On the road to Poland

After two weeks bus rides are getting to me! Patty handles them well. We’re off to Poland!

First stop was Olomouc, Czech Republic. This was a lunch stop on the way to Krakow. This square is old but the clock is fairly new, built as tribute to communism and a tribute to the workers of the party.

Stumbling Stones. This is a project started by German Artist, Gunter Demnig in 1992. He started placing these little brass plaques (about 4 inches square) at the sites of the last known free residence of people that were rounded up and killed by the Nazis during the holocaust. There are currently over 100,000 of these placed in the ground in 27 countries. They are normally in the sidewalk in front of the addresses where these people lived. The stones include name, when they were born , when they were taken, and when they were killed. Another attempt to keep the memory alive in hopes that we as a people never allow another holocaust to occur.

Prague during our free time

Notice how clean the streets are. Lots of tourists in the main square in old town. The astronomical clock is fun to watch when it chimes on the hour and all the figures move. It tracks lunar and solar phases, displays the date, and every hour the doors open and a procession of the Apostles occur. It was built in 1410 and has undergone a few alterations.

The clock makers were Mikulas of Kadan and mathematics and astronomy professor Jan Sindel. It is the oldest functioning astronomical clock in the world.

A little rain didn’t stop us. Notice how crowded the square was near the clock in previous picture. The streets are spotless, crews were cleaning during the day and night.

Found a great restaurant on our own. Patty had a very good pasta and shrimp dish.

I had beef cheeks and a side of grilled veggies with a nice Czech Republic red wine.

Prague visit continues

Prague castle is a popular tourist stop!

Public transportation was easy and free for people over 65.

First lunch in Prague. Goulash soup in a bread bowl with a Czech beer 👍👍

Dessert of course!! Apple pie with heavy whipped cream. 👍

Museum of Communism. An interesting well done museum about communism in the Czech Republic.

Me and Karl Marx. His ideas looked good on paper, not so good in reality

Winston Churchill summed up Communism in just a few words!

The Russians were our allies in World War Two, strange bed fellows to say the least. In the World War Two peace agreement Russia got control of Czechoslovakia and Poland and half of Germany and many other countries. These countries went from destruction by the Nazis to being ruled by an iron fist Communist regime that was very oppressive and lasted until the 1990s. We in the USA are surely the lucky ones. May we never forget the oppression of fascist dictators and may our democracy survive for many more centuries.

Last night on the Viking Beyla, then off to Prague

5 nights on two different ships went by fast. It would have been nice to stay on one ship for all 5 nights, however Viking did a great job making the best of a collapsed bridge in Dresden.

Nice view on the last night on the river . That’s the Decin Castle overlooking the town of Decin, Czech Republic.

Arrived in Prague, Czech Republic for 3 nights of sightseeing, starting with the Prague Castle.

A nice view of the city from the Castle. With our friends Greg and Marianne from Vancouver , WA

Changing of the guard at the castle

Changing of the guard every hour.

Most scenic part of the Elbe River cruise

This is Saxon Switzerland National Park, a 10 mile area of deep woodland ravines, steep hills and beautiful landscapes. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. it is also a rock climbing mecca for those so inclined. We stopped in Bad Schandau, a village dating back to the 1300s. The town is famous for healing waters and spas. A famous resident, Sebastian Kneipp(1821-1897), a Bavarian priest is considered the father of hydrotherapy.

The rock castle of Neurathen high on the cliff in the distance.

This bridge was built of wood in 1827 and the rebuilt in stone 27 years later.

View of the Elbe from the Bastei look out point

Food, fun, and frivolity on the boat

Our first ship had a very talented musician. He was self taught and played the piano and guitar and he could sing. After a couple of drinks three of us passengers were allowed to join him. We had great fun!! The wives just shook their heads

He said he was educated as an engineer bit could make more money and have more fun playing music on a ship.

Pole dancing
We participated in a music trivia competition and if a team member danced the dance related to the song in question we got a point. At the end of competition I think we finished in 4th place out of 7 teams.🤣

Always wanted a chance to sing like Ricky Nelson. Glad I chose a different career🤣

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Sights and stops along the way

We had to do a ship transfer after 2 days because a bridge in Dresden collapsed and ships couldn’t get thru the mess. Bridge won’t be totally removed until next summer at low water! Viking made the most of it by getting us off the ship quickly and we made an unplanned stop at a local vineyard and winery.

Our program director, Lutz, helps pour the wine. He did a great job, never seemed flustered with all the unanticipated events that go along with a ship transfer

The Proschwitz vineyard owner welcomes us. What a view !!

Nice entertainment on the ship. The Allegra Ensemble performed for us one evening.

Look close, under a still standing bridge, and you’ll see the bridge that collapsed into the river. Very fortunate that this happened at 3 in the morning and no one was on the bridge.

An interesting trip to a relatively new VW assembly plant in Dresden for 3 of their all electric cars. This plant use lots of robots and computer programming to complete the assembly with very few human workers!

Inside the VW plant…… these aren’t even close to my mom’s 1964 VW bug.

Life on the ship

We board the Viking River ship, The Astrild. Astrild means goddess of love in Norse mythology. The ship was built specifically for the Elbe River, which is extremely shallow. It was built in 2015, is 361 feet long, and can carry 98 passengers and has a crew of 33. It has a draft of only 3 feet!

Dinners were good with some great conversation

Good wine and even some American bourbon!

Our captain and crew welcomed us on board

Wittenberg, Germany

We arrived in Wittenberg, Germany to start our river cruise portion of the trip. We walked thru the same streets that Martin Luther walked. We saw the door of All Saints Church where he nailed his 95 Theses.

The door to All Saints Church where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses. The original door burned in 1760, this replacement door dates back to 1858.

Inside St Mary’s church where Martin Luther was married and preached more than 2,000 times.

Patty and statue of Martin Luther’s wife, Katharina von Bora. Touching her ring will make for a long successful relationship with your spouse.😊🤞

Off to board our ship!

But first we had a bus ride. It was a few hours with some stops along the way. Our first stop was the Glienicke Bridge over the Havel River. The bridge divided East Germany with West Berlin. It was the site of many prisoner/spy exchanges during the Cold War. It was made more famous with the movie “Bridge of Spies” starring Tom Hanks. We got to walk across the bridge like the spies that were exchanged during the Cold War.

We also stopped and walked the grounds of Cecilienhof Palace. This is the site of the Potsdam conference which was from July 17 to August 2, 1945. The most famous attendees were Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin. This conference planned the post World War Two peace agreement.

Walking the grounds of the Cecilienhof Palace

This is the back of the palace where the famous picture of Stalin, Churchill, and Truman was taken. Walking in the footsteps of famous people where historic actions took place is impactful.