"WHATZIT?"

When our ship tied up at the pier in Regensburg, Germany, on the Danube River I was in for a treat. Less than one hundred yards behind us was a tugboat which had been made into a museum.  The Ersekcsnad was a paddle wheel boat built in 1923. It had huge red paddle wheels on each side. Below the decks the massive steam engine had been meticulously restored. One part of the ship had dozens of ship models depicting river craft through the years. One in particular caught my attention. It appeared to be two hulls or pontoons with a paddle wheel in between.The larger hull had a small house on it. I took several photographs and made some drawings.  After close study of of my pictures and sketches I was at a loss to determine how the watercraft operated. In desperation I emailed the director of the museum. 

I received a quick reply from Germany.  It seems that the ship in question was not a ship at all but a swimming mill. After a bit of research I was able to determine what a swimming mill was used to grind grain into flour for baking. The mill would be towed to the part of the river where the fast current would turn the paddle wheel which in turn turned the grindstones. In the mid-twentieth century there were so many swimming mills on the rivers that they interfered with commercial traffic. Hence, the demise of the swimming mill. Very few exist today as relics from the past. 

We also enjoyed the cathedral, the 12th century bridge, and the oldest sausage house in Germany, in Regensburg. But we thought twenty-nine Euros for six small sausages, sauerkraut, and beer times two was a bit much.   

notes: photos in the filmstrip above left to right: Regensburg, Viking Cruise Program Director, tugboat Ersekcsnad, Tony sketching on the tugboat. (Chantal, the cruise director has nothing to do with the post, her photo just adds color.)  

   

Vienna...but no sausages

"Did you see it?" she said excitedly.

"See what?" was my response.

"The horse," she said, her tone implying that I should have known.

"What horse? We're in the middle of the city," I said.

"It IS the Spanish Riding School," she said emphatically.

"We ARE in Vienna, AUSTRIA!" I responded.

"That just shows what you know. The Royal Lipizzaner Stallions are trained here in Vienna at the Spanish Riding School," spoken by her matter-of-factly with just a tinge of condescension.

"Well, I still didn't see one!" was my response.

"He stuck out his head briefly from his stall. Did you know that they are born black and turn white upon reaching adulthood?"

"Rubbish!" i responded using a word I had picked up from a British friend.

"Folks now that we have seen the stables, let's move back out into the streets of Vienna," boomed the voice of our tour guide in Mid-western accented English.  Frank, our tour guide, was an American that had married a local girl some thirty years prior to our visit.

We continued on to Josefplatz (Joseph's Square in English) in the bright morning sunlight. This square was a part of the Hofburg Palace. It is named for Emperor Joseph II of Austria and is considered one of the finest courtyards in Vienna. The life-size statue of Joseph on his horse is

a preferred perch by local pigeons. We had previously seen the palace from its other side at the beginning of our tour. It has an interesting curved facade. And the stables for the Lipizzaner stallions had been the royal stables.

Vienna has all the hustle and bustle of all European cities.  There are over one million inhabitants in the second largest German speaking city in Europe.  Vienna is continuedly voted the best city in the world in which to live.

Once it was considered the world center of socialism. In 1914 Adolf HItler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud, and Josef Stalin were residents. The coffeehouses of Vienna were their frequents haunts. We did not make it to a coffeehouse but did have coffee in an outdoor cafe. Actually, Evelyn, Steve, Claudette and I enjoyed brauners, coffee with cream. There was an oboe quartet playing nearby beneath the Pestsaule. This monument, known as the Plague Column,  was inaugurated in 1693.   After window shopping a bit we took the bus back to the ship for lunch...and a quick nap.



The bus picked us up at the ship after lunch for our ride to Schonbrunn Palace.

In about twenty minutes we reached the second palace we would see in Vienna. In 1569 the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian II, purchased the property along the river for a hunting lodge. From that year it has grown into the 1441 room palace it is today. Incidentally, this is a summer palace, i.e. a vacation home. Today the palace and grounds are an international tourist attraction attracting 2.6 million visitors per year. When we visited there were many visitors but since the grounds are so vast

"Inside Schoenbrunn Palace Vienna" by Reubentg - Visited Vienna in July 2012. Via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Inside_Schoenbrunn_Palace_

Vienna.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Inside_Schoenbrunn_Palace_Vienna.jpg

it seemed uncrowded. Touring the interior was more congested but much less than Saturday at Versailles. The interior of the palace is what you would expect in opulence. To me some of the decoration seems almost gaudy. It is as though there was a law against having an unadorned wall. No photography was allowed. Sometimes the argument is that the light from camera flashes fades the colors of the furnishings but I believe the prohibition of photographs allows the gift shop to sell more postcards and picture books.

