Amsterdam and Home

The canal cruise was a great way to see Amsterdam from another angle.  It's always an interesting city to be in; the scenery is never boring.  There are canals, tall, narrow houses -- some leaning at interesting angles -- the ladies in the red light district, the cross dressers on the corner, the smell of pot wafting out of "coffee" houses, and hoardes of people going everywhere by bike, tram, boat, car and foot.  They hang out in parks (when it's sunny), shop, eat, drink, hang out and hang out some more.  We had lunch with Lynn and Mark after the canal tour in a food emporium, then we split up and spent our day finishing the tour of the flower market and basically wandering around, meandering the narrow streets back to our hotel for dinner.  It was our last night in Amsterdam and, thanks to our wandering, were too tired to do much else.  We finished packing and crashed. 

New Market

Bikes, bridges, boats and canals

Canals and bikes

Dutch architecture

Tall, narrow houses reduced tax on the front edifice, but they extend to the rear of the block.

Flower Market

The flower market -- about 3 city blocks of flowers, vases, seeds, tubers, botanically themed tschotschkes of all kinds



canal bridges

I would visit Amsterdam again.  But now, it's time to go home.  Auf wiedersein!  (Which is German, but I don't know it in Dutch.) 

Amsterdam

We continued cruising the Rhine toward Amsterdam and stopped in Kinderdijk.  There, we toured a windmill, including a climb to the top.  People actually lived in the windmills and were responsible for making sure the arms were turned into the wind so that they continuously pumped water out of their living area and back into the sea.  Today, people still live in them, but they pay rent for a 2-year option.  It's like staying in a lighthouse back in the states, only lots more work.  We left Kinderdijk and woke up in Amsterdam.  Transfer to our hotel, the Moevenpick, was uneventful and we immediately met our guide and went on a walking tour.  It was Sunday morning, so the streets were very quiet.  The weather was cool and overcast with a brisk breeze.  Our tour was quite interesting and informative and ended in the main square (the Dom) about noon.  The clouds were just beginning to break up and the day started looking promising.  Amsterdam exploded in people.  Suddenly there were people and boats everywhere.  Ray and I found an unremarkable place to have lunch and walked until we found the Flower Market, where we ran into Mark and Lynn.  We had arranged to meet them for dinner, and they were doing a Rick Steves walking tour.  We confirmed our dinner aarrangements and went back to our room to refresh.  After a nap (we'd already walked 8 miles),  we opted for a cab to Rembrandt Square to meet Mark and Lynn for dinner.  We found a small restaurant/pub beside a canal for dinner, which turned out to be sandwiches and beer.  It was really pleasant watching the canal traffic and relaxing over a bite and a brew. 
Today, we're looking forward to a canal cruise with Mark and Lynn.  Maybe we'll get to the Reichsmuseum, maybe we'll do something else.  ttfn...

Bad Griesbach, Nuremburg, Bamberg, Rothenburg, Wurzburg, Skadi!!

Well, it's Friday.  We finally got on the Skadi on Wednesday evening, after quite a long day.  We left Bad Griesbach by bus -- bags outside your door by 7 am, breakfast and on the bus by 8:30 -- and went to Rothenburg.  That's a beautifully maintained walled, medieval city.  We had an hour tour there, then some free time and lunch -- sausage and kraut again -- then went back to the bus for the ride to Nuremburg. 


