Amsterdam....watch out for bikes!

Our first day in Amsterdam turned out to be a recovery day. We did not leave the hotel until mid afternoon to walk up what appears to be one of the main thoroughfares in and out of the Old Town, Leidsestraat. It seemed to be organised bedlam, what with pedestrians, bike riders, motorbike/scooters, cars and trams all vieing for their position on the street. Our heads were turning in all directions to make sure we weren't walking in the path of all these moving vehicals. DH worked out most pedestrians walked to the right, so when walking along the Leidsestraat, one walked on the right handside of the street.  It seemed to help.

Our little adventure gave us a taste of Amsterdam. We took a suggestion to go to Cafe Luxembourg for an early tea. This is where we sat and watched the world go past while we drank a local beer and ate a local favourite, Croquettes. (a deep fried ball filled with cheese or ragout that is spread across a slice of bread).  This turned out to be a perfect spot to people watch. The people who rode past on their bikes were dressed in various forms. Black bow ties and suits, work suits and jackets, long pants, short pants, long dresses and only a few riders in trackpants. We saw adults with young children either sitting in seats positioned on the handlebars or seats behind on a rack over the rear wheel.  All riding past with little effort or noise.

Leidsestraat

Decorations in the beautiful dinning room of the Hamphire Hotel.

Rijksmuseum (Dutch Art History museum)

1st June 2016

Vondelpark for a walk and lunch. The park is very popular for locals to enjoy the outdoors. At the cafe we had lunch, there were several young mums meeting each other with their babies in stolers or prams. Of course we still needed to be on the lookout for the bikeriders when walking through the park.

A canal tour started our morning off. There is one tour company right on our doorstep! Very convenient and a discount from the hotel!

Later we walked to the various museums located in the Museumplein. Modern Art, Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum of Dutch Art History. We tried to visit the Coster Diamonds Museum but at that time a group of Asians were streaming past on a guided tour which made the quiet tour we would have like, impossible.

Salvage barge full of bicycles and even a motor scooter, all dredged from the canals.

Near the Van Gogh Museum.

Prague to Amsterdam

Early start this morning. Left our K &K Hotel for the railway station with plenty of time to spare. Again we waited for our departure platform to appear on the electronic display, then it is a mad race to get onto the platform and in the area where our carriage will pull up with our suitcases and backpacks. Not a mean feat, considering lifts are scarce and sometimes the escalators are not operating.

This time a freindly and helpful local gave us a hand lifting our suitcases not only onto the train but up onto the overhead luggage racks. Gee, we were impressed with such a helpful individual until he put out his hand for a tip!. This was his way of collecting money. Poor thing wasn't getting too much from us as our Czech Kroner had almost been spent but he got all that was left in coin and the last of the notes, about $4 or $5.

Each of the three trains we travelled on were all a little bit different. The train from Prague travelled a considerable part of the way along the Elbe River and we were able to recognise towns, locks and sights we had seen on the cruise.  It took 4 and half hours to travel to Berlin, there we had a lazy 50 mins to change platforms, buy some lunch/afternoon tea then board the train for Duisburg.

The countryside we passed through showed the late spring richness of green crops and vegetation. Our change of trains at the Duisburg Station took longer than scheduled, a 110 minute delay caused us to be late arriving into Amsterdam by 2 hours. By the time we checked in at our hotel and into our rooms it was just before midnight. We were exhusted.

As DH and I are staying in Amsterdam for 4 nights before flying home and our friends, Brian and Roz and Roger and Merrilyn are joining another cruise to travel onto Budapest, we said our goodbyes at breakfast.

We have had a lovely time sharing our holiday experiences with them, along with lots of laughs. We would not have been able to have this holiday without them, especially Brian who planned all the details. Thank you.

Prague Old Town Square

In the square is a large art nouveau statue of a Jan Hus, a Czech priest who had been burnt at the stake for heresy against the doctorines of the Catholic Church. He is considered to be the first of the church reformers, another being Dr Martin Luther whose home town we had visited in Wittenberg.

Behind this statue DH was overjoyed to see a building which had firemen on the top of the main facade.

The twin gothic spires of the Church of our Lady before Tyn can be seen from the square.

Special horse shoes for the horses to walk on the cobblestones

DH in the Old Market Square. St Nicholas Church in the background.

