Danube

Romantic Danube - September 2014 Francis and Joe Kane celebrate 50 years together - CONGRATULATIONS and thanks for sharing the joy

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From Nuremberg

celebrating 50 years together, our friends Francis and Joe shared this special trip with us

to Budapest .

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ur Danube River cruise started in Nuremberg at Hitler's rally grounds where over 500,000 youths were gathered to hear why Germany should conquer Europe leading to WW11.

The Nazi O Party Rally Grounds were part of a major NS construction programme for the entire Reich. Hitler himself, as the selfappointed "Supreme Master Builder" of Germany, Difficult to imagine how this could happen - could it happen again?

The Tribune Stand on Zeppelin Fields - Hitler spoke from here .

On the night of January 2nd, 1945, 514 British Lancaster bombers and 7 other British planes destroyed or damaged most of the old city, including the medieval walls, historic castle and two, centuries old, Gothic churches.

At this point in the war, it was the most devastating air-attack on a civilian population and only the Allied bombings of Dresden, six weeks later, caused more damage and civilian deaths in Germany.

Only the building in the centre of the picure surviced intact - it is to the right of the tower in the next picture.

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Nuremberg today

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An outstanding feature of the new architecture, are the red tiled roofs.

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Balcony windows were built so owners could see along the street giving some security but the main purpose was for prayer - it was thought that prayers offerd in the window would go directly to heaven...

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Regensburg Regensburg (German pronunciation: [ˈʁeɡənsbʊɐ̯k]) is a city in Bavaria, Germany, at the confluence of the Danube and Regen River. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate.

The medieval centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Generally known in English as Ratisbon until well into the tentieth centurytwentieth century, the city is known as Ratisbonne in French.

The Regensburg Cathedral (German: Dom St. Peter or Regensburger Dom), dedicated to St Peter, is the most important church and landmark of the city of Regensburg, Germany. .

It is the seat of the Catholic diocese of Regensburg. The church is the prime example of Gothic architecture in Bavaria.

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The Regensburg Cathedral is the bishop's church and the principal church of the Regensburg diocese. It is also the home of the Regensburger Domspatzen ("cathedral sparrows"), a choir rich in tradition. The structure is considered the most significant Gothic work in southern Germany.

The Cathedral is also the burial place of important bishops, including Johann Michael von Sailer (1829-1832, memorial built

by Konrad Eberhard in the south chancel), Georg Michael Wittmann (1832-1833, memorial also by Konrad Eberhard in the north chancel), and Archbishop Michael Buchberger (1927-1961, likewise in the north chancel).

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Alte Wurstkuche (Old Sausage Kitchen), the oldest restaurant in Germany. It was supposedly started to feed the workers on the Stone Bridge in the twelfth century. No wrestling with the menu here: you ordered 6, 8, 10, or 12 sausages on a bed of sauerkraut. Washed down with a stein of Weissbier, it's a feast for a king

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The Regensburg David and Goliath Mural has been re-touched many times, but dates back to the 16th century in Regensburg.

In the heart of Ratisbon, in these bright and modern rooms, you find a wide selection of original BIEDERMEIER & ART-DECOFURNITURE.

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Passau Known as the “City of Three Rivers” Passau lies at the confluence of the Inn, the Danube and the IIz Rivers - it is the last major German City at the border of Austria and was an important medieval centre for the salt trade.

During the Renaissance, Passau became famous for making highquality knife and sword blades with the Passau Wolf - this pastime became known as ‘Pasau art” After fire ravaged the City in the 17th Century, it was rebuilt to reflect the baroque character that survives today and with over 500,000 people the town has become the economic, cultural and communications centre of southwest Bavaria.

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St Stephen’s Cathedral: Largest cathedral organ in the World.

Located on the highest point of the Old Town, it was almost destroyed on the 1662 fire that swept through the town but rebuilt by architect Caloa Lurago with magnificent stucco work and frescoes..

Home to the largest cathedral organ in the world, it has 17,974 organ pipes, 233 stops and four carillons. All five part of he organ can be played from the main keyboard by an octopus with a keen ear for music or a gaggle of clever humans.

Magnificent!

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The Hapsburgs in Europe.

The rise and fall of the House of Hapsburg began along the Danube’s banks in 1276 With Austria firmly in their grasp, the family gained new territories by marriage until their serial nuptials put most of Europe under their power. As their wealth and territory grew, few royal families remained to help them acquire more kingdoms. Their solution to this problem may have also been their undoing.

They sought to retain their massive power through inbreeding between cousins or uncle and niece. It’s likely that the Austrian Hapsburg line ended for that reason.

Today, the Hapsburgs - grandchildren of Charles 1 - they lead considerably less public lives.

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Passau was an ancient Roman colony of ancient Noricum called Batavis, Latin for "for the Batavi." The Batavi were an ancient Germanic tribe often mentioned by classical authors, and they were regularly associated with the Suebian marauders, the Heruli.

