Uniworld River Beatrice, 4/10/16 Budapest to Passau

[eyeu]

You really gave such a comprehensive review of the trip!!! Love it!!

Maybe you should be our travel agent?? Love your descriptions as well as your photos. So much time to get it all together..and be traveling at the same time!

Thank you!

rick

[jpalbny]

Catching up on your report and loving it. Our electric was out all day yesterday and I felt lost not being able to use the computer.

 

Since you don't mind answering questions, I have another. Are the tram/bus stops in Budapest well marked? I'm having a bear of a time trying to figure out the transportation map.

 

Thanks Mimmy. We did find the stops to be reasonably well marked and I don't recall ever having trouble finding one. The map is a tad confusing, I agree, because it's a schematic map of the lines and stops but not always geographically accurate. Google maps has most of the metro, bus, and tram stops at their actual locations. It might supplement the transit system map.

 

Also, check their website at http://www.bkk.hu - it has a route planner where you can put in your origin and destination, and it will tell you where and how far to walk, what stop to take, how to switch lines, etc. Lastly there is a smartphone app (also called BKK) which allows you to do most of that from your phone.

 

 

You really gave such a comprehensive review of the trip!!! Love it!!

Maybe you should be our travel agent?? Love your descriptions as well as your photos. So much time to get it all together..and be traveling at the same time!

Thank you!

rick

 

Thanks much. My job was a lot easier this trip, because I convinced Chris that it was a lot of fun to label pictures (a la Tom Sawyer and the picket fence). So she labeled pictures on my laptop, while I wrote my blog on my tablet. On past trips I would label all the pictures, and then by the time I was done with that, I wouldn't have time to take good notes, or write anything for the blog. So lots of details were forgotten.

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 17 - Salzburg by evening

 

After visiting the Salzburg Museum at the New Residence, we took a closer look at the fountain in Residenzplatz.

 

 

The Cathedral is next door, forming one edge of Residenzplatz.

 

 

The entrance to the New Residence / Salzburg Museum.

 

 

We moved over to Domplatz for a frontal view of the Cathedral.

 

 

There is a statue of Mary in the middle of Domplatz, and the two angels on the church façade are holding a gold crown. If you find the right angle, it appears that the angels are placing the crown on Mary's head. (Thanks, Rick Steves)

 

 

We headed up to the Cathedral entrance, but they were manning the door, and pressuring for donations to enter - even though it's supposed to be free... We walked to the open side door and looked inside for free. Since we'd already seen the interior of the Cathedral from our Residence tour, no need to pay to go in again. We went next door to Kapitelplatz for views of the fortress. That's not me posing on the golden orb.

 

 

This weather is not very conducive to wandering outside - it's a touch chilly, and spitting moisture from the sky. Even the market stalls on the right side of the picture are closed. I guess we could try to make it to the Mozart Birth House for last entry at 5:30 - unless we want to save that for tomorrow.

Edited May 20, 2016 by jpalbny

[stonepebble]

No bother at all. The only thing I like more than talking about vacations is going on them. Since we don't have any planned for a few months, this is the next best thing! Enjoy.

 

And before someone asks...I don't work for Google either! :)

 

Well you could!!

 

I definitely will practice with the maps but I won't download any maps until we're within 30 days.

 

My husband is the transport guy and he usually does amazingly well (and armed with your map to the metro in Vienna) I think we'll get around everywhere!

 

I may just be adopting Chris' system!

 

We recently returned from a cruise to AU/NZ and had some excellent wines there...now I'm ready for Austrian & German ones!

 

Thanks again, JP...it's wonderful to feel like I have a pretty good handle on all of our ports!

 

Chris

[notamermaid]

Hello jpalbny,

 

Thank you for the detailed description of Salzburg. It is so long ago that I have been there I had forgotten what an interesting town it is. I found the names of the fountains. The one in the doorway underneath the arches is Herkulesbrunnen. The one in the square is simply the Residenzbrunnen. The horse certainly looks dramatic.

 

For some pictures of the inside of the Residenz there is a nice website: http://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/residenz/index.htm

 

notamermaid

[dramirez]

Hi JP,

 

I would like to thank you and Chris for the excellent job you've done on the pictures and posts in this thread. I don't know how you work and post to two threads simultaneously.

