Dwayne filmed over a minute today of porn.  You might think we were at nude beaches, or at the very least, a very interesting public bath.  Instead, we were actually at Fisherman’s Bastion.  And it was buildings. 

 

And if you don’t think Dwayne rubbed his goat and said, “I can build that”, well, you haven’t met my husband.

 

This is the building that will come to the estate next, if Dwayne can convince his wife, his steward, his yard service, and financial advisor (in other words, me) of the wisdom of this:

 

 

 

 

 

Budapest already has these amazing lions, so we felt right at home.

Here’s a few more long-term trip expenses in Budapest.  I’m guessing Dwayne’s statue choice may be more…feminine.

Arches and stairs?!? 

 

Considering how well this is camouflaged against the rock, it really caught my eye!

And an ancient wall (Roman?) in the middle all the other greatness?  Cherries on top, people.  Perhaps Dwayne will be inspired to build his time machine just so he can go back 2000 years, build this first wall, travel back and build new walls around these ruins.

 

The true landmark of Budapest is the Parliament Building. Tour guides only use superlatives to describe it, but “currently unavailable for tour” should also be included. The cruise timed itself so that we’d float into Budapest in the morning hours so that the city could unfold before our eyes, culminating in it’s most famous structure.

 

 

But nothing is as spectacular as Budapest at night.  In fact, Viking River Cruise’s money shot shows Parliament in all it’s electric glory.  Here’s my shots from the top deck, just hours before we packed and left at, and I quote, “stupid o’clock”.

So long, Hungary! 

Vienna is big.  Vienna has buildings of such great historical and architectural significance crammed so closely to one another that one’s eyes and brain begin to glaze over while the jaw is still dropped open.  We had a small taste last night when we skipped dinner on board and went out to a recommended local restaurant, first exploring a small corner of this great city.  There was a park I wished I could have wandered around much longer. 

Mozart is a fairly frequent statue around here.

Parks in Vienna seem to think it perfectly natural to have buildings like this lying around.

It was the evening of our anniversary when we went out with Karen and Sam to Plachutta.

The famous dinner was…boiled meat and bones, using the marrow to spread like butter on bread.  And it was all delicious!

I skipped this morning’s city tour to sleep, and Dwayne put away the camera quickly when he realized he wouldn’t be able to keep up with all that Vienna had to boast of.  But we were both tickled by this beautiful city building that is used as a barn for the famous Spanish stallions.  Can you see the head peeking out of the window?

I wouldn’t show you any other pictures of Vienna except Dwayne and I did the optional tour of Schönbrunn Palace, the summer palace for Maria Theresa, the Habsburg empress, powerful and famous on her own, but also known at the mother of Maria Antoinette—and 15 other children.

Built in the late 1600s, it is a very impressive building which only pales in comparison to the grounds.

The palace itself has 1441 rooms, though only a few were on the tour. I can’t imagine every room looking this opulent, but until they allow me to roam unfettered, I can’t be sure.

Outside was even more fun.  It was one of those tours that, after being guided through a fraction of the interior, we got kicked outside and told be to be back on the bus in 30 minutes.  The entire grounds cover over 400 acres, so we ignored the world’s oldest (and supposedly one of the best) zoos, Roman follies, labyrinths, side gardens, and cafes to hoof it up to the Gloriette.

It would have been delightful to have a chocolate croissant at the cafe up there (the same place Maria Theresa like to have her breakfast every morning, although she had a coach bring her up!), but we only had time to take a few pictures of the remarkable view and be the last ones to return to the bus.  Stupid schedules.

Any chance Dwayne won’t want to build that?  Good thing we didn’t have time to see the follies!

In the middle of the afternoon, I asked Dwayne what could make life better right now, as I couldn’t come up with anything.  Dwayne suggested having Wesley curled up sound asleep on my lap might do it.  If he was truly sound asleep, I would agree; otherwise, he gropes and kicks and squirms. 

 

 

 

 

So I had to settle for a 99.8% perfect afternoon, eating lunch on the sun deck as we sailed through the Wachau area of the Danube, finally getting all the lounge chair views of castles, churches, villages, ruins, and vineyards to sate even a Yankee.

 

I’ll let the pictures communicate the rest. And yes, children, I do want to take you all next time. 

 

  

 

Piper, this one is for you.  On the roof line, can you spot the 7 rabbits?  There doesn’t seem to be any known legend behind them, but they are fascinating.

