Budapest, Hungary; May 29, 2019

We are all packed and ready to head for home tomorrow morning. We have a ride to the airport booked for nine A.M. Our flight to Amsterdam will depart about 11;20, for a two hour trip. We will have two hours there, then on to Montreal, and finally, Ottawa by bus. I did the online check ins today, so we have the Boarding Passes all ready to go.
On Sunday, we walked to the Budapest zoo, about a 45 minute stroll from our condo...although we took about an hour and a half and looked into a few shops on the way. We were about five hours at the zoo, one of the best I have seen. The zoo is in a park/forest setting, so lots of trees and shade for the animals. We walked home after the zoo visit, on one of the best weather days we have had.
Monday, the highlight of the day, and a big one for this trip was a tour with buffet lunch on the great Danube river. The trip was of an hour and a half duration. While we have spent most of our time on the Pest side of the Danube, today was dedicated to the Buda side...with the Budapest Castle, and the hills. Here, the Danube flows south and east. Going downriver, Buda is on the left, Pest on the right.
I will do an update a few days after our return to Ottawa. This fantastic trip is fast coming to a close.

Budapest, Hungary, Thursday May 23, 2019

We arrived here this afternoon at 1630 local time. That would be 10;30 in the morning, Ottawa time. As with European trains, one can set their watch by the train...most of the time. We had changed our Prague hotel booking for May 22, before going to Teplice, and rebooked a hotel across the street from
the main Prague train station, from which we departed this morning. The original hotel was located almost two miles away from the station.
The train was numbered 277, and our tickets were for seats 73 and 75..side by side, in first class, car number 372. All seats in that car were reserved. The only free item served in the first class was a bottle of water each, and wider seats. For the six and a half hour ride, the cost was about 150 dollars Canadian, each.
On the way here, we passed through Brno and Bratislavia, along with about six other small cities.
I will report again on the weekend, after we have had time to do some exploring.

Teplice, Czeck Republic, May 21, 2019

Our three days here are coming to a close. We will Czech out in the morning, and take the 10.51 train back to Prague. It will be about an hour and a half trip. I will comment more on the local train system when we get to Budapest. Teplice is a very pretty, hilly city with many parks and fountains. The city is quiet, very clean, and everyone is willing to help out if you have a question, even when they cannot understand. The food is plentiful, and we have done our share to uphold local customs. We have tried the goulash, borstch soup, and not a little desserts. To keep from putting on weight, we do lots of walking.
We have one night back in Prague, then on to Budapest Thursday Morning. We have a condo for our stay in Budapest. This is co-located with a hotel and apartments. One of the must dos in Budapest will be a cruise on the Danube River.
We are having a great time, and, everything has gone as planned. I will report from Budapest in due course, probably on the upcoming week-end.

Prague, Czech Republic, May 18, 2019

In my last posting, I should have stated that the Palace we visited on our last day in Warsaw was the Wilanow Palace.
In the morning, we will Czech out of our hotel here and take a train to the small....(50,000 population), city of Teplice. Originally, we had considered taking a van or bus, both are on frequent
trips to Teplice, about every hour. However, they want about 20 Euros, or 30 dollars Canadian each, and for each way. We found the train to be the best alternative. It will cost us each about 3-4 Euros, or six dollars total round trip!.
We have found the weather in Europe to be very cool for this time of year, similar to back home in Ottawa...six to eight at night, sometimes lower, and around 12-15 in the day time. Today, we had 22, and mostly sunny...the first such temperature for this trip to date.
We have walked a large portion of old Prague, including some time at the famous Charles Bridge, and enjoyed a good amount of European Cuisine...including some Big Macs. Lots of walking, and most streets are cobblestone. We have had no rain to speak of. We will report in from Teplice.

Prague, Czech Republic, May 13, 2019

We arrived here in Prague this morning after three very interesting  full days in Warsaw. My Polish friend was pleased to show us areas that we did not have time to see when I was here alone seven years ago. The highlight of Warsaw, after a day in the Old Town was the afternoon of yesterday that we spent touring the grounds of a Palace. The grounds were wonderful to see, and large, so we all did some walking. The day and, our visit came to a close when we visited the oldest chocolate factory in Poland...Wadell Chocolate. There we had  items, including hot chocolate...the thickest and smoothest I have ever had. We then said our good-byes.
This morning, after breakfast in the hotel, we departed for the airport, then here....arriving on time at 12;30. Next Sunday, we will travel by bus or van, depending on the need, for the small (40,000 population city) of Teplice, about 100 kilometers from here, near the border with Germany.
We have not had great weather, cool...today about 8 degrees, and a few more tomorrow with rain...that will be the first since we left home.
I will find time to do an update towards the end of this week, before we go to the Spas at Teplice.

Warsaw, Poland, Friday, May 10, 2019

Hello from Warsaw. We arrived here on Thursday, as scheduled at noon, after a great trip. Everything went as planned. The bus to Montreal departed exactly at three, and we departed on KLM as scheduled. The only flaw in the trip was on the aircraft from Montreal to Amsterdam, and, I will deal with that when I return to Canada. We were assigned seats in row 18, H and J. these are window and one other, only two beside the aisle. There is then four seats, aisle and two more.
I selected these for the simple reason that those seats are forward of the engines, and very quiet.
BECAUSE on check in, you must deal with a machine, and not a person, we were given seats in row 47...three rows from the back, and VERY noisy. I could not change once issued, so will have something to say later. The service was otherwise excellent.
We did a walk of the local area, had dinner early and got a good night sleep. The internet was down, so am updating this morning.

We will be treated to lunch today, and tomorrow by a lady lawyer friend of mine, and then do some sight seeing. It is now raining here.

I will do an update when we get to Prague on Monday afternoon;