Grand European Finale
September 3, 2019
This is the finale of our Viking Grand European River Cruise, where I’ve shared our itinerary via blog posts – with a short description and a link to each.
It’s the nature of a blog for the last post to be at the top of the stack, which works out nicely if you follow along with each new post. If you aren’t up-to-date, this post has links to all the posts of the series, so you can pick and choose which ones to visit.
If you need to start at the beginning, just click on “About the Cruise” directly below. After (hopefully) enjoying the informative copy and (hopefully) oohing and aahing at the photos, click on the green link at the bottom (Next up:) and you’ll be directed to the next post of this series. There are a lot, since this was a long cruise, I’m long-winded and I take a lot of photos – so you may want to stay close to the coffee pot if you’re planning a marathon.
If you see a large group of photos, click on the top-left one and it will get a little larger and you’ll be able to click through the whole series of photos with ease. So here goes!
- Introductory blog – an overview of why we chose Viking over their competitors, some things we liked and/or learned from previous cruises, what we’ll see along the way, and some random photos taken over the course of our three-week journey. I also go into my vacation obsession which you may have already heard (many times).
- We signed up for a “pre-extension” in Prague through Viking. Some details on flights and meeting up with my brother. His gift of gab helped us meet our core group for meals and downtime, adding consistency to the madness and lots of fun. We checked in at the Art Nouveau Palace Hotel, spruced up and explored a bit in Old Town. Hamley’s Toy Store was a great find.
- Upon checkin, our Viking rep gave us vouchers for free beers with our dinners at Kolkovna – famous for its local fare. Welcome to Prague!
- Panoramic Prague was the first of three excursions today. We got a lesson in architecture – Romanesque, Baroque, Gothic and more, beautiful toy stores, one of the oldest monuments in Prague, a Gothic tower from the 1300s with an amazing astronomical clock.
- We heard about the most beloved Czech king and the “father of the Czech nation” and crossed a fabulous bridge named after him. Imagine all the people, living life in peace and seeing a wall where graffiti is welcomed. And then there are the huge bare-butted babies (I know, right?).
Awe-Inspiring Prague: Part Two
- We finished up our first excursion of the day at the 9th century Prague Castle Complex – complete with castle guards and a tour through St. Vitus Cathedral, where we stood – as motionless as the guards outside the gates – looking upward at the beauty all around us.
- Lobkowicz Palace was our second excursion with privileged access to wonderful views overlooking the city, an elegant lunch in the Lobkowicz family’s original living quarters, and a private concert in the concert hall. We viewed priceless artifacts, historic musical instruments, and even love letters from the family’s archives.
- Prague by Night was our final excursion of this long day, where we squeezed WAY too many people (by US standards) into an elevator and shot up to an observatory in the second ugliest building in the world. There we heard the story of the aforementioned babies which are usually attached to the outside the tower. We ended at the Strahov Monastery around dusk for more fabulous views of the city.
- We traveled to a suburb of Kutna Hora, to visit the Sedlec Ossuary, where the interior of this seemingly-normal church is decorated with human skeletons. Our tour included lunch at an old Bohemian restaurant with delicious food and excellent beer, and later a tour of Kutna Hora and the Church of St. Barbara.
- Our last excursion of the day was a Prague Folklore Dinner, where dancers, singers and musicians entertained while we enjoyed a traditional Czech meal and beer or wine! Na zdraví!
- After a six-hour motor coach ride, we made it to Budapest and boarded our home away from home for the next 15 days. This post has photos of our stateroom and a great photo of our core group of dinner companions and our two main servers who added some fun to every meal.
- After dinner, we were treated to a scenic evening cruise to see the lights of Budapest – the city we’ll be exploring tomorrow. This wonderful surprise gave us a chance to see the Viking Skadi in action!
- Panoramic Budapest was our first of two excursions for the day. We started with a bus tour of Pest (Pesht) and ended on the Buda side. With visits to Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion – like something from a Disney movie – this was one of my favorite days of the whole trip.
- We ditched our previously scheduled history tour for a Budapest Thermal Bath. What started out disappointing, turned into a pounding, and then to absolutely wonderful. Ahhh…
- This blog features some beautiful photos as we left Budapest and continued our journey up the Danube the following day.
- While in Vienna, we wanted to do as the Viennese do and relish in some moving classical music in an absolutely gorgeous venue.
- Panoramic Vienna took us along the remarkable Ringstrasse, past the Vienna State Opera Building, to the walking part of our tour at Maria-Theresien-Platz, the Natural History Museum, the Art History Museum, Heroes’ Gate and Heldenplatz Square.
- Joseph Square, St. Michael’s Square were absolutely beautiful, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral finished up our tour.
Vienna en route to Melk, Austria
- This day brought us to Schönbrunn Palace – one of Austria’s most important cultural assets – and its beautiful gardens.