 

Upon a closer examination, they look less like bunnies. Now I am further intrigued….

 

The town of Durnstein is considered the Pearl of Wachau and is now on my ever-growing list of places to visit later.

And one last glimpse of a distant abbey before we reach another set of locks and a storm cloud.

 

Oh, Melk!  I should have packed adult diapers, so pleased was I to get disembark in Melk, if only for a few hours.  We just had the morning to tour Melk Abbey, and, to use this week’s motto, it only whet our appetite (translated from the Latin, Ium Steehl Drulung et Nonsated).

More than 1100 years old (though only the past 900 have been an operational monastery), the abbey has gone through few full remodels.  The current baroque rebuild happened only 300 years ago—I was completely disappointed in how new the abbey was until I gave myself a firm pinch and reminded myself I live in northwest corner of the USA. 

 

Our first impression of the abbey was this stair set.  Having spent the last 11 years building/cursing stone stairs, we were already impressed. In the words of Piper, we said, “This is going to be good!”

 

 

 

 

My dapper husband is very tolerant of his shutterbug wife.

 

 

 

We had be the best guide yet of our tours.  While still a working abbey and public school, it also uses tourism to fund it projects, and we were happy to comply with a trip through the well-designed museum.

 

But first, more staircases.  I blame Dwayne for my over-appreciation of beautiful and completed stairs.

This is the unexplored half of one corridor of one floor of one wing.  It’s enough to give me both goose bumps and wanderlust.

 

The Melk Abbey is known for many things: its age, it’s 1880+ windows, the world’s finest and largest medieval library (be still my beating heart and pass the diapers), and this Melk Cross:

 
Made with more gold and gems than a cross has a right to, it’s actual value comes from the sliver of wood worked into its back that is said to be from The Cross.  So, kids, this is very interesting and there are many relics that include these sort of bone or wood remnants, and I would like them to be true for sheer interest value.  But there are a few points to consider.  One, it is very unlikely that at the point of Jesus’ death, anyone thought to tear apart the cross for future keepsakes.  Remember, the only few people who may have actually believed he was the Christ were too busy mourning him, and thinking he wasn’t actually the King.  By the time Sunday morning arrived, would anyone been able to find that one particular cross, even if they had suddenly thought to themselves, “Hey, Jesus is alive!  I bet a piece of wood from his cross will be worth a fortune!” Chances of fraudulent claims several hundred years after the event are more likely. Secondly, even if that particular cross had been cut up and divided among the pious, the number of supposed Splinters-From-The-Cross gathered from around the world would be enough to make several new crosses.  Fascinating though, huh?

I’m not sure what I was most interested in, but the books and scrolls drew me in.  This is a minute prayer book for abbey monks. (Kyla and Piper, “minute” means “very small”.)

 

Here’s a replica of medieval scroll.  It certainly does have words (and even if it were written in English, which it certainly isn’t, the script is too fancy for me to make out much), but the hallmark of pre-printed books were the illustrations.

 

Kyla, I thought you might appreciate the gold and jewel-encrusted chalice (or goblet).  I don’t think I will be able to bring you back a similar one as a souvenir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After so much wealth and subsequent spending, one of the monarchs introduced a set of financial reforms.  He actually did many smart things, but my favorite was this reusable coffin.  It has hinges on the bottom, so after the grave has been dug and all the mourners gone, one can release the bottom, keep the body in the grave, and pull the coffin up again for the next burial.

 

This is for my book group, or anyone else who has read Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth and The Ends of the Earth.  Do you remember the chest of documents the abbess used to keep the important treaties and scrolls, not sharing the key with the corrupt abbot?  This chest was used for the same secure storage.  It has a decoy keyhole the front, but the real key (which is a heavy iron one bigger than your hand) goes into the back where with enough strength, you can unlock 14 locks that guard it’s treasure.  It was nearly impossible to break into any other way.  Look at the locking mechanism in the lid!

 

Here is a model replica of the Abbey, too large to capture in one shot.

 

All this was interesting enough to make me temporarily forget about the library.  There’s really no point in showing a picture, as nothing can do those rooms justice.  All the books in the library were printed, so nothing on display was older than 1600 or so, and the bindings were newer than that.  And honestly, there was probably very little of interest (or in English), but the nooks!  The window seats! The wood paneling and upper balconies!  One could probably gain IQ points by reading even Dick and Jane, as long as you read it in here.  Oh, sigh.

