Good Afternoon Dear Reader:

The leaves were falling in Europe...so pretty!

Yesterday, when I was trying to explain to someone why I had not returned her email promptly, it occurred to me that in the last 8 days I had been in Prague, Houston, Austin and Las Vegas. I barely had time to do laundry and re-pack.

While Las Vegas was certainly fun, it wasn’t just any boondoggle. It was an international travel conference with so many exciting places represented, my head was spinning.

On the subject of travel, what I can tell you is that this is the year to cruise. There are so many wonderful options–ships of all sizes and great incentives including on some, free air fare and cash credit to spend on board. If crusing is for you, let me know and I will share of the best deals I found for 2012.

Parliament is stunning at night

Back in Budapest…

I wanted to share a little about some of our wonderful cities we visited on the AMA Waterways ship, The AmaDante. We began our cruise in the beautiful city of Budapest, Hungary set on the banks of the Danube River.

It is a walking town with a medieval feel to many buildings and streets of cobblestone. The river is crossed by numerous bridges, all pedestrian friendly. The city really comes to life at night as the buildings are illuminated and seem to almost glow.

Did I mention the food everywhere was just so delicious? The pastry here is just exquisite–as beautiful as it is tasty. I should know–I sampled generously! Next time, I’m bringing stretch pants.

Eastern Europe was one lovely surprise after another. I hope you enjoy the photos. I will share more tomorrow, if you’ll come back!

You knew I would find "the goods"!

This gorgeous palace overlooks the city

A lovely park, a zoo and restaurant

Budapest takes your breath at night

The home of the famous mineral baths--I forgot my suit!

Good Morning Dear Reader:

My AMADante home away from home

I arrived back home in Houston last evening after being gone almost two weeks. My plants wouldn’t talk to me. The wild birds who frequent my feeder all gave me the cold shoulder as they have obviously been without their gourmet sunflower chips for well over a week.

My little lap top computer started up so lethargically that I was afraid it wouldn’t start at all. Finally, when my familiar screen appeared, it chastised me to UPDATE! UPDATE! I suppose it is good to be missed.

I downloaded my photos from my camera to my computer a few minutes ago and you will be thrilled to know that there are only 911 that you have to view. Or you could call 911 and report me for reader abuse! I promise to share only the best and delete all those that I don’t look simply fabulous in–so there go at least 900!

The view from the top deck of the AMADante

First, I cannot recommend the river cruise experience highly enough. It is one of the best ways to truly experience a region, a country and a city.

Life is vibrant along the rivers and there you see how and where the people live–from the quiet little hamlets to the bustling cities.

Along the river, you can watch farmers tend their crops, herd sheep and cattle, see locals biking, walking, and waving as you pass by.

My trip was Blue Danube Discovery on AmaWaterways, the ship was the AmaDante with a capacity of only 148 passengers. We sailed from Budapest, Hungary to Nuremberg, Germany where we boarded a tour coach and traveled to Prague, The Czech Republic. The ship is beautiful and very open with great expanses of glass so you don’t miss any wonderful sights as you move along the Danube River.

Typical sights on the Danube

The ship is luxurious from the tastefully decorated cabins to the lounge and dinning room. There is a reading/game room, library, sauna, hot tub, masseuse, and hair dresser on board. Prepare to be pampered.

Our captain, Lukas

Zatschkowitsch was an absolute delight mingling with passengers and sharing fascinating information about the river and the ship. Most of the crew were natives of eastern Europe and were wonderful ambassadors for their homeland.

The ship itself is small compared to the big ocean-going ships we are accustomed to. You can easily meet people and even get to know the crew and captain on a first name basis. Generally, your ship docks very close to the center of town and you can join a small group for a walking tour with time to explore on your own. Did I mention that in each port the guided walking tour is included, as are bicycles and helmets for those who prefer to ride.

