Our Elbe Adventure

[pacmom]

Once we had our passports, thanks to our congressman, we packed and set off for Germany. Once again, Heathrow was a nightmare. A 15 minute bus ride between terminals. Now BA has a new rule--only one carry on. You must get it all in one bag. It was pure mayham--people repacking in line, being pulled out of line to finish. That was the first of 3 security checks before we boarded our flight to Berlin. Mind you this was before the attack in Scotland. We arrived in Berlin and took the bus into the city--it stopped quite close to our hotel. We booked our own extra days in Berlin at the Melia. It was brand new and really wonderful. This was also where the cruise would spend 2 nites---we found this out after we booked our own. That afternoon we went to the zoo, specifically to see their new polar bear Knute. Well, he had some type of press committment, so wasn't on display. We did see a four week old hippo, so cute. After the zoo, we went back to the hotel and had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant that had been recommended by friends. It was excellent. Very early to bed that night.

 

The next morning, we took a 3 hour river cruise. Didn't even think to ask if there would we head phones for the commentary. There weren't--it was only in German. The guide did give us a printed commentary to follow. We had purchased the Welcome to Berlin booklet which gave discounts on the cruise and best of all a three day transportation pass. That afternoon we went to Checkpoint Charlie and to the wonderful museum of the same name. For those of us who were very young during WWII, it was very enlightening. It is gutwrentching to see in pictures, film and words what happened during this time. Dinner that evening at another small restaurant near the hotel--Italian this time. Great pizza Marguerita.

 

Friday morning, we met our tour director--a young man named Chritsian.

We were given pink ribbons for our luggage and told we would be on bus 1 for the duration of the trip. We then went off to explore more of Berlin. A trip to the famous KaDeWa departmant store was in order. It was remarkable. The food court was better than Harrod's. I needed a good cup of tea, so we stopped. I had tea and husband had coffee---bill was 12 euros. We wandered, found a travel fair down the street and shared the first of a few brats, sooooo good. After a light lunch we went to the East side gallery. That is the remaining part of the WALL still standing. It has been painted with peace themes.

 

Saturday, we were on Vikings dime. The buffet breakfast was excellent--met a few of our fellow cruisers. After breakfast, we were taken on a bus tour of Berlin. Our guide, Ruth, was a former schoolteacher. She had grown up in East Berlin. She was excellent. After the tour, we went to the Pergoman museum. We had lunch there in the outdoor cafe. Then went in to see the Pergoman altar and the gate of Ishtar. So remarkable. It must have been for me to be able to keep my DH in an un a/ced building for more than 2 hours. We walked to the Brandenberg gate in the early evening. Then had to pack and be ready to start to the boat the next am.

 

That is about all I can write for tonite. Pat

[kftw]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. I am looking forward to your next installment.

[steamboats]

Pat,

 

I hope you had a wonderful cruise experience and I´m waiting for more to come!

 

steamboats

[pacmom]

Going to a wedding this afternoon---next installment tomorrow. Pat

[pacmom]

Sunday morning after another wonderful buffet breakfast at the Melia, the pinks went to their bus and the blues to theirs. Ruth was again our guide. We were making 2 stops on our way to Magdenberg to board the boat--really three. Before Potsdam, we came to that famous bridge where the spies were traded. The best known being Francis Gary Powers. We arrived at Potsdam, and took a tour of Frederick the Great's castle, San soucci. If you have been to Versailles, you would think that someone shrunk it and moved it. It is not as vast, but really beautiful for a "man's" domaine. Frederick didn't like his wife--so she had a palace in Berlin--he in Potsdam where he and his pals could philosophize to their heart's content. The palace was beautiful--he had his quarters and his friends each had a room on the other side of the palace. After the tour we had some time for a drink and seeing the vendor wears. Back on the bus the next stop was the palace were the Potsdam Convention took place. This was an outside look only. While in potsdam we were given free time, about 1 1/2 hours to have lunch and wlk thru the town..The duth archeture (sp?) was beautiful. Noticed a lot all thru our trip. On the pink bus, we were about 20 Americans and 14 Brits and 2 Scots. Great mix.

