What Did We Think of the Viking River Cruise on the Viking Danube for the Grand European Tour (September 2007 Sailing)?
We've done a number of cruises in our combined century but never a "river cruise." The lure of a five-country itinerary and castles along the Rhine got us interested in Viking's Grand European Tour. As the river cruise started in Amsterdam, we were able to fly out of Hartford's Bradley Airport - a real treat for us not to have to make our way to New York City area or Newark airports. As he often does, Mark was kind enough to bring us and our bags up to the airport and send us on our way. It was just the best to be able to fly so easily out of Hartford! We arrived in Amsterdam and a driver named Frank was already waiting for us and hustled us to the Radisson SAS - just a few blocks from the Red Light District, but isn't everything finally about that distance in Amsterdam. Weather was cooler and cloudy. Unfortunately this was some of the best weather we had for two weeks... Our room was ready. Our friends were already at the hotel and already eating breakfast so we joined them. Let the sightseeing begin!
We had dinner in a wonderful Italian restaurant - RISTORANTE GUSTO DELLA CUCINA ITALIANA on Kloveniersburgwal 7 in Amsterdam. We HIGHLY recommend this little restaurant. Wonderful wonderful wonderful! This man made me pasta INSIDE this cheese. So here I am, now awake for 33 straight hours and this wonderful man makes me this fabulous pasta, he brings me bottle after bottle of wine, he comes with lemoncello. Actually two lemoncellos. And a dessert. I wasn't sure if it was Amsterdam or heaven...
We took a tour to a working farm to see more cheese making.
Of course we went to the museums, and walked around Amsterdam, and ate our way through the city. Of course!
Then it was time to board the Viking Danube. This is a small ship compared to what we usually see on a cruise. Our stateroom was spare and basic. Barely enough room for Dave and I to navigate around each other - excuse me, oh sorry, oh, can I get by?
The Cruise Manager, Marin Dimow, was great. I just enjoyed listening to his talks. He was so earnest and tried to be so helpful.
Here is Marin Dimow giving the morning talk (usually followed or followed by the morning beverge) - this talk was on the European Union. Yes! We are a smart group! Look at the guy in the front right taking notes! WOW!
And I have high marks for the chef, Juraj Podolan. It was a menu that I could only have dreamed of - and every day there was some new concoction - usually called "A Foam of" - that was just great. Inventive, fanciful, pretty arrangements. I did think the morning yogurt was just about as rich as it could possibly be until the last day someone put a little card in front of the big bowl and it read "Cream Cheese." OK, so it was pretty rich... We were watching a cooking show and it is likely that this was indeed some kind of yogurt. Maybe just the way things are named...
I did a lot of sketching - that was fun for me. A very relaxing trip all in all. So you have to see the sketches before you can see the photos. I know... shameless self promotion.
Amsterdam
Netherlands Windmill
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Dom Cathedral in Cologne Germany
Rudesheim Music Museum (Siegfried's Mechanisches Musickkabinett) - you will see a photo of this further down
More of very scenic Rudesheim
Doorway in Mainz near Gutenberg Museum
Wertheim Germany
Wertheim Germany - and there is a photo of this as well.
Rothenburg
We had a great itinerary:
The Netherlands - Amsterdam
Germany - Cologne, Mainz, Rudesheim, Wertheim, Rothenburg, Wurzburg, Nuremberg,
Regensburg, Passau, Melk
Austria - Vienna
Slovakia - Bratislava
Hungary - Budapest
So we came home, with colds from it being such lousy weather, jet lagged and with good memories!
The Netherlands:
Woody took us to lunch above and below. Above was very fancy and we were so wet and chilled.
In The Netherlands, we visited the Aalsmeer Flower Auction, or Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer - calling themselves "The World Marketplace for Flowers and Plants" - as Dave and I hail from Cheshire Connecticut USA where we call ourselves, "The Bedding Plant Capital of the World," we thought these Aalsmeer's would have to really put out something special to get our attention. Well, truly they did! Aside from the mind boggeling array, volume, assortment and quality of the flowers we saw in just a small area of this overall facility, we also saw a breathtaking logistical display. Wendy said it was just like in Monsters Inc. I'll never look at flowers the same way now that I've seen how they are bid (Dutch Auction - high price is offered first and then lowered until someone agrees to the price).
This is the Dutch Auction in progress - one of many, many of these auction rooms. People are set up with laptops and coffees and are chatting and having a great time until their particular type of flower need is wheeled in and displayed on a huge screen. And then the bidding begins.
This is how the flowers get to the shops all around the world. Just another logistics business. These trolleys are on tracks in the floor and they just move along like huge rail systems. Beautiful flowers being bid on, being selected, bought, sold, and now off for packaging and transport.
We went to Alkmaar to see the cheese market in the town square - very busy and hard to see but we had samples of the cheese and that was great!
Cheese Ladies! half Euro a slice. YUM!
BAHHHH!!! Its Americans!!! BAHHHH!!!
Well, I don't really care what those old sheep thought - it was the goat cheese
that was most excellent.
Somehow I just sort of thought windmills were part of nursery rhymes and fairy stories but here they are in Holland and doing their job to move water from one side to another.
And a ferry boat ride out to see the sea - The Zuiderzee, which made Dave have a funny expression. It impressed me to no end when he said he had learned all about the Zuiderzee when he was a kid and he was puzzled that I didn't recall any of this geography... OK, so I was staring out the window that day in school. We went to De Marker Haven
I couldn't even tell you what some of these fruits are...