During the Renaissance and early modern period, Passau was one of the most prolific centres of sword and bladed weapon manufacture in Germany (after Solingen).

Passau smiths stamped their blades with the Passau wolf, usually a rather simplified rendering of the wolf on the city's coat-of-arms.

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Superstitious warriors believed that the Passau wolf conferred invulnerability on the blade's bearer, and thus Passau swords acquired a great premium. As a result, the whole practice of placing magical charms on swords to protect the wearers came to be known for a time as "Passau art."

Passau was secularised and divided between the Electorate of Bavaria and the Electorate of Salzburg in 1803. The portion belonging to Salzburg became part of Bavaria in 1805.

From 1892 until 1894, Adolf Hitler and his family lived in Passau. The city archives mention Hitler being in Passau on four different occasions in the 1920s for speeches. On November 3, 1902 Heinrich Himmler and his family arrived from Munich.

They lived at TheresienstraĂ&#x;e 394 (currently TheresienstraĂ&#x;e 22) until September 2, 1904.

Himmler maintained contact with locals until May 1945.

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That evening we cruised to Melk...

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Melk Abbey

With its cobblestone streets and majestic abbey, Melk was a highlight in With its cobblestone our Danubestreets Valleyand visit.majestic abbey, Melk was a highlight in our Danube Valley visit.

With its cobblestone streets and majestic abbey, Melk was a highlight in our Danube Valley visit.

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Melk Abbey, possibly the most famous abbey in Austria, sits on an outcrop rising above the Danude standing resplendent in a golden hue, crowned by towers

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The views from the abbey are sensational. Built by architect Jakob Prandtaurer, the abbey was originally a royal palace with ceremonial courtyards, guest apartments, grand halls and a library.

The restored Melk Abbey (Benediktinerstift), beaming proudly over the Danube Valley, is one of Europe's great sights. Established as a fortified Benedictine abbey in the 11th century, it was destroyed by fire. What you see today is 18thcentury Baroque.

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The grand restoration project — financed in part by the sale of the abbey's Gutenberg Bible to Harvard (which was later donated to Yale University) — was completed by 1996 to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the first reference to a country named Österreich (Austria).

For 900 years, monks of St. Benedict have lived and worked in Melk's abbey, during the Reformation (1500s), occupation by Napoleon (1800s), and the Nazis (1900s). Today, the institution survives, funded by agriculture and our visit.

Today, it is a prestigious monastery school with more than 700 students. .

Stiftskiche or "Abbey Church" With its twin towers and high octagonal dome, the church has an astonishing number of windows; it's jaw-dropping interior is a baroque extravaganza, with magnificent frescoes by Johann Michael, Rottmayer, the library contains over 80,000 medieval manuscripts.

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France could be wrong again.

When you think of croissants, you think of France but it is rumoured to have originated in Austria more than 800 years ago (store this for the next pub quiz or trivial pursuit question) .

Austria's Stunning Canvas: Wachau As we left Regensberg, the Wachau valley displays all it's beauty with huge vine yards built into the mountain scape. This image is a montage of castles, villages and interesting buildings along the way. .

Vienna

Vienna was once the seat of the Hapsburg Monarchy and centre of the Holy Roman Empire. Today, the city is a grand and glorious mix of great and small, the imperiously magnificent and the delightfully unpretentious.

It is also one the World's greatest centres of art, music and architecture

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The Spanish Riding School (German: Spanische Hofreitschule) of Vienna, Austria, is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses, which perform in the Winter Riding School in the Hofburg. Not only is it a centre for classical dressage, the headquarters is a tourist attraction in Vienna that offers public performances as well as permitting public viewing of some training sessions. The presentation builds on four centuries of experience and tradition in classical dressage. The leading horses and riders of the school also periodically tour and perform

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The Austrian Parliament Building (German: Parlamentsgebäude, colloquially das Parlament) in Vienna is where the two houses of the Austrian Parliament conduct their sessions. The building is located on the Ringstraße boulevard in the first district Innere Stadt, near Hofburg Palace and the Palace of Justice. It was built to house the two chambers of the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), the bicameral legislature of the Cisleithanian (Austrian) part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Up to today, the Parliament Building is the seat of the two houses—the National Council (Nationalrat) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat)—of the Austrian legislature.

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Imperial Palace - Hofburg For more than seven centuries, the great empire of the Habsburgs was ruled from the Imperial Palace. Today, the Gothic Imperial Chapel, where the Vienna Boys’ Choir performs during High Mass on Sunday, is a remnant of the Imperial Palace during the Middle Ages.

