Vikings take me for a bike ride.

 Before we went to our respective activities, Robert took an apple out of my room, cut it with a fingernail file and fed it to the teenaged swans. If the cygnet got too greedy, Dad would come over and bite him/her on the butt so mom could get a bite. The little brownies won't turn completely white until their second summer. 

First thing this morning, the poop suckers come so we guests are not assaulted by the sights, sounds and smells. Tata thinks it might take 3 or 4 trucks per ship. They were efficient and quick. It was a revolving door of trucks in front of the three ships at dock.

Bike time! I was a little scared, but I did it. We had 10 in our group plus a viking guide in the front and the bike owner in the back. We had a short tutorial on how to manage the bells and whistles and were off.

 Right after this picture, our guide warned us we would be entering a bike path where bikers would be very fast and very angry. We were to make sure we stayed to the right. The first oncoming biker that came our way looked us right in the face and said F---Y--! Lol, Austrian bikers are serious and must not appreciate the small groups of oldsters new to e-bikes.
 

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We were also warned we'd be traveling through a nudist beach area, We'd know when we got to the area when we got to a sign FKK (?). We were admonished sternly to keep our eyes on the path, and if there were any crashes he would know the reason why. If there were no crashes, we'd be rewarded with a local lemonade or raspberry lemonade. No one crashed, Tata and I were treated to a nude man each but I only made a cursory glance. Rating: 6 (tan but flabby)

We crossed the Danube on a ferry.

And crossed it back again on a bridge.

One last picture before I almost ate asphalt going down a circular path to get off this bridge. Like the slides at McDonalds. That steep, that tight of a radius. The sweet viking behind me kept encouraging me, "slow, steady, you can do it, keep your eyes to the left" and gave me a knuckle bump at the end.

There was another bike ride today through the vineyards, one of our fellow passengers got side swiped by a very angry very fast rider. She is back on ship, the other guy walked away too, so both are lucky.

Vienna by tour bus with a sick guide

 It was my first time to experience the headset provided by the vikings. I popped out my hearing aid and popped the earpiece in and was surprised by the great sound quality. Every sniffle, sneeze and snotty snort from our guide (walking a bus length away) was piped magically and clearly into my ear.

He did provide a lot of historical perspective regarding the carving up of the area both after WWI and WW2. I honestly can not remember one fact to report to you. I was, admitedly, distracted by the plethora of boogers. I did notice some other things, though.

Don't be a politician if your name is Andi Babler. No one likes you. Stop.

Here is a gothic church. Dirty and smokey inside. We didn't stay long.

Pretty cool color pallette.

A lot of violence in these statues.

A little lion gargoyle medley.

He had a yong yong tongue.

Ev went back to the ship after the tour and we had enjoyed an ice cream. Robert, Joy and I took a walk around, looking at modern art galleries, swatch watches, swarovski everything and people. Lots and lots of great people watching. Vienna's population trends young and darling. Fun to see.

An outstanding Jazz trio on the boat after dinner and a then a good night's sleep. Tomorrow Ev and I take a bike tour. Pray for us sinners.

We arrive in Vienna, thanks to some clever vikings.

 Ev is forever in tune with what he hears going on with the ship's engines. Yes, they are quiet but subtle changes happen that only his ear can hear. This morning I woke up right before dawn to the sound of our door clicking shut so I knew something was up. Fumbling for the curtains that are three inches from my bed, I could see we were in a big lock.

We made our way to the bow terrace where we could get coffee and watch as the ship as rose to the next level. The lock was big enough for 6 of these big boats but this morning we were the only ones out and about. Ev and I were the only ones out and about, too, besides the crew who never seem to rest.

By the time I took the picture above, it had filled by more than half. This was quite an elevation change.

I was distracted by this little guy. When we lived in Mexico we had a similar bee who lived in a keyhole near our outside table. Every day I'd share my meals with him. He had a varied diet from scrambled eggs to green beans to nachos. My friend this morning broke his fast with a sip of orange juice.

Then, raspberry.

Then the pushy little thing got in my yogurt cup.

I'd love to know where he lives and hope I haven't set him up to be swatted by another guest.

After the locks, we saw bridges ahead. Ev was speculating about the types of draw bridges they might be, because it was obvious we were not going to fit under them.

Lo!

The house on the top deck where the pilots work retracts INTO THE DECK! The cute men in blue fold down the awnings on easy hinges built for this purpose. If needed, men in blue will fold all the chairs and set them up again as soon as we pass the last low bridge. It is a super clever design and my pictures don't show how thoughtfully these boats are created.

The little house going down just enough to get under the bridge.

Man in blue warning me to stay one step down so the bridge doesn't conk me.

And finally, swans. On the Danube, on the outskirts of Vienna. Ev and I had seen two at dawn, but didn't really believe our eyes. Once we docked, Joy could see two more at the bow so I started calling them and making a feeding motion with my hand (a trick Elyse learned to do with seagulls when she was little).

Here they came, paddling as fast as they could. Ir was the cutest thing ever.

Robert dashed in and got some rice crackers for them.

And by some stroke of early morning luck, I took this picture.

The viking magic

 We now know vikings are prompt. The bus with my peeps was due back at 12:15, so I made my way to the upper deck around noon to get a photo of them reboarding the ship.

