Vienna

Wednesday 30 April

Another day another 10+ km walked, it could have been another 7 km more if we hadn’t decided to use the Metro.

We started our ramble at Volkstheatre and walked through the Volkegarten to Parliament House, I think the architect had spent time studying Greek Temples which he further adorned with women in chariots on the roof, a very impressive and imposing building. From the Parliament we walked back to the gardens past the Burg Theatre to the forecourt of the Hofburg Palace, and after studying the map, realised that the National Library and Spanish Riding School which we had visited last week, were part of the same building, what a big home for the Emperor and his wife.

Walking around to the rear of the palace we found a statue of Mozart in the garden, this was made from marble where the one at Strasburg was of bronze. From there we continued past the State Opera House and on to the Stadtpark where the gold statue of Johann Strauss has pride of place in the gardens. From the gardens we walked past a statue of Beethoven, the University of Music and arrived at Karlsplatz in front of the magnificent Karls Church with its distinctive dome and two spiral columns.

We retraced our steps back to the State Opera House just in time to buy tickets for the conducted tour. The Opera House suffered 80% damage during the war but the Austrian Government considered it to be so important that it was one the first buildings to be restored. The section of the building that was saved includes the highly decorated reception room, the marble staircase and the Royal Reception room. The auditorium was rebuilt in the 1950s and has six levels including three levels of boxes seating six or seven people. On the top level and the second level there were standing areas for 500 people, prices for a normal night range from 170 Euros a seat down to 3.50 and 2.50 Euros for standing room. On special occasions a box can be hired for 17,000 Euros. The stage, the rear stage and the wings covers over one and a half hectares and below stage is almost as big. This size is necessary as during the season from September to June no opera is staged two nights in a row and three or four operas may be staged in a week on rotation. With the number of performers, musicians and stage hands needed to stage so many different performances over a season, it isn’t surprising that the annual budget exceeds 100 million Euros.

Leaving the Opera House we walked back past the library and Spanish Riding School to catch the Metro back to the hostel, nearly seven hours after leaving and wondering where all the money came to build so many magnificent buildings.

And now to bed as we leave for Prague tomorrow.

Off to Vienna

Tuesday 29 April

We were booked on the 11:00 am train from Keleti Station for Vienna; the station was originally built in 1884 in the style of the grand European stations and is in the process of restoration. We had a fleeting glimpse in the entrance hall and the impression we received was that of the inside of a Greek Temple, it should be magnificent when the restoration is completed.

The train was a little tired when compared with the German and Dutch ones and the toilets are reminiscent of Victorian trains of old: “Toilets are not to be used while the train is in the station”. It was interesting to view the country regions of Hungary, the villages and towns are still run down and there were dozens of derelict and abandoned factories, probably failures from the Communist era. However the farms seemed to be flourishing and the hundreds of hectares of yellow flowing Canola made a lovely patchwork across the countryside.

Shortly before the Austrian border the Hungarian Border Guards came on the train, black uniforms, guns and riot batons suggested they were not to be trifled with, but they just walked through the carriage and didn’t ask for any papers. On the first station on the Austrian side there were two soldiers with binoculars around their necks and automatic rifles over their shoulders, they looked so young we wondered if they have started to shave, but the rifles gave them an air of authority.

We noticed as we crossed the border the big improvement in the standard of the houses and other buildings, there weren’t any old run down buildings visible as on the Hungarian side. The other sign that we were in Austria was the hundreds of wind generators scattered across the countryside. Austria, like Germany, generates a lot of its power with wind generators.

Arriving in Vienna it was a short walk to our hostel, Wombat’s Vienna, I’m not sure why it has this name but there are two in Vienna, and one in Berlin and Munich. We have a very nice modern room on the top floor overlooking a main street so it is a little noisy with the window open. It is a big improvement to the hostel in Budapest which was an old convent and I think they had retained the stone benches the nuns slept on, that how they felt. The last time we slept on beds with absolutely no give was in China. We are looking forward to a comfortable sleep tonight.

Vienna, Bratislava & Budapest

Thursday 24 April

The ship sailed at 2:00 am and in the morning we were greeted by the sight of the United Nation’s buildings in Vienna, bathed in sunlight, which was a big improvement from the grey, rainy days we have had for most of the cruise. After breakfast we left for a tour of Vienna and unlike most of the previous days we were driven around the old town past many of Vienna’s old and famous building and parks, also the old Ferris wheel.

We were dropped off at St Stephan’s Cathedral and had to take ourselves around inside as the guide didn’t accompany us. Walking from the cathedral down a narrow shopping street lined with shops bearing the names of many well known and expensive brands we arrived at the front of the old Winter Palace and then on to the old National Library. Inside the main room the book shelves were arranged in two levels and contained 100,000+ old manuscripts and many old globes dating back over 500 years, the room was connected at one end direct to the Winter Palace.

Leaving the library we walked across the square and bought tickets to watch the magnificent Spanish Riding School Lipizzaner white stallions and riders rehearsing. Returning to the boat we decided to have a quiet afternoon, the first since leaving Amsterdam, before going to the music concert tonight.

The concert was held in the Auersperg Palace and the Residenz chamber orchestra performed works by Mozart and Strauss, supported by two singers and two dancers, a very enjoyable two hours.

Friday 25 April.

Today at breakfast we surprised many of travellers by wearing our Anzac badges, which Ann packed before we left home. After breakfast the majority of the passengers left for a tour of Schonbrunn Palace but as we had visited it before we decided to have a quiet morning and stay onboard.

After breakfast the boat sailed for Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, the group who went to Schonbrunn will rejoin the boat at 4:00 this afternoon.

At 1:30 we left for a walking tour around the town of Bratislava, which is slowly recovering from its years of Communist rule and compared to the many towns we have visited over the past four weeks, it is very run down, however the people are working to restore the old buildings and the cobblestone streets. After our recent visit to Vienna and its magnificent old buildings, it’s hard to imagine this is the capital of Slovakia but the presence of the many embassy buildings, all old, in the squares reminded us that this is a capital city. There weren’t many outstanding scenic buildings but one with a cannon ball from the Napoleonic wars and another only 1.9 metres wide provided some interest.

