Day 1 in London - Thursday December 20, 2012

Rain. Lots of rain. We made our way to the nearest Boots (the major drugstore chain in England) and replenished some necessary supplies. We walked to the Covent Garden area and then to Leicester Square. We bought matinee tickets to Billy Elliot and Chariots of Fire.

Wednesday matinee was at 2:30 so we had time for lunch. On our walk we had passed Byron's advertising a "Proper Hamburger". I thought that sounded good so we walked back to Byron's arriving at 11:59 before anyone else. The hamburger was excellent, very pink in the middle, and a lot of blue cheese on top. Connie had a good salad. When we departed the restaurant it was filled. My guess is that 100% of the remaining 150 or so patrons were less than half our age!

We walked back to out hotel, left our drug store packages, caught the tube to Victoria Station and arrived about 30 minutes early at the Victoria Theatre for Billy Elliott.

Before long the theatre was almost totally filled. The play began. It is a musical telling the story of Billy Elliot. He grew up in a mining town in the north of England. He lived with an extended family (grandmother, grandfather, father, brother). His mother was dead. All the men were miners. His father wanted him to be a boxer. He wanted to dance. The story revolves around this conflict (a metaphor for many related conflicts). Dancing wins, he wins a place in the Royal Ballet School at the age of 12, and the world is changed for him and his family. The dancing is spectacular, especially that of the young star. The staging was great, as was the music. I never closed my eyes, even for the shortest time! We both thoroughly enjoyed Billy Elliot. Another dinner at our Italian restaurant (Venice style liver and onions for me, sea bream for Connie) and Day 1 in London was complete.

Nuremberg to Frankfurt, to Paris, to London by Train - Wednesday December 19, 2012

It started fine. The taxi was on time as a result of the excellent organization of departure day by the AMALyra staff. The Captain, the Chef and our Host Maddie all shook our hands.

We are at the station in 20 minutes as expected. We managed to find the correct window to stamp our Eurail pass and then caught an earlier train to Frankfurt since we did not have to have seat reservations from Nuremberg. The train we took was an IC train (Inter City) instead of our planned ICE (Inter City Express). The one we took made an extra stop, took 5 minutes longer, but still arrived 30 minutes earlier.

Other than loading the luggage onto the train (first time) and unloading it (luggage move (or LM) 2), all had gone well. We found a snack bar and Connie left for the bathroom. Almost 30 minutes later she returned. I was ready to call the station police. She had gotten downstairs confused. (you will have to ask her) with something.

We made our connection on the DB Bahn equivalent of the SNCF TGV (LM 3). We were served nice lunch at our seat (included) and then we arrived in Paris and all began to unravel. I had left my iPad on the train which was found by an American couple seated behind us. I returned to the train and retrieved it. Then we began the short walk to Gare de Nord (having arrived at Gare de l'Est. Almost an hour to make our connection.

Avoiding the short connection via 60 steps up, we began walking and looking for a taxi. No taxi. Five long blocks up the hill. A heavy back pack. A forced stop to regain my breath. Finally we got to Gare de Nord. Was it raining? Of course!

Now the real fun began. We tried to use the automatic turnstile with our tickets. Connie's got stuck in the machine. Finally, I retrieved it and tried again. And again. And again. Help arrived. Our tickets did nor work in the machine. (How clever) so we were guided to a booth. Then the British Border Control agents were ahead of us (as well as long lines of people rushing for our 5:47 departure as well as the 6:14 to London). We got out of line, filled out the required forms, and after I took off my hat and the control agent could tell that I matched my passport picture, we were allowed to continue.

Then French security. Unhook all the bags (which were linked together for easier pulling), take out all metal objects, remove your coat, etc. But we kept our shoes on.

Finally we were ready to catch the train. Or so we thought. Now French passport control (or maybe it was joint). At last we were all back together but our connection time of 57 minutes almost had been used up!. Sign: Wait Here for Coaches 1-8. Big crowds, but I sensed something amiss and kept going. The crowds were waiting for the 6:14. Hurry. Down to the train. Car 12 was there, but we were in Car 4 (which I had translated from 4 to 2). At car 8 the conductor said Get on here! We did LM 5 was now complete since we left our two largest bags in the open luggage compartment of car 8. ) The train started. Then we walked through crowded cars pulling our small bags behind us and waving my back pack at all unwary passengers. We got to car 2 and found "our" seats occupied. I discovered that 4 did not mean 2 but it meant 4. Back to car 4. All the while the train is moving as was my backpack. One of our seats was occupied, in car 4, but he left quickly. We collapsed in our seats.

