Tales of the Traveling Tote: The Romantic Danube

Hello, My Lovelies!  Welcome to the June 2024 Edition of Tales of the Traveling Tote!

In this post I'm sharing photos from our Easter Holiday cruise on the Danube River.  When I started writing this post, I got a bit overwhelmed, so I decided to only focus on one maybe two sites per city we visited.  When we were in New Orleans visiting friends last summer, we all planned to go on the cruise together.  There were ten of us, plus Shanley Belle and Christopher.  Christopher had FOMO so badly, he stalked the Viking website and got on their waiting list.  At the last minute there was an opening, so they crashed joined our party.  ;P

Here are a few bullet points about the trip in general:

• Favorite city:  Prague
• Favorite church:  St Stephen's in Vienna
• Favorite church art:  The mosaics outside St. Vitus's, Prague
• Favorite food:  Hungarian, especially chicken paprika
• Favorite tour:  Operation Anthropoid in Prague
• Biggest surprise:  Smallness of Salzburg
• Biggest laugh:  Czech Easter traditions (the Easter whip)
• Favorite museum:  Albertina in Vienna
• Favorite coffee shop:  Café Demel, Vienna
• Favorite Restaurant:  La Degustation, Prague
• Unexpected discovery:  The popularity of Kentucky Fried Chicken in the region

Easter Market

Old Town Square

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague

Before our cruise we went to Prague in the Czech Republic.  It was my favorite city of the trip, and I would love to visit again one day.  I loved the city, and it is especially beautiful at night.

One of the highlights was a visit to the Museum of Communism; every American should visit it.  Three words greet visitors upon entry:  Dream, Reality, Nightmare.  I also liked the people in Prague, too.  My favorite of all the tour guides was in Prague, and he was the young man who took us step-by-step through the Operation Anthropoid sites. Operation Antropoid was the plot to kill the Holocaust's architect Reinhard Heydrich in 1942.  It was the only successful assassination of a top Nazi officer during World War II.  We went to all the sites of this operation, and if you haven't seen the movie about it starring Cillian Murphy, I highly recommend it.  We also had fun visiting the Easter markets, and you can see more photos here.

The architecture and colors of the buildings in Prague are exceptionally beautiful, and I loved the Art Nouveau influence of artist Alphonse Mucha.

The Municipal House, above, houses one of Prague's best restaurants and opera.

We were within walking distance of Old Town and Prague's Astronomical Clock.  

The blue trim on the lower instrument has names all around the face.  These are the government approved names for newborns, and if parents want to name their child something else, they must get special permission from the government.

Regensburg

We were in Regensburg, Germany on Easter Sunday.  It was beautiful, and everything was in bloom.  The gardens and the patrician houses were fun to see.  Regensburg is an ancient city, and there are still Roman ruins on display to remind the tourists of its Roman heritage.

Porta Praetoria

It was built in AD 179 by Emperor Marcus Aurelius as part of the Castra Regina. 

Salzburg

We visited Salzburg on Easter Monday, so many of the shops weren't open.  I was okay with that because we were able to go on a Sound of Music tour and visit many of the pretty parks.  The Sound of Music is my favorite movie.

Mirabell Gardens

This location was used in the filming of The Sound of Music.

Wachau Valley

One of the highlights of the cruise was seeing all the castles, churches, and towns in the Wachau Valley in Lower Austria.  The tour guide did a fantastic job describing what we were seeing and sharing historical anecdotes.  

Ruins of Dürnstein Castle

The legend of Richard the Lionheart says that upon returning from the Crusades, the English King tore up the Austrian flag and refused to share his spoils of war with Leopold V. Consequently, Leopold V held the English King prisoner in the castle from 1192 – 1193.

Göttweig Abbey, Krems, Austria

One of the happiest surprises of the trip was the excursion to Göttweig Abbey,  a Benedictine monastery founded in 1083.  The complex overlooks the Wachau Valley, and woodlands and vineyards surround it.  Known for growing apricots, the monks make preserves and wine from the fruit.  One of the things that interested me the most was the Baroque architecture of the imperial apartments (now a museum) used by the Hapsburgs.  The centerpiece of the building is the monumental Baroque imperial staircase.   It is the second largest Baroque staircase in Europe.  Above the staircase is an incredible ceiling fresco painted by Paul Troger in 1739.

Apotheosis of Charles VI

Ceiling fresco

Göttweig Abbey Imperial Staircase

by

Paul Troger, 1839

Apotheosis means divinization, referring to the ordination by God of Charles VI to lead the empire. The central theme is an homage to the Habsburg dynasty and its role in fostering knowledge and the arts.  Many of the figures in the fresco are participating in creative pursuits, like visual arts and music.

The Baroque grand staircase in the imperial apartments

Pilgrim's Shell architectural feature on church

Vienna

The favorite thing we did in Vienna was our visit to the Albertina Museum,  I'm working on a separate post for it, and I will post it in a couple of weeks (I wanted this post to go live first).  We also loved visiting the Spanish Riding School and seeing the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions.  This facility is located inside the Hofburg complex.  The Spanish Riding School is "Spanish" because the lineage of the horses are Spanish.  One of the Hapsburgs was fostered at court in Spain and brought a few of the horses back to Austria with him.  The school was founded in the mid-sixteenth century and has been training these beautiful horses in dressage maneuvers ever since.

Show arena

One of the arena's chandeliers

Inside the tack room

The stallions are extremely docile.  I was shocked about that, and their size: They are only about fifteen hands.  If they were just slightly shorter, they would be considered a pony rather than a horse.

Riders can't be taller than 5'8" or so.

Budapest

Mr. Bookish's favorite part of the trip was Budapest.  The Hungarian people are the best, and we enjoyed their culture while there.  One of the most heartbreaking monuments is on the Danube River.  Called Shoes on the Danube, the monument commemorates the horrific murder of 20,000 Jews who were brutally shot along the banks of the Danube River. The victims were forced to remove their shoes at gunpoint (shoes being a valuable commodity during World War II) before their executions.  The monument consists of 60 pairs of 1940s-style shoes, true to life in size and detail, sculpted out of iron.  

On a lighter note, we did visit the Herend flagship store.  I do not collect Herend, but a few ladies on the trip do collect it.  I did purchase a mug as a souvenir.  

This is the "Tree of Life" fountain outside the Herend store.  It's at the end of a pretty square, and it is made from Herend porcelain, probably the finest porcelain in the world.

The "Tree of Life" is an important symbol in Hungarian culture and mythology. 

We loved everything about the longboat.  We are already planning another river cruise with Viking.  They truly have river cruising down to a fine art.  

I hope you enjoyed my tour of Prague and sites along the Danube River.  Please use the links below to read the other Traveling Totes' posts.

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader (You're here!)

Emily is hosting our giveaway this quarter.  Check out the prize, below!

We will share our next adventures on September 1, 2024.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill