European Cruise wrap-up

      Overall impressions. Favorite places. Trivia. Ideas. Low points. Highlights. Whatever.

     Budapest: big city. Ok, not great. Interesting tour. Sad political situation.

     Danube: favorite passages of the cruise. Against the current but better it happening here than on the Rhine.  

     Vienna: big city but not a big city feel. Favorite city. For a big city, very clean. Amazing sights. 

     More Danube: after Vienna the scenery ramps up. Hills come down to the water. Many castles and old churches. Curvy. 

     Passau: our first stop in Germany. Still very close to Austria. And the Czech Republic. Built on a peninsula which means frequent flooding. Cathedral had amazing frescos on the ceiling. Perhaps the most impressive overall. 

     Scharding: small border town. More flooding issues. Also big in the salt trade in the 15th century. Has a granite museum. A couple of rooms with some rocks. Of granite. Cute. 

     Regensburg: built on a river delta. Has Roman history. First contact with stumble stones, brass plate covered stones in streets or walkways honoring Jews murdered by the Nazis. Cathedral interior is mostly silver not gold. Still very impressive. Baroque style. 

     Nuremberg: 97% destroyed in WW2. 93% in one air raid. Center of Naziism. Rebuilt to look like it did pre-war. Gothic and Baroque churches. Interesting contrast. Hid art work in bunkers. See 'Monument Men'. Amazing hot chocolate.

     Bamberg: much newer city than the previous ones. Started in 1060. No industry in area so no WW2 bombing. Fires through the ages, however. Hilly. Drank 'smokey beer', the memory of which grows worse with the passage of time. 

     Wurzburg: the Prince-Bishop Residence was the most opulent building we visited on this cruise. Not a church but the home and offices of the head of the political and church world. 2 of the 3 wings were severely damaged in the bombing but the center section, although damaged, mostly survived. Too much to see. Gold everywhere. Statues and other stunning artifacts. Info on the idea of the Prince-Bishop: do you remember (from school) the Holy Roman Empire? Interestingly it was neither holy or Roman or an empire. Although it covered a very large part of Europe it wasn't quite an empire. It was Germanic not Roman. And it had little to do with the RC Church. The bishops were Catholic, however. At one time, when they were bishops of the Church hierarchy, they became political leaders also, and became quite powerful. For about 600 years. 

     Wertheim: on the Main River. Flooding issues here, too. Has a leaning tower. More sad Jewish history. Our guide, a retired German Army Colonel and about 4 years older than us, was born here and told us about the immediate post-war history. The pre-war and wartime Jewish atrocities, too. He told us as children they did not learn anything about history after the 1930s until the 1960s. Just a huge gap. In the 70s kids started learning about the war and all the terrible things done in the name of National Socialism and Hitler. Our guide had to study this on his own to become a great guide. His talk on Jewish history was sobering and very moving. You could tell, this military officer, was struggling to control his emotions. Perhaps a tear or two might have slipped down a cheek. We're not telling. Children are now required to visit a concentration camp as well as learn about other atrocities committed. 

     Rhine River and Marksburg Castle: the Rhine River is beautiful. Stunning scenery. Castles literally every 10-15 minutes or so. Some closer. Gorgeous. Mountains come right down to the river and it is very curvy. However, as a matter of opinion only, I think the Danube (the part we saw) was more beautiful although with fewer castles. Rocky mountains and cliffs coming down to the water versus tree covered (still steep) hills coming down to the water. A close call but, hey, it's opinion. Mine. We walked up to Marksburg Castle after a bus ride to the base. Very strenuous. There is a reason it was never conquered. Well, two. One: the approach is extremely steep and narrow. River to the front, mountains to the rear. Two: too insignificant politically at the time. Little strategic value overall, militarily, to people like Napolean, etc. It showed us how authentic Gillette Castle on the Connecticut River is. Well, except for much narrower passages inside and out at Marksburg. Gillette was not worried about invading armies in Connecticut.  

     Cologne: extremely large gothic cathedral. So large that it could not be covered in gold like others were. A lot, of course, but not wall to wall. Interesting how it was not destroyed in WW2 because pilots used its distinctive twin towers as guideposts and didn't want to ruin their reference points. Inside are the remains (probably) of the Three Kings, the Magi. Stolen from the people who stole them from what's now called, and was during the time of the Crusades, the Holy Land. 

     Kinderdijk: our first stop in the Netherlands. We had a tour of the dikes and windmills. The windmills still play an important function. Besides grinding grain for the millers they also pump water from the land side of the dikes to the ocean side or onto the marshes. The marshes act as sponges holding water and keeping back the floods. These very old windmills are still powerful machines that are quite scary to be near. They reroute the walkways depending on the wind direction and the sails (blades) pass very closely over your head. And they are sails. Cloth is furled or unfurled to get the blades moving. There are a lot of forces involved. Operating skill, too. There have been fatal accidents, even recently. 

     Amsterdam: Holland. Yes, Holland and the Netherlands are different. Holland is part of the larger country of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is a very large cosmopolitan city in Holland. Not as clean as some of the others we visited. About 900,000 residents including maybe 10-15% students. It has a great public transportation system and terrible bike riders. Rude and dangerous. Thoughtless and indifferent. Biggest (but accurate) insult: worse than Germans. There are about 2 million bikes for the 900K residents. Nonetheless we liked the city a lot although it was not our favorite. A lot of museums. Beautiful canals. There was so much to see we didn't go in one church. Gasp. 

   Overall impressions: loved the cruise. Would do it again although Carol wants to do the Basel to Paris cruise first. Recommend taking our direction, Budapest to Amsterdam. It has a slightly different itinerary than the reverse although that is the standard voyage. 14 days is the just right amount of time but I could have turned around and started sailing back to Hungary immediately. Highly recommend Viking but we are not cruise people with expectations found on ocean cruises. A max of only 190 passengers (we had a little under 180) and crew of 53. We were impressed with all the staff. Food was great. Free flowing wine and beer without buying the Silver package which had unlimited, anytime alcohol. Detox may be in our future. Or AA. So is a diet. This was not unlimited buffet food all the time but 3 sit down meal times where it rained drink and snowed food. All were 3+ course meals with many, many options plus standard meals on the part of the menu that didn't change. We tried to stay with the inovative daily changing menu but once or twice when the seafood choice wasn't something we liked we went to the so-called standard menu. It was awesome. Difficult choices every day. Often several times a day. The optional (extra $$$) tours looked interesting. We talked to folks who took them and they loved them. We only took two and were happy about it. It could be overwhelming. And tiring. Too many options. Too much to do. One extra tour and canal cruise at Scharding and a canal cruise in Amsterdam was enough for us. There were several bike tours in Germany that (new) friends of ours loved. Seemed like work to me. Again, don't feel you are missing out by skipping the extras. They are nice. Great. But not needed for enjoyment of the cruise. 

     One more note on Viking service. We were met at the Budapest airport by a Viking rep. Got us on a shuttle (minivan) to the ship. Almost daily they got us on the bus to our tour beginnings (busses not needed every day). Everything was very organized but with plenty of free time for independent wandering. At the end of our cruise they got us on a group minivan to our hotel  where we were met by more Viking staff that oriented us and got us to the morning tour we had scheduled. That night they got us on another shuttle to our canal cruise locations where we were met by more Viking people. Same for our departure day. Got us on another van and then got us to Shiphol airport where, one more time, Viking staff met us and walked us all the way to the KLM airline automated luggage and check-in area. She showed us how things worked and didn't leave us until we were at the first security check point. Amazing. And appreciated. What a difference when we got to JFK and we were met by nobody and treated like schlubs. Ah, reality. Back to normal. 

