Week 16 - Message in a bottle

Week 16 - Message in a Bottle

Since I have no interest in writing about a message in a bottle, I thought I'd write about bottles - Soda bottles.

When I was a kid, we called carbonated drinks "Soda Popa" which was shortened to "Pop". My mother was a very good mother; she wouldn't allow us to drink sodas very often. It was a treat, not a habit.

When we were down at the ranch, Dad and/or Papa Gates would usually give us money to go get a pop. The pop machine was located in the milk barn. Usually the machines had the original 7 oz. cokes or 12 oz. Barqs soda. We carried several flavors of Barqs including Strawberry, Orange, Grape, Root Beer, Creme, and I think lemon. I seem to remember having 7-Up before the Coca-Cola company introduced Sprite in 1961. I believe on occasions we also had Dr. Pepper and Squirt (a Dr. Pepper product). Coca cola later introduced Fresca in an attempt to compete with Squirt - Fresca didn't have much staying power.

When I was very young, the sodas were 5 cents. The machine was about waist high. The bottles hung by their necks and you would drag the bottle of your choice to the opening which would open after you deposited your nickle. The machine looked similar to the following pictures.

 

Sometime in the early 1960s, the old soda machine was replaced by a 10 cent coke machine. The sodas were stored horizontal instead of vertical. Each variety had it's own slot (or multiple slots for the more popular varieties). You would deposit your dime and the pull the desired soda from it's slot. The machine was able to make change for a quarter. By the time we got to the 10 cent machines we no longer had 7-Up; it had been replaced by Sprite.

By the time I got to high school (late 60s - early 70's), the 10 cent machine had been replaced the a quarter machine.

I joined the service in 1973, so I have no further information on how the soda machines evolved at the ranch.

When I was young, my soda of choice was Barq creme and Orange sodas. I was never much of a Coke drinker, I preferred Pepsi to Coke. As an adult, my preferred soda was Diet Coke. When I was working, I would take 1 can of Diet Coke in my lunch bag. After I retired, I switched to Iced tea. I haven't bought a 12-pack of soda in forever. If I do have a soda it's usually when I'm at a restaurant as I normally don't like restaurant iced tea.

Week 15 - Snow

I spent the first 18 years of my life living in Phoenix, and during those 18 years there was no measurable snow fall.  Since the ranch backed up to South Mountain, sometimes if it was real cold they would get a few flakes, but it never stuck. 

So the first time I actually remember playing in the snow is when I was in high school. One of my boyfriends and I went up to Northern Arizona with a 3-wheeled ATV that Papa Gates bought. We spent the afternoon playing around on ATV in the snow.

When I was 18 years old, I spent one semester at Dallas Fashion Merchandising College. Snow is not common in Dallas, but it does snow more often than in Phoenix. On January 11th, Dallas had a significant snow fall. Since the residents of Dallas were not used to snow any more than I was, we were given a snow day and didn't have to go to school or work. So we went out and played in the snow.  I don't remember why a group of us went out in a car, but we did.  When we came back, there were no open parking spots in the covered garage. So the driver started up the ramp to the second level. As we approached the top of the ramp, the car started sliding backwards down the ramp.  Good thing there were no other cars sitting at the bottom of the ramp.

In 1978, I flew to Denver and spent a weekend with my friend Lee.  We were roommates at the Defense Language Institute at the  Presidio of Monterey in 1973-74. Lee took me skiing, the first and only time I attempted it. We rented skis in Denver prior to driving to Keystone. When we arrived Lee enrolled me in ski school while she and a friend took a lift to the top of the hill.  The ski instructor loaded us onto the gondola and we rode to the top of the bunny hill. When we got to the top, I managed to fall flat on my face instead of skiing off the lift. Those who know me know I'm athletically challenged.

Other than a few days of light snow when I lived in Maryland, I never spent a winter when I had to worry about driving on snowy roads.  Most of my experiences with snow have been in Colorado when I was visiting my sister Shirley.  