Maximilian II created the first zoo at what was first a place to hunt wild game. This former hunting preserve is now the formal gardens of Schonbrunn Palace. As you exit the rear of the palace the

formal gardens come into view. They stretch out before you culminating at the base of a two hundred foot hill topped by an ornamental structure known as the Gloriette. Here I became familiar with a folly*. It seems that in the mid-eighteenth century royalty held Roman ruins in such high esteem that if none existed on their property they would pay an architect to design and build some.

Our visit to this UNESCO World Heritage Site was quite enjoyable although it was a very warm day. Perhaps we would have enjoyed it more if we had had more time. 

*Fol-ly

noun

1. 1.

   lack of good sense; foolishness.

   "an act of sheer folly"

   • 
     

     
     
2. 2.

   a costly ornamental building with no practical purpose, especially a tower or mock-Gothic ruin built in a large garden or park.

Slovakia? What is it? Where is it?

Our ship tied up in Bratislava in the country of Slovakia. Our first time there. This was the youngest country we had ever visited, created from a part of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The concierge aboard the Kara was excited to visit her home country.  

The big Mercedes bus picked us up at the ship and we were on our way for a tour of the city. Like most cities on the Danube there

is very little flat land and what there is very near the river.  There was a similarity in architecture to several cities we had visited in Germany and Austria.  The bus wound through the narrow streets to the top of one of the hills of the Little Carpathians.  On the way we passed the embassies of many countries.

 "Hey, look, the American Embassy looks just like the White House," Claudette exclaimed.

"Obama might be there on vacation," I added in jest.

The purpose for our drive to the top of the hill was to view the Bratislava Castle. This castle looked different from others we had seen in Europe and the British Isles.  It was rectangular in shape with a tower on each corner of similar height. The white building was almost blinding in the morning sunlight. The current structure was built in the fifteenth century although there had been a structure on the location since the ninth century. The Hungarian royal jewels were once housed in the southwest tower which is also the tallest tower. Since the castle is located 279 feet above the Danube it offers spectacular views. On a clear day the countries of Austria and Hungary can be seen as well as the city of one half million Bratislava residents.

After riding the bus down from the hill we were in the streets of the city. We enjoyed walking the cobblestone streets. Bratislava seems to be fairly new at promoting tourism. One thing that caught my attention were the many sculptures. Perhaps, an explanation is in order. Sculptures in European cities are common. (What would the pigeons do without them?) But not all of these sculptures were of famous notables. Some were quite frivolous, such as the man sticking his head out of the sewer and of the tramp on the park bench. On the square in Old Town were stalls selling touristy things including tee shirts. They also have the antique appearing motor cars to drive you around the city for sightseeing. Naturally, there was a McDonalds.  It had a large banner promoting the World Cup. A spirit of frivolity seemed to prevail in Bratislava. And I'm a big fan of frivolity!

We enjoyed our stay in Bratislava and were able to get some soft serve ice cream on the way back to the ship.  (Claudette took my photo with the soft serve vendor.)

The ice cream vendor.

Big Rabbits and Small Trains

The Imperial Castle

Our ship Kara docked at Nuremberg on the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal beside another Viking ship.  Nuremberg is  the second largest city in Bavaria, Munich being larger. It was warm, summer day without a cloud in the sky. No umbrellas needed.  We boarded our bus for a tour of the city before lunch.  Our first stop was the old parade grounds of the Nazi Party. Adolf Hitler had made Nuremberg the headquarters of his Nazi Party prior to and during WWII.  Nuremberg was strategically placed in Hitler's empire. Also it had been the center of the Holy Roman Empire. Hitler believed that his third Reich would be the third great empire. Here were the huge parade grounds where the Nazi rallies were held from 1933 to 1938, seven rallies total.  These were huge propaganda events frequently seen in films of that era. The largest rally was to have been one million men but fell short of expectations. Today only ruins remain. We clamored off the bus inside what was to be a coliseum to rival Rome's, but it was never completed. The structure of which part is used for storage is owned by the city of Nuremberg.  However, the building in which the trials of the German war criminals were held is still in use.