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Patti and Francis - "if we ruled the world"

Schonbrunn palace - a baroque masterpiece was built by the Hapsburgs in 1643 Schรถnbrunn Palace (German: Schloss Schรถnbrunn) is a former imperial summer residence located in modern Vienna, Austria. The 1,441-room Rococo palace is one of the most important architectural, cultural and historical monuments in the country. Since 1960s it has been a major tourist attraction. The history of the palace and its vast gardens spans over 300 years, reflecting the changing tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs

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The Gloriette The garden axis points towards a 60metre-high hill (200 ft), which since 1775 has been crowned by the Gloriette structure (Fischer von Erlach had initially planned to erect the main palace on the top of this hill).

Maria Theresa decided Gloriette should be designed to glorify Habsburg power and the Just War (a war that would be carried out of "necessity" and lead to peace), and thereby ordered to recycle "otherwise useless stone" which was left from the almost-demolition of Schloss Neugebäude. The same material was also to be used for the Roman ruin.

The Gloriette today houses a cafĂŠ and an observation deck, which provides panoramic views of the city.

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St. Stephen's Cathedral (more commonly known by its German title Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal SchÜnborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Vienna, St. Stephen's Cathedral has borne witness to many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history and has, with its multi-coloured tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols.

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The church was dedicated to St. Stephen, also the patron of the bishop's cathedral in Passau, and so was oriented toward the sunrise on his feast day of 26 December, as the position stood in the year that construction began. Built of limestone, the cathedral is 107 metres (351 ft) long, 40 metres (130 ft) wide, and 136 metres (446 ft) tall at its highest point. Over the centuries, soot and other forms of air pollution accumulating on the church have given it a black colour, but recent restoration projects have again returned some portions of the building to its original white

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Anniversary party And so to the really important part of the trip the anniversary dinner.

On-board the Delling, friends and staff joined Francis and Joe in celebration of 50 years together - Alvin (his friends know his affectionately as the chipmunk) contributed with a hearty rendition - still no one knows of what, but he is such a sweetie, it wasn't important.

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And so to Budapest...

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Budapest

The Shoes on the Danube Bank is a memorial in Budapest, Hungary. Conceived by film director Can Togay, he created it on the west bank of the Danube River with sculptor Gyula Pauer to honor the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

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Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, and one of the largest cities in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. In 2011, according to the census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants,mdown from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanisation. The Budapest Metropolitan Area is home to 3.3 million people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with its unification on 17 November 1873 of Buda and Ă“buda, on the west bank, with Pest, on the east bank.

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Parliament building The Hungarian Parliament Building (Hungarian: Országház, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈorsaːɡhaːz], which translates to House of the Country or House of the Nation) is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. It lies in Lajos Kossuth Square, on the bank of the Danube. It is currently the largest building in Hungary and still the tallest building in Budapest.

The Budapest opera house The Hungarian State Opera House (Hungarian: Magyar Állami Operaház) is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of 19th century Hungarian architecture. Construction began in 1875, funded by the city of Budapest and by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, and the new house opened to the public on the 27 September 1884. Before the closure of the "Népszínház" in Budapest, it was the second largest opera building in the city; today it is the largest opera house in Budapest and in Hungary. .

Dohany Street Synagogue

Museum of Fine Arts

It is the largest synagogue in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It seats 3,000 people and is a centre of Neolog Judaism.

It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an eclectic-neoclassical style, between 1900 and 1906. The museum's collection is made up of international art (other than Hungarian), including all periods of European art, and comprises more than 100,000 pieces. The collection is made up of various older additions such as those from Buda Castle, the Esterházy and Zichy estates, as well as donations from individual collectors.

The synagogue was built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish Revival style, with the decoration based chiefly on Islamic models from North Africa and medieval Spain (the Alhambra). The synagogue's Viennese architect, Ludwig Förster, believed that no distinctively Jewish architecture could be identified, and thus chose "architectural forms that have been used by oriental ethnic groups that are related to the Israelite people, and in particular the Arabs".

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for the Ladies who lunch...

Hero's Square We were lucky to visit on a special weekend, that of the horse racing challenge,where local villages test their skills on horse-back around the square.

An annual event, much pride is attached to the outcome.

Heroes' Square) is one of the major squares in Budapest, noted for its iconic statue complex featuring the Seven Chieftains of the Magyars and other important national leaders, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park (Városliget). It hosts the Museum of Fine Arts and the Műcsarnok. The square has played an important part in contemporary Hungarian history and has been a host to many political events, such as the reburial of Imre Nagy in 1989. .

Vajdahunyad Castle is a castle in the City Park close to Hero's square and the home a famous food festival we visited.

It was built between 1896 and 1908 as part of the Millennial Exhibition which celebrated the 1000 years of Hungary since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895. The castle was designed by Ignรกc Alpรกr to feature copies of several landmark buildings from different parts the Kingdom of Hungary, especially the Hunyad Castle in Transylvania (now in Romania).

As the castle contains parts of buildings from various time periods, it displays different architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Originally it was made from cardboard and wood, but it became so popular that it was rebuilt from stone and brick between 1904 and 1908. Facinating...

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No wonder Albert was stoutly, look at the food on offer...

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The last supper in Budapest - let's do it again folks!

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