UNPACKING THE TRIP, Part 3.

 OK!  OK!  But where did you actually go?!?

Fine.  I'll answer here.  I hope this isn't like watching one of those interminable slide shows back in the day that your parents insisted on narrating about their trip to Omaha.  But here goes...

We went here:

THE NETHERLANDS

AMSTERDAM: Pre-cruise, we arranged a two-day pre-cruise extension to spend more time acclimating to the time change and exploring a city we'd heard so much about.  It lived up to its reputation as a below-sea-level, very wet city.  Lots of canals.  We advise NOT arriving on the morning of the national holiday (King's Day) celebrating the Netherlands king's birthday.  It was crazy!  Everyone was wearing orange regalia, the whole city's neighborhoods were teeming with citizens selling flea market type "treasures" in front of their homes and businesses.  You could barely walk down the sidewalk, but taking one tiny little step off the curb put one's life at risk from extremely aggressive bicycle riders who do not give one f*&k about pedestrians.  Many tend to be an angry sort (both women and men) who think nothing of scowling, yelling, or flipping you off.  Also no one wears a helmet, so there may one day be a bit of payback for their aggression.  (I do worry about the little tykes riding in baby-seats who are similarly un-helmeted as if Dutch heads really are invincible, or just thick.)  We took a canal cruise with one super nice guide who says he wanted no part of the previous day's King's Day revelry in the Old Town area, and closed his business as the frat boy-type drunken bacchanalia unfolded, leaving broken glass, trash, and zillions of Heineken cans in its wake both on land and in water.  We didn't go to any museums since we wanted to be outside (and we know we will be back next year for another visit.)  We did find two great places for coffee -- real coffee.  I don't do drugs, so the other so-called "coffee houses" were not of interest to me (where pot is bought and smoked).  Nor do I think public exhibitionism and prostitution an amusement, so the Red Light District held no interest either, and wasn't on my tour agenda.  The Anne Frank house, however,  was a must-see; very moving and surprisingly inspiring.  Other than that, I guess Amsterdam was not my thing, at least this time around.  Inauspicious start.

KINDERDIJK:  

Windmills.  Option to go to tulip fields for an extra fee.  Skipped it.  We have tulip fields in Washington that frankly looked the same as those in photos we saw of the fields outside Amsterdam.

GERMANY

COLOGNE:

Known for its big cathedral.  Very impressive.  Learned that 95% of the city had been bombed by the Allies in WWII and most of the city has been rebuilt. (The cathedral sustained relatively little damage.)  Also we had a knowledgable and passionate guide who warned of the dangers of Fascism. He cautioned that as one person amasses power, putting his own people into positions of authority and allowing others to assume powers not legally granted, when laws are ignored or undermined, when norms are eroded, and the unthinkable becomes commonplace, BEWARE.  Right-wing populists are on the rise against democracies.  He said, "Do not turn away; do NOT turn away."  Many in the group thanked him for his message and heard it loud and clear.

KOBLENZ: 

All we got to see, really, was Marksburg castle, which was kinda cool.  It was "restored" for tourists, so a bit, well, touristy.  We climbed narrow stone stairways and looked out over the country side from the castle walls.  Then had to hurry back to the ship.

MILTENBERG:                                                                      

Half-timbered homes -- mostly built post-1945 to look like the originals.  Allied bombing destroyed most the of town.  Another too quick stop.  We had river miles to go.

WURZBURG: 

This is our terrific guide at the Prince Bishop Residence.  An elaborate monument to the guy in charge of the region back in the day.  Not really a bishop; nominally a prince.  But totally a narcissist.  Wurzburg was also mostly destroyed in WWII.  Now it hosts untold "Hen Parties" -- destination bachelorette parties of brides-to-be and their entourages.  Lots of street drinking.  College town.  Lively and fun, actually. And beautiful.

 

BAMBURG: 

NOT destroyed by Allied bombs; deemed too unimportant to waste ammo on, for which the populace is now grateful.  So, what we saw really was old and authentic.  Our guide here was a middle school history teacher; I'd love to have him in class. He made history come alive.

