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Budapest exploring

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 May 16, 2026 Jó reggelt (good morning). As we hoped, the day did not disappoint. We had breakfast at the hotel, then walked to the iconic chain bridge from Pest to Buda. Once in Buda, we caught the Hop-On-Hop-off bus. We got a front seat spot!  Our first hop off was at the New York Cafe at the New York Palace Hotel. We had to wait about 20minutes to get in but it was worth it! Afterwards, we continued on to Heroes Square - a monument to the Hungarian founders. When communism was in power, the citizens were not allowed to see these monuments. Museum of Fine Art Then we decided to disembark at the Citadel, which faces away from the Danube. A political statement perhaps. There we saw the beautiful gardens and the statue that holds the palm leaf. Now a symbol of peace for the city. Back across the chain bridge, we got back to our hotel and headed out to the Ruins bar, Szimpla Kert and then dinner at Osteria right next to the iconic statue called The Policeman. The Policeman - rub...
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To Budapest we go

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 May 14 Meg graciously dropped us at the airport only an hour after Amanda finished her final final exam before starting nursing school!! She has done extremely well, earning the highest grades in her classes. Very exciting next chapter!! Steven is making huge strides in his St Bruno franchise and we couldn’t be more proud!  So, with grateful hearts, off we go to see a part of Europe we’ve been looking forward to seeing. We’re at the New Orleans airport club MSY having a cocktail.  Budapest weather looks rainy, but we’ll make the best of it. We have a few things planned including their famous bath house, a market hall tour, and a dinner cruise on the Danube.  We made it finally to Budapest around 8 pm through Charlotte and London - about 18 hours. We unpacked and headed out to find a restaurant. Neither of us ate or drank on the plane. Just tried to sleep.  We are walking distance from most everything according to our awesome taxi driver! He was a big help and a...
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Göteborg and Aarhus

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 August 15 We arrived in our only Sweden port, Göteborg, but decided not to do the excursion again, opting to get around on our own. We figured out the public transportation (tram, bus) and our first stop was the World of Volvo.  Then we used the tourist information map to see the recommended sites in the historical area - the Cathedral, the Fish church market (resembles a church), a food market, and the Haga neighborhood. There we split a sandwich (chicken and pesto) and a local beer. We opted to shuttle back to the ship and hang by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.  The next morning, we arrived in Aarhus, Norway. We thought this was a great city! We walked and walked and covered all of the sites. We visited the Cathedral, the Viking Museum where you descended 9 meters down to the level of the ground in the 900s where actual Viking houses and artifacts were discovered. Then we went to a very cool two story rooftop garden atop a department store called Selling. Then...
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Oslo

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 August 15 As we await our flight home, I’ll reminisce about the last several stops on our amazing Scandinavian cruise.  After Ålesund, we were on our way to Oslo for an overnight stay. Our first excursion was a World War II tour with a fair haired Norwegian young woman. She brought us to a large, still intact Nazi bunker underneath a school. There she told us about how Hitler occupied Norway (a country that wanted to remain neutral) because he loved their Arian genes - blond hair, blue eyes. He encouraged the Germans to make babies with the Norwegian women. A woman who had 10 babies were awarded a gold star. Their Jewish population, who Norwegians considered similarly to how Muslims are considered in today’s society, were shipped off to concentration camps and their neighbors pilfered their homes. Even today, Norwegians prefer not to dilute their gene pool by immigrants, but after a anti-immigration fanatic mass murdered Oslo citizens in 2011, they talk of being more inclusiv...
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