Shortly after entering the town hall square we were subjected to a heavy thunder storm which even surprised our guide as there wasn’t any indication of the change when we left the boat with the result by the time we returned we were very wet.

Tonight being Anzac Day we were planning a memorial celebration on the sun deck and a game of Two Up to follow, this is now going to be difficult as it will have to be held in the lounge and even the shortest person can almost touch the ceiling it will be impossible to give the coins a good spin. Instead we had a short memorial service followed with Anzac biscuits and some “Bundy” rum. Our cruise director had searched Vienna to buy golden syrup and oatmeal and then had to explain to the chef how to make them. He also searched for the “Bundy” and when he purchased the bottle the man in the store said “now that I have sold my bottle, I will have to order another”.

After dinner we were entertained by the group “Aphrodite”, five young women playing violins, cello, flute and piano, they played arrangements of popular songs from several musicals and other popular tunes.

Saturday 26 April.

We were on deck early to watch the boat sail past Margaret Island as we approached Budapest. The Danube is almost at flood level and the boat has been travelling at 30 km/hr so we left Bratislava much later than planned so we wouldn’t arrive in Budapest in the dark. Our first impression was of a very old grand city, but we later learned that more than 70% of the city was destroyed in the war; the Hungarians have done a wonderful job of restoring the city.

Sailing under several bridges we passed the parliament house which is on the Pest side of the river, this was modelled on the English parliament and is the third largest parliament building in the world, while high on the hill on the Buda side, the restored palace dominates the scenery.

After breakfast we went ashore to walk along the shopping street and up to the Great Market Hall, this is housed in a large building which from the inside, the steel framework reminded us of some of the old Victorian era railway stations. The ground floor of this building was devoted to fresh food while the upper level contained hand crafts, souvenirs and food stalls, we wondered how so many similar fresh food stalls, side by side, could make a living.

After lunch we left for a tour of some of the city sites on the Pest side, passing the square in front of the Parliament, scene of the 1956 uprising and on to the Heroes’ Square which was built in 1869 to celebrate the 1000^th anniversary of the founding of Hungary, this was designed to provide the history of Hungary and its many Kings and Saints, represented by statues. Each side of the square is flanked by a museum, built to represent a Greek Temple.

We then drove past the synagogue, the largest in Europe, built in the style of a mosque, before crossing the Danube to the Buda side and driving up the hill. Buda is very hilly and contrasts to Pest which is flat and contains many churches, old fortresses, the restored palace and the Fisherman’s Bastion which is an ideal place to see the Pest side of the river.

This evening was our last night on the boat and the chefs prepared an excellent meal with many choices of dishes for our farewell banquet. During the fourteen days we have been on board the two boats we have been supplied with wines at dinner from the various Regions we have sailed through. However tonight the “free” drinks continued after dinner and any orders at the bar were free of charge. Some people decided to party on after the Gypsy Dancers had finished their performance but as we had to vacate our cabins by 9:00 in the morning the majority of the passenger headed to their cabins to pack.

Sunday 27^th April

Every one was up early on the final morning, some people left the boat at 4:45 am to catch their flight home. Many had later flights or were staying on in Budapest so the Cruise Director arranged for us to be taken to a central restaurant where a room was provided for our luggage and we were then taken to an old village, Szentendrei, about an hours drive away. This village has been the home of artists for many years; the best known is probably Margit Kovacs who worked in clay and who has left many hundred sculptures, plaques, plates and murals which are displayed in a museum in the house she used to live. Nearly every house along the narrow streets contains a craft or souvenir shop and it is obvious that the village now survives from the visiting tourists.

Returning to Budapest, we caught a taxi to the Pension that will be our home for the next two nights and after the luxury of the last fourteen days on board, it is a very sparsely furnished accommodation with the facilities down the passage. From the style of the building and rooms and its proximity to a church I suspect it was a convent in earlier life. “Oh Well back to reality”.

Monday 28^th April

Today we walked through a lovely park past the Budapest Zoo and on the Heroes’ Square where we witnessed the Brazil Ambassador laying a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there was a Hungarian Honour Guard complete with drums and bugles at the “Present Arms”. I don’t know what is special about today but there was already a wreath from the Turkish Ambassador and as we walked down the Avenue from the square, two more ambassadors were escorted in their cars, with sirens blaring, to the square to lay their wreaths.

We spent the rest of the day strolling along the main streets admiring the magnificent buildings; some restored others needing a lot of “TLC”. Budapest must have been a lovely city before WW2.

Tomorrow we leave by train back to Vienna.

Passau, Linz, Salzberg, Melk & Durnstein

Monday 21 April

After breakfast we set off on our tour of Passau, first visiting the confluence of the Danube, Ilz and Inn Rivers and then walked through the narrow alleys of the old town arriving at St Stephan’s Cathedral which was originally built in a Gothic style but after burning down in the 1690s was rebuilt in the Baroque style, the frescos and figures on the walls and ceilings were rather overpowering. The organ has 17,974 pipes, 233 stops and 4 carillons. The pipes were arrange in five locations, three on the balcony in the west, one above the choir in the east and the fifth above the ceiling towards the rear of the church and the sound came through a large decorative grill in the middle of a fresco.

After the cathedral we visited the 18^th C. Bishop’s palace with its pink marble rococo stairways and elaborate frescos, before arriving at the old Rathaus with its baroque festival hall and 19^th C. painting depicting scenes from the history of Passau. After leaving our guide we wandered through the narrow alleys of the town before returning for a 1:00 departure down the Danube.

