Cruise Line: Amadeus Waterways
Ship: Amadeus Symphony
Date of Cruise: Summer 2003

Cruising the Danube River in Central Europe
By: Connie and Darwin

If it's good wine, beer, food, delectable desserts, history, music and enchanting scenery that you are looking for, the trip we took to Central and Eastern Europe might be for you.We flew to Budapest, spent two days and nights and then embarked on a beautiful new five-star river cruise ship, the Amadeus Symphony. We traveled north on the Danube to five different countries; Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. We were wined and dined every evening and during the day, after a full buffet breakfast were whisked off on tours of Budapest, Bratislava, Salzburg/Vienna, Regensburg, Nuremberg and other small charming country villages in between. We ended our trip with three extra nights in Prague.

This trip had a little something for everyone in our immediate group of 25 from Southern California. I think the men had the best time watching the mechanics of the ship maneuvering through the locks of the Main-Danube Canal (16 total), when they weren't slurping up the wine and beer or looking at the beautiful curvaceous, blonde doctor on board our river-cruise ship. Passing through the locks is a fascinating feat and it entertained the entire ship. We even had an specialist come on board to give us a dissertation on the years involved in erecting the locks system.

The beer was great and we got a royal tour and tasting at the Pilsner-Urquell Brewery, in Pilsen, just outside of Prague. We partook in a wine-tasting in the Faust Wine Cellar, a former cellar of Dominican monks, located in the Budapest Hilton and also a cellar in the quaint little town of Dürnstein.

Even the abbeys were exquisite. The Melk Abbey was astonishing and there were several of us that just sat speechless in the cathedral, absorbing its magnificence. It is one of Europe's largest baroque monasteries. We were also able to view the Weltenberg Abbey after a leisurely cruise through the Danube Gorge.

Prague is definitely a city worth visiting. We would have liked to spend another two or three days just exploring the history and museums. It is a very diverse city and I would want to venture out into the countryside next time. We all gathered around and waited for the world famous astronomical clock, in the city square, to chime at the hour and I had the feeling as if we were waiting for the ball to drop on New Year's Eve. It's quite a mechanical wonder watching the apostles parade around at the stroke of the hour. We then went to the top of the tower housing the clock and absorbed the entire city of Prague which is breathtaking. While in Prague, the women of course had to go shopping for garnets and Bohemian crystal (which is the specialty in the Czech Republic).

If you have never been to Europe, or even if you have, a river cruise is the way to go. Your hotel travels with you. It is so relaxing and you really get caught up in the atmosphere and are intoxicated with the scenery, even without beer or wine. We have been back a few weeks now, and I still have vacation head. I would go back in a heartbeat. During our cruise we celebrated our anniversary and I whispered to my husband during the fabulous sparkler-laden layer cake that paraded out, "How are we ever going to top this?"

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