Sunny and cool this morning but only a predicted high of 57 degrees, definitely autumn weather. There was also a “Chicago” style breeze, i.e. pretty windy, making it feel cooler than it was. At least it wasn’t raining, like yesterday.

Everyone was sad because we had to leave the posh accommodations at the Kempinski Hotel; it is probably the most elegant hotel we have stayed at. Our destination this morning was an escorted tour of the “modest” hunting lodge/summer palace of the Hapsburgs, Schonbrunn Palace. I used the word modest but it is anything but, as it has 1,441 rooms! When the royal family lived there a staff of 2,000 people saw to their needs.

We had an excellent tour of a few of the palace rooms which are decorated with original paintings and furnishings. Unfortunately this is one of those places where photography is not allowed inside. You will have to go the the internet to see what we saw.  Our tour guide gave us a great narrative about the people who lived here, one of the most famous might be Maria Teresa, the only female Hapsburg monarch (1745-1765) of the empire. Even though we are past the normal tourist season, the palace was crowded with people. After our tour we had about an hour of free time so we walked to the extensive gardens for some photos and a quick coffee before rejoining the coach to go to lunch.

It was then back to the city center for lunch, served in the basement restaurant of their city hall called “Wiener Rathauskeller”.  We were served a traditional Austrian lunch: soup, Weiner Schnitzel and apple strudel for dessert- with beer or wine, of course.

Around 2:15 PM we boarded buses for a three hour ride to the final stop of the base tour-Budapest, Hungary.  A bit of trivia:  Both Mozart and Beethoven lived and died in Vienna. Along the way we passed an area where there were hundreds of windmills dotting the landscape, the largest concentration of windmills I have seen in one place.  By 3:30 we entered Hungary and we immediately saw a sign advertising paprika.  This is paprika country!  The countryside is very flat now that we are in Hungary with a lot of corn fields evident. There are also windmills here but not as many as I saw in Austria. Obviously this is a windy region. Ten million people live in Hungary which is only slightly larger in size than Austria. They have their own currency (Forint) but euros and US dollars are readily accepted. Hungary was under communist rule until 1989 when they broke free and gained their independence.

Budapest has a population of about 2 million, with another million surrounding it. It lies on the Danube River and originally there was a town called “Buda” on one side of the river and “Pest” on the other side. They eventually became one city in 1893 and thus the name.  Buda is the hilly, residential part of the city and where our hotel is located. Pest is where most of the businesses, cafes and restaurants are located. Now you know the rest of the story! Budapest is an area with many hot thermal springs and spas.  It is currently the capital of Hungary. Called the “Paris on the Danube” Budapest never sleeps: “Good food, good dance and good drinks” is the Hungarian mantra.

We were delayed by an accident on the highway and the difficulty of our driver in finding the correct road to get us to our Hilton hotel.  It made our expected 3.5 hour drive more like 4.5 hours. We did not arrive until 7 PM. Luckily dinner was planned to be at the hotel and we were immediately able to partake in the buffet dinner. The hotel is located at Fisherman’s Bastion, overlooking the Danube River and Pest, and is one of the major tourist sights in Budapest because of the views it offers.  Major Budapest buildings are lit at night and we had spectacular viewing opportunities after dinner. It was worth the delay in getting there.