 

I also wanted to tell you that I liked your picture of the horse fountain better than the one from the website mentioned in Notamermaid's Residenz' website.

 

How did you decide on Uniworld as your river cruise line of choice? I know that you have cruised both the Rhine and the Danube. Do you think one river is better than another for a first time river cruiser? I understand this is subjective but I am trying to decide on an itinerary and having a hard time. Thanks for any tips you can provide (and yes - I know about the Sticky guides and the beginning of the River cruising forum.)

 

Thank you.

 

Diane

[jpalbny]

stonepebble, glad to help. Enjoy your trip!

 

Hello jpalbny,

 

Thank you for the detailed description of Salzburg. It is so long ago that I have been there I had forgotten what an interesting town it is. I found the names of the fountains. The one in the doorway underneath the arches is Herkulesbrunnen. The one in the square is simply the Residenzbrunnen. The horse certainly looks dramatic.

 

For some pictures of the inside of the Residenz there is a nice website: http://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/residenz/index.htm

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks, notamermaid! I liked the description of Herkulesbrunnen that I found online. It sounds dramatic! "In der dunklen Grotte des Residenzhofes kämpft Herkules mit dem Wasserdrachen."

 

So it's a water dragon!

 

Hi JP,

 

I would like to thank you and Chris for the excellent job you've done on the pictures and posts in this thread. I don't know how you work and post to two threads simultaneously.

 

I also wanted to tell you that I liked your picture of the horse fountain better than the one from the website mentioned in Notamermaid's Residenz' website.

 

How did you decide on Uniworld as your river cruise line of choice? I know that you have cruised both the Rhine and the Danube. Do you think one river is better than another for a first time river cruiser? I understand this is subjective but I am trying to decide on an itinerary and having a hard time. Thanks for any tips you can provide (and yes - I know about the Sticky guides and the beginning of the River cruising forum.)

 

Thank you.

 

Diane

 

Thanks - that's why it's taken over a month to finish this thread...and I'm still not done yet. :D Though at least when we're working, we have free time in the evenings and some weekends - when we're traveling, there's no extra time to post!

 

The Rhine and Danube are frequently recommended as the best two rivers for a first river cruise. I think both were great and it would be impossible to make a definite recommendation for one over the other. They both visit great scenery, stop in interesting towns steeped in fascinating history, encompass varying landscapes and cultures, and have plenty of tourism infrastructure.

 

Personally, we were not that excited by Amsterdam though many others love it. We much preferred Budapest, and Munich is great too. But the Rhine itinerary offers the opportunity to do a pre- or post-cruise stay in Switzerland, which is not to be missed. I don't think that you can go wrong with either river. It's really a choice of Austria vs. Germany, and Budapest vs. Alsace - and both are really great.

 

WRT why we chose Uniworld - it was mainly luck though we did do a little research pre-cruise, and they seemed like a good fit. The sticky thread, as you know, has a pdf file that compares the different cruise lines to brands of hotel and ocean cruiselines; we agree that Uniworld is similar to Silversea. There are so many choices out there, and so many people enjoy all of them.

 

We have stayed with Uniworld because of their beautiful ships, the excellent local food and wine, good excursions, and their all-inclusive policy. With AMEX Platinum, we also get $300 in OBC which helps pay for an optional excursion or two. I'm sure we'd have fun on several other lines, but we haven't sailed with anyone else and don't have any incentive to switch lines.

 

If I were looking at the different lines now, I'd review that file to see what might fit me best, then read reviews. I'd try to identify people who seem to travel like I do and see what they like. A good TA who knows what you like could also help. It can be frustrating to try and find enough detailed information about the itineraries - that is part of the reason that I put these trip logs out there. There are several other live-from threads for other cruise lines that can help as well - though I suspect that itineraries change from year to year too.

 

But in the end it's a gamble, so you just have to try it and see. Hope you do, and come back to tell us how you liked it.

Edited May 20, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 17 - Salzburg by evening

 

Just one more picture of the guy on the golden orb...

