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Published: October 12th 2023
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We have the morning free! Hopefully I can sleep in past 5 a.m. This afternoon we go to hear the Vienna Boys Choir.
There was some not so good news. The water level of the Danube is low enough that we won’t be able to sail right into Budapest. We will be stopping about one hour away and being bussed into our hotel there. Not a big deal, nothing to spoil our vacation. We talked to the captain later in the morning and the poor man was upset about this development. We reassured him that we weren’t bothered by something that is beyond all of of our control and we make the best of it. He thanked us for being understanding.
I would like to talk about the staff on this ship. I have learned lots about them in the few days we’ve been together. They are very polite but not a remote polite, a very friendly polite. I have never encountered people who are so friendly and anxious to please. Each of them have taken the time to learn our names and tell us about themselves.We have gravitated to the same table for our lunch and sometimes dinner
so the staff who look after this area have become our friends. Besides our names they know which wine we like, what to recommend to us based on our ordering history, etc. and joke with us. They are from many different countries. It is so nice to be greeted by name when you enter a room. They work long hard hours but obviously are loving their jobs. Many of the staff from this ship are going on their holidays at the end of this trip.
We had a leisurely morning which we spent with a late breakfast and some time on the top deck in the sun.
Vienna Boys Choir: the bus takes us to Palais Augarten, the boarding school for best known choir in the world. The choir consists of 100 boys between the ages of nine and fourteen. There are four touring choirs who spend nine to eleven weeks of the academic year on tour all over the world. The boys can start attending this school at age 6 (kindergarten) enrolled in a rigorous schooling program and long days from 7:30 to 6:00 every school day. Our personal performing group was small with eleven boys. Several
boys in the choirs are currently experiencing coughs and are not allowed to sing to protect their throats. They sang perfectly in the small salon of the palais in accompaniment to a grand piano played by their choir master. Beautiful soprano voices and the boys obviously love singing judging by their expressions and demeanour. I highly advise if you ever have a chance to attend one of their touring concerts to take advantage. In the pictures you might deduce that I was fascinated by the crystal chandeliers!
Arriving back at the ship at about 3:45, we quickly went to the bar to pick up a beer and head for our balcony. The local swans have pegged us for suckers for food and come to visit. They are professional moochers! When we don’t give them more treats, they lift their wing feathers up like a basket to get our attention and cruise back and forth wagging their tails like enthusiastic puppies.
At 5:30 the ship sails out of Vienna and heads downstream towards Budapest leaving the swans behind. Several people are departing the ship tomorrow but we are so glad to be having an extension in Budapest and don’t
leave until Monday. We have become good friends with a couple from Newark who are going to be at the same hotel in Budapest and inquired about doing something together there.
Tomorrow morning we will be bussed into Budapest from our stopping point a little further upriver (because of the low water level) for a walking tour of the
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Jackie Hughes
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Vienna Boys Choir
What a wonderful experience! I have only hear the choir on recordings!