Another day in Vienna began with a walking tour of the city. Rich didn't go with me because we learned that a main water pipe at the lake had burst, and he wanted to see about taking care of it. I went ahead by myself and enjoyed hearing about the city again. We had about an hour of free time, so I viewed the church I had not seen before and just relaxed. We had signed up for a behind the scenes tour of the Lippanzer horses, so left for that after lunch. It was q...

Today was spent cruising along the Danube towards Vienna. We went through a lock that was way above us--way cooler than what we experienced going through the Panama Canal. I was a basket case most of the morning, waiting to hear about how the girls were doing with all the flooding in Houston. I finally got a text from Traci that said they had evacuated at 3:00 am with both girls and dogs to Matt's grandparent's house in knee deep water. :( Matt went back early t...

Our ship is really nice, although a lot smaller than the other cruise ships we've been on in the past. Passenger capacity is 190. There's not a pool or spa, no fitness facility or entertainment at night. We also won't have a washing machine, so hand washing is in our near future. They do offer laundry service on board, but it's ridiculously expensive--$2 for underwear and socks (each), $5 for shirts, etc. We have a nice balcony room and the bathroom shower is qui...

We made it to Budapest without any problems. Our apartment is located on the Pest side of the city, where most of the action is. We are literally just steps away from several main tourist attractions, and a stop for the Hop on & Off Bus is right across from us! This makes it nice for sightseeing, not so much for sleeping since there's no a/c in the apartment. It's been hot since we arrived, up in the high 80's and low 90's. Ugh. Fortunately, our apt is on th...

Our hosts at the cottage we are renting have free passes to a spa at a hotel that's fairly near to us. We took advantage a couple of times during the week we were in Cockermouth. And speaking of the name of the town, its derived from the name of the river that runs through the very center, The River Cocker. There's also another river called Derwent, and the two rivers meet at the mouth of the Cocker...hence the name. One day we drove into town and just wandered ...