Thank goodness we got on at car 8 because there was absolutely NO space for our big luggage. Barely enough space for us since we were taking the Chunnel in coach (which saved $350 a person). If we had had no luggage, or only a small bag and no arctic protective coats we would have been fine. Connie was exhausted (but she reacted quietly and positively). I was exhausted. I slept through the Chunnel.

In London I returned to car 8 (my iPad and iMacBook Air were safely in my backpack), got our luggage, tied everything together with bungee cords, and left for the taxi queue. Through British customs quickly (none was there by the time we arrived), walked to a long queue for taxis. Since our trip was less than 5 minutes the driver was a bit put out. We he lifted our heavy bags he was bit more put out. But when we got to our hotel and I gave him a 5 £ tip (the fare was also 5£) he smiled and carried our bags up the four steps to the hotel LM 6 was complete. We were in London. Later we walked to a very nice Italian restaurant for lasagne (me) and rigatoni with zucchini (daily special). Both were especially good, as were the mixed salads. And the wine was very welcome. Hallelujah!

Regensburg to Nuremberg - Tuesday December 18

We sailed overnight to Nuremberg arriving about 2:00 pm the next afternoon. Much of the trip included the Danube-Main Canal which, at one point., crosses over a road and a river on a bridge. We had a three hour visit in Nuremberg. The first operation was a bus trip around the city focusing on major buildings and landmarks.

Then we visited the castle which was the only major ancient building that survived the air raids during World War II. Since the British needed the castle as a landmark during night raids over a blacked out city the castle was spared. It was successfully used as an air raid shelter since it contained four soccer field of storage space for beer which worked quite well as protection from bombs that never hit the castle directly.

We then walked by Albrecht Durrer's house with a "modern" tribute to him and his work. We then entered the area that was completely obliterated by bombs but now has been restored to its medieval look. You would not know it had been leveled by allied bombs.

The one exception to the bombing raids was the statue in what is now the middle of the town square. It survived because it was encased in concrete and sand.

Next was another Christmas market. This market is the largest in Germany. It will draw slightly over two million visitors this year. I think I had reached the limit of my appreciation for Christmas markets before I reached this final one. Since we had a free coupon for a "gingerbread" cookie, I tried one. It was enormous in size but tasted unlike any gingerbread I have ever tasted. The remainder after two bites (Connie had one) hit the trash immediately. Connie has had a "Nuremberg", a huge bun with three small sausages, which was much better. I had a taste of it and concurred with her positive opinion.

After we returned to the ship we packed, had a delightful final meal starring a medallion of excellent lamb, and listed to a great vocal concert by Valerie May, a local singer. Yes, I bought both her CDs.

Passau to Regensburg - Monday December 17

We sailed overnight from Passau to Regensburg, arriving about 2:00 in the afternoon. Regensburg is a medieval city of about 100,000.

The old town retains much of its gothic architecture, as demonstrated by the Regensberg Cathedral, but also includes a great deal of an Italian hill town look with many seven story buildings demonstrating the wealth of merchants.

Of course a few were only five stories in height and one had nine stories. All but the lower three floors were for show only and added no usable space to the building.

We had a delightful guide names Francis, or Sir Francis, or St. Francis. He was born not too far from Regensburg, is probably 74 and 75 , and delighted us with stories of his childhood during WW II. When his little city was bombed school was out for seven months to the delight of the kids. In addition there were bombed out houses, forbidden to enter of course, which made great play areas for 7-10 year old boys. His father was in the military and came home only once a year. Since his mother was less of a disciplinarian than his father Francis felt, on the whole, privileged to be free of his father's discipline for much of the year. Nine months later he had a new sibling. Francis is a great story teller and we loved our time with him.

After the tour of the old city we walked another 10-15 minutes to the Christmas market at the Thurn and Taxis Castle. The castle, a former monastery, is larger than Buckingham Palace. It was given to the family that currently owns it in exchange for their franchise of postal operations in the south of Bavaria. It is still occupied (at least parts of it) by the family.