     This obviously cost us a lot of money but it was nice that we were not nickle-and-dimed for extras. No casino. No kids. No formal dress events. We were treated the same as those who had paid for the high-end cabins. No one tried any upselling or made us feel we were missing out. A very positive experience. Since we only take a cruise every 25 years or so (last one - 1999) we can spend the money. One problem... someone was so spoiled she wants another cruise sooner than 2049. Sigh. Maybe. 

     On our evening cruise of the canals of Amsterdam. Our next to last night. 

     Our last night was at a Thai restaurant mostly patronized by local students and young officeworkers. A few old farts like us, too. Very good. 

Day 16. Amsterdam.

 We slept in. Because we could. It was after 8 when we dragged ourselves down to breakfast. Of course we were right behind friends from the Egdir and sat next to them and another couple we had breakfasted with several times aboard ship. We ran into other shipmates throughout the day and all over Amsterdam. 

     

     Above: Van Gogh self portrait and others. 

Below: Whistler

     And how about Rembrandt below. 

     All the paintings above were at the Reijksmuseum where we spent about 3 hours. Some amazing sights.

     After a street lunch we made our way to the Maritime Museum via the streetcar and bus system. Getting better at it and saved a lot of walking. The museum has a replica sailing freighter as seen on our previous water tour. Got aboard for photos.

     The museum was only fair. With replicas. Of course, I am used to THEE premier maritime museum in the world, MSM.

     The Dutch Royal Barge. 

     Back to the room for a short nap then out to dinner. 

     We went to a Thai restaurant about a 15 minute walk away. Without a reservation they said there'd be a 20 minute wait. We came back 20 minutes later to get the same empty table we saw earlier. Anyway, it was quite good. Pad Kee Mao and Red Curry. Both spicy. IMHO our favorite Thai restaurant is still better. Have yet to find better anywhere. 

     We walked back to the Hyatt and got ready for our 8am departure tomorrow. 

     

Day 15. Amsterdam

     We were docked in Amsterdam when we woke up. View of a stone wall out our window. I had some new, strange medical symptoms to deal with. Possibly an ear infection or something? Dizzy. Not debilitating and made it to breakfast where we said good-bye to folks, some for the 2nd time. Turns out some are staying at our same hotel and doing our same tours. We may say good-bye to them again. That's ok. 

     We had a van ride to our hotel which didn't help my head. After checking in we had a wait in the Viking lounge with fellow cruisers before our walking tour. The walk was long but interesting. We learned about the history of Amsterdam and walked in a big circle the ended at the museum we are going to visit tomorrow. We walked over several of the canals and learned how the city expanded. We also walked over the Amstel River. At one point in their history the Amstel was dammed so now it's Amstel-dammed... Amsterdam. 

      Should I have told Carol about the lizards? 

Below: some of the scenes.

     Sister house. A nursing school. Formerly. 

     Flower market.

     Buildings are leaning different ways.

  

     We stopped for a snack and coffee at a cafe. You should not go to a coffee shop. There you get cannabis. Cafes for us. We also had some street fries. Ordinary, unlike our experience with Belgium street fries. We then went back to our room for a nap and went to a grocery store for a light meal before our canal cruise. One little incident returning to our hotel. When we got on the tram to return my credit card would not work. The driver said go in the back. Or pay in the back. Or something. Didn't. You have to use your credit card to exit the tram also. I faked that getting off. May be an international criminal by now. At least I didn't get shot by cops as in NYC.

     We went on a canal cruise after dinner with other Vikings, drank way too much wine (again) and enjoyed the scenery and the guide/captain. There was a lot of traffic on the canals.

     The view through the windows.

     A replica Dutch freighter. No keel. Not movable. At the Maritime Museum. 

     This is the actual water taken from the canal. Drinkable. Maybe. But it is fresh and is replaced every 3 days or so by lake water. Seawater is kept out. Except for floods, storms, etc.

     A quick trip to the grocery store again then bedtime.      