Like most cities in this area the highest point is dominated by a castle, a medieval fortification. Nuremberg is no exception. The highest spot, literally, on the tour was the Imperial Castle.We walked around these fortifications, under arches and through courtyards. Claudette and I enjoyed a great view of the city of over one half million below.

"Do you see that orange house directly below us?" our guide asked. I think it was a rhetorical question. But we did see the house.
"It was one of the few houses not destroyed during the bombing in 1945. Ninety percent of the city was destroyed in one hour by Allied bombers!"

The city was finally captured by the allies in 1945 after heavy door to door combat. Much of the city has been restored to its pre-war style.

"I think that this is where they have the caves under the castle," Claudette said as we walked the cobblestone walkways around the castle.

"What caves?" I asked

"I read in the guide book that under this castle are caves the Germans used to brew beer in.  It seems the temperature and humidity was perfect for brewing," she answered.

"So..."

"Well, during the war many people hid in the caves, using them for bomb shelters," she continued.

"Okay, so Nuremberg didn't suffer as many casualties as some of the other cities?" I surmised.

"You got it!" she said with a smile.


One of the most famous citizens of Nuremberg was the fifteenth century artist, Albrecht Durer. Actually, he was much more that an artist.  He was an artist, engraver, author, scientist, and mathematician.  We saw his beautiful half-timbered house.  Near there is a statue of one of his most famous works. Young Hare was created as a watercolor when he was thirty years old, but the city of Nuremberg has reproduced it as a sculpture. "I know something about Durer," Claudette said, "Actually, two things."

sculpture of Albrecht Durer's
Young Hare

"Oh, yeah?" I said.

"Yes, he once drew a picture of a rhinoceros without seeing one. He based his picture on descriptions written by other people. It was amazingly accurate," she said in a rather authoritative voice.

"I know something about him too," I interrupted, "He made the Praying Hands."

"Well, phooey on you! That was my second thing!" she said with disgust

After the tour was over we went back to the ship for lunch. You may wonder why we always ate on the ship.  All meals were included with the price of our fare. The food was good, so why not?
We had lunch with friends and planned our afternoon excursions. We, or maybe, I decided on the Nuremberg Toy Museum.

The Toy Museum is located in the old part of the city. It has a renaissance facade and toys on three floors. At the entrance was one of the most disgusting signs ever displayed. "No Photos Allowed" The first floor is dedicated to wooden toys and dolls and dollhouses. In Germany the ground floor is not the first floor. My favorite was the second floor.  It had all the mechanical toys much like the ones I remember from my childhood. These were the metal toys of cars and airplanes and mechanical clowns. You wound them up.  No batteries required. Nuremberg has long been the center of the toy industry. In 1910 over 5,000 people worked in the toy industry in this city. On the second  floor were also the electric train layouts. One

Drawing from the Toy Museum
no photos allowed

train layout recreates a railroad junction of Omaha, Nebraska, circa 1950s. But the creator had never been there! It is said to be amazingly accurate. There was also an awesome collection of miniature steam engines.  The scaled down giants of the industrial age. I would hardly call these toys. Construction sets are also featured. I remember Erector sets as a boy and here were the European versions. There was a video presentation showing most of the toys in operation. The upper floor was dedicated to modern toys and play areas for children.  I did not get to see all 70,000 objects the Toy Museum has but then only 54,000 can be viewed. This was one of my favorite stops on the cruise. Incidentally, Nuremberg is home to the largest international toy fair annually.

We walked back to the bus stop and caught the bus back to the ship.  We would recount our adventures to our friends over dinner before retiring for the night.

Cruising on the Rivers

"Okay, before you ask, I'm six feet tall. And sometimes I like to wear high heels for an overview!" the blonde said with a Dutch accent.  She deftly flicked a strand of hair from in front of her blue eyes. Our activities director was giving our first briefing aboard the Viking longship Kara.  The ship had left port in Amsterdam, and we were on "The Grand European Tour".  That was Viking's term, not mine.  We would see five countries in fourteen days beginning at Amsterdam and ending at Budapest.

Briefings would become a daily occurrence, as Chantal would tell us about our upcoming events. At this particular briefing we were introduced to the crew and given some information about our upcoming cruise.The crew of the ship is multinational. The captain is a Ukrainian, the hotel manager German, the maitre'd and chef de cuisine German, the concierge Slovakian, and the activities director was Dutch. She also pointed out some simple shipboard conventions.  The bow was the front on the ship and aft meant the rear of the ship. The shipboard compliment was one hundred ninety-two passengers and fifty-five crewmembers.