Now I understand the fuss about Christmas markets. This market was huge. It had many new goods and wares in the many booths: bows and arrows, animal skin rugs, modern grills fired by wood, and a large number of booths displaying the works of artists of all kinds. It is open four weeks and draws, according to St. Francis, "hundreds of thousands of visitors (at 6.80 Euros a head)". From the crowd there at 4pm on a Monday evening I can believe St. Francis!

On our way back to the ship we passed through another Christmas market devoted to artists. It was a very small market but Connie spotted a "must have" for me: a metal filigree nude sculpture. Unfortunately it continues to be a must have not yet acquired. I will save my next 750 Euros and think about it.

After returning to the ship we had a Captain's cocktail party followed by a caroling session performed by the staff. And then Santa arrived! At night we left shoes outside our door. I will report tomorrow what happened with our shoes.

Linz, Austria to Passau Germany - Sunday December 16, 2012

We had an opportunity to take a trip to Salzburg but decided to stay aboard the AMALyra. The decision was based on several factors: 1) it is cold (33 degrees Farenheit); it is rainy; it is very foggy; all the shops are closed on Sundays (except the Christmas markets); four of the seven hours of the trip were on a bus; it cost $ 100 a person; I like to relax on the ship. The ship is not too far from Passau as I write this. The rest of the group will join us in Passau.

Our morning started with an entertaining and informative visit to the wheelhouse. As you can see in this picture, there is no "wheel" just screens, joy sticks, and computers. The captain gave us an entertaining history of how he came to be a captain. It is genetic. His grandfather, father and he were all born on boats and all have been captains. I am not sure what happened to the genetics recently since none of his three grown children are captains. The ship has a retractible wheelhouse that allows the ship to pass under low bridges on the Main-Danube Canal which we will enter sometime tomorrow. We were in the wheelhouse for a demonstration. Lots of fun.

As we were in the wheelhouse we entered the first of three locks encountered today. The fog was so thick that I did not see the entrance to the lock until we were there! We were the only ship in the lock for the first two locks. In the third we were one of three ships in the lock going upstream while at least one ship (sister ship to the AMALyra) was in the downstream lock. You need to see the collection of pictures to get a feeling for what happens. in this picture the lock has almost filled with water and we are to leave shortly after this picture was take.

Continuing on in dense fog we passed one of several castles that would be visible under normal circumstances. We could not see most because of the fog. Despite the fog, I was able to get a picture of one of the castles standing on a hill above the Danube. It is currently occupied by members of the - yes - Hapsburg family.

I also got a picture of the castle that stands where the Bishop of Passau had a castle in the 17th century. The ruins were purchased about 1850 by a private family. A hotel was built as a castle and is still operated by the family. From what I can tell the guests must be lowered by rope from a helicopter.

Shortly after we left the third lock the sun appeared - for about four or five minutes. Just as the fog rolled in again I was able to take a few pictures including this one of a picturesque Austrian village on the port side of the ship. If the village had been on the starboard side, it would have been in Germany.

After we docked in Passau we took an hour tour of Passau. We were unable to go inside St. Stephen's Cathedral, however, because of a Christmas concert.

Coming Soon
I will expand on these items in a later report:
Room - Excellent. The bathroom is especially nice for a ship and standard room.
Staff - Excellent
Guides - charming, attractive (especially Kati at Melk) and excellent
Breakfasts - Excellent
Lunch - Very Good Plus
Light lunches in lounge - Excellent
Dinners
• Main courses of regional food: Very Very good to Excellent
• Vegetables: Good regional choices
• Presentation: Excellent plus
• Service - Excellent
• Permanent menu items OK
• Hamburgers: started cooking yesterday. Inedible by me.
• White wines; good to very good
• Red wines - Poor to fair
• Overall: A delightful experience so far. Highly Recommended.

Melk to Linz, Austria - Saturday December 15

We docked in Melk after an overnight trip from Vienna. Melk is a very small village of 900 residents and it has an enormous (in physical size) Abbey which houses 30 Benedictine monks. Half serve as priests to the local parishes, half work in the monastery. The monastery contains two parts, the Royal portion and the religious portion. The Abbey was founded in about 800. The Hapsburgh (who else) gave the land and the then building to the Benedictines in 900 or so but required that a portion be available for the traveling monarchs when needed. Sixty rooms were reserved fot the 300 or so in the royal retinue when the monarch traveled. The currect abbey was completed in the mid 1700s.