In September 1996 Burt and I booked a timeshare in Beaver Creek Colorado. We had snow 2 or 3 days during that week.  I remember seeing brightly colored pansies surrounder by snow.  When we were driving back to the Denver airport I remarked on how bad the visibility was, soon after I realized it was snowing out. 

We spent one Thanksgiving in Cedaredge with Shirley and Johnny.  Sure enough it snowed while we were there. The day we left, there was about a foot of snow on the ground at the Montrose Airport when I parked the rental car.

The most memorable visit to Shirley and Johnny was I think in the winter of 1983.  Shirley and Johnny had recently built a log cabin and the family decided to drive up and see their new house.

There were ten of us: Dad, Alma, Carla, Patrick, Elaine, Jim, Mike, Shelly, Bill and I. We took 2 vehicles Dad and Alma's Cadillacand their motorhome.  

We drove up taking the route through 4 corners; we made a short stop at the monument along the way. I don't remember exactly where we stopped for the night  but it must have been somewhere cold based on the picture I took of Bill and Shelly at the restaurant where we ate breakfast before getting back on the road.

Somewhere along the way Alma made a bet the Jim that he couldn't make it through a day without saying "shit". As we approached the log house, Jim was driving the motorhome. After turning off the highway, there was an unpaved driveway up the hill to the house that was flanked by a ditch of sometype. As Jim started up the driveway, the motorhome started sliding toward the ditch. We all had a good laugh at Jim's expense that he couldn't make it an hour much less a day without using his favorite cuss word.

There were so many of us, Bill and I elected to sleep in the motorhome. Actually it was more like "Freeze" in the motorhome. Dad had the motorhome fueled in Phoenix before we left for the trip. The fuel was not winterized and it froze. Without power, the temperature in the motorhome dropped below freezing. All the soda that was in the motorhome froze as well. That was probably the coldest I have ever been. Thank goodness we only had to ensure the freezing temperatures for the first night; Dad and Johnny took the motorhome into town and had it serviced with winterized fuel.

The highlight of the trip was a day we spent tubing. Jim and Elaine took some of the kids skiing.  The rest of us stayed at Shirley's and spent several hours tubing down the hill.  When I first got into digital photography, I took some of the photos and created a photo slide show.  Here are the slides I put together:

Week 14 - Dinner Party for family

If you held a dinner party and could invite 12 family members (living or deceased) who would you invite?

When I first started with the writing prompt, I wasn't thrilled with the topic. I was having a hard time finding who I wanted to invite other than potentially my grandparents who I would love to have time with now that I am an adult. I was interrupted during this writing task by my dog Foxy who wanted her afternoon walk. As I walked down the street, random thoughts started coming to me. 

In genealogy, it is a known fact that it is easier to find information on your male ancestors than your female ancestors; so I want to spend this special time learning more about the women in my family. 

My sister Shirley was recently the featured speaker at an afternoon tea for the woman's group at her church. Suddenly I had a theme for my party, an afternoon tea. 

All the women would be invited to bring any special recipes and or handicrafts to share.

Here are the 12 special invitees. In addition, I would invite my sisters and cousins who were interested to share in the very special party.

1.          Bertha McDowell Reppel — maternal grandmother

I was in the 4th grade when Grandma Reppel died so I don't have many memories of our times together. I have never heard a bad word about Grandma from anyone. My father (her son-in-law) loved her and always spoke very highly of her. He also said she was a good cook. I don’t remember her cooking except that she made homemade plum jelly. I know she embroidered linens – after she passed away, I was given a few of the linens that she had embroidered. I would love to have learned how to embroider from her; my Aunt Bobbie’s embroidery work is exceptional. I also have one of her quilts.