 

We arrived at the boat. Check in went smoothly. We had picked our cabin number last year, so no surprise there. We knew the cabin would be small, even with the one bed closed on the wall. A few had been to Russia and thought them the Taj. Those of us who have been on other river cruises knew differently. The room was very clean, but worn. It definitely hasn't had a recent revovation. The bathroom was fine. The a/c was erratic. Some cabins froze, and some like ours roasted. After 3 days, they took our a/c apart and discovered a badly clogged filter. Replacement improved thigs a bit. The elevator is actually a chair lift--worked well for those who needed it. We finally found room for all our belongings. Tight squeeze, since we planned on 3 weeks in Europe, but we managed.

 

THE BEDS. All cabins were exactly alike!!!! One bed was a day bed and the other pulled down from the wall. The mattresses must have been the original---they were not comfortable by any standard. 4 different rates were charged for these cabins because of location. One woman would not come to dinner the first nite--she spent the evening crying because of the room. The cabins need an overhaul badly.

 

The lounge. The bar nicely placed. There was plenty of room--we were sailing with 101 passengers. These chairs and couches were also bloody uncomfortable. The dining room---lovely. Tables for from 4 to 8. Always good table companions. The sun deck----also a plus. Large canopy with comfortable chairs and lounges. Also an oversized chess game.

 

The crew was wondeful--so pleasant and willing to help with your needs. The receptionist, Jan, was always smiling and ready to help.

 

The food---very good, except for some reason, they couldn't seem to keep the eggs warm, let alone hot. So I learned to order blueberry pancakes, sooo good. They served lunch in 2 places--the dining room if you wanted a full meal and the lounge if you only wanted soup, salad and sandwiches. We had lunch in the dining room only once, the rest the lounge was great. For the dinners there was always the usual choice of meat, fish and vegetarian. The quality of the food very good and the quantity was good. When you have 4-5 courses, you really don't need large portion. One day while cruising we had "typical" snacks on the sun deck--a big hit. Them they decided to serve the light lunch up there. Also a nice change.

 

Installment number 3 tomorrow. Pat

[Venturagirl]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a complete description of your trip. I am landlocked this year and you are providing my river cruise fix! I don't even mind hearing about the negative things, although I am shaking my head at the lady who wouldn't come to dinner because she didn't like her cabin. Did she stay in her room bemoaning the room she didn't like??? Oh, my....

[CincyAL]

Maybe I missed it, what was the name of the ship?

[pacmom]

Cincy Al,

 

You didn't miss it, because I never said. Viking only has one boat on the Elbe. She is the Clara Schumann--buit in 1991. Pat

[CincyAL]

Based upon your keen observations, I think that we will wait for newer vessel. Viking has a new fleet on almost all routes.

[pacmom]

Installment number 3

 

Monday---Christian, our tour director, gave a very informative lecture about Martin Luther. They also had a pashmina market on board--price not bad $14.50 per. Couldn't find colors I would wear. It was raining, so remained in the lounge.

After lunch, we had a tour to Worlitz Park. This was a summer residence for royalty. Beautiful gardens. Here we had 2 options: tour the palace or take a lovely boat ride thru the gardens. We opted for the latter. So peaceful and relaxing. On the way back to the boat, we had a tour of Dessau by bus. Passed the reproduction of the Bauhaus factory--bombed during WWII because of some of the things they were making. The marked the end of the movement in Germany. Some of the artists settled in the US.

 

The captain's reception was that evening--typical of all we've been to!

 

Tuesday. It was our morning in Witterberg. I really looked forward to this because my DIL works at our Wittenberg (OH). It is a beautiful medieval town. We saw everything Luther. The tour thru his home was very good. Still not enough time to really appreciate the town. Did manage to slip away for a few minutes and find some knitting yarn.. Back on board for lunch. We tried the light lunch. It was very good--enough variety and plenty of food.

The afternoon was spent sailing the biosphere--very rural, bucolic. Saw a lot of birds. After dinner, we went on an evening tour of Torgau. This was all exterior. The castle was beautiful in the twilight. We wandered thru town on the way back to the boat. Passed the castle moat with the bears--3 left all female. We were then given goulash soup. Terry, DH, had a bowl and I just had a sip. 10pm just too late for me to eat.

