop for a coffee and then head back to the boat. We are parked until about 4A in Linz as we are sailing through the Oxbow of the Danube this morning so we are doing a morning of scenic cruising on the way to Passau, Germany. The Danube is a pretty river with banks that rise up to small hills in this area. Wine Cruise The night we depart Linz is the food and wine pairing dinner. This is a wine lover’s cruise which we picked because of the date availability but the wine aspects are nice. Our Budapest tour included a stop at a wine cave for lunch and a tasting. We are traveling with a wine expert who has run a wine seminar with wine tasting one night. This was followed by a wine and cheese pairing as we sailed out of Durnstein which is the best wine producing region in Austria. The wine and cheese pairing was very interesting with some very good cheeses. Dinner as we depart Linz was a wine pairing dinner where each course was served with a different wine including a port with dessert. The Avalon dining room staff do a very good job with this as it is not a normal activity on the boat. As you can imagine they used quite a few more wine glasses than usual during a five course meal. Passau, Germany Passau is a college town and the most bohemian of the cities we have visited. Our tour guide was extremely funny and extremely educated as he was trained as a lawyer and hated the job so went back to tour guiding. There are quite a few churches in Passau including a cathedral that is done in Italian Baroque style. Sometimes tour guides cover too much history but this guide gave us a real feel for the town of Passau with lively culture along the Danube as it was the guide’s college town. As it is Sunday most of the stores are closed but we find a neat little boutique where we buy some items for our home. His tour runs about two hours so we are back at the boat around 4. We are starting to need a little rest time and we are lucky enough to have the river view as we are the outside boat of a double docking with another Avalon ship so we spend an hour on the top deck in the sun and then a while in the suite before dinner. Tonight is the grand farewell dinner where all the staff gets introduced. We have a toast with the captain in the lounge before dinner. Tomorrow is the departure from the Avalon boat for Prague so we head back to the suite to pack with a bottle of brut rose sect (Austrian champagne) from the Melk Abbey. Regensburg, Germany We are docked in Deggensdorf, Germany this morning when we wake up. Breakfast starts at 6:30A, bags are out at 7:45A and bus rolls at 8:30A. It takes about an hour from the boat to Regensburg which is one of the “Romantic Road” towns in Germany. This town was not bombed during WW2 so it is completely intact including some Roman influences. We start in Stadtamhof and walk across the Old Stone Bridge from the new town to Regensburg. This seems to be the best preserved town we have visited as most of the capitals we visited had a collection of old and new buildings. We have a nice classic walking tour including a lot of small passageways from street to street and the guide is interesting. Avalon Waterways have provided us with a voucher for the Old Sausage Kitchen that includes a plate with six sausages, sauerkraut, a rye bread roll and either a small or medium sized beer. The voucher is readily accepted and we sit outside by the river with a bier garden atmosphere. The sausages are really great including the sweet mustard so we are taking a jar of that home with us. We have collected so much food product on this trip, we are hoping we have stayed under 50 pounds as we went out with about 42 pounds each in our checked bag. On day 10 of a multiple city trip, we are kind of shopped out so we stop for an expresso macchiato on the way back to the bus. Prague, Czech Republic (Czechia) After lunch in Regensburg, is about a 3.5 hour bus ride to Prague for our last three nights of this trip. This is not scenic touring but the scenery is pretty on the Autobahn and the Czech version of the same. We make a bathroom stop at about 2.5 hours, at a European truck stop; so we are now about an hour and a half from Prague. We left the boat this morning at 8:30A and we have arrived at the Cosmopolitan Hotel at about 4P. The Tour Director and hotel staff are responsible for luggage porterage and there are two busses checking in, so we head out for a walk. Cosmopolitan is in a good central location in the Old Town and we are walking along the river in a few minutes. After an hour or so checking out the neighborhood, we are back at the room for a shower and dinner. We have been eating local food on the Avalon Passion and had sausages and sauerkraut for lunch so we check out Alforno Trattoria, around the corner for a margarita pizza and big salad. Breakfast is included and we are off on the included Prague City Tour at 8:30A so we are up early one more time. We wonder why so early, but we are at Prague Castle before the crowds on a very pretty but foggy morning. Breakfast is great at this hotel including a full range of items and local specialties. Our