Street of Rothenburg

One small building detail



the old forge, taken from the Rothenburg wall

Ray and I and 6 other couples were put up in the Meridien Hotel, a really great hotel.  Some others went to the nh hotel, down the street from us and still others, notably the couple we've been spending quite a bit of time with, Lynn and Mark, went to the Moevenpick hotel at the airport.  Yuck.  Lynn is having a particularly bad time with the bus rides since she gets motion sickness.  She has patches that she wears that seem to help, and she's making the best of it.  There are a number of very unhappy campers on this trip.  Anyway, Nuremburg's walled area is also beautifully preserved and we toured it with a very good guide.  The weather has turned decidedly cooler and wetter since we left Bad Greisbach.  Jeans and raincoats are the outfit of choice.  We stayed two nights in Nuremburg and had time to shop their extensive pedestrian area. We got caught in a torrential downpour, but ducked into a coffee shop and had a glass of chardonnay.  Next morning, Thursday, bags outside the door at 7 a.m.we left Nuremburg for Bamberg and Wurzburg.  Bamburg was thoroughly charming, easily walkable and we were on our own for lunch.  We didn't get a chance to taste their smoked beer, unfortunately.

Neptune Fountain, Bamburg

Shop window in Bamburg

Bamburg town wall

We had planned to have a sit down lunch, but the rudeness of a waiter sent us out into the street to a truck selling -- once again -- wurst.  This time, bratwurst that was surprisingly good, while we walked and shopped a little more.  Then on to Wurzburg and a whirlwind tour of the castle there, with a brief visit to the gardens,

Wurzburg Palace

Ray in the Wurzburg garden

Wurzburg garden nymph

before reboarding the bus to meet the Skadi in Frankfurt.  We cruised to Koblenz.  There we took a tram ride up to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress with Lynn and Mark and walked around up there, trying to make sense of all the signs in German.  Mark and Lynn left us at a colossal statue on The German Corner (where the Mosel and Rhine meet) and Ray and I walked into town.  Nice town.  We left Koblenz at 4 a.m. (while we were snugly asleep in our cabin.  Today, we're in Cologne.  This city has been almost totally rebuilt since it was almost totally demolished in WWII, but they've rebuilt in the old style, so it still has some charm.  But, it's a big, bustling city with another large pedestrian shopping area.  We're doing a pub crawl this evening, so we'll get to taste the local specialty, Kolsch (with an umlaut over the o) bier.

Just a quick note to catch up.  We are currently in Nuremberg, awaiting yet another bus to take us to Bamberg.  We went from Vienna to Passau.  They have done an amazing job of cleaning up the town after the flood. More pictures will follow.  We have  


Flood levels - look for the handwritten level at the top of the dark patch.

From Passau, we drove from Passau to Bad Griesbach, where we were put up at a golf resort.  We skipped the trip to Regensberg, since it was 2 hours each way to the town for a 1.5 hour tour.  Instead, we took a lovely walking trail into the town of Bad Griesbach.  Where our trail met the road through town, we met a parade.  They were celebrating 150 years of fire prevention, and every town's volunteer fire department for miles around, possibly from throughout Germany, was represented. 

  Well, more later.  Time to catch the bus...