Upon boarding we entered our cabin on the port side of the ship on the main deck.   Our steward led us to our cabin, and our luggage was waiting at the door. He introduced himself as Ivo and showed us how to swipe the key card to gain entry to the cabin and how to use it to turn on the cabin lights.  He also noted that if we opened our sliding glass door to the outside the airconditioning would shut down. Ivo brought our bags in before departing. The queen-size bed took up most of the space. Inside the cabin door the bathroom was on the right, the wardrobe with safe on the left, and a waist-high cabinet filled the rest of the width of the cabin. Above the cabinet which housed the mini-frig was a forty inch flat screen television with a mirror of approximately the same size beside it.  On the countertop of the cabinet was the telephone, a bottle of water and

glasses. There were also two "Quietvoxes" in their charger. These electronic devices were a little larger than a large cellphone and were used as radio receivers to hear tour guides commentary on tours.  The electrical outlets were plentiful and at least half of them are standard American receptacles.  No adapters required.  I was overjoyed to see the big TV. I watch a lot of TV. But this one had some added features. There was the local weather channel, movie channel and some television news shows. One of my favorites channels was the channel showing images from the bow camera of the ship.  It was good to see where we were going while kicked back on the bed. There are four classes of passenger cabins or staterooms. Suites, of which there are two, staterooms with verandas, rooms with floor to ceiling windows, like patio doors, and cabins with very small windows.

The Viking river cruise ship, Kara, is designed specifically for river cruising. It is long and narrow. Its narrow width, or beam in nautical terms, allows it to fit through numerous locks. On the rivers Rhine, Main, and Danube there is a difference of some one thousand feet in elevation. This requires over fifty locks. Frequently during the night, and we sailed every night, you could feel the ship bump into the side of a lock.  The ship contains a dining room, lounge, reception area, library, and other spaces for passenger activities or shipboard necessities. The open air dining area on the bow was a very popular spot and houses the Aquavit restaurant. I would get a cup of coffee while Claudette slept and join Steve there to watch the approaching

landscape as we moved along the rivers. The lounge, besides being a popular watering hole, was also the venue for our daily briefings and entertainment. We had some very interesting demonstrations and lectures. A glassblower came onboard to demonstrate his craft as well as some opera singers. The Hungarian musicians were a hit as were the ship's bakers as they prepared apple strudel. We heard lectures on Dutch water management, the European Union, Germany, and other subjects. Most were only as good as their presenters.   The sundeck was designed for lounging and exercise. There was a walking track, miniature golf, and shuffleboard. It was also where the chef's herb garden was located.  When the chef announced that dishes were flavored with fresh herbs, they really were fresh. Solar panels flanked the exhaust stack for the two huge diesel engines which power electric generators.  These produce the energy for the electric motors which turn the propellers. The bridge from which the ship is controlled could be lowered when going under low bridges. The canopy over some of the sun roof chairs also collapses. I estimate the speed of the ship was about ten knots.

Chef Andreas would always describe the dinner delicacies at the afternoon briefing. I must say that his dishes always lived up to his colorful descriptions. Often the food would have a local flair. Yes, sausages were quite common on the menu. Made-to-order omelets were my favorite

breakfast. Claudette, along with most of the women on the ship, had a crush of the omelet chef, Boris. Apparently the young Serbian was a charmer. We usually shared the evening meal with Steve, Evelyn, Jean, and Jim.  Normally we would dine for about two hours. Wine and beer were available with lunch and dinner. Our sextet managed to consume some eighty-four bottles of wine.  But of course that included red and white wines!

One of the most extraordinary treats of our cruise was our entry into Budapest at night. We were prepped at our afternoon briefing to expect great things as we entered Hungary's largest city.  And we were not deceived. On or about 2200 hours or 10:00PM the announcement came over the intercom that we were entering Budapest and to come to the sundeck. We joined our friends there with a bit of trepidation. I believe everyone on the ship was there. Waiters were bustling around with flutes of champagne and platters of chocolates. Around us the city was illuminated brilliantly with most buildings appearing as glistening gold. It was a spectacular event. The kind of event that would not soon be forgotten. 

Our cruise was on the Rhine, Main, and Danube Rivers from which we visited five countries. If time and finance permit it is a great way to vacation. One final note about the ship. If there is an ugly ship contest these Viking river longships would be near winners. But, then, that's just my opinion.