Christmas on the Danube Cruise on the Viking Egil
12/8/22 to 12/17/22

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Page 1 – Preface, Ship, Ports of Call:  Budapest, Hungary Days 1 & 2
Page 2 – Ports of Call:   Budapest, Hungary Days 2, 3 & 4; Vienna, Austria Day 1
Page 3 - Ports of Call: Vienna, Austria Day 2; Krems, Austria
Page 4 - Ports of Call:   Passau, Germany; Regensburg, Germany

Budapest, Hungary (Continued)

Day 2 (Continued)

Readers of my reviews know that I love visiting churches, mosques, synagogues or any religious building. Beside their meaning, they are normally the most beautiful buildings in a city. I love the thrill of walking through the doors for the first time to see the beauty. St. Stephen’s is just a breathtaking experience. I had visited there in 2009, but I didn’t remember how gorgeous it was. My photo equipment in 2009 just didn’t capture the beauty like my current gear. I will put too many photos of the church in this review, but it will help me to remember how beautiful it is.

In a side chapel that we could not enter, was the holy right hand of King St. Stephen, who the basilica is named for. He died in 1038 AD and was canonized in 1083 AD. The hand is in an attractive case that is enclosed in glass. I was glad I had a long enough lens to be able to get a close up of the hand. It isn’t much to look at but is a very holy relic. It is amazing that it has survived almost a thousand years.

After leaving the church, we walked around the market for a while. We spotted a hot mulled wine stand. With the temperatures while we were in Budapest in the 30’s and low 40’s, the thought of a warm drink was very appealing. We both ordered one of the mulled wines with some Jack Daniels fire whiskey in it. It was so good.

Walking around the market was most enjoyable. We liked looking at all the unique things that were for sale. It was very difficult to resist the delicious looking and smelling foods that were everywhere.

After finishing our shopping, it was time to get back to the hotel. It was 3:45 PM and the sun was setting. I used the Google Maps app to find the Number 1 metro line. As we walked toward it, we saw the Budapest Eye, their giant Ferris Wheel. Before the trip, I had told Cathy about it and she wanted to ride it; but I didn’t know if we would be able to. Since we just ran into it, we were thrilled that she would get her wish. There was a light rain, but that wouldn't stop us. Once again, we were lucky that there was no line, so we purchased our ticket and were on the ride within a few minutes. The cars were enclosed, but the wind blew freely through them.

The view from above was such a treat. We could look down onto St. Stephen’s Basilica, the traffic and everything around.

We even had a nice view of the Buda Castle in the distance.

The map app kept changing its mind on what direction I should be going to get to the metro. I was glad it did since it gave us a chance to see the beautifully decorated Fashion Street. It was quite a popular place, and we were thrilled to be able to see it. The lighting was amazing.

Unfortunately, we still couldn’t find the metro station. When technology fails, it is best to just ask someone. A doorman at one of the hotels solved our problem. We were walking down the stairs to the terminal in a few minutes. We knew that we could use credit cards to purchase the tickets, which was necessary since we hadn’t purchased any Florints. The only problem was that agent on duty didn’t sell tickets except for cash and there wasn’t a ticket machine in this station. She told me very specific instructions on going down stairs and going up escalators to get to the ticket machines. It sounded relatively easy, so I told Cathy to wait in the station and I would return with the tickets. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Finding the right up escalator wasn’t that obvious in the large open area where I was at after going down the stairs. I did finally find the ticket machine after walking around. I followed the English instructions exactly, but the machine wouldn’t take my credit card. I tried again with the same bad result. The line behind me was getting longer. The fellow behind me told me to not follow the instructions like they said. When I did what he told me, I had success. I thanked him and apologized to the people in the line behind me. They were smiling, probably because they were thrilled to get me out of the line.

Now I had to get back to Cathy. I had no idea what way to go. There were several elevators and different stair wells that didn’t look at all familiar to me. I asked someone how to get to the Number one station. He told me to just take some stairs that I had not used before, and I would be right there. I didn’t think it was the right way, but I didn’t have a better idea. When I came up the stairs I was at the other end of the station and could see Cathy sitting on a bench. I was so happy to see her, and I am sure she was even happier to finally see me. It was a short train ride, and we were close to the hotel in no time. It was almost 5:00 PM and we hadn’t seen our friends in over 3 hours. Before going into the hotel, I had to take a photo of the hotel’s illuminated exterior. Just gorgeous!

Barbara and Claudia were in the hotel bar watching one of the quarter final world cup games. We joined them and we shared our adventures with them while watching the game. Later we went out for dinner close to where we ate the previous night at a place called Paganini Art Bistro. They had good food too.