The Melk Abbey sits atop a high hill and overlooks the village of Metz and the Danube. Some 480,000 people have visited the Abbey this year. Thus it survives. We walked from the boat to a bus which took us some 200 yards from the Abbey. Upon alighting from the bus we encountered ice on the walkways and a slight drizzle. The temperature was 1 degree centigrade, just above freezing. Needless to say we moved very carefully and very slowly. We first visited the Royal Quarters where several museums display some of the artifacts from the Hapsburg wealth. We then continued to the library which contains over 3000 books, many of which are 400 -500 years old and handwritten. Then we entered the chapel. It is beautiful beyond words, but unlike most Roman churches it the way it is arranged and decorated. Our guide referred to it as more theatre than church, The altar was very modern but fit into the baroque character of the chapel.

One of the highlights was a huge gold crown which sits above where one would expect to find the altar in most churches.

After leaving the chapel we were to walk down a path of about 100 yards to the village of Melk. Two of the first to try the slope fell on the ice. Neither was hurt since they landed in a sitting position. Walking, however, was abandoned and a mini-buse shuttled the members of the group (100 or so passengers) to the town. After visiting the Christmas market I had a cup of tea and we rejoined the ship some 30 kilometers up the river. We boarded, sailed, had lunch, went through two locks and arrived at Linz, the third largest city in Austria.

We walked on what will soon be (if not already are) icy sidewalks for 10 minutes and then came to heavily salted sidewalks. Five minutes later we came to a Christmas Market. What else would one expect? It was very crowded being a Saturday night at 6:30 pm. Now you may wonder about all these Christmas markets. They all have glog bars (mulled wine, punch with or without vodka, and various other hot drinks or cold beer).The ratio of glog bars to other stands is approximately 1 to 10. In the other shops you will find: roasted and candied nuts; candles; sweaters; nativity scenes and characters; blown glass; art artifacts; wood carvings and related items; smellies (incense, soap, bath oils); pottery; scarves and ties. Sort of like a knockoff art fair in the United States. But there is the glog bar!

More tomorrow!

Vienna - Friday December 14

Today was our day in Vienna. There were three tour options: vigorous, regular and mild. Connie chose the vigorous tour for us. We moved at such a fast pace that the few times I tried to take a picture the group disappeared before the shutter had shut. I was separated by more than a block only once. Connie came and found me.

Vienna is filled with the palaces of the many Hapsburgs that ruled this part of the world for over 300 years. They intermarried so much that one king had only 10 unique great great great grandparents. (Normally there would be 16 or 2 to the 4th power). So much for keeping the money and power in the family!

Our first stop was St. Stephen's Church. Here is John prepared for winter.

When we started the day it was 24 degrees Fahrenheit. Our brisk walk warmed us, however.

After visiting one of many Christmas markets,

we left the group and went to the Belvedere Museum (at the Belvedere Palace) for the 15th anniversary of Gustav Klimt's birth.

Spectacular! Magnificent. No pictures allowed. It was stunning in every way imaginable. Read a biography, preferably one with his paintings, drawings, and architectural designs. And consider his love life. He is thought to have had some 14 children, but for only 3 children (by two of his models)is his paternity known for sure.

We returned to the boat just before sunset. Here Connie is waiting to escape the cold. A wonderful day of Klimpt and a fast tour of Vienna!

Cruising the Danube From Budapest to Vienna-Thursday December 13

We departed Budapest about 8:45 this morning. We made one stop at about 2:00 in Esztergom. The picture is of the cathedral there. Esztergom was the winter home of the monarch in the 1000-1200 period. The church was built in the late 1800s. We picked up travelers from Budapest who had taken a 4 hour bus trip to see Budapest and its outlying ares. We enjoyed the cruising and the warmth of the ship. We saw the ice in the river but avoided the icy air!

Since then we have been traveling mostly west along the border of Hungary and Slovakia. Shortly (about 10:30 here or 2:30 in Daphne) we will enter Slovakia alone and about midnight will enter Austria. We dock in Vienna at about 8:00 am. Tomorrow will be a special day. Althougb a planned tour to see the 150th anniversary exhibit of Gustav Klimt's work was cancelled because of a lack of response from the passengers, Connie and I will make our own trip to the Belvedere Museum for the exhibit. Even though pictures are very slow to load on the G3 access we have, expect more than one tomorrow.