2.          Maude Powell Gates — paternal grandmother

I was a freshman in high school when Old Mama passed away. She had been sick for several years prior to this. I would love to have had some adult time with her. During the depression, she was a baker for the Phoenix Country club. Her specialties were cakes. She made the angel food wedding cake for my parent’s wedding. My mom said she made the best lemon meringue pies.

3.          Gertrude Fix Powell — paternal great grandmother

Gertrude was known as Mom Powell by her grandchildren. During the depression, my father he stayed with her for a year or so when my grandparents were working at the Phoenix Country Club. She was born in Illinois. Her grandfather was a German immigrant; perhaps she can share some of her German heritage with us.

4.          Miriam Irish Roberts — my maternal 4th great grandmother

Miriam was born in Maine in 1777. She and her husband moved from Maine to West Virginia, then to Ohio and finally to Iowa. When they left Maine, they left two of their young sons behind with family. She would have had to feed her family during their long treks as well as on the frontier in the early shelters and log cabins. She would have been responsible for clothing her family as well. 

5.          Rhoda Donegan McDowell — maternal 2th great grandmother

Rhoda was born in Iowa in 1840. Her mother died when she was just 8 years old. When she was about 12 years old, her father placed her into an indentured servitude while he left for the California Gold Fields. She was rescued by her maternal uncles who loved and cared for her until her marriage at the age of 23. She and her husband Vincent left Iowa for the Colorado Divide where they homesteaded. Rhoda ensured all of her children were well educate.

6.          Cynthia Webster Boyles — paternal 4th great grandmother

Cynthia was born about 1794 in N.C. She married James Anderson Boyles who was a Methodist Preacher. They lived in Mississippi. I would like to ask if she is related to my husband great Grandfather Marshall Boyles

7.          Melanie Breitel — maternal great grandmother

Melanie was born in Alsace in 1858. She was 42 when she gave birth to my grandfather Robert Reppel. She and my grandfather lived in Paris in the last 1800’s. I would love to hear more about her life, but I might need my cousin Marie-Laure at the table to translate the French/Alsatian to English.

8.          Nancy Estes —  maternal great grandmother

Nancy was born in 1816 in Illinois. After she married my great grandfather Garrett, they moved to Indiana, Missouri and Iowa.  Garrett is one of my brick walls.  Perhaps in addition to learning more about her life, she could help shed some light on Garrett’s ancestors.

9.          Elizabeth Boyles Collins — paternal 2nd great grandmother

Elizabeth was born in 1841 in Perry, Alabama. She married Leroy George Collins. During the civil war Leroy was a rebel soldier and gone from home. I would be interested in knowing how Elizabeth was able to survive during his absence.

10.     Dorothy Wallace Waite — Burt’s mother

Dorothy passed away when Burt was just 22; he was barely an adult. Times were tough when Burt was young; after his parents divorced his father cut all ties with his two children from his first marriage. Burt’s mom ran a child care nursery and lived with his god mother Margaret Gwaltney to make ends meet. According to Burt his mother supported him in whatever he wanted to achieve.

11.     Mattie Shear Waite — Burt’s paternal great grandmother

Mattie was born in 1845 in New York. She migrated with her family to Michigan before 1850. She was my very first genealogy challenge. She first married Burt’s great uncle Henry Agustus Wait who was killed at the end of the civil on the sinking of the Sultana. She then married Burt’s great grandfather and had 5 children with him. They were divorced in 1890 in Kansas. She and the kids then moved to Illinois and then to Chattanooga, Tennessee. I know nothing of her ancestors.

12.     Mamie Boyles Wallace Kitts — Burt’s maternal grandmother

Mamie was born in 1896 in Florence, Alabama. She married Ira Cleveland Wallace in 1911 when she was 15 years old. She gave birth to 4 children before their marriage ended in divorce. She married a second time in 1923 to Adolph Agustus Kitts. After the death of Burt’s godmother Margaret Gwaltney, Burt inherited her photo album. None of the pictures were labeled. I would love for her to be able to identify the people in her album as most of them have remained a mystery to us.