 

Wednesday---Slept thru breakfast. More sailing until we reached Meissen. Toured the "factory" Very interesting to wait these artisans work. Then sticker shock set in at the shop.. We were then given a choice to see the castle and climb down 200 steps or just go by bus to the town square. Guess which option we picked. We arrived in Meissen later tha scheduled, so when we got to the town square, the shops were getting ready to close. Closing was 6pm, not 6:01.

 

After dinner, there was a musical quiz--our team tied for second.

 

We met some fascinating people on this trip--a very congenial group. On one of our sailing days, I spoke with a gentleman was is an archeoligist. His speciality is pre-history southwest Indians--especially the Anasazi (?sp.). Great learning experience for me.

 

Dresden is next---tomorrow. Pat

[letteanne]

Pat,

I will be checking in for your next installment "Dresden" .

Glad you had a safe & great trip.

Letteanne

[pacmom]

Dresden---a veritable pheonix--rising from the ashes. We started the day with a driving tour around Dresden, both the old and the new. The residential areas that were not affected by the bombing were beautiful. The light rain that had been falling turned into a downpour. Fortunately we still had some riding to do. Our guide pointed out the apartment building that her grandmother had spent the night in during the bombing. The rain let up a bit, so we were not totally soaked by the time we got to the Green Vault. Our guide was able to take us thru the many treasure rooms. It was just beautiful. The crown jewels are in another place, but tickets are hard to get. After we finished in the Green Vault, it was still raining. Our guide walked us to an office building with a sheltered overhang. She wanted to tell us about the things we could do during the afternoon and how to get back andn forth to the boat. She stopped in front of a line of bratwurst stalls. Just had to sample one while we waited for the return trip to the boat. Back on board, dry clothes and a bite of lunch. Then off to wander Dresden. On our way we passed the Deilmann Dresden. They were moored just a bit up from us. We follwed the guide's directions and found ourselves at the newly rebuilt "Our Lady" church. It was spectacular. Also went into the Holy Cross church and the Catholic cathedral.. We went into the Swinger Palace courtyard. Also stopped in a music store and found a small shaker for our percussionist son. We try to bring him something made in the area from our trips. We also walked past the 25,000 tile wall that showed the lineage of the rulers from that part of Germany.

 

At some point, Christian gave a lecture about the flooding of 2002.. Very informative. He showed pictures of the towns we visited and what they were like before, during and after the flood. This was really brought home to us when DH and I opted out of the 45 min. bus ride to see the Elbe valley from a very high vantage point. Instead, we walked around the village of Bad Shandau. There was a church built in the early 1600s. We went in and saw the pictures of the damage and recovery from the flooding.

 

Sorry I have gotten ahead of myself. Dresden has made a remarkable recovery. I realize it has been 60 years, but considering the rubble left after the bombing, it is truly remarkable. The parkland is lovely. They have tried to rebuid not just starkly modern, but also some period places. They are renovating the buildings put up by the Russians--the rows and rows of flats are being done over so that they are not as drab.

 

That's all for tonite. Tomorrow, we leave Germany.

[pacmom]

On the Friday of the cruise, we sailed in the am. At 10:30 am we were invited up on deck to sample a variety of German snacks and beers. It was chilly so I retreived the wool throw from the cabin and snuggled in for the morning. Have always wanted to sit in a deck chair with a throw over me and watch the world go by. Since so many of us were up on deck, they decided to serve the light lunch up there. The captain also opened the bridge for a tour.

 

At about 1pm we arrived in Bad Shandau--already told you about that. My knee and fear of heights kept me from going on the tour.

 

This was also the farewell dinner--nice touch a choice of salmon or beef.

 

We are in Decin--saw 2 more Deilmann boatd moored--the Chopin and the Katerina von Bora. We were visited by Czeck officials for the passport check---all were good.

 

Saturday dawned and was just lovely. We had our debarkation talk--very well done. Even supplied us with a map of Prague. We had 3 generations in one family in the crew--a sailor, his father the captain and sailing us thru Czeck waters the captain's father, the other captain.