Travelling along the Danube, we had Austria on our right and Germany on our left, and about half an hour after sailing we entered the first lock and after leaving the lock, both sides of the river were Austrian territory. As soon as we left the lock a crew member removed the German Flag from the foremast and replaced it with the Austrian Flag. Another thing we noticed was that while sailing along the Rhine and Moselle Rivers all the trees were bare, while the trees lining the Danube are nearly all in leaf, a far more pleasant scene.

Sailing down the Danube we passed through several locks and under bridges, and it was interesting to watch the ship’s bridge sink down into the well and the mast lower so the boat could fit under the bridges. Sometimes when very low bridges are encountered or river levels are high, all the railings on the sun deck have to be removed an laid down and the bridge drops down so low that the captain has to stand with his head through a hatch on the bridge roof to see where he is going. At 5:30 pm we arrived at Linz our first stop in Austria.

After dinner we walked into the town square in the pouring rain and back to the boat arriving back like drowned rats.

Tuesday 22 April.

After breakfast we boarded buses to drive to Salzburg, turning off the autobahn to visit the town of Mondsee built on the edge of a large lake of the same name. Probably the town’s greatest claim to fame is that its church’s interior was used for the wedding scene in the Sound of Music.

Driving along a very scenic route past several large lakes, farm land, small villages and the town Mozart’s mother was born, all overlooked by snow covered mountains, we arrived in Salzburg and walked to a large square dominated by a statue of Mozart, from there we went to the Cathedral passing some excavations in the square at the side of the Cathedral where people were carefully exposing skeletons from an old cemetery which was covered over 400 years ago.

Leaving the Cathedral which is decorated with the excesses of the Baroque period with many paintings, frescos, statues and other decorations, the Cathedral also has five separate organs which are sometimes played in unison by five organists; we walked through St Peter’s graveyard which like the previous square also features in the Sound of Music. While walking around we were always aware of the large fortress dominating the town, on a rock several hundred metres above us. After visiting the hose in which Mozart was born we walked across the river to the pretty Mirabell gardens where we ate our lunch in the shelter of the palace beside the gardens.

For the next hour and a half we wandered around the town through squares dominated by fountains and statues and past many old houses and palaces before returning to the bus for the trip back to Linz, being entertained with music by Mozart and the compulsory Sound of Music, a film unknown to the majority of Austrians, arriving back at the boat at 6:30 where we were entertained by light opera singers after dinner.

Wednesday 23 April.

The Sound of Music sailed during the night and when we opened the curtains we were already moored at Melk which is famous for its active Benedictine Abbey, whose buildings cover four hectares. The abbey provides the school for the town and employment for 200 residents. One wing was reserved for the Habsburg Royal Family to stay when travelling from Vienna to Salzburg but it was only used on 58 days in 250 years.

We were given a conducted tour through the first floor of the royal wing, which is now set up as a museum for the abbey and some of its religious items. The corridor of this wing is 110 metres long and is lined with portraits. Leaving the museum we entered the library containing thousands of books going many centuries, in the early 1700s when the abbey church was being restored in the Baroque style the books in the library were all recovered in the style of the period.

The Abbey Church, decorated in the Baroque style was very subdued compared to the excesses we had viewed in other churches of the same period. We walked back to the boat through the old town and sailed at lunch time to travel through the heritage listed Wachau Valley. This area is famous for its wines produced from grapes grown on terraces along the valley, many of these wines we have enjoyed on board over the past 11 days, the grapes have been grown and harvested in the same manner for over 1000 years.

Sailing through the valley we passed several castles high on the hills and nearby small village, one, Weissenkirchen, which we returned to after dinner and several passenger went ashore to attend a tasting at a local winery.

After an hour and a half we arrived at Durnstein and on a hill high above the town is the ruins of the castle fortress in which Richard the Lion-Hearted of England was imprisoned in 1193.

Durnstein is a small village with an attractive Baroque Church and unlike other churches of the same era is painted blue and white instead of yellow and white. The village is built on the banks of the Danube and like other villages and towns we have visited is surrounded by terraced vineyards. Also, as in other places, the high water mark of floods over the past 5-600 years was marked on old buildings; some of the marks were as high as the third floor window sills.

Rudesheim to Passau

Saturday 19 April

After breakfast moored at Rudesheim, we boarded a miniature train, actually a tractor with the body of a steam engine and small carriages, and were taken to Siegfried’s Musical Cabinet, a museum of musical devices from the 1700s onwards. This museum has the largest collection in the world ranging from music boxes up to a large machine with 20 different instruments; this was played with the equivalent of the old pianola roll. For those not old enough to know how it worked, the paper roll has a series of small holes which passes over a metal strip also with small holes and tubes to the various notes, when the holes coincide it breaks the vacuum and allows a note to be played.

The museum had many wonderful units and we were treated to a concert of many varied tunes played on various instruments, including one with six violins a piano and other instruments and one that played a banjo.

Leaving the museum we walked through some narrow lanes of the old town back to the boat and sailed for Mainz at 10:30 am. An hour after sailing, while we were having lunch we sailed under a bridge, the first bridge across the Rhine for 80 km.

Mainz was the next town on our itinerary and we joined our guides for a walking tour of the town. The first stop was St Martins Cathedral, built in the Romanesque style, construction of the cathedral started in the late 900s. Leaving the cathedral we walked on to the Gutenberg Museum which is devoted to printing and contains four floors of exhibits, the highlight being two original Gutenberg Bibles, the first books in the world to be printed on a printing press using movable type. In the basement is a reproduction of Gutenberg’s original printing press and we were given a demonstration on how he made the type and then they printed a reproduction of a page of the original bible.

We then wandered past portions of the old town with half wooden houses on our way to St Stephen’s Church to view the Chagall Stained Glass Windows. After the WW2 the priest of St Stephens had converted from the Jewish religion to Roman Catholicism and he convinced Chagall a Jewish artist to design and make the windows for the church. These are a modern design and are light blue and white and look as if the watercolour had run down the window, we weren’t very impressed with them but the church receives 200,000 visitors a year to view the windows. As today was cold and wet we returned to the boat around 5:30. At 11:00 the boat sailed for Frankfurt and by the noises we docked around 2:30 am.

