Barb's Tea Shop: Cruise highlights on the Blue Danube - where my dreams came true: Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Hungary and all the tea and palaces along the way!

Blue Danube Cruise where my dreams came true

"I'm going back some day, come what may to Blue Danube; where the folks are fun and the world is mine . . . I'll never be blue, my dreams came true on Blue Danube."

Paraphrasing (and with apologies to) Roy Orbison's bayou tune, I felt the same passion for a recent Viking River Cruise that made its way through Germany, Austria and Hungary via the scenic Blue Danube.

The beginning of this month, my husband, Chris and I, along with travel partners, Ed and Sandy (brother and sister-in-law, respectively) and cousins, Dianne and Ray, started our European journey that took us to the enchanting cities of Prague, Strasburg, Vienna and Budapest. It's a history reality-check when such places have, like Prague, an "old" and "new" town, where the latter was founded in the fourteenth century.

Mozart Cafe across from the old clock

Astronomical clock in Prague

In each of these locations, we dined, toured, sipped tea and shopped. Each town deserves its own account, but to kick this blog series off, I'm starting with the highlights.

Our first stop, was Prague, which isn't on the Danube, of course, but is offered by Viking as a pre-cruise option. A three day stay allowed us time to get some local history, partake in a folklore dinner, have tea at the Mozart cafe overlooking the astronomical clock (from 1410) and purchase a book at the Kafka museum, near the birthplace of the famed novelist and short-story writer of the early 20th century.

First night on Atla, our Viking Cruise ship with our familial travel companions

From Prague, our Viking escorts took us by motor coach to our docking location at Regensburg, Germany. Here we met up again with our cousins and kicked off our river cruise with an excellent and picturesque dinner on the front deck.

We started the next morning with a walking history tour of Regensburg. In our free time, Chris purchased a hat (to complete the "European Chris" look) at Der Hutmacher, the only remaining hat shop in town and I had tea and chocolate at Prinzess Cafe, the oldest café in Germany. (There's a lot of "oldest" places in this trip).

Regensburg shopping for new hat

Drinking tea at oldest chocolate shop

Our next port-of-call was Salzburg, an all day excursion to the charming Austrian village where Mozart was born. It's also where the story of "Sound of Music" originated and the movie was filmed. I unleashed my inner-Maria in the town square before lunching at the oldest restaurant in Europe (832 A.D.) and, as Chris joked, probably the site of the oldest disgruntled Yelp review.

Vienna: setting for Sound of Music

Birthplace of Mozart

Next day, a brief stop in Krems, where we visited Gottweig Abbey, an Austrian monastery established in the 11th century. Much of it was rebuilt in the 1700's in the lavish Baroque architectural style. It's still run by monks today and is famous for its apricot jam and apricot wine, both of which we sampled and purchased.

Gottweig Abbey, an Austrian monastery, still run by monks

After Krems, we set sail for Vienna and while en route, we were treated to a Viking cruise afternoon tea, complete with the classic three-tiered tray filled with traditional sweets and savories. During the tea, we were entertained with a strudel cooking demonstration from the executive chef. (It was amazing! I have the recipe and hope to create it on dry land during the holiday season.)

Enjoying afternoon tea on board while viewing strudel cooking demonstration

Two days in Vienna was not a lot, but we hit a few museums, lunched in the naschmarkt and found dessert at the legendary Sacher Hotel, home to the super scrumptious sacher torte. I brought home a few of those, and though tiny, these cakes are packed with richness. One is enough . . .for awhile. (See Tuesday Tea and Tortes: Vienna's Sacher Hotel, home to the decadent sacher torte).

Hotel Sacher in Vienna, home to the decadent sacher torte

We also visited the Schonbrunn Palace, royal residence of the Hapsburgs. Like Versailles, its ornate and over-the-top, but no photo-taking is allowed in the interior. I had to settle on the palace guide book that is sold in the gift shop for pictures. (Even our tour guide thought the no-photo policy was to enhance book sales).

Schonbrunn Palace, royal residence of the Hapsburgs

Back on Atla, our Viking boat, we enjoyed a Hungarian-themed dinner followed by the final trivia challenge of cruise. The first was our second night on Atla and it was a "Name that Tune" type of game. Our six-member familial team scored well, but it was Ed's Elvis impersonation that got us over the finish line. The last contest was more "Family Feud" (guess the most popular answer) and, again, we stumbled on a victory, but this time, no singing and dancing required of Ed.

Viking cruise trivia champs with best cruise director!

Our last destination was Budapest. Our cruise director told us the night before, as we were sailing to Hungary, to be sure to be up early to take in the view of this two-part-city wonder as we cruised into port. It was worth the hasty rush to the front deck to see the impressive parliament building, the Chain Bridge and spires attached to churches and castles spanning a thousand years.

Sailing into Budapest, spectacular views from every side

Sadly, this was our shortest stay, but we made it to some very important landmarks: Buda Castle and Herend, the fine porcelain manufacturer.

Does Herend have a Downton Abbey connection? Did I make a tea cup purchase? Are these rhetorical questions? "YES" to all (and a future blog story).

Herend fine porcelain store. Need I say more?

The cruise concluded Sunday at 3:30 AM Budapest time. We were whisked away by our Viking escorts to the airport and on our way to Detroit, with one stop in Amsterdam. At this connection, we learned of a canceled flight, a four-hour delay and took part in all the chaos that comes with last minute rebooking. However, we had a delightful repast at the Amsterdam airport's Cafe Coco, complete with tea and macarons and memories of European trip filled with palaces, grand tours, fine dining and, most certainly, tea!