Time capsule - European Vacation Part 5 - Austria & Hungary

Week 8 - Part 5  - European Vacation

River Cruising in Austria & Hungary

This the part 5 of a 5 part blog detailing a recent trip my husband Burt and I made to Europe.

      Part 1 covers our time in Switzerland and a visit with my cousin Aline Reppel. 

      Part 2 covers our time in France with cousins who live in the Alsatian village of Mussig

      Part 3 covers our time in Prague the capital of the Czech Republic

      Part 4 covers our Avalon Danube River cruise in Germany (from Nuremburg to Passau)

      Part 5 covers our Avalon Danube River cruise in Austria and Hungary

     

Day 16 Nov. 5 — Linx, Austria

After leaving Passau around 10:30 am, the ship arrived in Linz about 4:30 pm. There was no walking tour of the town. Not wanting to go back out in the cold, we stayed aboard.

Dinner was a special 6 course meal with wine pairings. This is a picture of my second course which was described as follows:  Aromatic Garden Greens with Arugula Garnished with Sautéed Crab Meat, Balsamic Vinegar, Mango Cubes and Parmesan Cheese.  It was paired with Pinot Grigio, an Italian white wine.

Dinner started at 7:15 and didn't finish until nearly 10 pm. I'm too American to have a proper appreciation of such a long dining experience. I don't drink enough wine to appreciate the wine pairing either. 

     

Day 17 Nov. 6 — Melk, Krems, & Vienna, Austria

Today we are in Melk, a small riverside town built at the confluence of 3 rivers, the Danube, the Melk and the Pielach rivers at the western edge of the scenic Wachau valley. In the earliest times, the Romans had a small camp here. In 976 Leopold I made the castle in Melk his residence. In 1089 Leopold II gave the castle to Benedictine monks. Today Melk is best known for the Melk Abbey, a huge 18th century Abbey on top of the bluffs above the town on Melk.

Our river cruise included a free tour of the Melk Abbey. The weather was cool and cloudy and it misted lightly as I walked to the bus. It was a short 5 - 7 minute ride to the Abbey. The Abbey is at the top of a hill and from the parking area there is a beautiful view of the town and lands below.

We climb down several sets of stairs to the Abbey courtyard and gardens. Although we are in late fall with winter soon approaching, there are pink and lavender cosmos flowers in bloom in the gardens.

The Abbey at Melk dates from 1089. Since the 12th century, a school has been connected with the monastery, and valuable manuscripts have been collected and stored in the Melk library. In the 1700's, much of the original Abbey was destroyed by fire; it was rebuilt in a baroque style.

After passing through the gardens we entered the courtyard.

   

The Abbey tour started in the imperial wing. When the emperor was in residence, the imperial wing would house the emperor and his court of nobles and servants, approximately 300 people. We entered via the imperial staircase. At the top of the staircase was the imperial corridor which extends in both directions, in total the corridor is nearly 200 meters in length.

  

The Abbey recently modernized their Abbey tour. It starts with 11 rooms that provide information about the abbey and it's history and where some of the many abbey artifacts are on display. The Abbey website has more information on these rooms.  One of the room contains a scale model of the Abbey that rotates in a circle.

Finally we entered the magnificent marble hall. The room gets its name from the fact the doorframes and walls are made of marble. This room served as the dining hall for the imperial family when they were in residence. This stunning room has a ceiling fresco with Pallas Athena on a chariot drawn by lions in the center and Hercules to her left.

 

We exited the Marble Hall and found ourselves on the terrace balcony which overlooks the Danube, the Wachau valley and Melk. I didn't stay on the terrace long as it was cold and rainy.

