I love to travel and see new places.  I love to re-visit old places that I've enjoyed! I'm still processing the last 3 weeks.  Surprises - I've never seen so many pizza places as I did in Amsterdam! And Argentine beef restaurants.  One of our favorites was called "CAU" - translation - "cow"! Duh!  Also, you almost never see any one eating at the cafes...plenty of drinking but the eating is done on the move, holding something that can be managed on foot.  I'm very proud of the way we can get around.  Dave is great with maps and I can recognize enough words in enough languages that between the two of us we can manage.  Also, we travel well together.  We spent 14 days in a 180 sq ft room and got along fine.  We quickly found a routine that worked for us in terms of getting started for the day.  Also, we were very good about giving each other space when needed.

What else...lots of smoking (not us)..cigarettes are alive and well in Europe.  In Germany, the beer drinking started early. I was surprised to see how many cafes were full at 9am and beer was on the table!  The food was excellent and very fresh.  I know we over salt food here in America (not at the table) in preservatives, seasonings, etc. but I was shocked the day after we got back and I microwaved some prepared fish for lunch...I couldn't eat it!

Too much more to process...all I can say is it changes you forever!

We're Back!

Wow!  What a trip!  We got back Monday night and I'm just starting to feel human.  Yes, my blogging did get side-tracked...3 reasons....sporadic Internet connection, computer problems with my netbook and we were just TOO busy the last few days!  We are both still waking up at about 3am.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend we will be back to normal.

The next day after Passau we visited 2 towns - Melk and Durnstein.  Melk has a huge, beautiful abbey.  It was truly overwhelming!  Durnstein is a town of just 900.  Really beautiful....

Hitting Vienna the next day was like a culture shock.  We had spent so many days in small towns and villages that coming to a metropolitan city was a huge change.  Vienna was beautiful - I wish we had more time there.  The dinner that night was fabulous as was the entertainment.

I will resist the urge to catch up and re-count the last few days of the trip.  It's still sinking in a bit for me.  I think we can sum it up by saying "a good time was had by all"!

Passau

Aug. 10^th

We spent the morning in Passau, Germany.  Passau is on the border with Austria and is built at the confluence of the Ilz, Inn and Danube.  It apparently floods, and by flood I mean FLOOD!  The last flood was in 2005 and you can see where the river came up well past the first floor of the buildings.  But, it is an accepted way of life here.  According to the local guide, when the floods are coming people stock up on provisions and when the floods come, they sit up on one of the high walls, drink wine and watch the river pass by!

Most of the towns/cities we have visited in Germany date back to Medieval times.  Life centered around the church, the castle and the town square. Usually the cities were surrounded by walls with entry that were manned.  And of course you had your prince or bishop, or in some cases, a prince bishop, who controlled the people, land and wealth.  Bathing was considered unhealthy and you did not drink the water!  You drank wine or beer! I think we’ve done a pretty good job of adopting that custom on this trip!   

We've made it to the Danube!

Aug. 8^th

One of the surprising things we’ve seen along the river is how much the land is cultivated.  Corn, grapes, cabbage, etc.; the soil is very rich.

These group tours always remind me of dating.  The first few  days everyone is looking everyone else over….”hmmmm…..do I think I will like those people?”  So you meet and greet, chat, maybe have a meal or two together.  After 4-5 days everyone has settled in with their “picks”.  The other interesting thing is that after a few days people have staked out their table in the dining room.

Aug. 9^th

Today we had our last stop in Germany.  This afternoon we sail for Austria.  Our stop in the town of Regensburg was cut short due to a downstream surge in the river.

Dave has had enough ice cream to kill a goat!  I’ve had enough wine to float a boat J)!  But we’re having fun!  It is vacation! Our group of 5 (“The Posse”) is by far loudest!  I haven’t laughed so hard for so many days in a long time.  Kathy is a bit shorter than me and blond.  We were christened “Barbie 1 and Barbie 2” last year! J). 

Coffeeshops and Cafes

Our friend Gene has been reading my drafts and has brought to my attention that my brief description of the coffeeshops in Amsterdam was, to quote, “piss poor”.   I’ll have to have his help since the coffeeshops are not my thing…just point me in the direction of the closest wine bar!

The menu does not have a mention of coffee, lattes, cappuccino or any other such potion.  Instead you will find slushys, brownies, lollipops, buds, etc. Once you choose the delivery method you then have to choose your type and grade. The surprising thing to me is that at 7am the coffeeshop next to our hotel is BUSY!  With locals!  Alcohol is not served. Oh, and Gene said to mention that the crime rate is very low…because everyone is so mellow!

Ok, now to the cafes…..my area of expertise.  First of all, no one is eating!  What’s up with that?  No, everyone is having their beverage of choice; chairs are facing outward to watch the world go by.  It’s rare to see a group of people at a table with chairs facing one another.  The pace is leisurely and an accepted, expected way of life.  I think we’re missing something in America.

