And here we are in the gardens of the Belvedere, the former Baroque palace of Prince Eugene. Now a museum, the Belvedere is home to Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" and "Judith."
Next, we hopped a train to Melk, Austria, a small town on the southern bank of the Danube River.
Then we caught a bus to travel across the river to the tiny town of Emmersdorf. Actually, Emmersdorf is tiny but long........ As we learn after getting off the bus on one side of town and having to walk a mile or so along the Danube bike path in the rain with all our luggage.
This is Deborah arriving after our Danube hike.
Below is our adorable hotel. After getting off the bus at the wrong location, a local man told Darin to look for the HUGE hotel on the right.
Below is our adorable hotel. After getting off the bus at the wrong location, a local man told Darin to look for the HUGE hotel on the right.
Our hotel advertises the fact that it is located right next to a castle. Here's Darin in front of the Luberegg Castle. Castle?!?
Darin took this photo while strolling through town. During the course of 20 minutes, you could pass through three or four towns; they were THAT small.
.jpg)
The Abbey in Melk as seen across the Danube River from Emmersdorf.
One of the lakes just off the Danube River in Emmersdorf.
A World War II memorial.
"Main Street" in Emmersdorf..JPG)
Although we never made it inside, the Melk Abbey was an impressive sight from the outside. Benedictine monks have occupied the Melk Abbey continuously for more than 900 years.
At the beach on the north bank of the Danube River.
Next stop - Budapest, Hungary. The capital of Hungary, Budapest became a single city in 1873 when the west bank town of Buda joined the right bank town of Pest. The Danube River runs through the middle of the two former towns.
We started our first day in Budapest by walking from our hotel on the Pest side across the Chain Bridge to Castle Hill on the Buda side.
A view from the bridge of the Castle -- slightly larger than the Luberegg "Castle." The first royal residences built on Castle Hill date back to 1247. 
There are two ways up Castle Hill - the Castle Hill Funicular or by foot. We opted to walk.
The Fisherman's Bastion is a viewing terrace on the Castle Hill with amazing views of the Danube River and the Pest side of the city. Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896.
One of the Castle's towers.
Beneath Castle Hill is the Labyrinth, a series of more than 200 caves formed over eons by subterranean rivers fed by Buda's natural hot springs. In the 1930s, as part of the wartime defense program, the complex of caves was converted into a shelter large enough to accommodate as many as ten thousand people at one time.
During our second day in Budapest, we visited Margaret Island, an island in the Danube that holds a 225-acre park, Budapest's version of Wash Park (if Wash Park had a giant fountain, an old abbey, a convent, and a five-star hotel and spa.
.jpg)
One of the buildings we were most looking forward to seeing was the Hungarian Parliament; however, it was closed to the public for official business that day.
On our second to last night, we found a cozy restaurant on the bank of the river with an amazing view of Castle Hill lit up at night. After dinner, we took an evening cruise on the Danube.
On our last night, we had dinner with Deborah's former MGMA colleague, Mariann, and her husband Jamie. Mariann is Hungarian and Jamie is from Denver.
Szia!
2 comments:
YAY! The White's are bloggers. Let the stalking begin :)
Thanks for posting your honeymoon pictures - they are great!
I love the picture you chose for the banner! So adorable!
Post a Comment