 

 

Apparently in Salzburg, there was a project to add one piece of new art to the city each year from 2002-2011. This golden orb was part of 2007's project. There seems to be some controversy over this: http://www.visit-salzburg.net/sights/salzburg-foundation.htm. More information on this particular work of art: http://salzburgfoundation.at/en/salzburg-art-project/stephan-balkenhol-2007/

 

Kapitelplatz also has a Neptunbrunnen, with the Hohensalzburg Fortress behind it forming an impressive backdrop.

 

 

We wandered over towards St. Peter's Church, passing by the famous water wheel, then the cemetery. We made a brief stop at Stiftkeller St. Peter first. This restaurant claims to be the oldest in Europe; it's existed here since at least 803. It was first mentioned in a document by one of Charlemagne's followers; supposedly, Charlemagne ate here. And that's not a typo - it was 803 - not 1803!. In the US we are impressed when some establishment says, "George Washington slept here," but this piece of history is almost 1000 years older!

 

 

After the restaurant, we went into St. Peter's Church. We had the place pretty much to ourselves.

 

 

A cool wall hanging - I like the effect of the skull used as a vessel. The second picture is one of the doors leading into the church.

 

 

We headed back to the Mozart Birth House but we'd missed the last entry at 5:30 by a few minutes. Oh well, we'll have to get to that tomorrow. We walked back to our hotel to dry off and regroup. Then we pushed our dinner reservation back until 8:00, grabbed an umbrella, and set out again to explore a few more things in town.

Edited May 20, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 17 - Salzburg by evening

 

A few interior shots of the hotel. It looked quaint, with lots of different wall hangings. Our room is through the door on the left, in the second picture. I like the low archways, the multiple floor levels (watch your step!), and the Old-world atmosphere that this place evoked.

 

 

After drying off and grabbing our umbrella (supplied in the room), we headed out into the mist for an evening stroll before dinner. We are still full from our big lunch that we ate just a few hours ago, so that's another good reason to have pushed dinner back a half-hour.

 

Getreidegasse is a little emptier now - those tourists who haven't left in their buses are probably at dinner now, or hiding from the rain. St. Blaise's Church sits up against the Monschberg Cliffs in this view from roughly our hotel's entrance.

 

 

From here, we headed towards the river and crossed over into the newer part of town. We headed for Steingasse, which was supposed to be an interesting street. It was - the street was narrow, cobblestoned, and it had a great "feel" to it as we walked along in the rain. There were shops and restaurants in the beginning, but then it got residential and quieter as we went on.

 

 

Once we finished walking along Steingasse, we went back to the river to look at the Old Town from that vantage point. Hohensalzburg towers over all - that's on tomorrow's agenda too. Hope we can get everything done and still catch our 1:00 train to Munich!

 

 

The weather was decidedly unpleasant, but at least the low-lying clouds made for some dramatic scenery as they blew by the mountains.

 

 

We crossed over another footbridge and back into the Old Town. We still had at least an hour to kill before dinner, and luckily there were a few more outdoor places to visit before it got too dark.

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 17 - Salzburg before dusk

 

We crossed the footbridge back into the Old Town, pausing to look at Michaelstor. This was part of an old city gate dating back to the early 1600s, largely destroyed in the late 1800s.

 

 

Michaelstor leads to Mozartplatz. This is right by the New Residence but we hadn't been paying attention earlier. You can see the banners for the museum on the right side of the picture. You'd have thought that we'd notice a statue like this when we were visiting the museum...I must have had my oblivious filter on.

 

 

We went back through Kapitelplatz to St. Peter's Church again. This time, we took a leisurely walk through the cemetery. Supposedly, Mozart's sister is buried here, as is Michael Haydn. We couldn't get close enough to read the names to confirm this.

 

 

A few more pictures of St. Peter's Church as we passed by a second time. One from the large square in front of it, showing Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background. The second is a decorative sundial over one of the gates in the square. Not a very effective timepiece today!

 

 

We headed towards Toscaninihof, where there are stairs that lead up to the Mönchsberg Cliffs. It was only an hour until dinner, but we figured we'd burn off a few more calories if we could.

 

 

Despite the bad weather, the stairs were somewhat sheltered. So we climbed partway up and tried to get an overview of the city, without climbing too high. We'd done a lot of climbing yesterday, and the miles were adding up today too!

