{"id":82660,"date":"2019-07-01T15:04:10","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T15:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82660"},"modified":"2023-04-14T19:30:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T19:30:24","slug":"trip-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/trip-past\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trip to the Past"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I hope there were a few people who missed my blog last week.\u00a0 I was on vacation.\u00a0 Some of you may know that my idea of a vacation is getting on a cruise ship, laying around a pool or floating in the ocean, reading a good book, eating plenty of food, watching excellent entertainment, and placing a bet or two hoping for a winning hand in the casino.<\/p>\n

This past week, I did very little of that.\u00a0 I was on a Viking river cruise down the Danube visiting various ports in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.\u00a0 You may wonder why I would change my vacation modus operandi.<\/em>\u00a0 Very simply \u2013 our first stop was Passau, Germany, and that is the birthplace of my wife, Luba.\u00a0 One of her father\u2019s wishes was that she one day visit her place of birth.\u00a0 This was the primary impetus behind the trip. We were accompanied by our oldest daughter, her husband, and our two grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\"gary<\/a><\/p>\n

My wife\u2019s parents were actually Ukrainians who were displaced during World War II.\u00a0 They ended up in a US government camp in Passau where they met and married. \u00a0Through research and the paperwork we possessed, we were able to discover where the camp was located and we believe we found the church where they were married and where Luba was baptized.\u00a0 As you might expect, Passau was very emotional.\u00a0 It certainly brought back the many stories that my in-laws shared with us prior to their deaths.<\/p>\n

We just happened to be there for Corpus Christi, a holiday that falls on a Thursday, 60 days after Easter Sunday.\u00a0 We attended a mass at St. Stephen\u2019s Church and listened to Europe\u2019s largest pipe organ which possesses 17,000 pipes.\u00a0 We then saw a procession of the congregation through the streets of Passau following the service.\u00a0 Our primary goal of experiencing Luba\u2019s past was fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Next, it was off to Linz, the provincial capital of Upper Austria.\u00a0 We toured a medieval castle, walked over a bear moat, strolled through a street festival, and ate Hungarian goulash.\u00a0 There was a big celebration to commemorate the first day of summer, so we were privy to a great fireworks display over the Danube at night.<\/p>\n

\"gary<\/a><\/p>\n

Our boat then sailed through the Wachau Valley, passing through vineyard after vineyard.\u00a0 The layout of the land is stunning.\u00a0 Our destination was Krems, Austria.\u00a0 We toured the Abbey and were fortunate to be there for a wedding, with all the pomp of an Austrian nuptial.<\/p>\n

Then, it was on to Vienna.\u00a0 That was our only day of rain, but I had my RCN Nickelodeon umbrella so we were fine.\u00a0 There are palaces, elegant public buildings, opera houses, the Hapsburg residences, and the Lipizzaner horses.\u00a0 The only negative was that we were there on a Sunday and most of the shops were closed.<\/p>\n

On to Bratislava, which borders Austria and Hungary – more great architecture and magnificent churches.\u00a0 We walked across the Danube and visited a music festival, reminiscent of our own Musikfest.\u00a0 Plenty of food, vendors, and music surrounded us.<\/p>\n

It all came to an awesome arrival into Budapest at 10:00 PM with the entire city lit up.\u00a0 It is like a Disneyland of the 19th<\/sup> century.\u00a0 It is a view like none other.\u00a0 The next day we toured Buda on one side of the river and Pest on the other.\u00a0 It was the perfect way to end our week.<\/p>\n

\"gary<\/a><\/p>\n

A couple of notes:<\/p>\n