A Day of Leisure ?

Everyones new purse

Now that's an organ

Photo bombed at the Ishtar Gate



Today was a free day from the Viking schedule, so we winged it.

After breakfast we walked a few blocks to where there was supposed to be an artesians market. Unfortunately THERE WAS and everyone ended up buying things.

At noon we went to a noon service at a local cathederal, not that we all are relegious, to here one of the largest organs in Germany. The dome of the cathederal was destroyed ,now rebuilt, during the war but the organ survived untouched.

After our church visit, we hit a museum and saw an exhibit of the Ishtar Gate and other Assyrian artifacts.

The day ended with another excellant meal, this time Italian.

A Day in the City

Brandenburg Gate

A remaining section of the Berlin Wall

Today was our first full day in Berlin and it was a busy one.

After breakfast we loaded on the bus for our 5 hour tour of the city, both riding and walking. It seemed that most of it naturally revolved around the war and the citites history and strife while being devided.

After the tour a few of us went to the Ha De We Dept store for a late lunch in tbeir food court and to look around. The store is the largest in Germany . It is 7 storied tall and covers a full city block.

Returning to the hotel, our merry band of travelers took about 45 minutes to rest and freshen up and then we were off for dinner at a brew house . My schnitzel covered a full plate and was  delicious served with a side of warn german potatoe salad.

Now it is time to stretch out, get some sleep and start again

Made It

After a long COLD night on the plane I am now in Berlin and can relax and enjoy the trip.

The plane had to be the coldest I was ever on, one of the gentlemen on our trip had his water bottle against the outter wall and it actually started to freeze.

Anyhow, the hotel is very nice and centrally located.

I will  try to post something for those of you who couldn't tear yourself away from the election.

So it Begins

I am now sitting at the Pittsburgh airport waiting for my flight to Newark. After nearly a 5 hour layover, I will be off in the evening for my 8 hour overnight flight to Berlin. Hopefully I will get a few hours sleep so that I can function. Berlin is 6 hours ahead of EDT. I never seem to mind the trip over as much as returning when you have to stay up the extra 8 hours.

The Itinerary

This is a copy of the schedule and route as posted in the cruise documents by Viking.
As we progress I will post comments along with the days agenda from the guide.

With the time drawing near, I will probably not post anything else until I am on the road.

SEE YOU THEN !

Returning to Normal

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There was some concern earlier that the river would be unnavigable due to lack of rain this year causing low water levels. In the past few weeks there has been some rain and the river is returning to normal. Vikings last update stated that they expected "normal operation" after Oct 6.

This news is relieving because in the case of low water, the ships become pier bound hotels and busses are used to shuttle guests back and forth to the locations on the itinerary.  You still get to see what has been scheduled, but you miss the relaxing cruise down the river and the scenery.

In the next post, I will include the itinerary and what there is to look forward to.

Time for Berlin and Prague

Well it's time for the next adventure. In a very short while I will be off to Berlin. After a two day pre-trip in  Berlin, I will be joining the Viking Elegant Elbe cruise on the Viking Beyla to sail down the elbe river ending up in Prague.

This trip was initiated by a couple friends in Denver and our merry little cruise family of five will be spending two days in Berlin then 10 days on the river floating through Germany and the Czech Republic and then up with a day and night in Prague.

For those that have never been on a river cruise the ship ports daily, typically right on the banks of the cities. Tours have been arranged for nearly all of the cities , and after the tour you are free to remain on the ship or walk back in on your own for shopping.

Up until this week it was doubtful whether we would be sailing down the river or just using the ship as a hotel since the water levels have been extremely low this year. Thankfully last week they started to get rain in Germany and the river is now navigable once again so the cruise should proceed as normal.