Vienna and Bad News

We arrived in Vienna as scheduled.  The city tour was both a bus tour and a short walking tour, with time on our own.  Very nice.  Pictures follow.  Dinner was as usual, but the daily briefing held bad news.  We knew there was a damaged lock in our way, but had heard it was to be repaired by the 20th.  Well, apparently not.  It will be at least another week.  And, in spite of Viking's touted massive fleet, we won't just be going around that damaged lock to meet another boat stuck on that side and trading out.  Oh no.  We have been stuck in Vienna for two extra days (not the worst place in the world to be stuck, mind you) and will leave tomorrow on a bus.  Lots of people are not happy.  From the sound of it, we will be spending two nights at one hotel, then two nights at another, before we join the Skadi (the ship we were originally scheduled to be on).  Acccording to everyone we've talked to, no one on this ship wants to pack and re-pack.  We keep hearing, "If I'd wanted a bus trip, I'd have signed up for one."  Then, daily, the plan keeps changing.  Originally, we were going to Munich because Passau was so flooded.  Now, they tell us that, while the port isn't officially open, the town has dried out enough to entertain tourists.  There was some mention of Heidelberg, but I'm not sure that's happening.  I know we leave tomorrow, but I'm not sure where we're going.  In the meantime, they arranged a bus to Melk, a town we were supposed to stop in by boat.  We therefore missed the Wachau Valley, apparently one of the prettiest stretches of the river and the area they show in their advertising.  The abbey was nice, but getting there was a disaster.  Three buses took the passengers, but one (the one Ray and I were on) had no air conditioning.  We started out, thinking it would kick in, but after 10 minutes in the 97 degree day (with 75% humidity), we had to turn around and arrange for a different bus.  Of course, that meant we arrived late, and they had to hold the abbey open long enough for us to see it, and were locking doors shut behind us as we finished each room.  Ray just found out (via internet) that the Viking Odin is just up the river and is wondering why we aren't just switching ships with that cruise.  The answer is always a non-answer:  "We would if we could."  I think that if they were really doing everything they could for us, we would be on another ship tomorrow.  But keeping us on the road for 4 nights tells me they're doing something for themselves that they aren't comfortable telling us about.  There you are.   Viking is providing sightseeing trips into Vienna:  we went and watched them exercise the Lippizan horses;  some people are touring the Imperial Palace this afternoon.  We went to Schonbrunn Castle yesterday.  Today, the humidity has abated, but the temperature remains high, so if you're not inside, you're uncomfortable.  As I'm finishing this, it's now Saturday morning, our luggage is in the hall, and we will be busing to Passau for sightseeing, then to Bad Greisbach for our overnight stay.  Sunday will be a bus trip to Regensburg, then return to Bad Greisbach for the night.  Luggage out Monday morning, blah blah blah...

Cruising, Bratislava and Vienna



Entering the first lock

snug up nice and close to that wall...

safety drill

view from the top deck

another view from the deck

What can you say about Bratislava, Slovakia?  The country is still reeling from communist oppression that ended in 1991.  Work is ongoing to reconstruct and repair, while preserving their varied cultural history.  Maria Theresa was crowned in the church here and lived in a castle with her son.  However, the castle didn't survive being occupied by soldiers during WWII.  It burned down.  They rebuilt the walls, adding no adornment, and that's all they have;


castle view from the bus



at the castle in Bratislava

an empty box with four towers. Of course, the bus tour took us there.  

the Danube from the castle

From there we went to their Old Town, with lots of quaint old baroque architecture and lots and lots of places to sit outside and eat.  Again, it has 97 degrees, so luckily, we found a vinotekka located in a cool, damp cavern beneath street level.  The proprietor allowed us to taste two of his wines and we selected a really nice rose of Frankovka, apparently a kind of Lemberger. 

One side of main square in Old Town Bratislava

The main square.



A cute scupture titled, "Man at Work"

Wilting from the heat, we sought refuge in the air conditioning of the boat and thoroughly enjoyed our rose.  Viking encourages passengers to buy the local wines, will open your bottle for free, and will provide a cooler if you need one.

First Sailing Day

This morning, it's cool and fresh on the upper deck as we head to Bratislava. The banks of the river have been covered in trees since we left Budapest and it's easy to see the flood level in them.

Approaching the dam and lock

Through the lock, into the lake.

So far, this has been well worth all the anxiety and we're very glad to be here.
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We've been through our first lock, part of a dam.  Apparently, there are 66 more to go.  We are on a huge lake behind the lock and dam.  Lots of flat pasture and crop land around.  Honestly, not as nice as this morning.