 

After lunch, we had a tour of Litomerice--the only thing open was the winery---Churches, locked and shops shut at noon. Such a shame, we tourists definitely like to support the local economy. We did stop for a drink, while we waited to go to church that evening. Got back to the boat in time for dinner. The church was very small, seemed crowded with about 50 people. Of course everyone knew we were tourists and many smiles greete our departure.

 

We have had the corporate operations manager on board, but he never mingled with the passengers.

 

Tomorrow, Prague.

[pacmom]

Prague is very old world. We had a very good tour of parts of the city. Our guide was a retired bio-chemist. The archeture is wonderful. We broke for lunch on our own and found a small Italian rest.--had pizza. We shared one. It was brought on 2 plates. We then regrouped and went to the castle area. By this time is was quite warm. As a group we went into St.Vitus Cathedral. Some opted to stay back at a cafe--I joined them after the Cathedral The rest walked around part of the castle grounds. We then went to the Hilton, where our rooms were ready. Nice touch--we were given 2 small bottles of water a day by the hotel. We rested and then walked around the corner to a restaurant recommended by Christian, tour director and our guide. Most of our bus was there. The food was wonderful, the beer cold and the bill less than $20 for both of us. Back to the hotel and passed out. The name of the rest. U Cheska Vla I think. If anyone needs directions, I can give them.

 

Monday morning---After a wonderful buffet breakfast, we got our 3 day transportation pass and headed back to the castle. Got on a tram and discovered we were going the wrong way. So we got off and got on going the right way. It was crowded abd you know what happened next. DH wallet was stolen. He had on one of those safari vest with alll the pockets. Wallet was zipped in the top pocket and due to the crowd, he was jostled and when they got off at the next stop, so did his wallet. Very little money, but credit card and atm card. Back at the Hilton, the concierge very promptly took care of all the phone calls. We had our Capitol one card and Visa replaced it by the next afternoon. We spent the rest of the day walking around the old town and across the Charles Bridge. It was still very warm. Stopped a few times for drinks. It was a very quiet day to say the least. We met people 2 nites later that had the same thing happen on their way to the castle.

 

Prague was very crowded with all kinds of tours, many American school kids. Heard more English being spoken than we did in Germany. The little side streets became very crowded.

 

Tuesday was laundry day..Dropped it off and then went up to the castle. No issues this time. It rained on and off most of the day. The castle area was interesting. We took the tram further up to go to the brewery St. Norbert. Excellent goulash. Rained quite heavily while we were at lunch. Back down by Wenceslas Sq. to pick up our laundry and stopped at Cellarius for some wine to bring home. We had dinner in the Jewish sector--very good. We walked a lot. There were days when it was more than 10,000 steps according to my trusty pedomater.

 

Wednesday we went to the market and found some gifts for grandchildren and some strands of beads for me. Also some chocolate. We walke in and out alleys and arcades and saw some of the most beautiful amber. Didn't buy any because we're going to the baltic next spring. Finally found the perfect crystal decanter for a special wedding gift. That evening we took a dinner cruise with Martin Tours. Since it stays light so late, it was worth it. The food was mediocre. There is another we found that sounded good literally--a jazz dinner cruise.

 

Tomorrow--final installment Vienna. Pat

[pacmom]

Thursday 28 June---our twins 27th birthday. We took a cab to the train station and were met by a very scruffy looking porter who was a wonderful help. He took us to the ticket counter, assuming we would travel 1st class. We weren't, so he showed us where to buy our tickets. That accomplished, we had a light breakfast in the restaurant. The 2nd class compartment was very comfortable. All seats were reserved, thank heavens because the train was crowded. Ride uneventful with some beautiful scenery. Had our border checks with no problem. Arrived in Vienna and took the "metro" to our hotel. We were using award points and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott close to the Schonbrun Palace. Very convient to the trian stationand about a 10 min ride to Karlsplatz. The room was spacious with a dormer type window. It was a brandnew hotel. Some very good electricity saving devices--the usual put room card in slot for lights etc in room. The corridor lights were motion sensed--only when someone was in the hall would the lights and a/c work. The beds were soooo comfortable. We opted to not have their breakfast, so can't comment. The dinign room was open for dinner--ate there our last evening because of a downpour. Poor waiter was sooo busy. Food was good. Had to indulge in the pastries for breakfast in the room each morning.