Medieval Old Town Hall clock tower, the 600 year old Astronomical Clock is on the left side of the building. Crowds of tourists gather to watch and hear the clock strike the hour, it is a must to get there early.

I just couldn't resist.

View to the Powder Gate. It had been built as a ceremonial enterance to the city, but never completed until 300 years later.

Prague 29th May 2016

Arrived in Prague yesterday afternoon in time to walk into the old section of the town. The ship is moored alongside one of the main bridges which lead into the large square where everyone (all the tourists) tends to gather. DH and I tried to see the old Jewish Cemetery but it was locked. I don't know if it is always locked or only on Saturdays but we were not the only ones to arrive at the locked gates, I reckon in the 5 mins we were there, about 30 to 40 people went to the gate as well. Maybe that is why it is locked, all the tourists walking around could attract a higher rate of possible damage. I took a photo of the visible tombstones, all crowded together in such a small area. Apparently this cemetery was the only place where Jewish People could be buried during the 15th century through to 1787.

We walked through Down Town Prague past many high end shops, to the Old Town Square. People galore, mostly tourists from every part of the world.

Elbe Princess moored on the Elbe River. There were many tourist boats sailing up and down past us. No privacy if our curtins were open!

View from our cabin window.

Tombstones seen from the closed gate

Closed gate to Jewish Cemetery

Plaques in the coblestone outside the building where these Jewish people had lived before taken away to the concentration camp at Terezina where they were murdered.

Litomerice and the most narrow lock the ship goes through in Czech Republic.

This town has well preserved Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance buildings within its streets and squares. Of course the ancient fortifications all these river towns needed to survive numerous attacks over the years were here as well and we had to first walk our way around them to access the city centre. Our walking tour ended up with Czech beer tasting in a tavern located in a side-street from the town hall. I must note it was morning when we toured this town and still well before lunch when I beer-tasted 3 different styles of beer. I didn't finish this tasty amber liquid.

This afternoon when we cruised a canal alongside the Elbe towards Prague, the ship had to enter several locks, the smallest being no more than 11 meters wide, just a fraction wider than this ship (15.5 meters). Apparantly the Elbe Princess was built to specifications so it can pass through the smallest of the locks on this river and has a paddlewheeler at the rear which enables the ship to sail on the low river levels of the canals, lakes and Elbe River. There have been many times where we have heard the bottom of the ship scrap along on the pebbles at the bottom of the waterway.

Various types of buildings in Litomerice.

Three types of beer.

                        Red Poppies growing in the wild. Just out from Litomerice

Approaching the lock

The back paddlewheels, the top of the ship had to be pulled down so the ship could pass under the arches.

Lock gates are closing

Water rising in the lock, the gates are about to disappear.

Just about ready to join the up-stream canal.

Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Bastei. 26th May 2016

The paperwork described a stop at the Konigstein Fortress but I think the guide and bus driver did not read this fact. Unfortunately the morning was very cloudy and the distant views over the countryside were hazy and any chance of seeing the fortress was obscured. Not to worry as we were treated instead with a climb and walk through the rocky mountain ancient fortress of Batei. A real wow-wee place which I am sure won't be far off the UNESCO World Heritage list. Apart from the amazing fact this had been a castle or fort, perched on the rocks, it was the views over the steep and narrow valley where the Elbe flows  and across the countryside to Poland and Czech Republic. An amazing place and not to be missed if anyone is planning to travel through this area.

View of Elbe River from the rock pinnacle of Bastei

Looking east

7 arches span a 40 metre deep ravine. This sandstone bridge links several rocks in an old defensive ring around Nevrathen Rock Castle

the gang

Original castle, a former wooden superstructure which linked together the buildings built on the rocks.

A bit hairy climbing the stairs

The original structures were built between 1100 to 1200

Copy of the type of medieval catapult which would have been employed when the castle was habitated.

Looks like a 'fairytale castle', just another beautiful structure along the Elbe

Having a chat whilst the ship passes through one of many locks.

View after having past through the lock. The castle is called Frankstein Castle

Magdeburg, Wittenberg and Meissen 23rd to 25th May

DH and I decided not to join the ship's tour of Magedeburg in the afternoon. Instead we walked into town to try our luck in finding a bank to convert our Aussie Dollars into Euros. Firstly after lining up at a service desk at one of the bank's for a good 20 minutes, (yes, it is not only in Australia where one has to line up for ages to be served in a bank!) we were informed they would only exchange overseas currency for their bank customers only.....bummer. I found that there happened to be an exchange counter at the railway staion where I could change our AUD. After leaving DH to sit comfortably while I headed off into the confused direction of where the station was, I managed to return hot and bothered, leg sore but at least armed with more Euros. I suppose I could say we had an interesting day in Madgeburg.

