ural guy

Bratislava and breakfast in cabin. Finally have sun after a long strech of rainy days. one of my favorite statues. Partisans seem to have the squarest of jaws. Took an E-bike back up stream to Slovakia’s border with Austria, the Morava River. A few statues along the bike trail, and then 12ish kms out of town is Devin Castle. and a lighthouse.

All prices I saw had a Euro equivalent. If you have tap and pay on your Visa or Mastercard, your life will be easy. 95% of places had it, from Gluhwein vendors to market stalls to subway ticket machines. ALWAYS select local currency, and you're done. A bathroom was our only hurdle when at the markets in Vorosmarty Square. The Burger King bathroom did want 200 HUF's, (.50 USD) which we didn't have. A small souvenir shop changed 1 Euro for us, and the Mrs was ecstatic. We were only there 2 nights, and used tap/pay for everything else. If people have extra time, the zoo is well worth a visit, and you can watch the skaters by Hero's Square afterwards. The zoo stand took tap/pay for our two very good coffee americano's, $1.60 usd equivalent for both. Every place we went, communication was easy, people were friendly, down to Metro attendants showing us the direction to insert ticket to validate. Could have stayed a week. In Czech Republic, we did get Crowns as we were there 9 days. One ATM in Pilsen wasn't in a bank, and it was a roughly $6 fee, which Schwab refunded us. The other withdraws were made from bank ATM, inside the vestibule types, and fees weren't bad.

Correct. Her image is inset into the wall with a domed top, not sure if the pic shows that. And docked 2 ships from us, our first cruise ship from 2014, the Viking Jarl, on right. And enroute to Bratislava, from outside cabin view. Vantage did a great job with Thanksgiving dinner. I cleaned 2 plates worth. Lots of walking in Schonbrunn Palace Gardens to make up for.

I phone, it’s been raining so much the real camera has stayed in cabin.

Jazz- my visit to Mathausen yesterday may have put me in a pessimistic mood, and thinking more than is good for ones self. Never imagined a comment on lack of education in the US about our own history would be ‘ too political’.

We are in Vienna for almost 2 full days, arriving at noon Wednesday and sailing at 2300 today. The concert at the Mozart House is well worth attending. It’s in a small space, seats 50ish maximum, and has great acoustics with a domed ceiling. A string quartet played and my description can’t capture how special it was. Spouse very happy, I surprised her with tickets Performance space is in an old Convent. Mozart played in the same space. Earlier in the day we visited the Opera house. And these are the people who made the chandeliers for this opera house and one in NYC (not 100% sure here). Crunches for days, low carb diet.

Both Christmas markets we visited in Vienna were bustling last night. The stalls seem to have a higher quality of merchandise. Here there were quite a few items I could see getting for presents that people would be honestly happy to have, and not just some souvenir that they could buy anywhere in Europe. Both are very easy to get to by subways without changing lines. We are docked adjacent St Francis church, so really easy access to city center. The one market surrounds St Stephens Cathedral. It was great when the bells are ringing as you stroll along.

Linz market in full swing. The small one close to the river was still busy at 2000, the larger one by the train station, stalls were closing at 1900 as the rain was keeping people inside. I liked the little animatronic displays. The people who went to Salzburg said the markets were expensive. Strange juxtaposition between Santa and the nice lady. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the Frau Holle animatronic. Will google later to try and figure out the story. I just know that the little girl was crying as her dress was dirty, as a fox/wolf looked very concerned.

Thanks, not sure why that flipping happened. I’m on my phone, tried reloading, still inverted. I was knackered after the bike, but this was the first sun in awhile so I’m glad it paid off.

When I returned to the boat, the Arma Magna was behind us. A Viking ship was rafted to ours and Magna about matched both ships width combined. I’m on the River Splendor, Viking to my left, and AMA dwarfing both. Pretty Passau.

A bit of a different excursion from Passau, I took one of the E bikes up a bicycle trail on the Inn river, round-trip it was about 35 miles. The weather wasn’t great, 42f and some rain, but it was now or not at all. I road over the hydo dam at Inglin, then past Burg Weinstein, and Vornach Abbey The bike route was very good, ranging from smooth asphalt to peastone to single track. At times along the river and other times through fields. A nice break from touring with the audio vox in your ear, rolling along like cattle. In Sankt Florian I had a good lunch of Cordon Blue and boiled potatoes. And someone along the way had a little Lena. I tried to ride the train back, one conductor told me I could pay on the train, but when I boarded that train’s conductor said no, and I got off at next station (no fine). Not sure what happened, but I got about 6kms closer to ship, so that was nice.

Passau- looks like they are putting the final touches on, heavy work is done.