We enjoyed our second meal tonight. I had Hungarian duck in a cranberry sauce. The duck was excellent. Yes, excellent. The white wines have been quite good. The reds not so good. Drinkable, yes. but nothing of real interest.

Gustav Klimt and Vienna tomorrow. Hurrah!

A parting note: Well, maybe no more than one picture a post until we have a better Internet connection. Certainly in Paris. Perhaps in London. Each picture is taking 5 minutes to load. I am not used to this!

Budapest and the AMALyra- Wednesdy December 12, 2012

We arrived in Budapest about 2 1/2 hours late. We had ice in London and it took that long to get the plane de-iced. The pilot said the fans in the engine were also coated with ice - only the second time in his 15 year career that he had seen engine fans coated with ice. We gladly waited! The extra time on the plane was put to good use. Here is Connie. She could have taken a similar photo of me.

We caught a taxi to the ship and passed a sign indicating the temperature was -19 Celsius. That is -2 Fahrenheit. COLD!. The ship is nicely equipped. The rooms are especially nice and seem much larger since the outside wall is really a large window/ French door. There is some snow on the ground.

The safety drill was accompanied by champagneand a welcome from the Captain (one of three on board).

And we didn't have to put on the life preservers. We just watched as two crew members demonstrated how to do it. Since the river is not very deep and we are never far from shore we can hope we will not be put to the test of actually using them! But the large ship in Italy was also close to shore.

The ship cruised up and down past Budapestafter dinner (which was very good indeed). Passengers were encouraged to go up to the top deck where one could see the lights better. We do not know how many passengers froze to death doing that since Connie and I both crashed. We were in our 33rd hour since being in a bed. The casualty count will be included in a later post.

For Your Edification (from Wikipedia): "Celsius, also known as centigrade, is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a similar temperature scale. The degree Celsius (°C) can refer to a specific temperature on the Celsius scale as well as a unit to indicate a temperature interval, a difference between two temperatures or an uncertainty. The unit was known until 1948 as "centigrade" from the Latin centum translated as 100 and gradus translated as "steps"."

Travel Day - Tuesday December 11, 2012

Some pictures are missing. We are on the boat. Yes, they have Wi-Fi, BUT it is 3-G and it is SLOW. Posts, even though posted, will be slow to be complete with pictures.

A special note. In our taxi from the Budapest airport to the ship we went by a time and temperature sign. At 3:30 pm the temperature was -19 degrees Celsius. That is -2.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Wow! What a change!

Pensacola Departure at 6:10 am. Which means we left the hotel at 4:45 am. Here Connie reads before takeoff.








Next stop: Dallas. We spent or 3 hours in Dallas in the American Airlines Club. A welcome oasis from the Christmas travelers. It almost seemed like home with lots of art on the walls!

Here John sits in the Raleigh-Durham branch of the University of South Alabama. If there is Wi-Fi there we have a branch office. Grades are the focus here. And will be later on the trip. As long as there is Wi-Fi and the Monday deadline for turning in grades has not arrived!

Six plus hours later we were in London. The University of South Alabama office seems to be closed. Or at least the person in charge has fallen asleep on the job.

Now we are our way to Budapest. We were only two and a half hours late in leaving London. Ice. So we waited to be de-iced. We should arrive in Budapest in about an hour. That will be approximately 7:30 am central standard time on Wednesday December 12. Connie remarked that she was rather proud of herself for the stamina she has shown so far. Twenty four hours of continuous travel with visits to four airports and another two or three hours, another airport, and a ship port as well to go before we get to what might be considered our "starting place." Stay tuned!.

Pensacola

We are on our way! Cathy and David brought us to Pensacola. We had a great dinner at McGuires. We are now at the Hampton Inn across the street from the airport.

About Ready

Packing is complete except for last minute items.

Connie is in mourning because she got only 1 game right in the football pool. And now she is tied for last place.

John is also tied for last place but that is where he always is.

Just Grades to go. They will not be complete until we are on the boat.

Preparing

We will spend the first night in Pensacola since we leave early Tuesday morning. Packing is almost complete!