The following day I joined our Aussie travelling companions on a self guided tour of Wittenberg. DH was exhusted from our adventure into Madgeburg the previous day, so stayed on board. There are only the six of us on board the ship who has English as a first language, though several passengers have a reasonable smattering of English understanding. We are labelled the 'Aussies' and I think initially surprised a few passengers to know 6 of us had travelled so far to cruise on this ship. Our walk around Wittenberg would rate as one of the best tours, because we did it at our own pace with an audio guide to listen to at various spots of interest. It gets a bit tiresome standing around, listening to extended versions of the tour in French, sometimes German as well then a shortened spill in English.

Wittenberg is the home to Dr. Martin Luther, the founder of the Lutherian Church. It is considered to be the cradle of the Reformation. We somehow managed to get inside the Castle Church, unaware it was only open for booked tours. The orginal door to this church was were Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door. This was where he gave his sermons in the church and is now buried under the pulpit. An interesting and pretty town.

The next day we then toured the porcelain factory in Meissen. A very expensive hand crafted product, apparently a 300 year old famous craft. No purchases in the factory shop or even the 'reduced price section' either. After visiting the factory we then travelled by bus to the funicular at the base of the casle hill where we rode to the top to see the cathedral and castle of Meissen. Once at the top we then wandered down through the narrow stairways and roads past the Renaissance-style buildings to the market square. In this square is a 'Frauenkirche tower' which chimes its porcelain carillon every 15 minutes. Well, we waited and heard this tinkle. I can only say at least we heard it! A let down really! Over-all a quaint, lovely hill town. It is a pity we can't spend more time in these places, it would be pleasant to linger longer to soak up the atmosphere. However we must keep moving on as time is our task master.

Vaccum pump in Madgeburg

Tower of the castle church Dr Martin Luther held his sermons.

Ailse inside church

Statue of Dr Martin Luther in the town square, Wittenburg.

Self photo with the aid of a huge polished silver ball.

Berlin Day 3 and Potsdam

We went on bus tour of Berlin this morning. A lot of drive pasts. Victory Column, Pergamon and Atlas Museums, classical buildings near Alexanderplatz, TV Tower, another area of the Berlin Wall, this one covered in historical graffiti and Checkpoint Charlie. Returned to the ship for lunch then another tour, this time to Potsdam.

First surprise for the day was an unexpected walk across the Bridge of Spies (Tom Hanks starred in a movie about this famous bridge) and I actually walked across it too!. We strolled around the Sanssouci Gardens which was the summer residence of Frederick the Great. This afternoon ended up being reasonably hot, 30C, so I tended to seek a shady spot while our guide rattled off his spill, first in French then we would get the condensed version in English.  On the top of the grave of Frederick the Great, someone had left potatoes. Our guide explained it was Frederick who introduced potatoes to Germany and now little bread is eaten, instead various forms of potatoes. He must have loved his pet dogs as he requested to be buried alongside them! This is where I followed two women, one of whom had a little West Highland Terrier with her. I was trying to discretely photograph this loyal little dog which reminded me so much of our little one waiting for us return home. I don't think they realised they were being stalked!

Our last stop was to the Cecilienhof Castle, known for hosting the Potsdam Conference to seal the fate of the defeated nations.

Did I mention Croisi Cruises love to serve duck? Well they do! Much to my disappointment. It is not my first, second or even third choice but as I do not have any choices, duck it is. Fortunately it is in a terrine for one meal and then with a gravy as a main on a different day.

Glienicke Bridge aka Bridge of Spies. Used several times during the Cold War to exchange captured spies. It formed the border between West Berlin and East Germany.

View from driveway at enterence to Sanssouci Summer Palace

Rear of the Sanssouci Palace, over looking the fountain and pond, up past the terraced grapevines and the fig trees which are planted behind glass doors, a form of glasshouse arrangement

A group of picnicers enjoying their spot alongside the river in the grounds of the palace.

Beautiful half timbered Cecilienhof Castle