Sunday 20 April

Today is the day we change boats due to the closure of the locks on the Main-Danube canal for repairs and we boarded the coaches at 7:30 to transfer to Passau. The coaches stopped at an Autobahn wayside stop after two hours, to allow people a toilet break or buy a snack or coffee, as if we needed any food between meals. To enter the toilet required a 50 cent coin to pass through the turnstile and the machine dispensed a 50 cent voucher that could be used in this or other similar stops over the next 12 months.

We arrived in Nuremberg just before noon and we were taken to a restaurant for a three course Bavarian meal, clear soup with a rissole, tiny bratwurst sausages (8), with sauerkraut and potatoes and apple strudel. After lunch we were given an hour to wander around the town centre, which was rather disappointing as the itinerary said we would visit the 900 year old ramparts, the Imperial Palace and Kaiserburg Fortress, none of which we saw. The time we spent was very disappointing as the town is also famous for its gingerbread and gingerbread shop, the Nazi Rally Ground and the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, which we thought we would see.

Several hours later after travelling along the autobahn and visiting another wayside complex we arrived at the outskirts of Passau to join our next boat the MS Sound of Music. The boat was moored on the opposite side of the river upstream from the town as buses aren’t able to enter the normal wharf area. After we passed under the old town walls and the Ilz River, the drivers we directed away from town by detour signs after climbing up the hills for several kilometres we were stopped by the police who directed the drivers back to the Ilz bridge and told them the detour didn’t apply to where we were going, so an hour later than expected we arrived at the boat. After our luggage was loaded the boat turned around and sailed downstream to the normal mooring point near the confluence of the Danube, Ilz and Inn Rivers.

After the wonderful service and enthusiastic crew on the Amelegro, the staff on the Sound of Music appeared to be untrained and lacking knowledge, when asked what the wines were, the waiter replied “red and white”. The waiter on the Amelegro told us about the grape and style of wine and information about the region where the wine was made. The service was slow and the staff didn’t appear interested, we gave up waiting for coffee, we are certainly going to miss the Amelegro.

Moselle & Rhine Rivers

Tuesday 15 April

Poor internet connection, will try to load photos later

After sailing last night, we were given a talk in the ship’s lounge about the area we would be cruising through and a briefing on Cologne the town at which we would be docking tomorrow.

We sailed all through the night and arrived at Cologne at 1:57 pm, three minutes ahead of the estimated time, which was remarkable seeing that the river is almost at flood level and flowing strongly. Watching the Captain manoeuvre the boat to the docking point where he stopped the bow within 10 cm of a stone wall and a similar distance at the side, at the same time as missing the two boats moored about five metres behind, all without any assistance, gave us an indication of his skills.

After docking we were issued with a little unit about the size of an ipod with an earpiece and our guide had a little transmitter, so we could still hear him even if we were ten metres away. The guide conducted us through the new “old” part of town; the original buildings were destroyed during WW2 and have been rebuilt in the old style. We walked to the cathedral in the rain and sleet and were glad to go inside, into the reputed third largest cathedral in the world, an amazing building in size and height and considering when it was built, it would have been one of the wonders of the world. Our guide knew the history of the cathedral and would make a good religious guide, but he wasn’t very interesting so we wandered off to do our own thing.

We walked over the Rhine on a footbridge to a large circular building with an open air viewing platform on the 29^th floor (thanks to Russell Joyce for the hint). The area was enclosed with glass panels with named silhouettes of the points of interest around Cologne and as the rain had eased we had a good view of the town.

Walking back to the ship we noticed the river height had risen by around 40 cm and the speed of the current was slowing the progress of all the vessels travelling upstream. Later in the evening we left Cologne to travel to the Moselle River, this wasn’t part of the original cruise plans but as the locks on the Main Canal have been closed for repairs the company has altered the cruise and we will be bussed around the closed locks to join another boat on Sunday.

Wednesday 16 April

We awoke in a narrower river, the Moselle, and travelled past a number of pretty villages before arriving at Cochem about three hours before the planned arrival time. This was the result of not having to wait at any locks on our way upstream having received a green light all the way.

Cochem is dominated by the Reichsburg Castle which was built originally around 1000 and rebuilt several times over the centuries, before being destroyed by French troops in 1689. In 1868 a German businessman purchased the ruins and rebuilt it as a summer palace rather than a fort. The family was finally forced to sell it to the government in 1942 when they couldn’t pay the 10 year in advance taxes which were levied to help the war effort.

After lunch we walked around the old part of town before riding on a chair lift to the summit of a large hill which provided a view of the town and surrounding areas. We then joined a tour of the castle and town with a wonderful guide, in all the years we have been on guided walking tours I don’t think we have had a guide who was both as knowledgeable and humorous as this elderly lady.

After dinner on the boat we were entertained by a group of folk dancers from the village of Lutz, one of the many groups throughout Germany who are keeping the old traditions alive. After their last dance they selected passenger as partners to repeat this dance, of which Ann was one.

Thursday 17 April

This morning we looked out the cabin window to clear skies and heavy frost on the banks of the Moselle River, the sun deck of the boat was also covered in frost and to make us more aware of the conditions, the hot water on board wasn’t working.

We noticed that we were moving very slowly, this was because we had to wait for our place in the lock we were approaching, after passing through the lock we speeded up for about an hour before stopping to join the queue for the next lock, where we waited for nearly three hours before finally being able to enter. As a result of the delay we would not arrive at the twin cities of Bernkastel-Kues in time for our planned tour, so the company arranged for us to dock at a small town before the next lock and had buses waiting to transport us into Bernkastel and return.

Bernkastel on the right bank of the Moselle River, like many German Medieval towns contains many narrow lanes with 400 hundred year old half timber houses. In the days these houses were built they were taxed on the area of the ground floor with the result that the first and subsequent floors extend out over the ground floor.