 

The church was everything and more than you can expect in an exquisitely baroque (read: extra, extra-fancy), but come on, I just saw an amazing library, and amazing cathedrals are getting plentiful.

 

And a touching photographic moment on the way back to the ship.  If I thought my kids would wear them, I would consider bringing them back each some lederhosen.

Happy 12th Anniversary!  We can renegotiate our terms in 38 more years.

 

Hi, Kids! Remember when we listened to Patricia Wrede’s Searching for Dragons, and the prince had a bad-tempered gargoyle in his study?  You asked what a gargoyle was (and you should remember that one actually doesn’t find them indoors), and I did my best to explain in words.  But here are some examples from a cathedral.  Here’s one that must have recently been completed but not installed yet.

 

 

Here’s what the look like in position.  They stick out from the roof line, and usually when it rains, their mouths spout out the rain water, like gutter spouts. 

 

Often, I think of gargoyles as grotesque monsters, but these were just mean-faced farm animals. Does the one above look like a jumping cow to you?

This one is probably a wolf, but the demon-child is what gives me the shivers. 

 

I’ll keep my camera-eye out for more gargoyles for you!

Love,

Mama

When looking up from Passau, we could easily see Oberhaus, and with a free afternoon and the company of a friend we met before even getting on the boat, our wanderlust led us over the bridge and up. And up. (Viking, the patron cruise line of older people, highly recommended taking the shuttle up and walking down.  We rebelled.)

And then up on Oberhaus, we had a great view of Passau.

 

Catherine was a ton of fun, in great shape, and fortunately, sweated as much as Dwayne and I huffing up this hill.

And immediately celebrated with very local lunch.  I think we can call mine sauerkraut with sausage (not the other way ‘round).

But Dwayne’s was so beyond our palate that we don’t recall it’s name.  He said it tasted like cold beef stew in gelatin, cut into meatloaf slices.  And beer.  Dwayne might become a beer drinker yet!

I’m not likely to.  I got the most palatable beer I could (pale ale mixed with lemonade) and here’s the unattractive result.

 

The rhubarb spritzer was much better.

 

Wesley, check out this really old carousal!  It is about 190 years old.

 

It simply went around and ‘round without the up and down.

 

This old castle is now a bunch of smaller museums, all under the same admission.

 

The featured exhibit was primarily about the ages of knights and castle life.  It would be hard to find anyone in a first world country today who doesn’t live better than a king back then.

Here I model medieval ladies’ shoes.

  

 

Switching gender roles, I try to accessorize in knight wear.  Kyla, the chainmail shirt hanging on the wall weighs more than you do. 

Peek-a-boo, Piper!

We began our morning in true cruise style—a towel doggy trying to take my hat and sunglasses!

 

Hey, Babe, let’s go explore Passau!

When the guides get a little dull or the tour a bit slow, I try to run around indiscreetly (though I’m a little less noticeable than an excited Saint Bernard) and take pictures of what catches my eye.  Hence the garden…and the dog.

Hey, Pipes, this golden dog is for you!  I believe it is a cute thing that doesn’t poop, so we can get one.

 

St. Stephen’s Cathedral claims the highest peaks on this side of the river, of course, and is famous for the largest pipe organ in the world (or in a church in the world, or something). 

 

It is simultaneously awe-inspiring and sleep-inducing to listen to the 40 minute organ concert.

 

 

There are so many details in a baroque church that almost nothing seems impressive anymore.

Some of the cherubs freaked me out a bit.  Looking “cherubic” may not be the compliment I thought it was.

 

I will say the gold pulpit stood out a bit. I think Jesus is somewhere near the top because I see a cross somewhere below and to the right of Mary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve never seen a sundial I didn’t like, but this is my favorite!  So clever to only include 8am to 5pm—it’s significant that a clock dependant upon the sun doesn’t need all 24 hours.  This one was exactly one hour off. I guess you can’t adjust walls for daylight savings.

 

I wanted to do what this little girl is doing.  I applaud her mother!

 

I adore these narrow streets, mostly because the minivan is parked safely at home and I don’t need to drive around here.

The church is a popular one to be married in, though one can only legally get married at the courthouse.  Then I guess you can do one for show in a house of God.  Look at this beautiful bride we caught on our way around town!