Cruising Germany

Aug. 3-6
We've spent the last several days cruising the Rhine River and the Main River (pronounced "Mine") through Germany.  Our stops along the way have included Koln (Cologne), Koblenz, Rudesheim, Miltonberg, Rothenburg and Wurzburg.  Today we stop in Bamberg. All along the way we've had a chance to see beautiful historic sites.  Many of the towns suffered immense damange in WWII from the bombings.  The art and history have been amazing! I'm not much on German food but the wine has been great!  Shocker!!! And, of course, we are having a great time with our friends!  By the end of the trip we will have been through 63 locks.  Tomorrow we will enter the Danube River on the way to Nurnberg.

BTW, "berg" means hill; "burg" means castle.

Goodbye to Amsterdam

Aug. 2nd

We’re leaving Amsterdam today.  After spending 5 days here I have to say that I have a much greater appreciation for this world class city.  We’ve spent the last couple of days walking through a variety of neighborhoods and it is beautiful although VERY expensive. Amsterdam is a small city in terms of land mass.  It was actually a “swamp” that was built on pilings by the merchants. The roads are very narrow because the city was built by the merchants, not kings or emperors – larger roads and buildings meant higher taxes!  It is sinking, bit by bit, each year.  You can bike the city end to end in about 30 minutes.  There are about 750,000 people here and over 1.5 million bicycles! 

Everyone walks or bikes. Bicycles rule the city!  They have the right of way and they WILL run you over and not look back!  Bikes, walkers and cars share the narrow laned streets. Bike theft is rampant and don’t bother reporting it – it’s just a way of life!  That’s why every one has cheap used bikes – you will not see the expensive bikes we have in America on the city streets here.  These bikes are for work, not recreation!

Today we have a guided tour from a local person and then a canal boat ride with lunch aboard.  After that we head back to the ship for the dinner and entertainment.

The city tour was great!  Our guide was hilarious!  Her first comment was that the Dutch are not nice people! And they are direct, hard-headed and know it all!  They don’t hesitate to share their opinion of what you should be doing and how you should be doing it! She then shared her secret about what she does when her bike gets stolen – she steals another!  I believe her!

Our first stop was the Rijks Museum to see the Rembrandt collection.  One word – AWESOME! We were able to see some other artists as well.  The best part was having our guide explain the works, symbolism in the paintings and the evolution of the artists. 

The canal boat tour was wonderful.  Lunch was a typical Dutch lunch of salad, meat and cheese – with wine and beer of course!  Seeing the city and neighborhoods from the canals offered a different perspective.

Tomorrow we leave for Germany!

More Amsterdam...

The posts won'r be in order...for a variety of reasons!...Internet access, writer's time, etc...but here you go!

Aug 1, 2011

We’ve finally gotten into the swing of things!  Maybe we’re becoming “Amsterdamers”!  Mornings start a bit later – up at 8’ish, we all get together around 9am to start our walk to the days adventure.  Breakfast is coffee and something light at a café along the way around 10am.  Lunch is around 2pm – again at a café we find along the way and, rest in the late afternoon and then dinner at 8pm.  Dinners tend to last a good 2-3 hours – I love that!  We laugh, tell our stories and just have a good time! Eventually we remember that we have an early start tomorrow and make our way back along the narrow streets, happy and content with time spent with our friends.  The sun finally came out this afternoon and now the late evening sky is just showing the last signs of dusk.  It is absolutely beautiful!  I love the summer time pace.  Good weather does not come often here so people really take advantage it when it does; also this has been a particularly overcast summer.  It’s after 11pm and the cafes show no signs of slowing down!

“Do’s and Don’ts of Riverboat Cruising”

The boat we are on holds 120 passengers, we have 118 on board for this trip.  The rooms are about 300 sq ft with a small but adequate bathroom and 2 small closets.  The exterior wall is glass so that helps to make the room feel more open – no verandah though.

First, after you’ve finished packing, go back and take out about half of what you packed.  You won’t use it and the room is too small!  I WAY over packed!

Second, if you are not getting along that well with the person you are planning to travel with, DO NOT go on a riverboat cruise.  One of you will be dead by the end!

Third, if you get along well with your travel companion but happen to have a spat along the way you are best off to suck it up, write it off to travel fatigue and decide to enjoy your trip.

Dave and I happened to have a bit of a spat right before we got onto the boat.  We got to the room and unpacked, me giving terse, one word answers to each of his questions!  I was a bit frosty at cocktails and dinner too!  I was still steaming by bedtime.  I woke up at 2am and spent the next 2 hours planning my strategy!  First I was going to pack and fly back home!  I know, pretty radical but it was 2am!  Next I was going to get up at 5am to workout and make a lot of noise.  Next I thought I would just tell him how much he had hurt my feelings in front of our friends knowing how bad he would feel.  By 4:30am I had decided to suck it up, write it off to fatigue and start enjoying the rest of the trip!  5am rolled around and I rolled right through it sleeping peacefully next to my hubby. By 7am all was right with our world!

Sporadic Internet service

We boarded the riverboat Aug. 2nd.  Internet service is sporadic and slow unless we're passing a major city.  So posting is next to impossible!  I'm keeping a running word doc and will post later.  The trip so far has been fantastic!  Last night was the first good night's sleep we've both had - finally!  Next stop, Koln, Germany.