March 21, 2026 Mohács, Hungary A small village along the Danube, just before we docked in Mohács. Fun Facts for Mohács The name of the town translates to “moth-eaten." The town has historically been a melting pot, with a significant Croatian, German, and Serbian populations influencing its culture. A Busó (from an annual carnival) is a large creature with a wooden mask, fur coat, stockings, and a cow bell. Correction from Yesterday's Blog : Here is the correct language- Duri

March 20, 2026 Budapest, Hungary Three Viking River ships docked in Budapest. When we left the ship this morning our ship (Viking Rinda) was the ship closest to the dock, and one ship was next to us. When we returned the ships had done a little dance, and now the Rinda was the furthest one out in the water. It sort of felt like the shell shuffle game! Karen and Nancy's Day - Today we walked to an island in the Danube to go Bird Watching. The island is in the middle of t

March 19, 2026 Budapest, Hungary Budapest may be divided physically by the Danube, but the citizenry demonstrate a united population, accepting of differences, and looking forward to the future. Fun Facts Hungary Hungary has such a rich history that one National Day simply won’t suffice to commemorate it all. The first Hungarian National Day takes place on March 15th in memory of the 1849 Revolution and War of Independence. Next, on August 20th, Hungarians commemorate the c

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 Bratislava, Slovakia Girl with an Olive Branch Fun Facts about Slovakia and Bratislava Slovakia Slovakia has more than 6000 caves! That’s right. This small country is a treasure trove of subterranean wonders, from the ice-filled depths of Dobšinská Ice Cave to the intricate dripstone formations of Demänovská Cave of Liberty Pop artist Andy Warhol’s parents came from Slovakia . His parents emigrated from the small village of Miková in the northeast of

March 16, 2026 Vienna, Austria Today we are taking a side trip to Salzburg, Austria with Tom and Katie. The sounds of Salzburg include the music of Mozart, and the movie " The Sound of Music ", so it will be worth waking up early, and taking a 2 1/2 hour train ride each way, in order to learn more about that iconic music. Snow-capped hills and mountains outside of Salzburg. Quick note regarding yesterday's blog: We really enjoy interacting with those of you who respond to th

March 16, 2026 Vienna, Austria This is a statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom, which is located directly in front of the Austrian Parliament Building. Some say that the it might have been more helpful to move it into the building... hmmm.... Maybe we need an Athena statue in DC? Fun Facts For Austria: Cultural Icons: Famous people from Austria include Mozart, Sigmund Freud, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and composer Johann Strauss. Austria is credited with inventions like the se

March 14-15, 2026 We are on our way! So far everything is going smoothly (knock on wood!). After all the publicity about long TSA lines we decided to leave earlier than previously planned to get the airport with plenty of time to get through the lines. Amazingly, there were no lines! There was only one person in front of us, and no one behind us. So we had time to chat with the TSA agent for a few minutes. The news had run a story about some airports collecting donatio