[jpalbny]

Sunday, April 17 - Salzburg

 

The view from the stairs at Toscaninihof was pretty, despite the low cloud cover. One thing that impressed us was that there are a lot of churches in Salzburg! From left to right, the single spire of Franziskanerkirche, two of the Salzburger Dom, and one again of Stiftskirche Sankt Peter.

 

 

We headed down again for a closer view of the square. The viewing platform where we just stood is at the top of this wall. It's hard to see, but just above the tunnel is a lady in a red dress, placed in a niche in the rock wall. She is the second part of the 2007 piece of art. I have no idea why she goes with the man on the golden orb... More information here about the "Frau im Fels" statue.

 

 

Apparently they also do outdoor organ concerts in this square. Here's the organ pipes.

 

 

By now it was getting close to dinner time and we were definitely ready to be done with the constant drizzle. We headed back to the hotel, got into some fresh dry clothes, and went down to dinner.

 

We started with 2 glasses of Sekt, and a salad of fresh Spring asparagus. The white spears were dressed with oil and balsamic vinegar, and the dish was finished with thin slices of ham. Very tasty, and it made up for missing that salad last night.

 

For entrées, Chris had Tafelspitz with roasted potatoes. For those who might not know the dish, Tafelspitz is boiled beef that's sliced thickly and served with different tasty sauces. One that was served tonight was new to us - stewed apples with horseradish. Sounds strange but it was delicious! The herbed sour cream was yummy too. And the potatoes, creamed spinach, the rest of the vegetables...

 

 

I had a tenderloin cut of venison with cranberry relish and red cabbage. A bit similar to my first meal in Budapest, though the cabbage was shredded and not pureed (which was better), and there was a deliciously creamy mushroom sauce as well. Both of us were very happy with our selections!

 

 

We ordered a bottle of Blaufränkisch with dinner, which went quite well with everything.

 

 

Even though we were already full, we could not resist sharing a Kaiserschmarrem for dessert. This is a puffed pancake that is shredded and cooked again with fruit and raisins then sprinkled with powdered sugar. Yum...so filling, but so delicious. Luckily we shared one order, because it was hard to eat it between the two of us. So good though...

 

And as an extra bonus, when the bill came, all of the food and our bottle of sparkling water was included. The only thing that we had to pay for was the Sekt and wine. A really great deal, considering the prices.

 

Now, finally it was time for bed. We have a busy morning tomorrow if we want to see everything on our list before the 1:00 train to Munich. Hard to believe that after months of planning and anticipation, tomorrow is the last full day of our trip.

Edited May 20, 2016 by jpalbny

[dbncsuvet]

JP, I am catching up on your last few posts and saw where you said you took a taxi on disembarkation day. We will need to do this also, as we need transportation from Avignon to Les Baux. Did you ask an employee of the cruise to make that reservation for you? If so, how many days in advance do you need to do that?

 

Thanks!

[jpalbny]

JP, I am catching up on your last few posts and saw where you said you took a taxi on disembarkation day. We will need to do this also, as we need transportation from Avignon to Les Baux. Did you ask an employee of the cruise to make that reservation for you? If so, how many days in advance do you need to do that?

 

Thanks!

 

We filled out the disembarkation paperwork around Wednesday or so, indicating that we had a train ticket for 10:38 and needed to get to the Passau station. The front desk staff arranged the taxi for us and it worked well. I had originally hoped that we'd still be docked in the Altstadt within walking distance but no deal.

 

Probably best to let them handle taxi arrangements for you in Avignon as well - it's Sunday morning and the taxis won't exactly be lined up at the dock waiting for business. Prearranged is safest.

 

PS - isn't your cruise imminent? When do you leave?

Edited May 21, 2016 by jpalbny

[dbncsuvet]

Thanks so much! I didn't realize you could just get it arranged by filling out the disembarkation paperwork. That is easy!

 

Yes we leave on Wednesday for Paris! We are doing a few days there before taking the TGV to Lyon on Sunday. I am super excited! I have looked back through your review from the Catherine to help me prepare!

[jpalbny]

Thanks so much! I didn't realize you could just get it arranged by filling out the disembarkation paperwork. That is easy!

 

Yes we leave on Wednesday for Paris! We are doing a few days there before taking the TGV to Lyon on Sunday. I am super excited! I have looked back through your review from the Catherine to help me prepare!