The beautiful AmaDante

One of the great benefits of cruising versus other types of travel is that your meals are all included. On AmaWaterways, that also means wine is included with dinner. Each night we had a different local wine and they were all exceptional.

Champagne is available at breakfast if a mimosa is what you need to start the day. Soft drinks, coffee, tea and 24-hour cappuccino are also all included in your cruise price. Did I mention that there are always trays of cookies and pastries out to tempt you? Diet disaster, but worth every bite.

The food was spectacular!! I never missed a meal!

Our meals were all 5-star. The presentation, the taste, and the variety were amazing. If you finished your chocolate mousse too quickly, the waiter was there to see if you had room for the warm apple strudel with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Pack pants with elastic waistbands. You won’t regret it.

Every night after dinner there was wonderful entertainment either by our shipboard musician or talented local soloists and groups who boarded the ship where we were docked bringing us both popular music and a taste of their homeland.

When just one dessert is not enough!

I met many new friends on board, saw parts of Europe from a new perspective, and found river cruising to be my cup of tea or cappuccino. There are more lovely river itineraries waiting with AMAWaterways in Europe,  Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia and now Africa.

I hope to post pictures from some of the beautiful cities we visited so you can enjoy them as well. The big cities of Budapest and Prague have some of the most beautiful architecture in the world. At night, they are simply magical.

The tiny towns we visited made you wish you could stay, get to know the butcher, the baker and the wine merchant better! It was a lovely taste and has simply whetted my appetite for more.

Have a wonderful day,

Diane

Good Morning Dear Reader:

It is 3:30 a.m. in Austin and I have been awake since 2. I have no plane to catch, no middle of the night crisis or even a case of the latest influenza. My body simply has no idea what time it is. Jet lag is the common name, but I prefer happiness hangover. I can’t feel too bad about it, because I had such a wonderful time on my trip.

When last we talked, I was bound for my first European river cruise. I knew many people who had done it and raved about it, so it has been on my personal bucket list for years. For my first trip, I chose AmaWaterways’ Blue Danube Discovery, sailing from Budapest, Hungary to Bratislava, Slovakia, Vienna, Durnstein, Melk and Linz , Austria, Regensburg and Nuremburg, Germany and then by coach, to end in Prague, the Czech Republic.

I had such great plans to lighten my carry-on load by leaving my laptop at home and simpy blogging on my iPad where I had loaded my blogging software, WordPress. I even bought the photo attachment for my iPad so I could share photos as well. All my plans were for naught. When I arrived, I discovered that the Ap for WordPress had disappeared from my screen. When I tried to reload it from iTunes, it would not recognize my password. Repeated attempts failed. When I concluded that I would simply have to blog directly via the Internet, not only did my blog look strange, none of my photos would paste from my iPad photo album.

This was really frustrating since during my trip I had about 30 minutes free one Tuesday and another 45 when I was able to stay awake past 10 p.m. I know that during those periods of down time I could have written some amazing posts and shown you the thrilling sights along the way, but alas, it was not to be. So here I sit, wide awake, hoping you are out there somewhere and  have not given up on me completely, and still willing to come along for the ride.

I  am sorry  to report that my effort to save the euro, at the center of the debt crisis in Europe, was not successful. I also attempted to boost the currencies of the non-euro nations of Hungary, The Czech Republic, and Slovakia,  even if I could not pronounce the names of their currencies. I did, however , feel incredibly flush when I spent 100 Czech dollars for a coffee and pastry ( about $6) .

It is now 5:49 a.m. And although I have managed to reload my blogging software on my iPad, not only will it not allow me to post my photos, it won’t let me preview my writing before posting. The only option it gives me is “publish “. The danger in that is that little, or even glaring errors sometime escape when I don’t see the blog as it will appear on the Internet. So please ignore any typos and blips . I promise to do better when I get back to Houston and my own computer.

Meanwhile in Houston, my little laptop sits snickering, confident that the next time I leave  town, she won’t be sitting home alone.

Have a lovely day,

Diane.