guide is very knowledgeable as he also runs private tours in Prague. Prague Castle is beautiful and the clouds are clearing, so we can see the entire city emerging from the overlook. We do not enter the Castle as it is a working building with government functions but we see the entire complex with the church. As we are leaving, crowds of people are streaming in so we realize the reason for the early start. Back on the bus and the sun is shining so we are off the Prague’s Jewish Quarter for a walking tour that will end at exactly 11A for the Astronomical Clock. The clock is large and mechanical with figures that display at the hour mark. It takes about a minute so the guide then jokes you have come thousands of kilometers for this and now it is over. This is the end of the tour so you can walk back to the hotel with the guide or go off on your own. We choose to go off on our own, so we tip the guide and return the headsets to the guide at the square. We are in 3 currencies on this trip, but we are carrying $100 US in Czech Crown and try to break bills for bathrooms and local guide tips. Especially on this type of trip, we get local currency from an ATM as we were in Forints in Hungary, Euros along the Danube and Czech Crown when we get to Prague. It is such a beautiful day that we head off to the Charles Bridge which is another hub of activity for tourists in Prague. It is full but we have an enjoyable crossing after listening to the Charles Bridge Swing Band for a while and checking out all the statues. The bridge is full of musicians and artists that seem to be approved by the local authorities. It is a beautiful day and very enjoyable crossing the entire span which took 45 minutes including sightseeing. On the other side of the river, we tour some neighborhoods that look like embassy, government and other buildings converted to offices. As it is mid-afternoon, we stop for some local food at U Shnellu Restaurant that has been serving local Prague cuisine since 1789. This will be our big meal of the day and a well needed rest after a good bit of walking. As we are in Prague, we have the local beer Pilsner Urquell. I have the price fix lunch for about 21 e with potato soup, beef goulash and apple strudel for dessert. Gina makes a wise choice of the porcini mushroom soup as it is fall in Europe and fresh mushrooms are in season. I say wise choice as I am a big eater and I am very full even after sharing some of my potato soup and strudel courses with Gina. After lunch, we walk across the Charles Bridge to a different crop of musicians and artists and make our way back to the hotel. Tonight we have the only bad experience on this trip. Taxi’s must be a problem in Prague as we had two taxi problems in the same evening. First our hotel calls one and we ask to be dropped off a few blocks away to shoot a picture of the Charles Bridge at night. Quickly we are in the tunnel and on the highway crossing the river. The driver dropped us on the other side of the bridge to run up the taxi fare and it was starting to drizzle. When we got back to the other side of the bridge, we climbed in a second taxi that took us about six blocks and asked for the equivalent of $83 US in taxi fare talking in broken English about “night fares” then he said he would settle for about $40. I instructed Gina to get out of the taxi and head into the restaurant and put the equivalent of about $8 on the seat in local currency and indicated if he wanted more he should follow us into the restaurant where I would ask them to call the police. Needless to say, we walked back to the hotel even with a light drizzle rather than dealing with another taxi. Our last day in Prague was colder but beautiful. We took out our maps and planned a self-guided walking tour heading in the direction of Wenceslas Square which is currently under construction. Yes, we still grab a city map at the hotel as it is helpful even with phone maps to figure out where you are. This is a big shopping/hotel area bookended by the Narodni Museum and the statue of St. Wenceslas. From there, we navigated to the Basilica of St. Ludmily in Nemesti Miru or “Peace Square”. When we are in Europe, these days we spend wandering are our happiest as you can get away from the tourists and really see the vibe of a European city. Since we had a big buffet breakfast included with our Avalon hotel it is too early for lunch so we stop for a cappuccino in a nice local coffee spot and enjoy the local vibe. From this point we backtrack past the Opera House and across the large park in front of the main train station. Prague is a good walking town as some of the busiest streets in this area have tunnels so you don’t have to cross traffic. We are heading to another Jewish Quarter where the Jerusalem Synagogue which is very pretty as it has all been refurbished. We stopped at a hidden jewel called the Church of St. Henry and St. Cunigunde before walking to Franz Kafka’s rotating head by David Cerny. Luckily the head was outside a shopping mall so we stopped to use the bathrooms but skipped the food court for our last big meal in Prague. We had