The town is dependant on the wine and tourist industries and grape vines are planted on every available space on the surrounding slopes and right up to many of the houses. The vines are planted on a 1 metre by 1 metre grid and are so close together that I think you would need to be of slim build to work amongst them.

During dinner the ship sailed, returning downstream towards Koblenz. After our meal we were entertained by several acts and skits from the crew before our resident pianist took over and provided the usual evening easy listening and dancing music.

Friday 18 April

We were due to arrive in Koblenz at 8:00 am this morning, but the boat was already moored when we opened our curtains and I have no idea what time we had arrived, obviously we had a good run through the locks. We were moored about 200 metres from the “German Corner”, the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine Rivers.

After breakfast we commenced our walking tour of the town, Koblenz, like many other towns along the rivers, suffered extensive damage during WW2 and most of the old part of town had been rebuilt in a style similar to that which was destroyed. In spite of the damage, there are still many old buildings and parts of walls still standing while with others the facade survived and a new structure was built behind it.

Our visit to Koblenz was quite brief and at 1:00 we set sail to travel to Rudesheim through the Rhine Gorge, (Castle Alley) and past the Loreley Rock. Along both sides of the river there were railway lines and about every five minutes a goods or passenger train passed by either going up or down river as well as the many freight barges on the river.

Travelling upstream through the Rhine Valley we passed many castles, both ruined and still in use, the distance between these castles was such that the next one came into view almost before we had passed the last. Most of the ruined castles were destroyed when the French invaded the area in the 1600s.

The boat travelled at a steady 15 km/hr and as there aren’t any locks or bridges between Koblenz and Rudesheim we weren’t held up, arriving at Rudesheim ahead of schedule, shortly before dinner time. After dinner we were entertained by a classical trio, two violins and a guitar, they had driven over 300km from Belgium to entertain us.

Sail Away

Sunday 13 April.

After posting our Blog yesterday, we went for a walk in Vondel Park, probably the biggest park in Amsterdam and even on a chilly day there were hundreds of people enjoying time in the park. The park contains many lakes with islands and many varieties of water birds, including a stork nesting on top of a tall pole. We were puzzled on hearing what sounded like parrot calls and eventually located dozens of large green parrots in the trees, obviously a colony that has developed from aviary escapees, we wondered how they survived the Dutch Winter.

On Sunday we again walked in the park and sat in the very weak sunshine to eat our lunch before catching the tram to Centraal Station and walking to the wharf to board the boat for our cruise along the rivers to Budapest.

We have a very nice cabin with large sliding windows and what is described as a “French Balcony”. If 10 cm. from the glass to the balcony rails could pass as a balcony, then we have one. Though I suppose on a warm day we could open the window and sit there watching the scenery.

The boat MS Amelegro was only launched last year and is very tastefully and comfortably appointed. We were welcomed on board in what was described as a cocktail party, one drink and one nibble but this was more than enough as dinner is a four course meal with all drinks supplied. We will have to be careful over the next fourteen days as the food we have experienced in the three meals that have been served so far, could result in us having to buy a new set of clothes.

The after dinner entertainment was provided by a group from a village outside Amsterdam performing traditional Dutch Folk Dances.

Monday 14 April

After breakfast we boarded coaches for an hour’s tour around Amsterdam past many old churches and 4 – 500 year old houses and through modern sections of town before boarding a canal boat for an hour and a half trip around the canals of Amsterdam, giving us a different perspective of the town.

Returning to the boat we had the choice of a buffet or silver service lunch and as we normally have a sandwich for lunch we will have to be strong and avoid having two or three courses in the middle of the day.

At 5:00 pm we cast off for the start of our actual cruise and we were invited to the sun deck for a hot chocolate and a little sail away party, this will be better later in the season when it is warmer as the wind was very cold.

Berlin to Amsterdam

Thursday 10 April

Today is the day to move on from Berlin, so we caught a train from Friedrichstrasse to the main Berlin Station, which was only completed two years ago and is like a giant glasshouse. It was much easier to get to than last Sunday when we were in the car.

The ICE (Intercity Express) for Amsterdam moved out within 30 seconds of the departure time and like the Japanese Bullet trains was very clean and fitted with airline style seats, we had two facing each other with a table in between and the choice of seven music channels, which you don’t find on the Japanese trains. The train had a restaurant car but there wasn’t any need for us to go to it as the efficient staff would bring what ever we wanted to our seat. The train was very quiet and smooth and at times travelled at 250 km/hr. It was very pleasant to sit back and watch the wonderful green countryside slip past, we haven’t seen so much green pasture and water for years.

About three hours after departure the train was split in two with each half then going to a different destination, an hour later we had to change to another ICE to continue on to Amsterdam, we could have caught a later train which ran direct from Berlin to Amsterdam, but it didn’t arrive until after 7:00 pm. At the Dutch border they announced that “because of a technical problem we would have to change to the train on the other side of the platform”. Passengers and crew from both trains swapped over and we were on our way in five minutes, each train returning to their original departure point. Talking to a friend in Amsterdam he told us that the German rail won’t allow their trains to be operated by Dutch crew and that was the reason for the swap.

Shortly after entering Holland the police came through our carriage checking passports, it was interesting because they checked the Dutch and German nationals and all other people in the carriage but told us they didn’t want to see ours. Two seats behind us was a young Australian boy and I noticed the police checking his passport with an ultra-violet light and then a microscope and then called a colleague to look at the passport. In Berlin at the replica of Checkpoint Charlie, for five or ten Euros you could obtain a number of replica crossing stamps from the “wall” days, we saw several people having them stamped in their passport. This is what the Australian boy had done and “because the stamps are false, your passport is invalid and you must leave the train with us at the next stop”.

Arriving in Amsterdam we bought a seniors strip card, 15 strips for euro 4.60 and where we travelled was two strips each per journey, better than the 1.60 per trip if we paid cash. Even better value as the next day when getting on the tram we presented our strip card for cancelling and the conductor just waved us through, so now we will get the equivalent of 10 individual trips.