 

Vienna was pleasantly uncrowded. On fri. morning, we took the train downtown and started walking around. We had been there on a river cruise 3 years ago, so thimgs started to look familiar. We walked by the Spanish Riding School at about 10:30--no crowds so in we went. Those animals are magnificent. Even had a chance to see 2 of them do "airs above the ground". After that it was time for Demel. So nice to sit sip tea and watch Vienna go by. The cake was very good. If you wander into the back of the shop, you can watch them decorate cakes.

 

We walked to Stephenplatz and went into St. Peter Church---what magnificent baroque secrets in that fairly small church. We had lunch at Augustinkeller--tafelspitz.. You haven't lived til you've tried applesauce laced with horseradish--quite different taste. We had tickets for the Vienna Boys' Choir that afternoon. While we were waiting to go in, DH tells me a friend of ours has a nephew in the choir. With 4 choirs, we never expected to see him. Not only did we see him, but he was introduced as being from Ohio in the US and giving his last concert. Managed to see him and his Mom after the concert. Small world.

 

Just had some wine and cheese for dinner. Too full and to tired to go out.

 

The rest of Vienna tomorrow. Pat

[pacmom]

Saturday--Up and out to one of my favorite passtimes---flea and etc. market shopping. The Naschmarlet was only a few stops away on the train. Found some stones I couldn't live without and my pashmina scarves. They were only 5 euros--new and a very broad selection of colors. On to Stephenplatz and heard some strudel calling--we answered. It was really good.. Back to St. Peter so DH could take pictures. Found 2 more chocolate shops. Then off to Mariahilf to finish gifts. Found a wine shop and stocked up. Lunch was at a very old restaurant--had the best Vienerschnitzel (veal) and the potato salad was wonderful. DH had fish also very good. By 4:30pm, we were back in our room, laden with goodies. Time to rest and then dinner around the corner at a small Italian rest.

 

Sunday----Off the the Augustiner church for the organ Mass. Beautiful organ and interior mostly renovated, but not old altar. During the year this is where you can hear the Vienn Boys' choir sing every Sunday. It is the Imperial Chapel. Since it was already July, we had organ. After Mass, we took the tram to the Military Museum. It you stop there go hungry. The cafe had some of the best food yet on our trip. We then roamed the museum--free that Sunday. It had racks at hte start of each room with a synopsis of the room in many different languages. We finished up at about 4 pm--it was so hot, back and passed out.

 

Saw that the UK is in another mess--there aren't words to describe how we feel about it. Got a lot of our packing done.

 

Monday--we walke to the Schronbrun--took the short tour, it was very good. The admission cost included an audio guide. Since we were so close we managed to go between the 2 crushes. Still trying to figure out why Sissy was so beloved. She states she was in a loveless marriage and spent little time in Vienna. Maybe someone can enlighten me. DH saw some small buses near St. Peter church and wanted to see where they went--so we went bus riding. Aneat way to see some of the city and neighborhoods we couldn't walk to. Soo hot and sticky, maybe rain. Well it did rain and rain so we ate athe hotel--very nice and reasonable. Early to bed due to early flight home. No problems at Vienna airport, have addressed Heathrow and BA, but if you have questions, I'll try to answer them. Finally home.

 

Vienna was quite uncrowded. It is a lovely city and we would go back a third time. Still so much to see. Thanks for reading our three country trek. Pat

[shoshona2]

Hi Pacmom,

 

Really enjoyed reading about your Elbe Adventure! We have been to some of the same towns and cities and I loved hearing your descriptions. It brought back wonderful memories.

 

Sheila

[pacmom]

Shoshana,

 

Thanks for the kind words. They only place that was a repeat for us was Vienna. The trip was really wonderful. should have stayed longer in Prague. Pat