A day trip to Cesky Krumlov in southern Czech Republic was missed by our ill friend Al and it was so disappointing for him and us that he couldn’t come.  The drive was beautiful through rolling, verdant countryside. Despite another day that kept us seeking shade, this jewel of a town takes your breath away on the approach from the castle. Bisected by the river Vltava, we crossed it at 3 different points. It had been nearly 10 years since our first visit. Not much had changed except for the size of the visiting throng.

Northern Austria is so similar to southern Germany it would be hard to know which is which. With a shared language, similar food and architectural features, even the landscape of each country along the Danube is made of rolling hills, castles and forts.

A visit to Vienna absolutely must include attending one of its many musical venues. We were invited to a private concert by the Viennese Palace Orchestra at the Liechtenstein City Palace owned by the princely family of Liechtenstein. Following a welcome reception we witnessed the orchestra perform 12 pieces of music and arias by Mozart, Strauss among others.

The day we were to arrive in Budapest we were transported via the Grand Empress steam train aboard a preserved car from 1924.

Following our arrival in Budapest we had a full day to explore this city that bisects the Danube with Buda on the west side and Pest on the east. In the evening the tour put on quite a show of local entertainment for all with some of us participating.

It was here that we left the boat and had to say farewell to Jan and Al (now well enough to come out of hiding) who were on to London to visit Hayley and Henry, daughter and SIL.

We were staying on in our favorite hotel in Budapest, Callas House, in order to meet another UK friend, David, who was our first neighbor when we moved to Melbourne in 2012. More on Budapest in our next post.