 

Have a great time! We loved SS Catherine...

 

I'd advise you to check in with the front desk early in the cruise, and ask them for suggestions as to how to get to Les Baux. I only suggest this, because it's a little further from Avignon to Les Baux than the quick taxi trip to the train station in Passau was for us. I'm sure that they will be very helpful - getting a taxi for that distance should be easy. In fact, our ship-arranged transfer to Marseilles airport was actually a minivan taxi. That's much further away.

 

Just best to get that squared away early, so you can enjoy the rest of the cruise (as I am sure that you will).

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 18 - Salzburg

 

We were up early for breakfast this morning, though we weren’t terribly hungry after last night's big dinner. The nice buffet breakfast at our hotel was included with our room rate, so we stopped by and had some coffee and a bit of food. We headed out a little after 8.

 

It was spitting a little more rain than yesterday so we took two umbrellas this time. We crossed over the river on the footbridge from last night, and headed straight to St. Sebastian’s cemetery - but it did not open until 9, and we were much too early. We looped back to Mirabellplatz to see the gardens, which were pretty even in the rain.

 

 

There was a well-known Pegasus statue off to the side of the Palace.

 

 

The Zwerglgarten was interesting. Here we are at the entrance.

 

 

And yes, between the rain and clouds, it's cold enough for gloves today! Further on, there are a number of statues - supposedly modeled after real people who lived in the Archbishop's court. For more information - here is a link.

 

We wandered through the garden, looking at the odd statues and dodging the puddles and raindrops.

 

 

Time to head into the Palace itself and try to find the Marble Hall. We still have 10 minutes until the cemetery opens, so we may as well finish up at Mirabell.

[stonepebble]

stonepebble, glad to help. Enjoy your trip!

 

Oh I'll be back with lots more I'm afraid!

 

Sorry to take you back to Vienna (I don't get to go to Salzburg!!).

 

I've been looking at how we're going to get around Vienna and I did save your map to the nearest station from the Danube.

 

On all the maps I can find the first U stop is Reumannplatz...I know this may be dumb...but is that the same as Vorgartenstrasse?

 

Also...I'm being a little lazy here...can you help me get from the Danube to the Donauturm and from the Danube to Schonbrunn?

I'm meaning just the U stops.

I did read your post about the bus from the U to the Donauturm.

 

Thx yet again,

Chris

[jpalbny]

stonepebble, glad to help. Enjoy your trip!

 

Oh I'll be back with lots more I'm afraid!

 

Sorry to take you back to Vienna (I don't get to go to Salzburg!!).

 

I've been looking at how we're going to get around Vienna and I did save your map to the nearest station from the Danube.

 

On all the maps I can find the first U stop is Reumannplatz...I know this may be dumb...but is that the same as Vorgartenstrasse?

 

Also...I'm being a little lazy here...can you help me get from the Danube to the Donauturm and from the Danube to Schonbrunn?

I'm meaning just the U stops.

I did read your post about the bus from the U to the Donauturm.

 

Thx yet again,

Chris

 

Reumannplatz is one terminus of the U1 line, but not the same as Vorgartenstrasse. It's all the way on the other side of Vienna. Vorgartenstrasse is northeast of the city center.

 

Danube to Donauturm - the bus to the Donauturm runs between the two U-Bahn stations Alte Donau and Neue Donau. We took the U-Bahn to Neue Donau to catch the bus when we did this 3 years ago, but I think from the ship you'd have an easier time taking the U1 two stops out of town to Alte Donau, and catching the bus from there. Should be very fast.

 

To Schoenbrunn, you'd need the U4 line. You can take the U1 into town and change over to the U4 at Schwedenplatz (3 stops). If you miss that, the two lines meet up again at Karlsplatz.

[stonepebble]

 

Reumannplatz is one terminus of the U1 line, but not the same as Vorgartenstrasse. It's all the way on the other side of Vienna. Vorgartenstrasse is northeast of the city center.

 

Danube to Donauturm - the bus to the Donauturm runs between the two U-Bahn stations Alte Donau and Neue Donau. We took the U-Bahn to Neue Donau to catch the bus when we did this 3 years ago, but I think from the ship you'd have an easier time taking the U1 two stops out of town to Alte Donau, and catching the bus from there. Should be very fast.