We arrived at the private hostel beside Vondel Park, on the other side of the park to the Youth Hostel we stayed at on our last trip, but this time it was booked out. We had to go down to the bar to check in, haven’t times changed, and the first thing we saw was a young lad sitting at the bar with a bong smoking “happy grass”. Our tiny room is in the attic 102 very narrow steep steps from ground level, a very basic room with a hand basin but not even a nail in the wall to hang a towel, every thing has to be “hung” on the floor or the window sill. The shower and toilet is on the other side of this floor and we have to lean towards the wall to pass under the roof pitch and supporting roof braces to get to it, but the room is clean and we are only here for three nights. Another addition to our experience book.

Friday 11 April.

We finished breakfast and were on the move by 9:00 to go to Keukenhof the world famous bulb gardens. Arriving at Amsterdam Centraal we bought our train ticket for Leiden and the girl told us we had just missed a train and the next would depart at 10:29. At the other side of the platform was a train and the board said Schiphol, Leiden etc. and indicated the train was running late, but not sure if should get on this train we waited for the 10:29. Boarding our train we sat for five minutes when an announcement advised the train would not be going (or stopping) at Schiphol and all passengers for the airport should leave the train, twenty minutes after the departure time the train finally left and surprise, surprise, the first stop was Schiphol. The trains are run by Connexxion, I wonder if they’re related to Connex. At Leiden we bought a combined bus and entry ticket and finally arrived at Keukenhof at 12:02.

Nothing we had read about these gardens had prepared us for what we saw, rows of 150 year old Beech trees, fountains and water features, bronze statues scattered throughout, about six large pavilions with various displays and over 7,000,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and many other varieties of bulbs in mass plantings. If you have ever been to Tesselaars at tulip time, that is like a window box compared to these displays. Beds of 100 x 3 metres of one variety of daffodils, 500 hyacinths of one variety, beds of many different types of bulbs interwoven in complementing colours, huge beds of one type of tulip and the size of the blooms of the plants exceeded that of any we had seen of similar varieties. We couldn’t estimate the number of different colours, shapes and sizes of the various species of bulbs on display. We overheard someone comment “they were like bulbs on steroids”.

The displays in the pavilions were outstanding; in one we think may have been new varieties, beds of 100+ tulips, daffodils and other bulbs, together with azaleas, cyclamen and miniature lilacs, being indoors the perfume from these plants was overpowering. Another pavilion contained displays of many varieties of orchids, another of tuberous begonias and one with displays of floral arrangements and a demonstration of arranging.

As magnificent as these gardens are, in a few weeks they will be even better when the trees come into leaf and the azaleas and rhododendrons bloom, there are also dozens of beds of bulbs still to flower and as the gardens are open till May the plantings are staggered to ensure that all visitors see them at there best.

We walked around the gardens for over five hours and just when we thought we had seen it all we would turn a corner to be confronted with another dazzling display At the edge of the gardens were several viewing platforms that looked over a patchwork of several hundred hectares of commercial bulb farms, an amazing sight. . Eventually we decided it was time to return to Amsterdam and in the evening when reviewing our photos we had taken 70 during the day, but nothing we took could match the visual beauty of the gardens.

Saturday 12 April

A quiet day today, we had arranged to visit to a friend about a 3 km walk from the hostel and although the sun was shining the wind was chilly, though nothing like the Arctic blasts in Berlin. We realise how lucky we were yesterday, the sun shone all day and there wasn’t any wind and apart from one day at Oberstaufen, the best day since we left home.

Berlin

Tuesday 8 April

Another cold day in Berlin but we took our Gortex coats to wear as a wind break. We left the hostel at 9:00 to walk to the Brandenburg Gate, intending to join a walking tour at 11:00 and as we had plenty of time we decided to visit the Reichstag and view Berlin from the Dome on the roof. We stood in a queue for nearly an hour and then had to go through a security check and put our belongings through an x-ray machine, more thorough than at the airport, but when you consider they were protecting the nation’s politicians it was not surprising. A lift took us to the roof and we walked up a spiral walkway from the floor of the dome to the summit which gave us a 360 degree view of Berlin and like many large cities the skyline was dotted with cranes.

Leaving the Reichstag at 12:00 we moved the walking tour to tomorrow’s list and walked to the Russian War Memorial in the Tiergarten, a park covering 167 hectares. Although it was still very cold we found a sheltered spot in the park near a pond and a large patch of daffodils to sit and eat our lunch. Walking on through the park we came to the Siegessaule a 19^th Century Victory Column, commemorating Prussian victories. Further along we came to the rear of the Berlin Zoo and walked around its perimeter, the open style fence allowed us to view many of the animals and birds in their enclosures.

At the front of the zoo we could see the ruins of the King Wilhelm I Memorial Church which was destroyed during the war, the decision was made not to rebuild it but to leave it as a permanent reminder of the stupidity of war. Part of the nave of the church remains with its beautiful mosaic ceiling and floor and many marble panels and is now a Memorial Hall. The replacement church is a very modern octagonal building and was constructed with over 22,000 midnight blue glass squares comprising the walls, this Protestant Church has been designated the “Hall of Worship”.

From the church we started to walk along the Kurfurstendamm, or as it is known to the locals Ku’damm, this is a street of fashionable shops and residences but as it started to rain we decided to go back to the station by the zoo and catch the train back to Friedrichstrasse rather than walk the 4 km+ back to the hostel.

Wednesday 9 April

Today was similar to yesterday except it was raining, but we set out to join the walking tour we missed yesterday, stopping at the crosses commemorating some of the people killed while trying to cross the wall.

Joining what we thought was the free Potsdam Walking Tour we set out with the guide and about twenty other people and after visiting the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial and we were heading towards Checkpoint Charlie we realised we had been directed to the Berlin Tour not the Potsdam Tour.