NUREMBERG:  

Infamous, of course, for the Nazi war trials post WWII.  We drove past the courthouse, Nazi headquarters, the parade grounds, the Congress Hall.  It was eery.  But today the grounds are an event center for concerts, the Congress Hall abandoned.  The public square in Town Center is vehicle-free and pedestrians, farmer's markets, and sidewalk cafes abound.  We had coffee and a famous Nuremberg gingerbread cookie within steps of the underground bunkers where the Nazi's stashed priceless art, knowing war was coming.  Afterward the art was threatened by looters and those trying to use the treasure to fund their escape once the Allies marched in.  We visited these bunkers.  Interesting.

In almost every "burg" in Germany we found "stumbling stones", brass plates inlaid with the cobblestones, marking the location of people killed by the Nazis, the vast majority of whom were Jewish, but Hitler had a whole list of people not to his liking and they were rounded up too.  This is a project throughout Europe, but requires the city's permission.  Munich has declined, not wanting the names of those killed to be stepped on as part of the walking surface of the sidewalk.  But the guides we spoke to thought them a great tribute to be able to see how many were taken and where they had lived.

REGENSBERG:

For some reason, this was a favorite stop for me.  Again, not bombed, so original and the twisty streets, a mix of Urban Modern and Old Country, the vitality of a young (college town) population, and lots to see and do made for a fun day here.  I'm trying to avoid posting pix of us on the blog, but I'll post this one.  Cuckoo!

PASSAU:  

Pretty town.  Another cathedral.  Baroque instead of Gothic.  Light and bright!  Interesting story told by our guide here. Relatively recently a group of Neo-Nazis decided to gather in the cathedral square and make some noise.  They weren't a big group, but were loud and obnoxious.  Inside the priests got together and decided to ring the steeple bells, rarely rung except on high holidays a few times a year.  If you are close the bells are so loud as to be painful.  They rang out on that particular day, sending the Neo-Nazis scrambling away!

MELK:

Melk Abbey is home to an order of Benedictine Monks -- it's an active community which runs a high school associated with it.  We got to tour, but were not allowed to take any indoor photos.  I tell ya, it was so ornate!  How much gold does the Catholic church actually own?  Because we saw so much gold; so many jewels in all these churches.

AUSTRIA

VIENNA:

Iconic Vienna.  Hmmm...  I get that we could basically only see the most touristy part of the city, but dang!  So crowded!!!  We did find a sidewalk cafe to enjoy sharing a Sacher Torte and Appelstrudel, but mostly we fought crowds, tried to avoid souvenir stores, toured yet another cathedral, and stumbled upon a rose garden that afforded us a bit of respite from the hordes.  This statue of Mozart was pretty cool.  We had a second full day in Vienna and didn't even go back into town.  Hub plotted a nature walk for us along the river on an island in the Danube that was just lovely.  This late in the trip, we were craving a break from cities and people.

HUNGARY

BUDAPEST:

Ahhh...  Who knew?  Budapest seemed so "exotic" to me before we arrived. Eastern Europe is an area I'd not really known much about.  We spent our last tour stop there, with an added two night post-cruise extension.  We LOVED it!  Truly a favorite place on my travel list.  It's beautiful and interesting.  The people were friendly, the streets clean and safe, even the touristy stuff was fun.  We learned the tram and subway, walked a huge city park, went on a night cruise that was breathtaking.  This photo is the iconic Parliament Building at night.

So...more than you wanted?  In creating this post, I have re-lived the trip and am reminded how fortunate I am to have been able to see all these places.  I was in Budapest on Mother's Day and thought of my mom, a farm girl from Illinois, and of my own childhood, a kid from a small working class city growing up on the decidedly 'blue collar' side of the river that split our town.  Never in one million years was it in my mother's, nor my, dreams that one day I'd be cruising around Europe and spending Mother's Day sailing into Budapest.  I am so grateful.  This is why, in spite of all my travel angst, I am already looking forward to our next European Adventure next year.  We will be hopping on the Rick Steves bus again, traveling back to Amsterdam, then Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France.  It should be sorta great, right?

At least, that's the view from here...©