April 12 2013

April 12 2013

LAT report

Went down to concierge to get our money back for tour...we argued with him for about 15 minutes...finally he agreed to call the tour company, so we said we would comeback after breakfast.  We did, and he offered 1/2 of the money back and so I continued to argue with him and finally we said we would take it and protest the charges on our Visa bill...he snarled at that but knew he couldn't do anything about it.  We then decided to walk to a shopping center about a half a mile away.  It was three stories and very modern inside...I took some pictures of the food court and bought some licorice in a candy store.  Dick was feeling a little puckie so he headed back to the hotel Linda, Candy and I decided to go to Meissen to the china/ porcelain factory.  So we took a cab to the train station, bought tickets, hopped on the train for about a 30 minute ride, we then got to a little one train platform stop in Meissen caught a city bus to the factory.  The tour was very well done and saw the whole process of making the slip, pouring the mold, cleaning the green ware, painting and firing...then of course you end the tour in the shop....could not afford anything at this place!  I saw a teapot for €47,000 which would be a good $60,000 for us...it was lovely.  We then headed back reversing the going to process and collected Dick at the hotel and went to dinner.  I had pork schnitzel  and bread dumplings...quite tasty...best meal so far.  Went to hotel bar where if we bought a drink we could get free WIFI, so I down loaded a couple blogs.  Went to room and packed for tomorrow's trip to Munich.

LMR report

Dat 2 in Dresden - made up for yesterday's tour. Met with concierge and got 1/2 our money back.  Looked at Lladro but did not cave in and purchase.  Went walking to big mall to look for Birkenstocks (made in Germany), I found some but was sure I had that exact pair at home.  Went to tourist information office found out about the trip to Meissen porcelain factory. The tour was amazing!  Very well organized.  Items were just way out of my budget. Cheapest was €55 or about $80.00.  Went way up from there.  People were very helpful guiding us to local buses and trains.  Returned to the hotel and went out or dinner.  Had been a long time since 8am breakfast.  I bought pastries and chips at mall, but didn't have time to eat them, so will go with us on train tomorrow to Nuremberg and Munich.  Till then

April 11 2013

LAT report

Up and ready for our next leg to Dresden.  Left early enough to figure out where we need to be to catch train and to have breakfast.  Went to McDonalds ...the did not have either of my favorite breakfast things so I had coffee.  We got into the train and back to,our compartment and found that we were sharing the six seat cabin with another couple who looked at horror when the saw all our luggage.  They did not speak a lot of English but enough that we said we would make sure they could get out first with their items.  We were able to store four of our bags in a car that there were only two people in ...luckily it was a lady that Dick had earlier helped.  So it all worked out.  We took a cab ride to the hotel thru the city.  The hotel is in an old part that is really lovely.  Across the street is a huge old old church and all the streets were lined with cafes and shops(expensive).  We got our rooms went to the hotel Bistro for lunch and then did a hop on hop off that was terrible for a list of reasons that I don't even want to take up space for!  We had a late dinner ... I had spatezle and cheese...it was good.  Very tired came back and went right to bed.

LMR report

Got up and went for coffee and checked out.  At train depot had breakfast.  Boarded the train.  Felt sorry for the two other people in our compartment.  Nice couple from Berlin traveling to Dresden.  They were amazed at the amount of stuff we had!  Got cab to the hotel.  In the heart of old Dresden.  Lots of cobblestones, big buildings and old churches.  Many choices for lunch.  Ate at a small cafe associated with the hotel.  Lots of very nice jewelry and gift shops - some amazing Lladro!  Might need a piece or two!  Took the hop on hop off at 4pm it was terrible!  I felt really bad as they are usually so nice- this one was dirty and the announcer was talking German over the bus speaker system rather then people listening on headsets, so we tried to listen to the English over the headsets and it was like German in one ear and English in the other.  We sat at the top of the double decker bus and they had the heat blasting.  I said it was like we were kidnapped and tortured for two hours.  We are asking for our money back tomorrow.  Had a few sprinkles today it was the first rain of the trip.  Dinner in a nice place... Had spatezle, sauerkraut and pig knuckles!  I had a baked potato!  Full day in Dresden tomorrow.  More to follow --