We stayed with the guide until lunch time and as it was still raining heavily and the tour was going to visit areas we had covered we decided that we would go back to the hostel to dry out and prepare for our trip to Amsterdam tomorrow.

Romantic Road

Saturday 5 April

We left the resort by 9:30 to drive along the “Romantic Road”, which really should be called a series of roads. Our first stop was at Schongau, a small but not impressive town, not a lot different from other small towns we had driven through during the week. Driving on we arrived a Landserg am Lech the old part of the town dominated by a large cobbled square with an impressive town gate and tower.

The next town was Augsburg founded over 2,000 years ago by the Roman Emperor Augustus and in the 15^th and 16^th centuries was a centre of banking and trading. The old Maximilianstrasse is lined with palaces and patrician houses and dominated at the end by St Ulrich’s church.

As the day was getting on and we wanted to get to Rothenburg for the night we decided to bypass several planned stops and drive on to Dinkelsbuhl a walled town with 16 towers and many of the original houses. During the evening the night watchman still makes his round of the city wall.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is probably one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe, it’s survival in its present form is due to two reasons, the first from the poverty inflicted on the town from the Thirty Year’s War in the 1600s which didn’t allow any major works for over two hundred years. The second from an American politician who had heard stories of the town from his mother who had visited the area before WW2.

Towards the end of the war a German general had occupied the town with orders not to surrender; the Americans had bombed parts of the town, not very accurately due to heavy cloud and were ordered to commence an artillery attack the next day. The American politician ordered that the town was not to be attacked and following negotiations with a German Major, the General being absent at the time, the Germans withdrew from the town. Today the entire area within the wall is a living museum of a medieval town and has been restored as a prosperous town due to the large numbers of visitors.

We arrived at Rothenburg around 5:00 and after booking into a Pension we walked around the old part of the town and after a delicious dinner in a basement German restaurant we joined the Night Watchman’s Tour for a talk on the town’s history while walking around in the rain.

Sunday 6 April

The morning was still very cold with rain threatening as we walked around the top of the town walls looking down on the houses; we were surprised at the size of the gardens at the rear of many, as from the street the houses appeared to be built right up to each other. Completing our walk by 11:00 we set off for Berlin a drive of around 550 km.

We had heard many stories of the speed people drive in Germany but that hadn’t prepared us for actually driving on the Autobahns. We started off at a sedate, for Germany, 120 km/hr. and the speed of cars passing made us appear to be parked in the service lane. As we gained confidence we raised our speed to 140 – 150 km/hr and at time 160, even then we were passed by cars as if we were standing still.

We learned very quickly that it was just as important to keep looking in the rear view mirror as straight ahead as cars that weren’t visible 30 seconds earlier would suddenly pass. We were very impressed with the courtesy of the drivers, it didn’t matter at what speed they were travelling as soon as they passed they moved back into the right lane. To further compound our difficulty in driving at speed in a right hand drive car, we also drove through several falls of snow; this probably reduced the average speed of cars on the road by 10 km/hr!

We have noticed while driving that many houses, barns and factories have their roofs covered with solar panels, but while driving yesterday and today we passed several banks of solar panels covering over a hectare, we also passed many hundreds of wind generators, one block alone Ann counted over 60.

We arrived at our accommodation in Berlin around 4:30, which after a 30 minute break for lunch was a remarkable or possibly frightening time to travel the distance. We have a small studio apartment with a kitchen, which at first impression was better than the one at the resort but on closer inspection we found that there is only two saucepans and no cooking utensils, this will challenge our skills to prepare meals.

As parking by the hostel was limited we decided to return the car early instead of waiting for Monday morning, the address we had was at the main railway station but it wasn’t indicated where to park the car. After driving around the station three times I eventually parked illegally and Ann went into the Europcar office for instructions. We could have driven for a week and we would never have found where to park the car.

We walked back to the hostel, stopping at a supermarket to shop, for the first time in our life we had to queue for over 15 minutes to get into the shop, the crowds inside were huge, and someone commented that it was the only one open on a Sunday in the area.

Monday 7 April

If we thought it was cold in the mountains in the snow, nothing prepared us for Berlin today, it was bitter. We walked down Friedrichstrasse to “Checkpoint Charlie” and then walked to the last remaining remnant of the Berlin Wall, nothing like the wall we viewed in 1986. The building on the west side of the wall had been demolished by the mid 1950s and which from 1933 to 1945 was the Gestapo, SS and Reich Security Main Office, the basement of which contained prison cells and the attic rooms where the Gestapo inflicted their savagery on many victims.

In 1986 the area was excavated and the cellars and foundations of the building were uncovered, this is now the site of an open air exhibition called the “Topography of Terror”, a pictorial exhibition of Nazi excesses in their years of control.

By 12:30 we were so cold that we decided the warmth of our room was more important than any further site seeing, so we returned and won’t be leaving till tomorrow.

Walk in the Countryside

Friday 4 April

Looking out the window this morning after last night’s snow, we saw a different scene, yesterday there were green hills and this morning everything was white after 10 cm+ of snow.

At 11:00 we left in the resort’s mini-bus for the village of Hopfen of around 10 houses and a cheese factory. The first stop was at the cheese factory where we were given a talk on the production, all in German. It is a very small factory processing 6000 litres of milk a day, from 20 farms, in Victoria some larger dairy farms would produce that much milk by themselves. After the talk we were given some cheese to sample and bought a wedge to take away.

Leaving the factory we walked in a 1 ½ hour loop around the neighbouring farm land all completely covered in snow and walking past a larger village. At some of the farms I was able to look inside the barns of two them, both attached to the houses, one had around 12 cows, the other 18 all in stalls. I wonder how the cows survive in such dark and gloomy conditions for months at a time.

Arriving back in the village we had lunch in a little restaurant and then returned to the resort.

Tomorrow we leave the resort and plan to drive along the “Romantic Road” through several medieval towns before heading to Berlin on Sunday, a total distance of around 700 km.

