September 28

Tuesday, September 28
This morning we bid farewell to Budapest and started our journey to Vienna. Tom had everyone well organized and we left on schedule at 8:30. Our journey would take us through the Hungarian countryside via the Tihany Peninsula on Lake Balaton. This lake is central Europe’s largest lake. Although it is not particularly deep, it is about 70 km long and is about 5 km at it’s widest part. In the summer it is very popular with tourists from all over eastern Europe and from as far away as Russia. It is a popular wine district with excellent white wines being produced. We stopped and visited the Tihany Benedictine Abby. The Abby dates back to1055 and contains the world’s oldest document featuring the Hungarian language. There is a museum located in an adjoining building which featured a collection of photographs by a leading Hungarian photographer. This collection concentrated on life in that part of Hungary between 1960 and the present time. The pictures showed the people and their life styles. Lunch was arranged at a small restaurant in the village afterwards. Afterwards we headed to Vienna after dropping our local guide off near the Austrian boarder as she was returning to Budapest by train. We arrived at the hotel about 6:00 pm. We are at the Hilton Vienna Danube, situated on the river and we have a huge room on the 4th floor looking out over the river. An other fabulous property. Tomorrow is a full day with a city tour most of the day followed by dinner at the Schonbrunn Palace and a classical concert. I will report on the day in a later entry. Internet time is not free and the charge here is 10 euros for 1 hour. So I have to make the most of the time.