- Visit this blog for a link to a slideshow of the fabulous voyage between Vienna and Melk, Austria.
- Today we visited the renowned 900-year-old Melk Abbey – a masterpiece in Baroque brilliance. The terrace provided great views of the city of Melk and its River. After the tour, we had some free time to explore and enjoy a cold one at a pub with an outside table.
- Our first excursion of the day was a Passau Walking Tour, where we explored Artists’ Alley, the Old Town Hall with its beautiful clock tower and ScharfrichterHaus (the executioner’s house) – ending at St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
- The second excursion continued where the first one left off with a Passau Organ Concert. One of my favorite cathedrals of the entire trip – the interior was a magnificent work of art.
- Schärding is a beautiful place with lots of color, flowers, curved gabled roofs and cobblestones. A very neat and tidy place, with rows of differently-colored houses which used to reflect the types of businesses within.
- We had a wonderful stroll through this small town and ended along the river as we made our way to the final leg of this excursion – a ride in a small boat on the Inn River.
- Today we went back in time on a walking tour of the medieval city of Regensburg – one of Germany’s most well-preserved cities, where some parts of its Roman fortification are still visible. This is where we first learned about the brass bricks known as stumbling stones.
- This morning we spent a couple of hours in town before our excursion. We had a wonderful time in Nuremberg’s Main Market Square. We saw the Schönen Brunnen and enjoyed a lively concert by the local volunteer fire brigade.
- Nuremberg was almost completely destroyed in WWII. We visited the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg, where about three miles of medieval city walls, their gateways and towers still remain.
- We spent nearly five hours on a walking tour in Bamberg, exploring well-preserved buildings along the city’s winding streets. Bamberg escaped allied bombing during World War II, so it has retained much of its original infrastructure and charm.
- You should visit this link, even if it’s only to see the Town Hall and the beautiful frescoes that adorn it, and also photos of St. Peter’s and St. George’s Imperial Cathedral.
- Wurzburg was our port-of-call, but today we spent most of our eight-hour excursion at the Red Fortress above the Tauber (River). Today was a great way to get an overview, but it left me longing for more time to explore this medieval, definitely Bavarian, walled community.
- After a wonderful day behind the wall, we head back to Würzburg for our tour of the Bishops’ Residenz – “one of Germany’s largest and most ornate baroque palaces”, which translates to gaudy! Although the Court Garden is absolutely fabulous (check it out!).
- This was a marvelous little town – well preserved and very Bavarian! The half-timbered houses and iron accents made this a photographers dream. The Jewish Cemetery was a moving and eye-opening tour by our guide whose ancestors lived through it.
- This blog has a whole-lotta photos of our trip down the Middle Rhine and brings new meaning to the ABCs of Europe. Another bloody (or beautiful) church (or castle). Enjoy!
- We made a stop at Marksburg Castle for a tour inside the only hilltop castle along the Rhine which has never been destroyed. It’s worth a look.
- The highlight of this excursion was the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) and our tour inside it. One regret was not taking the “Top of Cologne” tour which would have taken us out on the roof. My stomach turns just writing about it!
- Later that afternoon, we had another excursion to visit Augustusburg Palace, and Hunting Lodge Falkenlust which ended up being my favorite tour of a residence.
- Today we had a short visit in Kinderdijk – home to 19 of the only 28 windmills that still remain in this region. On a tour of one of the windmills, we wondered how large families could survive in such a confined space (without the internet lol). Along with many photos of the landscape, please view a humorous video that explains the difference between Holland and The Netherlands.
- This afternoon’s cocktail hour included a toast from our Captain to celebrate our journey, and this evening’s Port Talk included a farewell and “until we meet again”.
- We signed up for a “post-extension” through Viking, which included a walking tour. We also added an evening boat tour through the canals and a Jewish Quarter tour which ended at the Anne Frank House. We had to purchase tickets separately to enter Anne’s house. It was an incredibly moving afternoon and should not be missed.
Well, that about does it. I hope you got some information or at least a laugh or two out of this series of blogs. Recreating our trips helps me to remember the little details that make vacations so important to me.
MY SHORT LIST OF SUGGESTIONS:
- DON’T WEAR WHITE ON AN OVERSEAS FLIGHT. That one’s pretty obvious.
- RESIST THE URGE TO NAP. Even though it may be the middle of the night back home, go to bed at your normal bedtime (in the new timezone) to more quickly acclimate.
- WATCH YOUR STEP AT ALL TIMES. Cobblestones – especially centuries-old cobblestones – are treacherous.
- DON’T FORGET TO LOOK UP. The detail and beauty in the buildings will amaze you!
- ALWAYS KEEP SOME CHANGE (LOCAL CURRENCY) HANDY. Some restrooms require a small payment.
Na zdraví! Cheers!
Happy trails,
Barb
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