A Must Do Trip, but NEVER again…

Unless the river has water!

Happy October! I’m early because I had to get this post out to you, or I’d forget where we were and what the heck happened if I didn’t sit down and gather all the details in one place. Plus, my sister, Melissa, arrives this week, and we will be off to Sardinia. I’ll keep that travel event for November’s post. But for now, you’ve got to hear how our Danube River cruise went. I named it the trip from hell!

We were so excited for our Danube River cruise with Visa Enjoy after visiting the spring where the Danube originated in the Black Forest. 

Our beautiful twelve-day luxury cruise from Vienna to the Black Sea with Viva Enjoy turned into something we’d save for when we are eighty. We went over 3,000+ km through Munich, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, to the end of the Danube River at the Black Sea at the tip of Ukraine.

However, because of low water levels, only 1000 of those kilometers were by ship. The other 2,000+ were by bus or our car since we drove to Vienna! Bus tours were for when we turned eighty, not at seventy-four.

We started our trip by driving to Munich to visit Lutz’s oldest son, Philipp. Freising is such a lovely town—wonderful nooks and crannies to explore. We also visited a really cool museum.

Plus, we had a typical Bavarian meal! Pork knuckle and knödel! I had boiled beef and horseradish. Then for breakfast we had the usual spread, including a pretzel and boiled weiswurst. We love spending time with Philipp and his quaint town.

When we arrived in Vienna, we headed to our IBIS Budget hotel. Which I believe was once a mental health facility. But it was ok for one night.

Then we had a lovely dinner with Lutz’s son, Dominik, and his friend, Lukas.

Excited for our tour, we boarded Viva Enjoy the next morning with high expectations.

After dinner, we met with our travel hostess on Viva, Christine, to hear the plans for the next few days. We met up with four other German couples and settled in to hear what lies ahead. 

It was in this gathering that we learned we would only be on Viva Enjoy for two nights because they couldn’t go any further due to the water level, which we didn’t enjoy.

However…the plans were not what we expected. We spent one night on the Danube while driving through the night to Bratislava.

The next morning we boarded a bus and drove for 5 hours to Budapest.

This also included a tour of downtown and both sides of the river, Buda and Pest.

The balloon took you above the city to have a view… no, thank you. Both Lutz and I are a little nervous about heights.

Check out these ice creams!

This is the Friendship Bridge that connects Buda to Pest!

We had lunch on one of Budapest’s oldest streets.

Of course, we had the local food, goulash. And there were plenty of spices for purchase!

After a long day of bus tours, we boarded another bus for 3 hours to transfer to our new boat, Annika. We had an evening of more entertainment, but thankfully no goulash.

We made a day tour of Belgrade, Serbia. The Royal Complex was amazing, and a family still lives in part of it.

The pool was never used for swimming; it was there to reflect the complex and the gardens.

A smoking room was designed with elaborate ventilation.

Apparently, only two of these papier-mache globes exist in the world. Because of storms that damaged the globe, its value is much lower.

For your viewing pleasure: the royal family from years ago.

We continued this 3-day boat cruise through some of the Danube’s most beautiful areas. We saw a monument to a Roman (Portrait of Fear), an active monastery, and the Medieval fortified town of Golubac.

After our lovely 3 days in Annika, we packed once again and took a 5-hour bus ride to Bucharest, Romania. We stayed at the Sharoton for 3 days and did some touring. This building is the heaviest in the world. The soviet regime was out to create massive monuments to their leaders in every socialist country we went through. Recovery is slow and costly, especially when maintaining monuments, museums, and buildings like this. Serbia is in the EU but has not adopted the euro. It would bankrupt the country. Ego is costly for nations transitioning from socialism to a democracy.

Inside was opulent as well.

We had lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in town. It was amazing, gorgeous, and full of locals. Of course we had entertainment.

And goloush!

We stayed three days at the Sheraton Hotel in Bucharest and toured for two days. One-day trip to Rousse in Bulgaria. We stopped at the Rock Monastery of St. Dimitar of Bassarbovski. It has an amazing history, and the first monk was considered a saint by the Greek Orthodox because of his healing powers.

One visit was to a Greek Orthodox church, and it had to be built so the church tower was not higher than the local mask. Therefore, half of the church was underground.

Another example of recovering from socialism. Updating buildings is costly.

One outing was a one-day tour: a 3-hour bus trip to the Danube Delta, which flows into the Black Sea.

We returned to the hotel, had a dinner buffet, which included goulash, and packed our belongings for another bus ride back to Annika for two nights. It was so nice to be back on the boat!

We were on Annika for two nights and passed through the Iron Gate once again in between Romania and Serbia.

