After spending the last 4 days in beautiful Prague, I am on my way home. We left the hotel in the wee hours this morning--my Mom and Sister for Frankfurt, then Seattle and I for London, where I will connect to Seattle, then San Francisco.

It has been a wonderful trip, exceeding all my expectations. Each day when I thought it couldn't get better, it did. These past days in Prague we saw the castle district--a city unto itself it's so big--the Jewish Quarter, Old Town, Lesser Town, Wences... read more

The last few days have been a whirlwind. We visited Vienna, where we toured the city on foot and by bus, then met another sister and her family and visitied the summer palace and grounds of the last Austrian monarchy, including their own private zoo. The following day, we spent the morning in Durnstein, a beautiful medieval town, cruised the Wachau Valley, said to be the most picturesque stretch of the Danube and later visited Melk and the huge Bendictine Abbey there. In addition to bein... read more

Boarded the ship in Budapest (the picture is Mom and I embarking) last night, and sailed thru the night to Bratislava, Slovakia. We got some beautiful views of the night lights in Buda and Pest as we left the cities. Although the hotel in Pest was beautiful, the windows were sealed and the air conditioning not powerful enough to make up for the 90+ degrees, so it was really nice last night to sleep with my stateroom balcony door open, just 2 feet above the waves. This morning we passed thr... read more

Arrived here yesterday evening, and met my Mom and Sister (from Seattle) for a much needed 2 week vacation. I checked into the hotel and was there for exactly 42 minutes before we hit the town. Saw a Hungarian dance troupe perform folk dances at an historic theatre, then had drinks and dinner before heading back to the hotel at midnight. Left at 9AM this morning for a short city tour to get the lay of the land, then visited St Stephen's Catherdral, the Mathias Church, and Budapest Castle a... read more