     One more day. 😥

Day 14. Netherlands

     We got underway just after getting to bed last night. 2200 or so. It was quite noisy. Unrafting and undocking went smoothly. We hardly noticed as is usual. Then we went under the first bridge and it was very noisy. Perhaps it was the cars and trains overhead. Lasted a while. Then we turned around on the other side of the river. There was lots of chop. The engines were straining and there was lots of vibration. The ship was shaking. As I watched out our window I could see the landmarks we had used on shore for our excursions passing by. It was quite beautiful if confusing. We then got going. Really got going. Very fast and smooth. Flying with the current all night. Fast with the current is smooth and quiet so no sleep issues after the departure ruchus. Woke up having just crossed into the Netherlands, about 0630. We know the time because a friend told us he got notification from his cell phone company. Ah, technology. The land is much flatter here with sand and mud riverbanks. Cattle come down and wander along the river. It looks a bit more like the riverbanks we are used to in the eastern U.S. Very busy, too. 

 

 

     We got to Kinderdijk just after noon, just before lunch. We backed up a couple of miles to get there.

     Yes, those windmills are working. I have video of them turning. 

     After lunch we walked up to the dike and over. Then to the 2nd dike and over that one. At the base we were about 9 feet below sea level. Other areas are much lower. 

     This is a leak in the 1st dike. Seepage really but too big for just a finger. If the water is muddy that's bad. Clear is ok. Usually. 

     We went to a working windmill originally built in the 1700s. Amazing power demonstrated by the videos I have. The still photos do not show how the water is pumped to prevent flooding. 

     The town is named because of the legend of a child (kinder) found floating in a basket during a major flood event and dike (dijk) failure. A cat was rocking the child in the basket by jumping between the two sides. 

     We got underway shortly after reboarding Egdir and travelled to Rotterdam to pick up passengers that went on different, longer tours. We got there after a about hour of travel and got underway after all were aboard.

     Rotterdam.  

 Next, it's on to Amsterdam overnight and the end of our cruise. We will be leaving the ship after breakfast, taking a walking tour then joining a different boat on a canal cruise. In between we will transfer to a hotel. 

     We had dinner one more time with our Australian friends (two couples) and a mother-daughter pair of Kiwis. Before that the ship provided champagne for a final toast to the voyage and to say good-bye to the entire staff including the senior officers. It really was a great crew. A great voyage. And a great historical and cultural learning experience. 

     We were also very lucky. The voyage a week or so behind us encountered severe weather, cancelled tours, nights off their ship and more adverse conditions. We did not have too little water. Or too much water. Or too much rain. Or drought conditions. We had one day of light rain and 2 days of part time early or late light showers. 

     It short, we had a wonderful time. Made great new friends we hope we'll see again. Saw amazing sights. Had great experiences. And would recommend to anyone to do this voyage and to use this company. 

     Sad it's come to an end but we have a couple of mentioned events planned in Amsterdam after we are off the ship for good. We arrive there overnight. 

     Aussies (farthest 4), Kiwis (nearest 2) and Carol. 

Day 13. Cologne

      Didn't really hear us get underway last night but there was enough boat traffic making noise we occasionally heard. We're in a much higher populated area so there is more sound but we passed through Bonn without noticing. 

     We arrived in Cologne (Koln) just as we were waking up. The last bridge we had to clear before docking was very low, not like the canal low where the upper deck had to be cleared, but low enough that the boat had to crawl to get under it. We had a nice view until another Viking ship rafted to us. After breakfast we went on land near the ship to hear the sounds of the city and the birds. A lot of birds. Our Aussie tablemate said they sounded like their budgies from back home but didn't look like them. We are docked in the city so no busses needed this morning. We can start our tour at the ship and in the afternoon we can explore on our own. 