 

Today we left the Main/Danube canal and entered the actual Danube.  The river is beautiful, and our ship slipped silently through the picturesque  scenery into the town of Regensburg. 

 

We opted to take  tour to the nearby town of Kelheim and then by boat up through the Danube Gorge to a very old monastery and abbey – which was founded in 620 AD.

Towering over the town of Kelheim is the Hall of Liberation, built to commemorate a victory over Napolean.  I really wished we could have visited that monument, but it was not part of the tour.

 

The boat ride up through the narrows was spectacular:

 

The Weltenburg Abbey is monastery complex perched on the shore of the river:

 

 

Among other things, the monastery brews beer – and is one of the oldest monastery breweries in the world having been in operation since 1050 AD.  Their ″Weltenburger Kloster Barock Dunkel″ was given the World Beer Cup award in 2004, 2008 and 2012 as the best Dunkel beer in the world.  Denise decided to give it a try:

 

Dwayne liked it much better.

 

The interior of the church at the Abbey was a good example of the baroque style – as everything seems to be in this area:

 

This part of Germany was really into St. George, valiantly defending good from evil.  As you can see above, the statue is cleverly lit by indirect lighting coming though yellow stain glass windows to illuminate it brightly in contrast to the rather dim interior of the church.

 

Again, with the stabbing of dragons:

 

After lunch we took the walking tour of Regensburg, which started at the town cathedral.

 

It is a beautiful building on the outside, but rather plain and unadorned on the inside – except for the amazing stained glass.

 

The exterior stone showed a lot of damage, so they employ a team of traditional masons perpetually to maintain the building.  The masons were not working at the time of our tour, but we got to see their work area.

Another amazing thing about this town is that you can still see sections of the wall built by the Romans:

 

Another interesting site was the medieval bridge constructed in the 12th century.  For 800 years it was the only bridge in the area to cross the Danube.

 

Denise and I spent the rest of the afternoon window shopping through the old part of town, enjoying ourselves very much.

On the way back to the ship, we saw a building modeled after an ancient Greek temple perched up on the hill.  Named Walhalla, this is another of Ludwig’s monuments, built to honor famous personalities in German history.  Unfortunately, this was also not included in our tour.

 

We had a wonderful time in Regensburg!  Tomorrow we sail for Passau.

There are many things to enjoy about this German City, but significant to me, Nuremburg is my first European Castle.  Kyla, I told you I saw a castle today, and I think you would have loved it as much as I did.  Here’s the details I think you will like.

Primarily, a castle is meant to keep those inside the walls safe from attack.  A really good castle completely discourages anyone from wanting to try.  This was a really good castle. 

First of all, it’s outer walls are zig-zagged so there’s always a good view of anyone coming.  There was only one real way into the castle, and it was a fairly narrow, uphill, and with a strong left turn before you came to the first wooden gate.  Narrow, so large numbers couldn’t easily come in at once.  Uphill, because it is difficult to carry a battering ram uphill and around a bend.  Left-turning because soldiers held their swords in their right hands and shields in their left, so the pointy side of the soldiers were exposed to the defensive walls, making them open targets with no protection.  Then, if anyone made it to and through the wooden gate, they were in this tunnel. 

 

 

If you look up, you’ll see four or five of these in the ceiling, perfect for throwing burning straw, chamber pots, or anything else that might come to mind down upon the intruders below.

 

If attackers made it past all that, they would find themselves in a smallish courtyard with the tunnel behind them, an iron gate in from of them, and high walls with  arrows surrounding them.

Funny, but in the five hundred years or so since it was built, this castle was never attacked.  It took 20th century bombs to do some damage, but even then, there will still parts of the castle that were used successfully as bomb shelters.

Remember that Daddy and I have been building walls in our backyard for 11 years?  These walls supposedly took just seven.  People were “motivated” by the local authority and after one false start, it was quickly built.  You can tell which stones are original from the holes drilled in the middle of the rock.  They used cranes with pincers to lift the stones, and to keep the rock from slipping a small hole was drilled an inch of so into opposite sides before it was hoisted.

 

 

Because the castle was built on high ground, a well had to be awfully deep to reach water.  Back in the day, workers had to dig 150feet down—and it took 10 minutes to get one bucket of water up! 

 

One day, we’ll take all three of you to see a castle or two.  And if Daddy has his way, he’ll build one!

 

Love,

Mama