The next day was boarding day, so when we got back to the hotel, we did some packing before conking out from our very active day.

Day 3

The Viking agent at the hotel had told us that we could board the ship at noon, but that the transfer bus would leave the hotel for the ship at 1:00 PM. After breakfast we headed over to a pharmacy to pick up some things for the trip. We then had a long wait before the bus. We decided to find our own way to the ship. Budapest doesn’t have Uber or Lyft service. But they do have a service called Bolt, which is basically the same thing. I had downloaded the app before we left home, since I knew it might come in handy. It worked just like Uber, and we had our ride to the ship. We got to the terminal at around 11:30 AM. It cost 2,800 Florints or $7.00. After taking some photos of the Viking Egil, we were on the ship in no time. We were thrilled with the ship, and glad to be able to be in the cabin so quickly. The 1:00 PM bus finally arrived at 1:45 PM. We were so glad we came early.

We had a tour scheduled for 4:00 PM, so I decided to do a little sightseeing. I decided to walk over to the Budapest Central Market. The large building was built in 1897. It had an amazing exterior. I just loved the tiled roof.

The interior was huge and filled with customers. There were lots of different types of stands to check out.

The one place that I decided to purchase something was at a Hungarian paprika stand. I couldn’t decide if I should get sweet or hot paprika for Cathy, so I got both. I’m looking forward to Cathy making a delicious meal with them one of these days.

After my visit I returned to the ship to get ready for our Vörösmarty Square & St. Stephen’s Basilica tour. It was a 2-hr. included tour to see two Christmas markets. We had already been to the St. Stephen’s market, but I was looking forward to Budapest’s largest market at Vörösmarty Square. We boarded the bus for the short ride. Our guide was hard to understand and was rushing us when we got off the bus. With it being raining and lots of people using umbrellas, it was very difficult to even see where she was. We asked her to hold up her large red sign, but she kept it barely above her head. I normally take photos of our guides to remember them by. I didn’t even write down her name or take a photo since I preferred to forget this guide.

Worst of all, we never got to the largest market, we only went to St. Stephen’s, which was very crowded. As we had found out in the afternoon, it is a smaller area, and the stands are closer together. With it being a Saturday night, it was packed. It was a horrible experience. I was so sorry that Barbara and Claudia hadn’t been able to enjoy it in the afternoon like we had. We looked around a little bit, but it was cold and raining with it difficult to even look at the available things in the different stands.

There was a countdown clock showing on the front of the church, letting everyone know when their light show would start. We didn’t wait for the 5:30 PM show. We decided to take a Bolt car back to the ship before the end of the tour. We were through with this tour.

When we got back to the ship, we had the welcome meeting and port talk. We met the management team, who were just exceptional during the cruise. The Captain was Peter Sevcik. He didn’t talk much but he did a great job of maneuvering through the shallow areas of the river.

The Hotel Manager was Michael Landmesser. Now this fellow was such a pleasure. He was a comedian during his talks and kept the guests listening and laughing to the information he was communicating. You can tell from his below photo, that he is a character.

The Program Director was Edina Eiler. She was just great! She kept us well informed and was able to move things around when there were delays in getting to destinations due to lock delays or other unexpected events.

We had our first dinner and were very pleased with the excellent meal. This was going to be an enjoyable cruise.

After dinner, I had to get ready for the Budapest by Night tour. We had all purchased tickets, but I was the only one that wanted to go. The girls had no desire to go out in the rain again and they wanted to just enjoy the ship for a while. I wasn’t about to miss this tour. I was on a mission. My main goal was to get a photo of the illuminated parliament building.

Our tour guide was Doha. He did a great job of telling us about what we were seeing. I did feel bad for him trying to make this type of tour in the rain as enjoyable as possible

As we began our drive, we saw some beautifully illuminated buildings, but through water covered windows. The best photos I could take from the bus aren’t worth putting in the review. Fortunately, we did stop at Hero’s Square to get off the bus for some photos. It is a pretty place, especially at night.

Continuing our drive, we saw more beautiful buildings I couldn’t get any good photos of. At last, we stopped near the parliament building. The rain had slowed down significantly. The illuminated building looked just incredible. I was so glad I had taken the tour, if only just for this one shot. I did take a lot to get the best one, but I just loved being able to see this sight in person rather than through other people's photos.

At the end of the tour, we stopped at a nice coffee shop for some champagne and coffee/tea.

It had been a long day and I was looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep.

Day 4

This would be our last day in Budapest. We had the included Panoramic Budapest tour scheduled for 8:00 AM. At 8:15 AM, the ship would leave for Vienna. When the tour was over, we would end at the town of Visegard, Austria and rejoin the boat further upriver. If we preferred, we could have stayed on the boat while it was cruising the Danube and going through locks.