April 10 2013

LAT report

     Today was a full day!  We headed off this AM by cab to the radio tower building which looks like the Seattle Space Needle.  It is the tallest building in Europe.  The observation tower has  pictures all around the outside in front of the window showing what you are looking at...it was a bit foggy but still spectacular.  The restaurant was above that..we did not go up but it rotates every hour 360° .. After we took a bunch of pictures we went down to the main floor and Dick got us two rickshaws that are bike driven to go about four blocks to the most grand church I have been in... They call it the "Dome" church and it was built in the 1400's but renovated many times...we have some great pictures but nothing to do it justice. The basement was a crypt with free standing coffins that were elaborately decorated ...there were kings from the 1400's and babies just erie and fascinating.. But the main church made your jaw drop!  It was amazing ..  windows so, beautiful, the altar of marbles and gold...the organ was bigger then a two story house...there were candelabras that were 6' tall...while there ..a service was about to begin and there were two trombone players that accompanied the organ from way up high in the church balcony.  The acoustics were just crazy!!  We left the church after about an hour and headed for the hop on hop off us.  We rode the bus until we hit checkpoint Charlie's and we got out and had lunch and took pictures Linda and I bought a Russian hat.. Preparing for our next trip!  We then walked back to the hotel and got a couple of boxes to ship and headed for the post office.  On the way back we stopped at a little deli as they had free WIFI so I could download some pictures and load our last post.  We ran into Dick and Candy and had a few beers and decided then to walk to a grocery store which was about 6 blocks down the street...I was having a craving for Cheetos ... I guess Germany isn't into Cheetos...but we got some snacks and came back to the room and packed and are ready for our next leg which is Dresden.  Should be fun and interesting... We all agreed we could have pent more time in Berlin...but I guess you could say that about every city.

LMR report

Second full day in Berlin - started off at the TV tower which is the tallest building in Europe.  It opened at 0900, we were amongst the first in line.  It was a bit foggy but it did give us a 360° view.  Took a ride in a vehicle that looked like a tuk-tuk to the Dome cathedral.  Truly incredible!  We were fortunate enough to hear horns and a bit of the magnificent organ.  I don't know how the Vatican could be any more gorgeous.  Got on our hop-on hop-off and rode the route until we reached Checkpoint Charlie's.   There were a couple of soldiers there that we had our pictures taken with, then we found out they charge €3 a person.  Returned to the hotel and packed boxes we wanted to, send home.  The post office is directly across the street from the motel so that was very convenient.  Linda and I started getting ready for our Russian trip we bought hats from a vendor on the street who was from Russia.  After mailing packages we stopped for wine and beer, went to the grocery store for munchies and returned to hotel.     Check out in AM and on to train to Dresden.  More then-

April 7-8 pictures

Here are the pictures from Berlin

Pictures April 7-8

April 9 2013

LAT report

We had a wonderful baileys latte for breakfast this morning and then went to a dinner for food..it was ok..nothing special except for the beer!  We bought our hop on hop off tickets for the city tour they were €22 for 48 hours.   The bus tour around the city was 2.5 hours.  It was all interesting but some of it stood out ...the "wall" which separated east and west Germany was smaller then I would have thought was about 7 ft tall concrete and had rebarb to enforce it...but it was covered for block after block with wonderful art work that you could not believe...really interesting...got some photos.  There was the long strip of shops that were high high end... Could no t go into any of those...Vircase,  Gucci, Louis Vitton...etc etc...  We did hop off the bus and have a quick one at the Hard Rock Cafe which we are trying to make a tradition.  We stopped at a souvenir shop that was great then back on the bus.  We saw many very moving monuments to the Jewish people killed by Hitler...very sad and as I said moving.  When we got to the end of the tour we were back by our hotel.   So we stopped in long enough  to drop off items that we had bought and took off for a shopping center down the street.  It was really something reminded me of Harrods in London...lots of little individual departments that sell exclusive products...I saw a ladies blouse (cotton) for $195 yikes!  We then headed for dinner following the suggestion of the hotel concierge.  We had a great dinner...I had curry sausage ....and a German pretzel, and of course a great beer!  It was a very large place and very noisy but a lot of fun!  We are still missing our boat mates from England....Dani and Brian.  We did get an email from them so we know they made it home safely...but they are missing us also....

LMR report

First full day in Berlin.  Walked around a bit to find some breakfast.  Ended up eating at the same place we had dinner the night before.  Most of the group had bailey's lattes for breakfast drinks.  While here at breakfast a big motorcade with lots of security and many protective vehicles went by.  We are not sure who is in town.  Took the hop on hop  off bus for 22 stops- checkpoint Charlie's, Berlin Wall, Bradenburg gate... Got off at Hard Rock Cafe. Finished the trip and returned to the hotel.  Went to the post office to get boxes to mail stuff home.  Not like Cambodia however ...just needed to lighten the load a bit for the next round of shopping on Thursday.  Concierge recommended a true German Hofbrau for dinner.  Our hotel is at the center of everything, so easy to walk to what we need to see or do.  Returned from dinner via concert hall.  Our room is very warm have to sleep with our windows open, there is a big deep tub that I practically need a stool to get in, the shower is challenging too.  Tomorrow we will mail the boxes and go to the top of the TV tower and much more ... Will report then! 

April 8 2013

April 8 2013

Very sparse WIFI access, hotel charges so will try and find local pub with free WIFI...can you believe the Hilton charges?