Notamermaid. Correct, boarded in Passau. They will take people to Regensburg for the tour tomorrow by bus and return them to Passau. Spouse and I will stay in Passau and explore a bit. We were told we boarded here for safety, I have no idea, just a passenger at this point. The independent part of our trip is over until we disembark in Budapest, so my thinking part is done! We originally boarded in Lindau, 3 km’s downtown, and saw Viking sliding into town. Good diner, happy to be onboard.

On board now, in Passau. Supposed to board in Regensburg. Pretty drive from Prague, snow along the route. Nice welcome lunch, feels so nice to finally being on ship, using April 2020 credits. Different coffee machines, nice cuppa. Side note: very happy with Raddison Blu in Prague. Our first 6 days in Czech, we were in nice apartments, but morning coffee was Folgers bags we brought, with something easy for breakfast. The Blu had a great spread AND an OJ machine that squeezes the oranges. Staff were super nice. Even with wet cobblestones we were walking 10 miles a day.

No, i was with 10th Mountain Division, just route security, guarding food distribution sites, etc. Silly me, I thought we were there due to famine. Nope, civil war with food deprivation as a weapon. one of many odd moments, our interpreter lived in the same apartment complex as my brother in Arlington, Virginia. State Department reviewed Somalias with student visas, and encouraged them to volunteer to help out. The locals hated the interpreters, they knew the ‘terps were part of the privilege, former ruling class who had the means to leave the country when it suited them. There but by the grace of God/Allah/Buddha go I.

Absolutely. No idea where the Horn of Africa was. Uncle Sam sent me to Somalia. Now can find it on a map/globe, whatever . Ditto Haiti and Panama. River Cruising: I can place European countries on a map, 94% success. A much nicer way to learn Geography.

https://www.army.mil/article/261759/fort_drum_honors_italian_pow_with_wreath_laying_ceremony_on_national_unity_day

Only thing with Brugge is I think September is still swamped with day tourist.

We stayed in Ghent and enjoyed our time there, easy train from Brussels. I would recommend not jumping around too much. Typing this in between packing up for our ‘jump’ day. You always seem to lose more time than you’d think going from city to city, hotel to hotel. 2 nights somewhere is really 1.5 days to liok around. Wherever you end up, if they have the chocolate on a stick for hot chocolate back home, stock up! They are amazing.

rcaruso- Passau is a favorite of ours, if you have time, there is a Roman Museum located where they have excavated part of their old settlement. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Notamermaid- I checked Regensburg, and the forecast shows rain Wednesday to Friday. Is that what your forecast shows, and would it be enough to keep everyone sailing without worrying for a bit? Thanks

The beer spa was a nice thing to do, you are in basically a wood jacuzzi with hops and barley, with a beer tap right there, accessible from jacuzzi. Skin does feel nice, but that could be from massage I lined up afterwards. I’m getting credits with the Mrs now for when I inevitably mess up later. Karlovy is a beautiful town to wander through, with a huge pedestrian zone and gorgeous architecture; would love to see the flowers in Spring. I love this mural, so much going on. Above the city, you can take a funicular up to Diane Tower for great views. They also have a small petting zoo and butterfly house, which we really enjoyed. Along with the simple pleasure of good Gulasch soup, with the thick bread and a side of boiled parsley potatoes for the hike down. Wonderful day, bus to Prague in am and we turn ourselves over to Vantage. Ma and I set a high bar for fun this first 6 days, hope they can maintain that

Thanks, my Christmas market memories are from long ago. Have to update my brain, we board on Saturday, and should catch some nice ones.

Layers. If you can work your lightweight jacket so you can have a fleece under it, and maybe a vest over, is what i go with. With the temperature fluctuations from morning to afternoon, on a bus to walking for an hour then into a museum, it’s nice to be able to take layers off as needed. Heavy coat, on /off, zipped up or down. Limited options. And i love my lightweight wool scarf. Best Scotland souvenir ever.

I work on a US Army base that had POW facilities, and also has POW cemetery. 1 Italian and 6 Germans are currently buried there. 1 Italian and 1 German were repatriated to their home countries. 4 November a wreath was placed at the Italian’s headstone, provided by their embassy, and placed by a Colonel with Italian Heritage. Last Saturday, the German-American club placed a wreath on their graves. Taps was played (that countries version). I can vouch for the care and respect these men are given: ‘Joes’ just like us GI’s, sent to do something not of their choice. And every year when those pictures are in the paper, I always forward to my old boss. He approved me installing a faux wrought iron fence behind the 7 remaining graves, to kinda highlight them. Maybe finessed some paperwork to have it flow through system unchallenged. Sometimes doing the right thing is just a bit outside of the dotted lines.