There was a big kerfluffle going on top deck, officious men in white with bars on thars running from side to side, peering over and yakking into their radios. The tall guy with the white buzz cut is our no-nonsense Captain.

Then handsome young men in blue were tossing ropes, jumping from ship to dock to shore and running through the woods with said ropes. I'm guessing they had places hidden in the copse to secure the ropes.

Welp, guess I didn't get a picture of that. One handsome young man tripped and slid down the embankment and I was watching a hopeful local gal help him up.

Young handsome men in blue reboarded and proceeded to use a crane to break our gangplank in half, lower it to the dock and secure it.

It was a big production, synchronized and well excuted. Two seconds after the red gangplank was secured, up drove the guest busses. Passengers disembarked, and waltzed down to the ship completely clueless about what had gone on to get the ship ready for them. And that is the viking magic.

Was the church "so big" JoyK?

A Ridiculous amount of food was consumed and not one picture was taken.

 Sunday

The Intercontinental Hotel in Budapest has two things going for it: the breakfast buffet and an incredible location on the Danube across from one of the most beautifully lit buildings I've ever seen (Buda Castle). It was our last morning in the hotel, I had to have one more delicious omelette, one more flaky croissant, and one more pile of sweet sweet pineapple.

We had our bags packed and out by ten am and rather than scurry to "see something" we opted to sit in the lobby and watch the people. We got an earful from people who deboarded a Viking ship this morning, and earful of speculation from people boarding Viking ships this morning. It was really interesting and informative. Did not hear ONE disparaging word re: the Viking Franchise.

One cool cool thing I've noticed here are all the tall queens. SO many tall girls  with pants that are long enough.

Vikings are punctual. At exactly 1pm, 20 of us boarded a huge bus that took us to the dock. We trotted across two boats to arrive on Jarl, were welcomed with cold washcloths and a speedy check in. Our room is stunning and spacious, soon our luggage arrived so we quickly unpacked, shoved our shitcases under the bed, read the literature and sauntered up for a "light lunch buffet". Ha! I had a beautiful salad and all was well until a guy at the serving station started frying garlic, tossing in green beans, pasta and some teensy potatoes. Outrageous.

After a pasta coma, Ev woke me for the safety talk, staff introductions and....dinner. Was I hungry? No. Did I eat? Of course. The regional dish on offer was Chicken Paprikash enjoyed by everyone at the table except me. I needed beef and had a great steak and a pile of vegetables.

At Central Market yesterday, in addition to sausages every stall was selling paprika in bags and tins and glass jars. The peppers were strung like the ristras much like we have in New Mexico. Paprika everywhere. No one can really explain how it became "the spice" of Hungary. Only that it was brought here around the time of the Ottoman empire as an ornamental, and then they started eating it. End of story.

Monday

Feeling great and so happy.

Parliament Bldg, last view.

Today is our official start of the tour. While the rest of the travelers got off the boat, boarded a bus and drove around Budapest, I opted to stay on board and sail out of the city. We'll dock at a little village around noon where we will meet the bus of 150 or so passengers and they will reboard. 

It's cool and breezy this morning. Our cabin is on the west side of the boat in the shade, so our balcony is a perfect place to sit and watch life on the river. The Danube has gotten shallow, there are nice beaches for people to kayak and stand in waist deep water to cool off.

House for sale, I'll be Zillowing that later...

He was washing her, she was washing him then I got full frontal as they turned to watch us go by 😎

There are just not a lot of bridges spanning the Danube, so people rely on ferries, much like in Mexico.

To tell the truth, I'm a little confused about the days.

 Today we board the Jarl. After a Big Day roaming around Budapest yesterday, we decided to rest this morning before boarding. The best part is other people are schlepping our bags, making our beds, and cleaning up after our breakfast. All we have to do is amble down to the dock and find our boat.

I discovered lions are the thing in Budapest, they are all over the bridges and buildings. The idea is, if Hungary is invaded, all the lions will turn to real and chase off the the interlopers. Didn't work that well during WWII, but one can always hope.

The big lion in the first picture was on the Chain Bridge. It was carved by a poor guy who forgot to put tongues in the two lion's mouths and was shamed so badly that he jumped in the Danube and drowned. 

Now, in most places, it's illegal to swim in the Danube, the currents and undertow are unsurvivable.

There is something about this little house on the hill across the river from our hotel that is speaking to me. We found ourselves on a long assed walk (busses not running for a marathon happening in the city) on that side of the river and I was able to snap a pic. Ev thinks maybe I was an outhouse cleaner in an earlier life and that's why I'm so attracted to the house.

Little house on the far left of Buda Castle.

The last 2 pictures above were taken early in the morning before ships started moving up and down disturbing the reflections.

Yesterday, while we were waiting for the "Bus that Never Came" we watched group after group of young beautiful males cross the park to take pictures of themselves in front of the time/temperature in Budapest. Much of Europe is under a heat advisory and this desert rat is really feeling the humidity.

Central Market: 

Grapes or ticks?

So many sausages!

And finally, the Hop on Hop off bus adventure. Took the circuit twice so we could be dropped off close to the hotel. I was all walked out.