After breakfast, I went up to the sun deck to take some photos of the area since it was a much clearer morning than we had been having. I enjoyed the view from the ship.

On top of nearby Gellert Hill, is the Liberty or Freedom Statue. It commemorates the lives of Hungarians who fought for the country’s freedom. The 771-foot-high hill was named after a bishop who was assassinated by pagans. He was put in a barrel lined with spikes and rolled down the hill. What a way to die! He was later made a saint.

At the base of the hill is the famous Hotel Gellert. It is known for its hot thermal baths.

I could also see the Buda Castle in the distance.

We met our guide for the tour, Victoria or Vickie. We liked her a lot. Very pleasant and fun.

Once on the bus, we were passing by more beautiful places. I was able to take a shot of the Gellert Hotel from the front.

I also had a better shot of the Buda Castle, but a bit distorted by the bus window.

The Chain Bridge was being renovated, so we couldn’t drive on it. It was the first permanent bridge across the Danube connecting Buda and Pest. It was constructed in 1849. Taking photos from a moving bus doesn’t allow for great pics, but at least it gives you an idea of what the bridge looks like.

We passed by the Dohany Street Synagogue. It is the largest synagogue in Europe, seating 3,000 people. I had toured the interior in 2009. It was quite impressive. I have included an interior photos below from my previous review.

Further down the road, we saw an interesting relief on the side of a building.

We continued our drive and drove through Hero’s Square. With the bus going so fast, I couldn’t take any decent photos. We arrived at our main destination for the tour, Fisherman’s Bastion. This structure was built on what was originally castle walls built in the 1700’s. The walls at that time were protected by a fisherman’s guild that lived below the walls. The current structure was built at the end of the 19th century. I just love this place. It is so pretty and looks like a fairy tale structure.

The bus took us as high up the hill as they could, but we still had a walk to get to the main structure at the top. We passed by statues and shops with some gorgeous items for sale.

One of the highlights of the Fisherman’s Bastion is that it is the location for the beautiful Mathias Church. It is just a gorgeous building with an amazing colorful tile roof.

Close by is the Holy Trinity Column. It commemorates the people of Buda who died from the two outbreaks of the black plague in 1691 and 1709. The two plagues caused the death of 30-60% of Europe’s population. The column was made in 1706 to protect the city against future plagues. After the plague returned in 1709, that column was destroyed and a new larger one built. They believe that it worked, since the plague never returned. It is covered with beautiful statuary.

Close by the church is the main bastion area. In the center is an equestrian statue of St. Stephen.

We climbed to the top of the wall to get different angles of the area. Just so beautiful!

From the wall, we could look down to the Danube and the see the Parliament building.

After seeing everything we could, other than the interior of the church, since it was closed, we headed back to our bus meeting place. Even the manhole covers were pretty.

Since we had plenty of time, we looked or a place for a hot drink. It was cold outside. With it being Sunday, there wasn’t much open. We lucked out and came to a little café named Tarnak. It was just opening, so we were the first people in the place. I ordered a hot chocolate with Amaretto. OMG, that the best hot chocolate I have ever had. Several other people from the ship had also joined us and were also raving about it. The small café was very full by the time we left with a line to get in. We had really lucked out.

It took about an hour to get to Visegard to rejoin the Egil. Looking out at the river, we could see that this was going to be a lovely cruise down the river, with the quaint villages and the snow on the mountains.

This is the part of a river cruise that I enjoy the most. Just sitting on the upper deck watching the world go by. Although, in the middle of winter, it isn’t quite as enjoyable as in warmer months. We were so glad to be seeing sunshine for a change.

Along the river we came to a massive building. It was the Esztergom Basilica. It is the largest church at just over 60,000 sq. ft. and tallest building in Hungary at 328 ft. tall. The dome is 234 feet tall, making it one of the tallest in the world. It is a most impressive structure.

At one corner of the property is a large white statue of St. Stephen.

At the other side of the property are the walls and bastions of the old castle that once stood there.

After watching the river for a while, I came inside to hear some presentations. One was about Austrian coffee houses and the other about growing up under communism. Edina was the presenter for these and did a great job. In between the talks, we had a Hungarian teatime with warm beverages and Hungarian pastries. After all that we had happy hour and dinner. A full afternoon and evening. After dinner, there was a Christmas tree trimming party, but we decided to go to bed early. At about 10:30 PM, the boat began to shake. It stopped and started again. I got out of bed and saw that it was light outside. We were inside of a very deep lock. After a quick look, I went back to bed. I knew we would have more opportunities to see the locks in the daytime. Afterall, there were 14 locks on the route we were cruising.