 

To Schoenbrunn, you'd need the U4 line. You can take the U1 into town and change over to the U4 at Schwedenplatz (3 stops). If you miss that, the two lines meet up again at Karlsplatz.

 

Ok...so I am feeling stupid, but I promise it was just as many stops to the squares!! Just from the wrong side of town!

 

Thanks for the help with directions as well.

 

It's going to be a busy day with trying to get to Schoenbrunn and still do at least some of Vienna!

 

btw You're post on the different river cruise companies was so thoughtful!!

 

Chris

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 18 - Salzburg

 

We went into the Mirabell Palace and looked around for the Marble Hall. At first we didn't see anything, then we saw a small sign near a doorway leading the way. We went in and climbed two flights of stairs, for a quick overview.

 

 

Not much else to do at Mirabell, so we walked back to St. Sebastain's Cemetery, which was now open. We saw Mozart's wife's grave, which is the big attraction here. There was also a chapel in the cemetery.

 

 

One other interesting grave (to us) was Paracelsus - a famous 16th Century physician who seemed ahead of his time. He could cure leprosy, dropsy (heart failure), and gout, among other things. Fairly advanced for his time - now we need at least three kinds of specialists for these conditions!

 

 

Lots of funerary monuments lining the outer walls too.

 

 

We left the cemetery and headed back out into the drizzle. Along the way, I couldn't help but being amused at the dog parking space.

 

 

Back across the river now, to the Mozart birth house that we missed yesterday. Our train leaves in four hours...and we still have to get to the Hohensalzburg fortress this morning as well!

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 18 - Salzburg

 

From St. Sebastain's, we headed back across the river to the Mozart birth house, which was open for us this time. It was also free with the Salzburg card.

 

 

The kitchen is set away from the living quarters because of the risk of fire.

 

 

No pictures allowed in the rest of the house so it makes for a quick review. Lots of history to read about and plenty of personal artifacts, letters, and other memorabilia to look at. But we skimmed through it and were out a little after 10:00, ready to storm the fortress.

 

Both the fortress entry and the funicular ride up were included with the Salzburg card. We wandered through the area for a decent amount of time, and enjoyed a few vistas despite the low clouds. This picture is a stark contrast to the one posted by acwmom a while ago...I am envious of the weather in her picture! Rumor has it that there are mountains here!

 

 

A few more shots of the buildings here. Once you're up here, it looks like a small town instead of a fortress. As is common with these fortresses, the structure had been modified numerous times over the years and various features were added and removed.

 

 

Some nice decorative architectural elements on St. George's Chapel.

 

 

We toured the museum here (no pictures) which helped a little with understanding the history of the Castle. Construction started in 1077, so there were many more details than we had time to read about.

 

There were also some military exhibits, including one set of dioramas about WWI. They offer guided tours but we didn't want to spend too much time, as we have to get packed and be on the bus back to the train station by noon or so. We went through at our own pace, hitting the highlights.

Edited May 23, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 18 - Salzburg, finishing up

 

We found a few vistas of the city from up on high.

 

 

In front of the Castle, there is a nice viewing platform as well.

 

 

Almost 11:00 now so we've stayed as long as we think we can. It was time to look for the footpath down, which was a little hard to find. This first gate looks promising...a little further on, we pass under the freight elevator. This is the original funicular railroad to the Castle, called the Reißzug. It was built circa 1500 (!), and was originally used to get heavy building materials to the top of the hill. It's still in use, though it is still only used to transport goods, not people. The funicular that we rode is from the 1890s, which makes it brand new in comparison!

 

 

We walked down from the Castle along the steep footpath. In the rain, it was borderline slippery but we made it down intact. Since we'd made good time, we headed into the Panorama museum which we had missed yesterday, since it's included with the Salzburg card.

 

This was a brief stop; the panorama is a large painting from 1829, showing the city of Salzburg from the vantage point of Hohensalzburg Castle. It's displayed as a 360-degree panorama, and to see it, you climb up into the middle of a circular structure. The painting encircles you as you stand there, and you can turn around and see the whole thing. Since we had the viewing platform to ourselves, I tried the 360-degree panorama setting on my camera.