  

On the other side of the terrace we entered the Abbey library (picture taking was not allowed). The room is dominated by walls covered with books and another marvelous ceiling fresco. According to the abbey website, the library is housed in 12 rooms containing approximately 100,000 volumes including 1888 manuscripts, 750 incunabula (works printed before 1500) and 80000 16th, 17th and 18th century works. Among them are approximately 1200 hand-lettered books created by the monks from the 9th to the 15th centuries, some of which took an entire lifetime or the lifetimes of several monks to create.

 

The books are written in 15 languages. During the baroque period the books were all bound in similar types of covers to be more pleasing to the eye. The guide told us the books have all been copied so there is no longer any need to read the original texts.

We viewed a second library room.  This room contained a small ceiling fresco that depicts a allegorical portrayal of Scienti (Science).

The most talked about feature of this room is spiral staircase that has been called one of the World's Coolest Staircases. The staircase leads to the second floor library rooms which are not open to the public and to the abbey church below.  We exited the library  via this staircase.

The last stop on our tour was the Abbey cathedral. This baroque cathedral was so ornate and massive it was hard to do justice to it in pictures. The exterior is of the Cathedral has an enormous dome and two ornate golden-hued bell towers. The interior is a mass of stained-glass windows, multi-colored marble, intricate gilding and elaborate frescos in the dome. The cathedral architecture is baroque. The word Baroque was not intended as a compliment coming from the Portuguese word barocco meaning an imperfect pearl - splendid but deemed flawed by later generations as too over the top. That fits this cathedral perfectly; it is beautiful and ornate but not restful to the eye.

It was only a 15 minute walk from the Abbey to where the boat was docked, but due to the rain, I returned on the bus instead of walking through the town of Melk.

In the afternoon we sailed through the Wachau valley. It is a picturesque region with small villages. The original inhabitants of the region were the Celts who were displaced by the Romans. The Romans used the Danube to transport goods up and down the river. They built roads on both sides of the river and used mules to pull the boats back up the river. We saw the ruins of a castle on a hill. Many of the hills were terraced and you could still see some yellow leaves on the grapevine. In addition to the grapes farmers also grow apricots and Apples.

   

We arrived in Krems at about 1:30 pm. We went to a local wine cooperative Wenzer Krems for a wine tasting. The co-op has about 1200+ members, local family vineyards whose grapes are processed by the co-op into wines. The primary white wine from this region is called Grüner Veltliner. They also bottle a significant amount of Riesling and many others as well.

We tasted 3 wines, toured the facility, a viewed a 3d movie about local vineyards that complete with smells. The coop bottles 5 million bottles of wine a year. According to our host, this year will not be a great year for the grape harvest, there was a late frost.

We returned to the ship and had an early dinner as we were heading to Vienna for a musical concert. Since the ship was not in Vienna, it stopped at a pier along the way and we boarded a waiting bus. On board was a local Vienna guide who was both knowledgeable and witty. As we passed the local sites she named them and provided commentary.

Vienna is known for their many famous composers, Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven and more. Vienna was the home of the Habsburg dynasty; many musicians made their fame by playing for the royal court. She told a story about Mozart performing for empress Marie Teresa at the age of 6. During his visit to the court he slipped on the polished floor, the empress' young daughter Maria Antonia ran over and helped him up. He vowed to marry her when he grew up, however she was married at the age of 15 to the king of France where she was known as Marie Antoinette.

The concert we attended was Salonorchester Alt Wien which was held at the Vienna Kursalon. The Kursalon was built in 1865-1867 in Renaissance style; the first concert given in 1868 featured compositions by Johann Strauss. According to their website, this is the same building where Johann Strauss directed his orchestra from the position of first violin.

When we arrived at the concert hall, it was a much smaller room than anticipated. It was baroque style, light colors, lovely plaster adornments on the ceiling, a huge chandelier surrounded by four smaller ones. When the hall was full of tourists, 13 musicians took the stage, a pianist, a base, cello, drummer, flute/piccolo, clarinet, 2 horns, and 5 violins. They played numbers by Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven and  others. On a few numbers they were accompanied by a pair of opera singers and a couple of dancers.  All in all we enjoyed the evening. After the concert the bus took us back to the ship which was now docked in Vienna.

