By Bonnie Carroll−
My journey up the Danube departed from Nuremberg following a charming German Mass in The Church of Our Lady and some delicious pastries in the city center. The Njord’s itinerary included stops in Regensburg, Melk, Passau, Munich, Vienna and Budapest. All of these cities played a part in the life of Empress Elizabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary. It was fascinating to know I was traveling a route the European royalty had traveled for centuries.


Regensburg means rain in German, and is a wonderful walking city with interesting Roman ruins, an historic castle, and rich history. The city center is filled with fine gift shops, including the Andreas Nuslan hat shop that designed hats worn by actor Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in the Disney film Alice in Wonderland, as well as stylish Bavarian hats for ladies and gentlemen. The Wurst Kitchen “Wurstkuche” by the river’s edge is a renowned foodie spot for fantastic sausages.


Our arrival in Vienna was amazing and the morning tour through the city was outstanding. During my own eight
hour run through all the places I love in Wien I had an opportunity to visit the Sisi Museum, interview the descendents of the Viennese royal perfume makers at J.B. Filz, relax in the garden of the Hofburg, and savor an amazing Viennese lunch in the elegant Hotel Sacher Rote Restaurant, complete with Tafelspitz and Sacher Torte. Following a tour of the Imperial Hotel, my ‘auf wiedersehen’ Vienna dinner was savored in the elegant Opus Restaurant, where Chef Rubert Schnait prepared one of his award winning five-star dinners, which was a memorable tribute to his culinary perfection.

My last visit to Hotel Imperial in Vienna was forty years ago, when the Russian army had just left, and the city was dark and sad. It was so exciting on this trip to see the beautiful colors of the tiles on the rooftop of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the perfect condition of the Hofburg and its grounds, and the restoration that had been done in the two most beautiful and beloved hotels in Wien. Strange as this sounds, my day in Vienna just happened to be the anniversary of the death of Elizabeth Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary. She was murdered by a lunatic while vacationing in Geneva, Switzerland when she was sixty years old. Sadly, she did not make the trip home to Vienna on the Danube, but in a special train car carrying her body through Hungary and Austria, and it was reported people could be seen sobbing at every station when the train was passing through. Written recollections of her funeral procession made it obvious she was as loved by her people as President John Kennedy was loved by every American, and the people grieved her shocking murder with the same depth of sorrow.


My second day began watching the Budapest Marathon from my hotel suite window, and then savoring a delicious Sunday brunch in the Gresham Palace Brasserie before walking across the beautiful Chain Bridge to ride the funicular up the hill to the Budapest Wine Festival. The best in food and wine from Hungary and the world was being sampled all around the palace grounds. The view from the funicular going to the top of Buda Palace offers an optimum spectacular view of the Danube, Chain Bridge and Four Seasons Gresham Palace. The Matthias Church at Buda Palace was the coronation site of “Sisi” and the Emperor as King and Queen of Hungary.

At 4:30 a.m. the hotel concierge helped me into a taxi and off I went to the Budapest airport to board my Air France flight for Paris, and on to Los Angeles. What a gift to experience the best of these great cities in Germany, Austria and Hungry. How much I appreciate all the sweet people who took care of me on the ship, as well as so many others I met in cities along the way.
After all is said and done, I think my desire to follow “Sisi” on her travels up the Danube to become the Empress of Austria and then Queen of Hungary was a brilliant move. Traveling along the Danube is the purest way to experience these authentic destinations, while also feeling a peaceful connection to those who traveled the calm blue waters before you. Experiencing the places that she loved so much left me with a special affection for the young woman who became Empress at sixteen, a young girl who went on to make such a remarkable place in history for herself.
In an effort to learn more about “Sisi” I became a part of the actual locations where she spent significant moments of her life, including a previous trip I took to Geneva, the city of her death. She has given me an understanding and appreciation for these historic destinations that is priceless because I have seen them through her eyes in the documentation of her poetry, and through my own eyes as her sister in travel.