     Our guide for the walking tour was an American who moved here about 20 years ago to marry a local woman. No accent to deal with. He was the slowest and the most detailed of the guides so all the groups, including the more physically limited group, all passed us. Not a problem until the very end when we abandoned the dawdling tour a few minutes before the end. I have had the same experience with one of my fellow guides at Crane Point Hammock in Marathon who has self-editing issues. That may sound funny coming from me but I do constantly work on editing. Others may disagree (my wife especially). 

     Among the highlights in Cologne is the Cathedral, the largest in Europe. Interesting, but not the most ornate, fanciest or impressive. It is an immense Gothic structure that took 700 years to build. It wasn't terribly damaged in WW2 because its distinctive spires were used as aiming/reference points that they didn't want to knock down. Beautiful stained glass windows but otherwise a bit dark. Probably the most impressive feature is the remains of the Magi, the Three Kings that visited Bethehem and the Christ Child bearing gifts. The documentation and provenance is good enough to justfy the belief that these are authentic bones. The thefts over the millenia were a source of pride not shame so well documented. 

     Pretty impressive display of the Magi. 3 gold covered wooden boxes supposedly with their remains (bones). 

    Below is the rest of the cathedral. Not quite as impressive but the windows are awe inspiring. It is huge, however.

     There were 13 churches here in Koln, now there are 12. Where the 13th was is now the above huge cathedral. The bishop at the time wanted it, the locals didn't. They expressed their opinion in stone.

     Below is the same photo but zoomed in. 

     In the below photo you can see a balcony on the church. That is how high the rubble was after WW2. About 3 stories. 

     The stones were taken away then numbered and organized before being brought back to rebuild. The cobblestones were bulldozed and piled on the sides of the roads to fix foundations and run utilities under the roads. They were not reorganized so stones of different eras are in the streets together. 1st millenia to 20th century. 

     This is an original Roman wall from around 50 CE. These stones are actually 2 to 3 meters deep into the wall like rods so the foundations are extremely stable. 

     Above is the view from the river near our dock. We could not find our way into St. Martin's there but did get into a couple of other churches in the afternoon. 

     The more ornate church above is the Jesuit church, St. Mary's (Santa Maria). The 3 bottom photos are from a simpler church.

     Random Cologne photos below.

     And one more, the tide station. The side facing the river has a dial on it. 0 is the datum, about 2 meters. Right now the depth is about 2.5 meters above that.

     A few random thoughts about Cologne and the cruise. Koln is a large cosmopolitan city. Very modern with modern styles. The center city was rebuilt after WW2 as it was. Pretty much. But the rest of the city has more modern styles that continue to evolve. It is the center of a German transportation hub and you can get to any European city reasonably quickly. Every German city we visited has been different from the others. Unique. 

     We have been very lucky on this cruise weather-wise. We had one full day of rain but not too heavy. We had two days with some rain either early or late that didn't really interfere with our tours or exploration. It did get colder than expected, into the 40s the day we were on the Rhine in the wind. Sounds terrible. It wasn't. The cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam that departed a week after we did has had terrible weather. Flooding. Snow. Extreme conditions. They had to abandon their ship temporarily as it could not get under bridges we cleared easily. We were shown videos of one of the locks in Vienna that looked terrifying. 2 meter waves. Our weather went from unusually warm to unusually cold but we did not experience snow or dangerous floods. Parts of Europe are experiencing devestating floods including some places we visited. Happy it missed us. 

     Anyway, as we come down to the last few nights of the cruise people are slightly down. We know we will go out on a high note the next couple of days but it will still be going out. We've met very interesting people (mostly) and we think some now are great friends. We'll miss them. 

     After dinner we had a music trivia session in the lounge. We scored 20 out of 30 possible points. The winners scored 23 so... close. Fun anyway. We got underway just after going to bed and will dock in the Netherlands early afternoon tomorrow. Then we'll be on to Holland for our final day on the ship, disembarking in Amsterdam. FYI: The Netherlands is the name of the country, Holland is a part of the country. The northern part. Amsterdam is in Holland. All very confusing for us parochial Americans.