    

     

Day 18 Nov. 7 — Vienna, Austria

Today we are in Vienna. Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria. Vienna is known as the Music Capital, it was home to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.

After breakfast we went on the included city tour.  Our walking tour started with a bus tour around the city.  Many of the site we had seen the previous evening while on our way to and from the concert. Everything looks different in daylight. 

Vienna has an extensive metro system. According to our local guide, this year the annual pass was around 350 euros, or about $1 / day. They had lowered the price nearly in half in order to encourage the use of public transportation.

The bus drove along the Ringstrasse a 5 km long horseshoe-shaped boulevard that starts and ends at the Danube canal. In 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I ordered the demolition of the city walls and moats. In their place a grand boulevard was built which circles the old city along which parks and historic buildings were built to showcase the glory of the Habsburg Empire. Some of these building include:

     Vienna State Opera House

     Hofburg, the Imperial Palace of the Habsburgs

     Stadtpark a city park with a statue of Johann Straus

     Rathaus (City Hall)

One of the most imposing building is the Austrian Parliament. In front of the parliament is a statue of Pallas Athena. As a former WAC, I particularly like this building because of the statue. Pallas Athena was adopted as a symbol of the Women's Army Corp. She is the Greek goddess of victory and womanly virtue - Wise in peace and in the arts of war.

After completing our bus tour of the Ring, we exited the bus in the city center and walked to St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom). The Cathedral is part Romanesque and part Gothic construction. The towers of the front facade were part of the 13th century Romanesque church which was mostly destroyed by a fire. The towers were all that remained after a fire destroy the church in 1258. The church was rebuilt in Gothic style. The high point of the cathedral is a spire nicknames Steffl (little Stephen) that reaches a height of 450 ft. and can be seen high over Vienna's old town. The cathedral sports a tile roof.

 

After we entered the church we stopped to view the stone pulpit. In the days before microphones and loud speakers, the pulpit was placed in the nave so that the worshipers could better hear the priest. Carved in the 1500's, the stone pulpit is a masterwork of late Gothic sculpture. The handrail of the staircase is decorated with toads and lizards biting each other, symbolizing the fight of good against evil. At the top of the stairs, a stone puppy protects the preacher from intruders. Beneath the stairs is one of the most beloved symbols of the cathedral: a stone self-portrait of the unknown sculptor gawking out of a window. The chisel in the subject's hand, and the stonemason's signature mark on the shield above the window let to the speculation that it could be a self-portrait of the sculptor.

  

There are 18 alters in the Cathedral. I took a picture of the high alter. While most of the cathedral is Gothic in style, the high alter is Baroque. Made of marble and stone, the central painting shows the stoning (martyrdom) of St. Stephen. It is framed by patron saints of the local area and topped by a statue of St. Mary drawing the eye to the heavens where Christ waits for Stephen. 

Here are the other pictures I took of St. Stephens.  If you are interested the following website contains lots of additional pictures and information.

  

After we left the Cathedral, we walked down Graben street where we saw the Pestsäule (Plague Column) one of the most well-known sculptures in the city. In 1679, Vienna was visited by one of the last big plague epidemics. Fleeing the city, Emperor, Leopold I vowed to erect a mercy column if the epidemic would end.

 

We continued on towards the Imperial Palace (Hofburg). Horse carriages ply their trade in front of the Palace. 

  

Our tour ended at the Palace. We had about an hour of free time before catching the bus back to the ship. We walked around for a bit.  Here are a few pictures I took while walking the streets and window shopping.

 

We found a cafe and stopped for a cup of tea. Vienna is known for their coffee houses. Aida is the McDonalds of Vienna Coffee houses.  Known for their garish pink colors, the coffee house specializes in cakes and pastries. We settled for tea on the patio, but when I went in to use the facilities, I window shopped the goodies inside.