GERMANY
Rolling... Rolling... Rolling down the river...
Cologne Germany
And I had one of each! YUMMY
Dom Cathedral in Cologne
Another fine beer hall...
A dessert cafe
Another fine beer hall. The glasses of beer are small in Cologne but you drink a bunch of them and you feel wonderful.
Yes, this is the building I had made a sketch of. This is the Music Museum in Rudesheim: Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett. That was a very interesting tour. As we entered every room, more sound poured out of old music boxes and organs.
Our ship, The Viking Danube, is way off in the distance. There are a few of these little ships in the river.
This was Rudesheim - very pretty and very quaint.
This / above is Mainz Germany. We toured the Gutenberg Museum - and our Finnish guide suddenly puts on a work apron, gets up on a working platform and starts inking a press!
Low bridge!
We have arrived in Wertheim. Of all the places, palaces, experiences of our trip, I think most of Wertheim because of two people, the very gracious Karl Ittig and of this woman in this pretzel shop. It is just amazing to me how a smile and a warm gesture from one or two people can change or showcase an opinion a traveler might have of an entire town.
This is the nicest woman in the world. She is getting me a pretzel and a coffee. I love this lady.
This is also one of the places I had sketched above.
This fine stonework is PAINTED on - amazing!
We met Karl Ittig who owns this glass shop, Glashaus Wertheim and the Bon-Apart Shop. Karl came on board our Viking ship the day before we arrived here and he gave us a demonstration of glass blowing. He told us about himself, his family, and his town. And in the process, I believe he put a spell on all of us and left us completely charmed by Wertheim.
Here is my David and here is Karl and here is the glass masterpiece we purchased.
By the way, this piece arrived to our house a week after we returned. It was beautifully packaged and as we unwrapped this and let the sun fall on it, the effect was dazzling! Thank you Karl! We will always treasure this and remember you, your family (including your little Grand Baby, Maximilian), and your wonderful town of Wertheim!
I was the next one to get a sausage to go.
We had a double city day - Wurzburg and Rothenburg all in one day.
This is Rothenburg from high up in the air.
Oh! Look at the little people. See the lady in white at 7:00 at the fountain? That's Wendy and she's taking my picture!
Look at the roof tops!
That's the tower we climbed up to to take those photos! YIKES! It was really, really narrow in places - a bit of a squeeze! Especially to get out on that little ledgeway.
Schneeballens - yum! Yes, OF COURSE! I ate my way through this trip!
Medieval city in Nuremburg
Nuremberg
Regensburg - You think this is nice but there are glass coffins with real bodies in them on the sides of the church.
Regensburg - I am SHIVERING from cold and this couple orders the deluxe ice cream desserts served in oversized martini glasses. I had a coffee.
12 weeks old - he almost came home with me but his owner had a tight lead on him. His name is Aragon.
The blissful expression you have when you don't realize a bus is behind you. It was a very tight squeeze for these buses on this bridge in Regensburg.
This is a market square in Passau - and it is pouring and chilly.
Scene along the river.
Our ship looked something like this but not as nice.
And it was interesting to see the ship navigate the rivers - 68 locks, an increase in altitude of almost 2000 feet and then back down. Half the trip against the current of the river, and then the second half with the current.
The water lowers. The lock door opens. We continue.
And what was going on INSIDE our ship, you ask? Well, here is Zolton (who should be a new Daddy by now)...
Zolton explaining the morning beverage: a mixture of Triple Sec, Champagne and Wheat Beer - yum! My sister asked me what the proportions were exactly: 1 shot of Triple Sec, and then 1:1 champagne and any German wheat beer to fill the rest of the glass. It's a nice taste - a bit citrus - and not really any taste of the beer really.
Igor on the keyboard and Peter Ormenyi presenting our Sausage Brunch - we especially needed this brunch after the EU talk. I asked Igor to play Elvis on the keyboard. He did very well. He hummed and whistled and sometimes sang along with the musak. The servers are full of various types of sausages including white sausages, a "meatloaf" which was really a big old mild sausage cut up like we would an American meatloaf, and several other varieties of sausages. There was sourkraut, coleslaw, several types of potato salad, dark breads, and of course baskets and baskets of pretzels! What a brunch! I think this will be the menu for the next brunch I might prepare!
Some things were like a real cruise - the dining staff feted our last night on the ship.
We should have as many of these fine little bakeries in the USA.
The big abbey in Melk
AUSTRIA
This is the Belvedere Palace. We actually saw Klimt's The Kiss - this was an impressive art collection. We could have spent days at the Belvedere, that would have been fine with me.
We also saw the Schonbrunn Palace - amazing.
And that evening we saw this concert with Mozart and Strauss compositions performed by a Viennese orchestra.
SLOVAKIA
COLD COLD COLD - but the sun is out!! The SUN!!!
HUNGARY
And now, at Hero's Park. It is starting to warm up and it is sunny! At last - Holiday Weather for a couple of earnest holiday makers!
We took an excursion to the edge of the Puszta region and saw Hungarian cowboys.
Here we are and we've just been served the Palinka drink and had the Pagacs bread. WOW! Firewater and sausage bread. Sunny day and a horsecart ride.
AND THEN! They find this Pulli puppy and put it in my arms.... Like I'm going to let go.
yes, he almost came home in my bag. And then the very exciting display of horsemanship began with arrows flying, spears being chucked, fire troughs with horses jumping over them!
AND now this cowboy flying by us standing on two horses with three in front. WOW!
If I was only a younger person....
So that was our trip. Thanks for looking at my photos and drawings!