After the night trip on Annika, we were back on the bus for an 8-hour bus ride back to Vienna because the water level had dropped again and Viva Enjoy had to return to Vienna. This long ride was very stressful for all. However, one of the big treats was a lunch stop at új Tanyacsárda in Hungary.

This old farm is a hotel with horse riding and many interesting pictures of their farming days on the walls during the Soviet regime. 

Our German group of eight had made it this far together, and when we first heard we’d be stopping at a local restaurant for lunch, we all breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, “Please, no more goulash.” To our surprise, it was the best local meal I have had on this bus trip: delicious steamed potatoes, onions, and chicken. 

Dessert was literally on fire. Then it was, “Off we go,” for the remaining 4 hours to Vienna.

By the time we re-boarded Viva Enjoy in the Vienna harbor, we were so happy to be back and relax. For the next three nights, we left the harbor and traveled toward Germany, where the water is deeper. We encountered two locks on our way, which reminded both Lutz and me of our adventures on our boat, Virus, which we sold a couple of years ago.

While we slept, Viva headed to a small town on the other side of the Danube, Dürnstein, which is a UNESCO town. Building and remodeling regulations are very strict, and everything is as it was in the mid-1100s. Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned here after the Third Crusade, 834 years ago.

Richard the Lionheart was said to have been held prisoner in this castle at the top of the hill.

We made it back to the boat and headed to Krems on the Danube, where several people took the bus for a tour and a visit to an apricot farm to sample their schnapps and pick up a jar of apricot jam. The thought of riding another bus was not so appealing to us; however, Christian, one of our new friends, went and brought us all back a jar of jam!

That night on the Viva, the cooks outdid themselves. Truelly a lovely dinner.

A five-course meal beginning with Salmon salad…

Stuffed ravioli,

Asparagus soup for me…

Fillet mignon, the best I’ve ever had!

And a very special gluten-free brownie dessert for me that I forgot to photograph. However, I did snap a picture of these amazing truffles.

I’ve had messages asking about the food and how I managed being gluten-free, but our tour manager, Christine, was also gluten-free and helped me with kitchen staff and restaurants. Yes, even the lunch stops knew we were coming! I do have one joke regarding our lunches out. When asked: 

What did you have for breakfast?  

Me: Eggs with goulash! 

What did you have for lunch? 

Me: Goulash soup! 

What did you have for dinner?

Me: Goulash, indigestion, and heartburn!

The next day we headed back to Vienna harbor to spend our last evening on board Viva. We gathered our German couples for a farewell dinner at the Italian bistro, Moments. I have to say, these travelers were all wonderful, caring people and so patient with my German. We’re hoping to connect on another river trip in the spring, if there is still water in this world.

I have to say, those who stayed on the boat for this horrendous schedule were real troupers, and the travel Managers Christine and Christian, with help from the Viva home office colleagues, did a wonderful job corralling us and getting us on and off the boats and onto buses. We squeezed in a super lunch with Dominik before heading to our new hotel.

Our last night in Vienna was in a classic old hotel. From mental institute to whorehouse was a nice switch! And so much more comfortable.

We stopped to see Philipp and his two boys on our way home. Dang, they are super kids and so tall. A special made pizza was in order!

As I said at the beginning of this post, this is a must-see cruise, but make sure there is water in the river before you go so you can enjoy Viva for 12 straight days and not have to pack and repack. Otherwise, you’ve got to have the nerves and energy to live out of a suitcase for 12 days and enjoy riding on buses. We learned a lot about the countries we visited and their fight for freedom and to end the Soviet regime. A real lesson for all of us right now. And we made it to the Danube Delta, our goal!

I encountered only one problem on this trip that affected my heart. Some say they left their heart in San Francisco; I say, I left my shoe in Bucharest. Yes, somewhere on one of the boats or at the hotel, I lost ONE- not two, but one of my favorite shoes that had just gotten broken in. C’est la vie, such is life, right? It’s just a shoe. It would have been nice to leave both so someone could have used them!

I look forward to sharing November’s Newsletter with you. I’ve got lots planned for my sister, Melissa, and I’m excited to share updates about our hotel and day trips in Sardinia, plus in the Black Forest. Thanks for being part of my little family and following along.

Fave Recipe: Lemon Goat Cheese Cheesecake

This cheesecake is amazing. So easy and delicious. If you can tolerate goat cheese, then I highly recommend this delicious piece of heaven!

Fave Resource: Bread Recipes

I get a lot of emails about my breads. I update them often and hope this resource helps to make the best gluten-free breads for your table! This chickpea recipe is amazing and so versatile. They make the best hamburger buns!