I’m not sure if we will have internet access in our accommodation in Berlin, so this may be my last posting for a while.

Walk to Aach

Thursday 4 April

As forecast we awoke to an overcast sky with the promise of snow, so we decided to have a quiet day and signed up for a two hour walk to Aach a village across the hills.

After lunch we set out with eight others and we hadn’t reached the woods when is started to snow, not the puny pretend snow flakes we are used to in Oz but big fat fluffy flakes about the size of a fifty cent coin floating gently down, so it wasn’t long before everything was coated in white. It was pleasant walking as there wasn’t any wind and the conditions were quite comfortable.

Our walk took us through woods, across farmer’s fields on public right of ways and along sealed footpaths past several farm houses. Walking along a bit further we arrived at an old farm house where the huge barn had been converted into an antique shop, filled with paintings, furniture and bric-a-brac and jewellery dating back to the 1800s and earlier. The highlight for us was two old horse drawn sleighs, which we had only seen previously in photos and paintings.

We eventually arrived at a stream and waterfall with a small footbridge across it, on the other side of the bridge was a sign with a coat of arms and one of the walkers explained that we were about to cross into Austria, on our side was a sign with the German emblem.

Walking through the fields in Austria we came to another stream with an old covered bridge which we walked through, further along the track there was another footbridge across a stream and a sign on the other side, which one of our companions translated. It said we weren’t to enter Germany unless we had a passport, as ours were back at the resort we just had to “border hop”.

Arriving at the village of Aach we all entered a small restaurant for afternoon tea, which depending on various tastes varied from beer and white sausage, potato cakes, salad and in our case, coffee with the most delicious home-made apple strudel with ice cream, this probably returned, with extras, the calories we had burnt climbing the hills on our walk.

To complete an enjoyable afternoon the resort mini-bus picked us up and we arrived back at the resort four hours from the start of our walk. It had started to snow heavily again so we sat in our room watching the flakes floating past our balcony, beautiful to watch sitting in a warm room.

Bavarian Spring

Wednesday 2 April.

We awoke to a light shower which appeared to be the order of the day, how wrong we were. As the day progressed so did the weather, thunder and lightning, hail, sleet and snow – a pleasant Bavarian Alps spring day!

Not to be put off, we programmed the GPS for Wangen, part which dates from the 15^th century but for some reason it can’t find a town unless we include a street, so we asked the GPS to find a parking location in town and set off, Wednesday being market day we thought that would be interesting event. Somehow we finished up in a little village quite some distance from where we intended. Trying again we eventually arrived at Wangen and wandered through the old part of town, just as we were leaving the market area a strong wind hit the market, knocking down many of the stall covers, this was followed by thunder and lightning and as we arrived at the car a heavy hail storm.

We then set of for Isny and learning about the foibles of the GPS asked to be directed to the Town Hall, all went well until we encountered new road works and a detour road which threw the GPS into “Recalculating” mode again. We went to Isny to visit an “all year round” Christmas shop, which has closed, so we programmed the GPS for “home” driving through a snow fall on the way. Tomorrow the forecast is for snow, so it may be a good day for a rest.

Hohenschwangau

Tuesday 1 April. We left the resort in thick fog to drive to the village of Hohenschwangau, a drive of around 75 km give or take a few to allow for wrong turns. Obviously the small towns were built long before people travelled any distance because often the road appeared to be taking you right up to a front door or into a barn and at the last minutes veering around the building whose wall was right on the edge of the road. Rather scary when you meet a truck coming the other way which meant one driver had to drive partly onto the narrow footpath.

We arrived at Hohenschwangau and parked below the Castle, the private retreat of the Bavarian Royal Family. The family spent much time in the castle and seldom entertained, using it as “get away”. The Castle is still owned by descendants of the Bavarian Kings, but is now just a museum which provides a substantial income for the current Duke. The building and the lavish decorations and furnishings, must have taken a large portion of the Bavarian State’s income. It was in this building that the young Prince, later to become King Ludwig II spent a lot of his early days and probably where he planned his world famous Neuschwanstein Castle.

Which contrary to the belief of some tourists who visit, was not copied from Disneyland.

The structure of the building is outstanding, given that it is at the top a very steep hill and the builder would have had to construct a road to the summit before building could commence. I won’t even attempt to describe the splendour of the rooms in the Castle, but we have been in many palaces and stately homes over the years and this outdoes them all.

Because the money Ludwig was spending on the construction was draining the State purse, the Government of the day declared him insane and replaced him with his uncle. As a result of Ludwig being removed a large part of the planned construction never took place and the fitting out of the second floor of the Castle was never started, so only the first, third and fourth floors were completed and the throne for the throne room was not built. The moment Ludwig was removed all work ceased and the family cancelled many orders for furnishings and fittings and it took them forty years to pay off the outstanding debts. The Castle is now owned by the Bavarian State.

Ludwig was taken from Hohenschwangau to a Palace some 60 km away, and two days after he was deposed, he and his doctor went for a walk and didn’t return. They were later found drowned in the nearby lake – accident or murder, no-one knows.

Even though the clouds hung around all day we were able to take some photos and two of the attached “works of art” are included at the request of our three year old granddaughter, Erica.

Lindau

Monday 31 March. It looks as if Sunday was a one off, as the morning was cold and overcast as we set off for Lindau an island town on Lake Constance. Lindau has many old buildings some of which date back to the 1500s. A large part of the town is a car free zone which allows the locals and visitors to stroll around and enjoy the town. From the waterfront you can look across the lake to Switzerland and to the left is Austria, we could have taken a short ferry ride to both these countries but as we didn’t have our passports with us, we had to be content with looking at them.

Back at the resort, after tea we went down to the reception lounge and were entertained by a local Schnapps manufacturer, who provided eight generous samples of their products, we were glad there wasn’t any naked flames around as we may have exploded, 35%+ alcohol!