 

 

Back to our hotel around 11:30 to pack. I liked the street signs along Getreidegasse - even the Golden Arches had the right style!

 

 

We were all packed and checked out by noon, and headed to the bus stop with time to spare. Even though the bus to the station was 10 minutes late, we still had enough time. At the train station, we shopped for some lunch stuff, and got a package of cold cuts and two pretzel rolls for under 5 Euros. Not bad! We hopped on our train and found a seat with a table, so we could have our lunch easily.

 

The train left on time but slowed along the way and got behind schedule. It got very crowded at Rosenheim, but we eventually went on to Munich. The train stopped at Munich Ostbahnhof first, which confused everyone. I had expected it, because I’d looked at the itinerary ahead of time, and I'd seen that Ostbahnhof was a scheduled stop. Apparently others had not.

 

But the onboard information added to the confusion because the monitors said that we were already at the Hauptbahnhof. Apparently the monitors were going based on the time rather than location - so by schedule we should have been at Hauptbahnhof already, but we clearly weren’t there yet because the signs on the platform said Ostbahnhof.

 

I think it even confused some Germans; unfortunately I was not confident enough in my German speaking to tell them that they should wait for the next stop. We stayed on for the proper stop, though, and arrived at the Munich Hauptbahnhof, ready for one last night of fun before we head home.

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 18 - Munich

 

We arrived at the Charles Hotel, just a few minutes walk from the Hauptbahnhof, and checked in. I had not booked this hotel through AMEX Platinum for two reasons. One, I had found a cheaper rate on the hotel's website, and two, I specifically did not want a food & beverage credit that we'd feel obligated to use - even though the Charles has a great restaurant. We preferred to visit the Spring Festival and find our food there.

 

The view from our room was quite nice. We were on the fifth floor and our room overlooked the Alter Botanischer Garten.

 

 

We had no set agenda today. The only thing that we wanted to do was visit the Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival), which is held at the Oktoberfest site. We decided that we'd get a little more walking in, so we didn't bother taking the U-Bahn to Theresienwiese; we walked it. The trip was pleasant enough and didn't take too long.

 

Once we got there, it was certainly a nice festive carnival atmosphere. There were three or four large food and beverage tents, lots of festive decorations, and plenty of folks in Lederhosen walking about. This is the only lion in a Dirndl that I've ever seen, but Chris wisely pointed out that lionesses should not have manes.

 

 

Hmm. After making a circuit of the grounds, we found a carousel bar that was to our liking. I jumped up and we ordered drinks.

 

 

A few other poses followed as we sipped our drinks, watched the crowds go by, and got into the spirit...

 

 

There was a bumper cars ride next door and we amused ourselves by watching the kids smash into each other. Soon it was time to go hunting for food!

 

 

We went back to a tent that had looked promising on our first circuit.

 

 

We headed inside - time for dinner. It looked fun in here!

[jpalbny]

Monday, April 18 - Munich

 

The Hippodrome was a huge beer and food tent with live music. We wandered the edges looking at the food offerings; the kitchens were busy and things smelled great, so we sat down and took in our surroundings while checking the menu. It wasn't packed, but there were plenty of folks here already. It was fun to see lots of folks on their second liter stein already, by 5 PM.

 

 

We joined in, of course.

 

 

We had a snack - a platter of Schweinshaxe, and some potato salad to go with our beer and wine.

 

 

A fun time was had by all. There was table service, it was quick, and we were glad that we'd managed to get here. However, I was running low on Euros because there had not been a branch of the right bank on our way, so I hadn't replenished at an ATM. Eventually we headed back to our hotel.

 

 

We walked back to the hotel and repacked; with some adjustments, we were able to get everything comfortably into our two bags without expanding them. We went to the bar for our apertivo, which was included as a bonus in our room package. We had two cocktails while we planned our evening.

 

 

We headed out along the northern edge of old town to find the ATM we needed, then into Old Town for dinner at Zum Augustiner - one of our old favorites. Tasty fresh asparagus with a small Schweinschnitzel for Chris, and roast suckling pig in gravy for me. Some Weißbier for Chris, and Dunklesweißbier for me. All of our favorites, and that was enough food and drink for the night.