LAT report

After a nice breakfast with the group we took off by cab to the grand central rail way station.  We were plenty early so we figured out where we needed to go to catch our train and went there.  We then headed back to the main floor for coffee at Starbucks.  The train car we are in has individual cabins with six seats and luggage storage over head...of course not enough for all of our luggage so we set two of the bigger bags on two of the seats praying no one else was going to come in and sit with us...we had reserve seats so we were ok it was just all our stuff we were worried about.  The train ran very smoothly and on the entire trip had about 19 stops, some in the Netherlands and some in Germany.  Never very long at any station.  There was a conductor that came by and checked our tickets about every three or four stops...and another conductor that took drink orders and delivered from the ding car.    Dick and Candy had lunch in the dining car and said it was pretty good..Linda and I decided to wait until we got to Berlin.  This was Dick's first train ride and he liked it..the worst thing was getting our bags on and off the train ... I think pulled a muscle in his neck helping us!  We arrived about 5:30pm in Berlin and decided after checking with the train info desk that taking a cab to the motel made the most sense.  The hotel is lovely and very centrally located.  We all went to a small cafe for dinner.  We are going to do a Hop-on-hop off tomorrow and the war museum across the street in the afternoon then to the radio tower for dinner (it looks like the space needle), we will also somewhere in all of this go to check point Charlie's to see the remains of the Berlin Wall.  Full day but will be fun!


LMR. Report

Early breakfast.  Said goodbyes to Brian and Dani, we know we will see them again!  Made our way to the train station, had coffee then rode in first class cabin (only four of us by ourselves) to Berlin.  Lovely countryside saw lots of cows, sheep, horses.  Conductor checked our tickets fairly often.  There were nice conductors in the Netherlands but crotchety in Germany.  They did serve drinks in the cabin.  Arrived in Berlin, had to take two cabs as most said four people and luggage would not fit.  The hotel is right across from beautiful concert hall there are amazing buildings around the courtyard, where we are staying is part of old west Germany.  Tomorrow will include city tour of sites including checkpoint Charlie.   Each of us have places or things we want to see.  Not sure two full days will be enough time.  Have not had to buy additional luggage or ship,things home yet...but there are 12 days left to go..the weather is getting warmer but still snow on ground outside of Berlin.  More to come.

April 7 2013

LAT report

Had a nice breakfast with the gang...Dani and Brian are off to the tulip gardens. We are off to Gasson Diamond factory and the Anne Frank house.  We called a cab since our stuff was not what Viking was offering.  The diamond place was a huge building with high security ... We signed in and they called for a guide to come and take us (a small group of 10) in. Once in we went up a couple flights of stairs to a large room where workers were doing various functions with the diamonds and behind glass.  The guide took about 10 minutes to explain the process of developing a polished diamond.  It was very interesting.  She also explained in more detail then I have heard or read how diamonds are rated..ie color, cut, size and clarity.  After that we were lead to a room where security let us in and the guide sat behind a desk and we in front of her on stools.  She had several envelopes of diamonds of various sizes and ratings, she also had settings..including rings, earrings and necklaces.  She showed us all with different diamonds in various settings.  There was a couple that was in our group that was interested in buying so we all watched as she went thru the sales process.  She would call a number on the phone and ask for different settings or diamonds and they would send them to her in a big plastic tube that would come thru a shoot...like they used to have in the old days in department stores..or at banks in drive through.  We then went to lunch and that was nice ..we had some time to kill before our Anne Frank tickets were due.  The tour of the Anne Frank house was very well done, could not take pictures however.  There were tons of stairs to climb as you went thru the many levels of the house.  Each level had items to look at ..that related to what they did in that level.  There were TV's with different people giving remembrances of Anne or the happenings during that time.   They also had in cases her actual books that she wrote in... The whole thing was very moving...I really liked it...it gave me chills to think she stood in the same spot as I was standing...oh my gosh!  We then returned to the ship and went to the lounge to tag up with Dani and Brian.  They had a great time at the gardens and Dani had great pictures...it looked lovely...but I really liked what we did... We then went to dinner (our last on the boat)  and said goodbye to Alexandr our great waiter and our drink guy... And later in the bar said goodbye to our bartender who smuggled us an incredible amount of free drinks!  Have to go to bed early as we are packing and leaving for the train at 9:30am ... But we did have a farewell breakfast with our group of six.  Very sad to say goodbye to Dani and Brian....even though they continue to blame us for TP'ing their door!  Not us!   More tomorrow ...from Germany!


LMR report

Nice day without any excursions.  Dick, Candy, LAT and I went into Amsterdam for the day.  First step was a diamond store, it was a great tour.  We then went to lunch and finally to the Anne Frank house.  Very powerful experience. Back to the ship for our farewell dinner and drinks.  Breakfast tomorrow then off to Berlin by train.