Vienna, Austria

Day 1

One of the reasons I was particularly excited about this cruise was that we would be in Vienna, Austria for two days. Vienna is one of my favorite cities in Europe and certainly one for of the most beautiful. I went up on deck and saw that it was covered with snow and ice. It looked pretty but was quite slippery. They had shoveled some off and thrown out some salt/sand, but it hadn’t been effective yet. The temperature was 27 degrees, and it would only get into the low 30’s.

I looked into the bridge and saw the captain maneuvering the boat. He was very focused and didn’t let me distract him from his job. But he did wave at me.

We had an early morning announcement that we would be arriving late in Vienna due to lock delays. This is a common occurrence and we just needed to be patient. It was much more work on Edina and the crew to deal than for us. We were supposed to arrive at 8:30 AM with a 9:00 AM tour. When I went to the sundeck again, it was 8:40 AM and we were approaching another lock. As we got closer to the lock, the captain came out of the bridge and took over control at the outside station. Several of us were outside watching the process. We couldn’t believe how close to the wall he got without scraping anything. It takes a lot of skill to do his job.

I stayed around long enough to see the lock fill up and the Egil begin to leave it. After seeing it done once, there isn’t much reason to watch it again, since it does get old quickly. It is much more enjoyable to be in the ship.

We finally arrived in Vienna at around 10:00 AM, an hour and a half late. We were docked next to the beautiful St. Francis of Assisi Church.

We got off the ship as soon as the ship was cleared for our included Panoramic Vienna tour. We had another great guide, Ryan. He told us that this was the first day of snow for Vienna this year.

After the bus stopped near the center of town, we exited to begin our walking tour. This was the coldest day we had experienced so far. I was disappointed that once again we had an overcast day that took away the ability to show how beautiful the city is. But even without sunshine, Vienna is an amazing place. There are so many gorgeous statues and ornately decorated buildings to take in. I just love Vienna.

The statue of Mozart was a particularly popular photo opp.

The first major building we came to was the Natural History Museum.

We then moved to the Hofburg, which is in the imperial palace complex. There are several beautiful buildings to appreciate.

After walking around the Hofburg for a while, we headed further into town. The streets were so pretty, especially during the Christmas season.

We passed by St. Peter’s Cathedral that was dwarfed by its neighbors.

The Column of the Plague was just amazing. It was erected in celebration and thanksgiving for the ending of a plague that had devastated Vienna in 1687.

Our next destination was to another St. Stephen’s Cathedral. There are a lot of them in this part of the world. It has a very impressive exterior with tile like that we had seen at Budapest’s Mathias Church. Ryan left us here and told us that we had free time and when and where we would meet to return to the ship.

As expected, the interior was just splendid.

As we left the church, we walked through a small Christmas market. The church made for a great backdrop.

The snow got heavier as we walked around the market stalls. There were so many interesting items to shop for. It’s a shame it was so cold, or we could have spent more time looking around.

We couldn’t resist finally tasting a chimney cake. It had been described as like a donut, but Cathy hit the nail on the head when she said it tasted more like cinnamon toast. It was good.

I enjoyed seeing all the horse drawn carriages. It adds to the festive mood for me.

We did a little window shopping while waiting for our return meeting time. Just looking at the beautiful Vienna buildings was a treat.

We were very glad to finally see Ryan so we could warm up in the bus. On the way back to the ship, I was able to take some quick photos of the famous Ferris Wheel. It was built in 1897 and was the world’s tallest Ferris Wheel from 1920 – 1985. When it was built, it had 30 cars on it. There are only 15 now.

We went back to the ship for a quick lunch at around 1:00 PM. We had another tour to go on at 2:30 PM. We would be taking the optional tour to the gorgeous Schonbrunn Palace. Barbara decided to stay on the boat and get some rest rather than go on another tour. Once again, we had a wonderful enthusiastic guide. Anna just did a great job for us.

I would only get to take exterior photos, since no photography was allowed in the palace. It is a shame since it is obscenely ornate and opulent.

I was originally disappointed that the tour was starting so late. We wouldn’t be able to tour the beautiful fountains in the gardens because the sun set so early. With the cold weather and snow, it was just as well. The fountains were pretty far away. It was much more enjoyable to do in the summer.

After the tour, we had some free time. There was a nice Christmas market in front of the palace. We walked around it for a short time, before Cathy and Claudia decided to head to the café for a warm beverage. I stayed out a little longer to take photos of the illuminated area.

Anna had told us that the café at the palace was known for the best apple strudel around. It was a good time to put that to the test. I don’t know if it was the, but it sure was good with the vanilla sauce on it.

On our way back to the bus, I was able to take a nice shot of the illuminated palace. A nice way to finish the tour and a very full day.