 

After that it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for bed. The hotel looks nice in the evening, all lit up.

 

 

Our flight home tomorrow is scheduled for 10:55, so we figure that we need to leave the hotel by 8:00 to catch the S-Bahn to the airport.

 

I was awoken around 11:30 by a text message, letting me know that our flight will be delayed by almost an hour tomorrow morning. Actually this is good news, because we can sleep in a big longer! Since our layover in Atlanta is 4 hours, no worries there about a little delay. An extra hour in Munich is a fair trade for a shorter layover in Atlanta. An extra day would be better but I guess we need to get home some time.

Edited May 23, 2016 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Tuesday, April 19 - Home

 

We slept in this morning - all the way until 6, then got up and got ready for breakfast. The estimated flight delay now was only 30 minutes so we decided to head out around 8:30.

 

The breakfast buffet was as nice as we remembered from last time, but service was oddly slow in that it took over 10 minutes to get coffee. I had been looking forward to their Weißwurst, pretzels, and sweet mustard all trip and they didn't disappoint… The rest of the spread was meats, cheeses, sweets, egg dishes... All delicious! Afterwards, we grabbed our bags and headed out.

 

The walk to the Hauptbahnhof was easy and we discovered a closer entrance to the station that led pretty directly to the S-Bahn, which saved us a bit of walking, and our route had one fewer street to cross. My chip Visa card wouldn’t work to buy S-Bahn tickets but I had the cash. I remembered that some machines in the Hauptbahnhof had done this in the past, and if you switch machines, you can usually find one that will work. Since I had some coins to get rid of, I didn’t bother using another machine.

 

The S-Bahn to the airport (S8 line) was slow, but we arrived a little after 9:45. Made it to the check in counter and then through security, both of which were quick, before settling in and relaxing in the BA lounge for a bit. The lounge was quite out of the way but we persisted and finally found it, then enjoyed a little sparkling wine while waiting to see how long the delay would be.

 

They finally called up to the lounge to let us know that the flight to Atlanta was boarding, about minutes later than they had estimated when we'd checked in. But we timed our return from the lounge very well; they were finishing boarding business class as we arrived so we just walked up to the gate and on.

 

The flight home was relaxing albeit long; I’m always surprised how much further it is from Europe to Atlanta compared with even Detroit. Food was nice and we had some wine, relaxed a bit, and dozed. A few food shots from the meal. Crab salad and shrimp cocktail.

 

 

Potato salad and the main course - pork tenderloin. Love the pretzel rolls too.

 

 

And save room for dessert!

 

 

It was such a long flight that I still had time for 3 movies – Mr. Holmes, Absolutely Anything, and Victor Frankenstein. Soon we were making our descent into Atlanta. We had managed to make up the time in the air and arrived pretty much on-time, so our hopes of a shorter layover were dashed.

 

We breezed through Global Entry, and then amazingly enough our bags were already arriving as we approached the baggage carousel! That has never happened in any airport when arriving from overseas since we got Global Entry, so we grabbed them, went through customs, and had them rechecked in a jiffy.

 

Security to enter the domestic gates was the usual slow affair; TSA Precheck doesn't get you anything here but the wait wasn't really that bad - it probably took 15 minutes. Not a big deal as we had time to spare. We headed out into E terminal and spent a bit of time in the lounge before leaving at 6 for a light dinner. By now we were getting pretty tired so we split two sushi rolls and only had one glass of wine each.

 

The flight to Albany was on-time and we had some typical domestic "wine" pre-takeoff (heavily oaked Chardonnay - where is my Gewurztraminer?). A few snacks and soon we were in Albany, preparing to land 20 minutes early. Luggage delivery was again very fast, and we were in our car heading out of the airport at the time we'd been scheduled to land. This meant that we had time to grab a few groceries before getting home, where the cats were glad to see us. We were in bed asleep before 11:30 PM. A great end to a great trip!

 

So four years after we had originally planned to cruise the Danube, and three years after the floods prevented our second try, we finally made it. It was a great trip and we have lots of fun memories...and lots of places to go back to. Thanks for following along and for those of you who do this itinerary in the future, we hope that you have as much fun as we did!

Edited May 23, 2016 by jpalbny