Vienna

Marc's Journal

Today we had a chance to visit the Schönbrunn Palace, a 1,441 room summer "cabin" for the Hapsburg rulers. It was a truly breathtaking site, but unfortunately we experienced it with stifling heat, humidity, unprecedented crowds all pressing into the same space without any ventilation or AC. No photos were allowed in the palace (the palace web site offers many), but we did snap some shots of the fountains and grounds. 

A set of locks on the Danube were under repair which precluded our boat from going further. July 12th we boarded buses to take a 2.5 hour journey to Budapest and stay in a hotel for our final day of the trip. Wednesday (Diane's Birthday) was going to be busy with driving and logistics, so I decided to start the birthday celebration early. It was a sweet time to celebrate a milestone birthday.

On the boat, the crew had celebrated a few other birthdays with a rambunctious chorus of "Happy Birthday." It sounded unusually awful and Diane thought it embarrassing. Each time we heard the song, Diane pleaded with me not to make her endure that. (Of course I wouldn't.) But new friends Bob and Wanda learned when we met them that July was her birth month, and had a personal mission to learn the date. At dinner on the 11th, Bob winked and I knew the deed was done. (Below)

Diane's Journal

We spent the morning on the boat. Marc wanted to celebrate my birthday a day early because we would be en route to Budapest on my birthday. He had bought three gifts for me the day before in Vienna. So, I opened my birthday gifts on the sun deck of the boat—a very sweet memory.

In the afternoon, we embarked on a tour of Schönbrunn Palace, which I had been eager to visit. The palace is huge and is surrounded by a vast garden and zoo. The palace tours are strictly timed. We had a few minutes to walk through the gardens (which you could easily spend a day exploring) before proceeding to the palace tour. Unfortunately, the tour groups were overcrowded, with both guided and self-guided groups mixed together. Every room was jam-packed with people, and to make matters worse, there was no air conditioning despite the  92-degree weather outside. The palace staff tried to hurry the groups along because the number of people in each room violated the fire code. I was incredibly disappointed as the tour became an endurance test, and all I wanted was for it to end. To add to the frustration, we had only 5 minutes in the gift shop before we had to leave. It seemed like the palace was accommodating too many tourists, and in hindsight, I would have preferred to skip the tour and spend more time in Vienna.

We set sail at 5 pm and made a stop in Bratislava, Slovakia, where we will take a bus to Hungary. So, we got to step foot in an additional country—Slovakia.

During dinner, one of your friends insisted on acknowledging my birthday before we left the boat and made sure it happened. I was surprised when the staff sang "Happy Birthday" and presented me with a birthday cake. It will always be a cherished birthday memory.