Szentendre

What we didn't know before we left is that Viking had a tour to Szentendre on Saturday morning.  They also had a walking tour that sounded really interesting, but because we didn't know that in advance, we arranged this tour with Gray Line Cityrama (a local, hired to do the local tours) through our travel agent at AAA.  Had we been better informed, we could have and would have done both Viking trips.  Oh well.  We were picked up at our hotel 15 minutes late.  We were taken to downtown Pest to meet another group (Spanish) going on the same tour and made the 1/2 hour drive to the little artist colony with occasional comments from our guide on sights along the way.  Szentendre sits right next to the Danube, but due to the floods, the flood wall was up and you couldn't see it.  After walking the main street with the tour guide, he said "You now have time to shop on your own."  We had 2 hours to return along the street he'd just led us down. There are lots and lots of shops and restaurants, but if you're not looking for embroidered blouses or porcelain vases, you're bored within 10 minutes.  It was hot.  At one point near the end, Ray and I stopped into a little bistro where I asked if they had iced coffee.  "Yes, yes," she nodded, and directed us to chairs on her shady patio.  Coffee and beer were ordered.  I got a shot of espresso (hot) and Ray got beer.  Probably the only two words she understood from us were 'coffee' and 'bier'. Two hours later, we got on the bus, went back to Pest, with occasional comments on sights we passed and he dropped us in downtown Pest.  We said, "Aren't you taking us back up to our hotel?"  He said "No, you can take the number 6 bus over there."  Can't recommend this tour group.  We made the best of it, walking through downtown Pest, along the river, crossing the Chain Bridge and taking the funicular up to the President's Residence.

 

Familiar with this area now, we wandered back toward the hotel, found a nice place to have dinner and completed our day of touring.  Just really can't recommend City Rama!!

Travel Day-and-a-Half

So, flying from Seattle at 1:30 in the afternoon is not so bad.  By 11:30, you're in Amsterdam.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.  Then, however, to get to Budapest, you have two hours in one of the worst airports and then 2 more hours of flight time.  I didn't feel bad at all.  We tried some stuff called No Jet Lag and it seemed to work.  Unfortunately, Ray got a headache, but aside from that we both felt pretty good.  He crashed for about 2 hours while I ran out and acquainted myself with the Castle District of Budapest.  Then I crashed.  Too bad we still needed to have dinner. We found Pierrot (a recommendation from our Viking River Cruise host), just about 3 blocks from the hotel.  They have this huge baroque architecture here that hides the fact that inside the massive door is a central terrace/garden, perfect for converting to a cozy little dining area with a piano player for ambience.  The weather couldn't have been better for dining alfresco.  The food was excellent, service impeccable, and we couldn't wait to get out of there and fall into bed.

Anticipation/Trepidation

Latest on the Viking website says we're still going, but we may not be on the Skadi, as originally planned.  We may be on one a sister ship, which they claim was built in 2013.  (That's quick!)  We're not sure we want to be on a ship that hasn't had the bugs worked out, yet, but apparently we have nothing to say on the matter.  It looks like the stop in Passau will be passed by and replaced by one in Munich.  Passau is at the confluence of three good sized rivers and is up to its windows in the Danube.  Hope everyone made it out OK.  Clean up will not be accomplished in one week.

Getting Ready

We will be cruising the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers between Amsterdam and Budapest.  We have friends who have done this cruise.  A couple from Florida and another couple who share our home state of Washington.  We are all active people.  Both couples said they enjoyed this cruise very much.  We will start in Budapest and go to Amsterdam, apparently upriver.  We arranged this months ago in August of 2012.  Talked about doing some reading and research to prepare.  Then suddenly it was just two weeks out.  Then a 90th birthday in the family and then suddenly it's only one week out and then ... we start looking at the news about the area we will visit.  OK.  It's a river.  Yes, there has been river flooding in the U.S.  But nothing -- NOTHING -- like what is going on in Europe.  Forget 100 year floods.  These are the worst in 500 Years!!  Floods of biblical proportions.  Viking has canceled ten cruises.  Have they canceled ours?  No.  Not yet anyway.  The river is due to crest on Monday, four days before we arrive.  Apparently, we should happily schlep through towns that have been up to their necks in river sludge only days after the event. Should we pack muck boots?  What will it smell like?  Will there be poop floating in the blue Danube?  Ahhh.  How traveling broadens one...