intended to visit the Reduta Jazz Club but were too tired as a head cold was going around the ship and we finally succumbed during our last few days on tour. We stopped for a late lunch at Pilsnerka Narodni which is upscale modern Czech cuisine next door to Reduta. An unfiltered Octoberfest Pilsner was the beer of the month and Gina finally had a goulash which was excellent. I had seen roasted beef with cranberries and whipped cream so chose that as I had enjoyed goulash and schnitzel a few times already. All of the food was excellent at this upscale modern Prague dining spot. On the way back to the hotel we walked the pedestrian area of 28 Rinja/Na Prikope which is known as the best shopping street in Prague. As we completed our huge circle for the day we were back at the Prasna Brana or old gate and the Namesti Republiky near the Palladium Mall so we are back at our hotel. As our alarm is set for 2:45A for a 6AM airplane, we are packed by 6P and have a quick pizza with a salad about 8P at Papaiolo near our hotel to bookend Prague and head to bed. What a long strange trip it has been! (Jerry Garcia 1977) The Avalon car service is right on time at 3:15A and the trip to the airport is quick even though it was far from the city center. The hotel has prepared breakfast boxes courtesy of Avalon. This is something you should ask about if you have a very early departure but you have breakfast included as many European hotels will provide a breakfast box in lieu of an included breakfast. We are at the airport a little before 4A so we wait for the counter to open and we are checked in for Frankfurt on Lufthansa. We have four hours for the connection in Frankfurt so we are not worried when the pilot announces they sucked a “little tiny birdy” into the engine and they are running some tests. We are a little worried when they bring in a technician and remove the engine cowling for further inspection but we are only about an hour late into Frankfurt. I am like a zombie with the early wakeup call and forget my airplane water so I get secondary inspection from an old German guy who is having a bad day as he takes everything out of my carryon bag. We are supposed to depart at 11:15A so we are kind of in disbelief when they announce the flight is cancelled at 10:30A. The flight is Lufthansa operated by EW Discover so we are sent to the Lufthansa service center for rerouting. Apparently even though they are owned by Lufthansa Group, EW no longer has handling services by Lufthansa so a single gate agent was trying to get a whole airplane rerouted. We are instructed to clear passport control back into the EU and proceed downstairs where more gate agents are available. At Lufthansa, we are told they no longer “handle” Discover so we are sent around the corner to stand in line for 2.5 hours as there is no support from any kind of central reservations. We have our airline computer so we had identified flights we could use to get home. These had all departed and the backup seats we booked on the nonstop EW Discover for Saturday (2 days later) were overbooked by the time we got to the counter. The gate agent said the only thing she could offer was a United that departed Frankfurt at 5PM, went via Dulles in DC and arrived in Orlando (yes Orlando when we departed from Tampa) at 12:45A. We accepted as we had to get back to work and at least we would be in Florida by next morning. We had a decent carbonara pasta at the Frankfurt airport and at least United was on time getting out of Frankfurt. Food was terrible on United so we stopped to nourish in Dulles after we got a little thrill when we passed John Legend at the airport. Gina pointed him out to me and he heard and nodded greetings as we all headed for different airplanes. After some decent chips and guacamole, half a burger each and 2 glasses of wine for $69 at Dulles we were finally off to Orlando where I thankfully got an hour of sleep on the plane. At Frankfurt airport, I booked a room at the Hyatt Orlando Airport terminal hotel for $424 as we had insurance and this was going on to 48 hours so we thought we had $800 in delay coverage. If you look at your travel insurance policy, it will give you a breakdown of coverages for the various events. You don’t want to spend too much but you might as well have a nice hotel with breakfast if you have coverage and get stranded under the policy. This hotel booking was priceless given we headed upstairs to a luxury hotel without a shuttle at 1:15A which was about 29 hours after we woke up in Prague. In Dulles, I was shocked to find there were zero cars available for rental at Orlando International, since everybody had long term rentals after the hurricane. We had figured we would get a one way car for $50 and we would be home when EW Discover, hatched this plan to get home. We finally found a shuttle service that ran vans between Orlando and Tampa which cost us $186 including the prepaid 22% gratuity but we thought we were still within the insurance budget when we hit long term parking at TIA +1 day at 2P. We have settled our insurance claim for a little less than we thought. Seems