  

After lunch we took a tour of Schönbrunn Palace. Schönbrunn Palace is the former summer residence of the Austrian Emperor. Purchased by Maximilian II, it was fenced and stocked with pheasants, ducks, deer, and boar and served as the court's recreational hunting ground prior to the construction of the palace in 1638-1643. Following the downfall of the monarchy in 1918 it became the property of the Austrian Republic and was preserved as a museum. It is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1996.



I didn't take any pictures of the interior, probably picture taking was not allowed.  Here are a few pictures I found on the net.

  

The grounds of Schönbrunn Palace were opened to the public around 1779. They are laid out in baroque fashion.

 After our tour we returned to the ship. The ship departed for Budapest around 5 pm. There was a wine tasting of Austrian sweet wines that we skipped. Earlier in the afternoon there was a tour of the galley (food prep) that I would have like to have taken, but it conflicted with the Schönbrunn Palace tour.

      

Day 19 Nov. 8 — Budapest, Hungary

The ship was approaching Budapest around the time we went down to breakfast. Here are some shots from the ship.

Budapest is the capital and largest city of Hungary. Originally Budapest was two distinct cities, Buda on the western hills overlooking the Danube and Pest on the eastern plains; the cities were united in 1873. Budapest is known for their thermal baths and although we didn't get a chance to try them, my friend Lee says they are lots of fun.

The Avalon city tour started with a bus tour of the Pest side. With its large boulevards and large public building that were influenced by Viennese and Parisian architecture. 

We drove by the Hungarian Parliament which is on the banks of the Danube on the Pest side.

We drove past Hero's square (the bus didn't stop so the pictures are from the internet).  

The square is dominate by monument which is described as follows:

The square was built for the Millenium Celebrations of 1896, celebrating the 1000 years of Hungarian history. In the centre of the square, on a pillar stands Gabriel Archangel; according to the legend, he brought the crown to the first Hungarian king, Saint Stephen (Szent István), who in turn established the state of Hungary. Surrounding the pillar are the statues of the seven chiefs of tribes, lead by Árpád the Chieftain (Árpád Vezér), the first settlers known from the story of the Settlement of the Magyars in Hungary. As if embracing this main statue structure from behind, in two semi-circles you can find statues ofother significant personalities of Hungarian history, from Szent István all the way to other important characters of the 19th Century.

   

The square is home to the Millennium Underground, the first underground metro system in Europe. The square is the site of their tomb of the unknown soldier. 

  

We also went by the Jewish Synagogue; this impressive place of worship is the second largest synagogue in the world. The Moorish style building was consecrated in 1859. When Budapest was formed in 1873 there were about 45,000 Jews living in the city. By 1930 their number had grown to 200,000 (5% of the population). Between 1940 and 1945, 1 million Jews were murdered in Auschwitz. Every third victim was a Hungarian citizen. In total, 600,000 Hungarians died in the Holocaust.

The bus then crossed one of the many bridges across the Danube to the Buda Hills. 

Although there are several bridges across the Danube, the most iconic bridge is the Chain Bridge with its large stone lions which was built in 1849. It was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest. Before it was built, the closest bridge across the Danube was in Vienna. I read that it was the second permanent bridge to span the Danube River.

After crossing the Danube the bus drove us to the top of Castle Hill, a medieval neighborhood of small winding streets the circle around the Gothic church called St. Matthias.

At the top of the hill was a gate flanked by a Turul bird of prey, a mythological bird that has become the symbol of the Magyar identity. The bird is described as a giant eagle/falcon with a sword in it's talons. 

According to legend Princess Emese had a dream in which a Turul appeared to her. In this dream, a crystal-clear stream started to flow from her, and as it moved westward, it grew into a mighty river. This dream represented her impregnation by the Turul, and that she would give birth to a line of great rulers. Emese later gave birth to Álmos, the father of Árpád the founder of Hungary.

