Viking Grand European Tour 2023

We have been to Paris a few times, but it's such a large city with so much to see and do, that it provided a good transition from the cruise back to home. We chose a more leisurely agenda for Paris than that on the Viking cruise. But we also needed to walk off some of the extra pounds we put on during the 3 meal-a-day cruise feast. So we walked a total of 10 miles around Paris today, admiring some famous Paris landmarks, plus lesser-known monuments and neighborhoods, many for the first time. It was a fun day and the weather was beautiful. We started our walk in the general direction of Notre Dame cathedral in order to see the restoration progress. From our hotel near Gare de Lyon, we walked along Esplanade du Quai Saint Bernard, a  waterfront promenade on the Seine with an impressive outdoor sculpture museum and well-manicured gardens.  According to Google, this sculpture from 1980 "parodically depicted the poet Arthur Rimbaud. Ipousteguy had Rimbaud resting upon someone’s sol...

Day 15 (Monday, July 31), the final day of our Viking Grand European Tour, and Day 16, travel to Paris.  Our ship approached Budapest before breakfast, passing the landmark Hungarian Parliament Building as we approached our city center dock next to the Liberty Bridge. Across the bridge is the Gellért Thermal Bath and one block from our ship is the Great Market Hall, both on our list of places to visit. Towering over us is Lady Liberty at the top of Gellért Hill at the Budapest Citadel. Hungarian Parliament Building Liberty Bridge and Gellért  Thermal Bath Lady Liberty atop Gellért Hill  Budapest was formed in 1873 after the unification of Buda (west side of the Danube), Óbuda (Old Buda) and Pest (east side of the Danube) and is pronounced “boo-duh-pesht." Budapest is a modern city of 1.8 million, with great public transit and 40 colleges and universities. It's a popular tourist destination, with sights such as the Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, the Chain Bridge, S...