the daily limits are not cumulative so we got maximum $400 for day one and our expenses for day 2. We had to go back to Travel Insured to point out our breakfast was on day 2 as they excluded it in the initial settlement since it was on the bottom of the day 1 hotel bill. Bottom line we got most of our expenses reimbursed under the policy but overspent with our expensive airport terminal hotel by about $130 but it was still worth it at 1A. We are also pursuing the mandatory 600e consumer payment from EW Discover Airlines as the EU has strict penalties for trip interruptions over six hours. We are requesting our seat assignment payments be refunded since Lufthansa operated by EW Discover was canceled. Avalon Passion Romantic Danube for Wine Lovers with Prague In spite of the multiple hurricanes prior to departure and transportation woes coming home, this was a fantastic trip. We visited 3 European Capitals – Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. Spent 7 days on the Danube River traveling with a nice group of people including visits to smaller European towns like Durnstein, Linz and Passau. We wrapped the trip with a 3 day land tour to Regensburg Germany and Prague. The Avalon Passion is a great river boat and our Panorama Suite gave us some ideal views of the Danube River as we traveled along its path. The Panorama Suites have all the space inside the room including a love seat and chair plus glass pocket doors that open the entire room the the river with a French balcony. Avalon Waterways had great food and wines onboard. Service levels on Avalon Waterways was fantastic including restaurants, bars, wine tastings and housekeeping. The local guides were all interesting ambassadors for their hometowns; so we could understand life and highlights of these European river villages. The fall weather was actually warm enough to open the doors while we sailed. We have booked many people on this trip so it will be helpful in the future that we have visited these Eastern European cities. Overall we really enjoyed Our Danube Dreams River Cruise with through Eastern Europe, Germany and Austria on the Avalon Waterways Passion. Our stay prior to the cruise in Budapest was very enjoyable and Prague was spectacular. We enjoyed both of those cities a lot more than we had expected. Eastern Europe from the Hapsburgs to Khrushchev We visited 3 European Capitals – Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna. Spent 7 days on the Danube River traveling with a nice group of people including visits to smaller European towns like Durnstein, Linz and Passau. We wrapped the trip with a 3 day land tour to Regensburg, Germany and Prague. As I inidicate above, we purposely take a day to travel away from the main tourism sites, as you really want to experience a city and get a feel for the real soul of each area you visit but also you have to be empethetic about the life experiences of the population as you travel. As I get older, I reflect on my knowledge of history to understand current events. This part of the world was a mix of the Hapsburg Empire, Slavik and modern history as part of the Soviet Union. We travel these countries as tourists, but only recently as the landscapes are dotted with concentation camps and the architecture is a mix of the Hapsburg age and boring Soviet simplicity. I am a fan of jazz music and I can illustrate the recent history using Jazz as an example. Musical credits to The Charles Bridge Swing Band Live and Recorded music from the Charles Bridge Swing Band No. 4 Dedicated to the “Jazz Section” of the Czechoslovak Musicians’ Union 1971 to 1986. Year’s ago I was on the Rhine with a musician who was a one man band and DJ on a riverboat. Late one night at the bar we talked jazz and he got tears in his eyes when I told him I had seen Count Basie and other jazz greats as my dad was a band leader. He was Czech and explained that jazz was mostly hidden and played in the basement when his dad was involved in the jazz scene. The Americans beamed jazz across the AM radio airwaves as a weapon against Communism via Voice of America. Under Stalin, jazz was banned starting in 1948 but was gradually the political climate in the Czech CSSR period relaxed and the Russians even tried to take ownership of the origins of jazz at a certain point. Even in the late 80s there were politically motivated prosecutions of Musicians Union members in Czech Republic that were carried out when jazz became too much of a cultural force for the local Soviet puppetmasters. As I walked across the Charles Bridge (which is a cultural icon in Prague) listening to swinging jazz in the sunshine these thoughts all raced through my mind. Because Prague is now a free society jazz music shines like the sun, scheduled for tourists by the local government, when it used to be played privately in the basement under Stalin. My point is if you travel through the world with your eyes open, employ your past experiences and knowledge of the world learned up to that point, you will gain deeper understandings that will enrich your travel experience, as they have done for me.