After a short walk we came to Holy Trinity Square; this central square is the highest point on the hill.  The square is named after the Trinity column (Szentháromság oszlop), a large 46 ft column that was built between 1710 and 1713. At 14m (46 ft) high, it was under construction from 1710 to 1713. The column was built to celebrate the end of the plague and citizens hoped that it would protect them from another epidemic. The sculpture at the top represents the Holy Trinity. It sits on a sturdy pillar decorated with statues of little angels and - below - large statues of saints. The column rests on a large pedestal adorned with bas-reliefs and the Hungarian crest.

Located on the square is the Matthias Church. The historic Matthias Church (Mátyás-templom) is over 700 years old. Officially called the Church of Our Lady , in the 15th century, King Matthias’ royal weddings were held here, hence its name. It was also the site of several coronations, including Charles IV in 1916, the last Habsburg king. The eastern gate was built in the 13th century. The central part of the church was built around 1400. During the Turkish conquest, the church became the city’s main mosque; the walls were whitewashed and covered with carpets. In the 17th century, an attempt was made to restore the church in Baroque style.

   

Just behind the Church sits the Fisherman's Bastion. Built in 1905, the castle-like structure provides panoramic views of the city of Budapest. It was built at the site of the old city walls that, during the Middle Ages, was defended by the guild of fishermen who lived at the foot of the hill. Its seven towers represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 896.

 

A bronze statue of Stephen I of Hungary mounted on a horse, erected in 1906, can be seen between the Bastion and the Matthias Church. The views from the Bastion are fantastic.

 

We walked down the step and caught the bus at the bottom of the hill. The bus then took us to a wine cellar for a wine tasting of Hungarian wines. The tasting rooms were down in the cellar. They had a quartet playing traditional Hungarian music. We tasted 3 white and 3 red wines. They had a basket of breads, fruit and nuts to clear our palate between tastings. 

After the wine tasting we returned to the ship where we had lunch.

After lunch I walked to the Central Market (Nagyvásárcsarnok); built in 1873, it is the city's largest indoor market. It has all kinds of fresh produce, meat and flowers. On the second floor vendors well all kinds of typical souvenirs. The market was about 3 blocks from where the ship was docked.

Although the Forint is the official currency of Hungary, the vendors would accept dollars or Euros. I bought some Hungarian paprika, 2 scarves and some souveniers without exchanging money. The prices for most of the goods are very reasonable here. I got the 2 scarves for less than $15. 

(exchange rate is 215 HUF to $1 / 295 HUF to € 1.) 

After leaving the market, I walked down a pedestrian friendly shopping area just in front of the market and made a few additional purchases. I returned to the ship and packed our belonging for the flight home.

     

Day 20 Nov. 9 — Budapest to Ocala, Florida 

We had a 10 am flight, so we got up early. We had paid for a transfer to the airport; the transport was made via a bus. Actually there were so many people leaving about the same time, it took 2 buses to transport all of the people. 

The airport was quite a distance from where the ship was docked, I'm glad we weren't having to pay for a taxi ride. At the airport the Lufthansa check-in was a disaster. There were only 2 employees checking in passengers (unless you were first/business class). One of them was tied up with a problem passenger for over 30 minutes. But we finally got checked in and headed towards the gate. We had a short flight to Frankfurt. At Frankfurt they offloaded the plane onto the tarmac and loaded us onto a bus and drove us to the other side of the airport where we went through passport control. We had plenty of time to catch the flight to Orlando. The direct flight from Frankfurt to Orlando was 10.5 hours. It was a Boeing wide body plane. It was much more comfortable than the Airbus was flew out on.

When we got to Orlando we had to go through customs. As we had been on a farm, we had to go through special processing. They scanned our hand luggage and tested our shoes, but since we were the only ones in that line it went quickly and they were very nice.

Our friend Dave picked us up at the airport and drove us home. It was good to be back home.