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Boarding the bus in Munich to journey to Vilshofen to embark on the ship.
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The adventure begins!
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Embarkation
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Our home for the next week, the Amaviola.
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Adventures by Disney launched the holiday cruise with an Oktoberfest just for us.
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The evening was spent decking the halls.
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Evya took charge of one of the many trees.
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For her leadership, Cruise Activities Director Dragan asked her to name the tree. Introducing Vanilla, the Christmas Tree.
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The first jewel of the Danube, Passau, Germany.
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Passau is known as the Dreiflüssestadt, or "City of Three Rivers," because it sits where the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers meet.
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We had a hands-on demonstration on how to sculpt marzipan. We are all keeping our day jobs.
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The artists' alley in Passau.
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Our tour guide assigned Christina the role of a woman trapped on the third floor of her home during the historic Flood of 1501. The residents of Passau were trapped in their homes for days, and the bakers from a nearby town got in their boats and brought bread to feed them. As thanks, Passau allowed bakers from that town to sell tax-free in Passau for 400 years!
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Some of our party stayed in Passau to explore while the others headed back to the ship for sundeck chess.
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After lunch, we headed to the Tree Top Paths, Kopfing, Austria.
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We walked up to the top of the trees, and then explored the observation tower, paths and activities high above the forest.
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At the bottom of the forest, a playground awaited.
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Tyrian gave a mixed review to his first glühwein.
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Beyond the playground was a skills course.
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The next morning, we docked in Linz, Austria and drove to the Hallein Salt Mine.
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We had to be properly attired to enter the mine.
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A train took us inside the Dürrnberg.
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Then wooden slides took us down, down, down.
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A walking tour through the mine taught us that the Celts starting mining Hallein 2500 years ago. Salzburg became a wealthy city due to the "white gold" of the Hallein mine.
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After the salt mine, we headed to Salzburg.
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Mirabelle Gardens.
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Lunch at St. Peter Stiftskeller Restaurant, which has been in continuous operation for 1000 years. It is Europe's oldest restaurant.
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We couldn't get enough of the roasted pork knuckles and potato salad. All the food was delicious!
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We had free time in the afternoon to explore. Then we regrouped to share stories from the day.
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As the boat proceeded to Melk in the Wachau valley of Austria, the junior adventurers and our Disney guides made holiday crafts.
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Melk Abbey, Austria.
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Our Disney travelmates.
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Junior adventurers had their own tour of Melk. A similar itinerary to the adult tour, sans the relics.
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Before lunch, we learned about the unique culture of the Wachau. They taught us to dance....
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...and gave us a wine and juice tasting from Wachau valley vines.
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We also learned about fishing in the Danube.
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From Wachau, the boat journeyed to Krems, Austria. Half of our group went to Dürnstein castle, where Richard the Lionheart was held captive by Leopold V of Austria from 1192-1193. Leopold accused Richard of arranging the murder of his cousin, Conrad of Montferrat, after he was declared King of Jerusalem. Moreover, Richard had personally offended Leopold by throwing his standard in the moat after the capture of Acre during the Third Crusade.
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The other half of our group took a gourmet walking tour of Krems, where we tasted Wachau apricot libations, Wachau holiday cookies and Wachau wine and juice.
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We have no pictures of the tastings. We were too busy tasting :)
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As the boat set sail for Vienna, it was time to decorate gingerbread.
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Our day in Vienna began at Schönbrunn Palace.
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We watched an Apfelstrudel-making demonstration in the cellar.
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The junior adventurers then set out on their tour, immersing themselves in the world of the 18th century.
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To fully get into character, they needed to dress the part.
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Everyone got to watch a marionette operetta, and then had a chance to work a marionette.
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After Schönbrunn, our family broke off from Disney for the rest of the day to meet up with cousin Kevin Kelley, a 20-year Vienna resident.
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Kevin gave us a personalized walking tour.
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With an hour before dinner, Christina, Matthew Pickard and Evya explored the ice trails of Vienna.
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On the U-bahn headed to dinner to meet Kevin's family.
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Kevin introduced us to Denisa and their daughters, Anez̆ka and Elise.
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We ate traditional fare at Griechenbeisl.
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Chess before bedtime, with Vienna as the backdrop.
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Morning walking tour in Bratislava, Slovakia.
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The only snow we had during our travels.
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Old Town
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Schone Naci, which means Handsome Ignatius. Schone Naci was a well known figure in the early 1900s in Bratislava. A poor man, he paraded the streets of Bratislava in an old but elegant velvet coat, greeting passers-by with his top-hat.
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Man at Work - C̆umil. Also known to peek up women's skirts.
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Post-tour chess, with Bratislava as the backdrop.
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After lunch, we bussed back over the border to Austria to visit the Baroque palace, Schloss Hof. The adults' tour included a schnapps tasting in the cellar.
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The junior adventurers got to go into the palace kitchen and make gingerbread.
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On our way from Slovakia to Hungary, we went through one of the Danube's largest locks, Gabcikovo.
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After sailing all night, we entered glorious Budapest at 7 AM.
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In the morning, we visited the Budapest Central Market Hall
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For lunch, we headed to Lázár Equestrian Park.
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We watched a demonstration of Hungarian horsemanship from a team of world champions.
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We learned how to make goulash.
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Then we ate goulash and a feast of roast meats and Hungarian specialties.
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Danny, the Disney Guide Grammie most liked to pester.
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The Engelbrechts and Smyths hogged the back of the bus every trip. Allyndreth dubbed them The Backhog Squad.
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It was nearly dark when we returned to downtown Budapest, but Matt and Christina took a couple hours to explore the Christmas Markets and the exquisite architecture of the city.
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Budapest is now top of our list of places we'd like to go back and explore further.
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Last dinner on the Amaviola.
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Before bedtime, the Amaviola captain took us on an Illuminations Cruise to see the splendid buildings on the banks of the Danube.
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And before we all parted in the morning, the cousins played one more round of chess, with Budapest as the backdrop.
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