Viking Idun "Grand European" Day-by-Day Review

[jiminyC_fan]

I don't want your cruise to end. I'm enjoying reading about it everyday.

[jiminyC_fan]

This might be a lame question but do you find the need for a back pack during the tours? We are thinking about getting a pacsafe backpack if needed. We were thinking for rain gear, cameras etc. Thank you.

[CelticMutt]

We brought one but I have found we've never used it. DW (Not her real initials!;)) She has this half purse-half backpack thing with a lot of zippers in it called a Bellini bag. It's offered us more than enough space for cameras, wallets, sunglasses et cetera. Might have to use the backpack going home however if we're overweight!

Bill

[CelticMutt]

Another early call after our arrival in Vienna for a bus tour of the city and then a walking tour around Ringstrasse, the roadway which replaced the old medieval wall system.

If you haven't been to Vienna it's difficult to describe. In the other towns we visited there would be something spectacular here or there to look at but Vienna is all spectacular! Everywhere you look there are palaces and the ever-present churches. In this case it's mostly specifically St. Stephan’s Cathedral, similarly named as that in Passau for some complicated diocesan reasons. St. Stephens is impressive from the outside but the inside is rather dark and cavernous. (Or maybe it's just a little bit that we're churched out.) The walking tour let us out at the St. Stephen's Square and we proceeded on to do the church on our own. I was a bit disappointed with our guide, Rickie, this time. She was a bit distracted with her cellphone and also the fact that the walkie-talkies did not work for the first 15 minutes or so of the tour was a big hindrance. We missed seeing the Lipizzaner stallions which most of the other tour groups got a chance to see crossing the plaza for their daily practice.

You really need more than a day to see Vienna, but with the strict scheduling it's really the only option. As it is, we crammed a lot into the day with the schedule tour in the morning an optional tour in the afternoon and then the concert in the evening.

We returned to the ship after the morning tour for lunch, but didn't have much time at all afterwards because we had to get ready to take the optional tour to the Schoenbrunn Palace, the most popular sightseeing stop in Vienna and Maria Teresa Hofburg's Summer Residence/Palace. We were a little bit reluctant to take this tour because of the exceptional amount of activity involved in the day but we're glad we chose to ignore our tired feet. The place is absolutely (please fill in the word. I've run out of superlatives!). Suffice to say it's not to be missed; take this optional tour!

After an earlier than usual dinner, (The Vienna classic, Wienerschnitzel) we got ready for the bus to an optional classical concert. The concert is a combination of musical pieces, ballet and opera performed in a concert hall that had been used by Mozart and Beethoven. It really is well done and we enjoyed it but the chamber itself is too small for the size of the group, poorly ventilated and the large number of people in attendance made the room far too warm for comfort even in the beginning of May. I think I would've opted out on this tour if the temperature has been higher than 75° or so.

The buses got us back to the ship at about 10:15 in time for a goulash soup snack that have been set out on the Aquavit deck.

To bed earlier than normal for us. It was a great day and a very full one!

 

A ps on Krems. One of our fellow passengers had an off the ship dinner at Cloister by the Relais & Chateau group in Krems. He said that the food was great and the restaurant had the unusual touch of simply ordering bye

order by number of courses with a sample wine included with each. However you didn't get to choose the food itself! Might be something to keep in mind if you want to do something off the ship.

L'Chaim!

Bill

[CelticMutt]

We arrived early in Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital. My wife's father was from Slovakia so we had elected early on in the cruise to take the optional home tour, a visit with a local family. Unfortunately a sufficient number of other passengers had not decided on the tour so it was canceled. Lucia, our program director, who is also from Slovakia commiserated with my wife not being able to take the tour and actually scheduled a private one-on-one tour doing the same Itinerary. The tour guide, Miro, gave an excellent commentary on the country of Slovakia on the 15 miles travel to and from the home visit. I found it a bit ho-hum but my wife was fascinated and we were particularly grateful for Lucia's hard work in helping us to secure this unusual tour. We've found this to be a common situation on Viking – the willingness to go the extra mile for the passenger!

The tour guide even dropped us off in old town Bratislava so that we could do an abbreviated walking tour of the section on our own on our way back to the ship. Check in just about noon, had a great lunch and now we are continuing our cruise down the Danube as I dictate this. We are scheduled to arrive in Budapest sometime around 10 PM this evening. The view as you approach the city is supposed to be spectacular so we are really looking forward to it. Will let you know more tomorrow.

As much as I have enjoyed this cruise I have attempted to add some fair balance as far as the negatives are concerned when appropriate. We had heard a few days ago about a couple who could not sleep in their room because the noise of a repeater pump circulating waste water kept them up at night. I had refrained from reporting on this event as it was only hearsay until yesterday morning When we happened to have breakfast with the couple themselves. They confirmed that they have been sleeping in crews quarters at night because of an inability to sleep because of the noise And because the ship is completely full. The situation may in fact be a legitimate problem because I've read in these forums that there have been some water problems on the Viking longships. Or of course it could be just a situation that these folks are extremely light sleepers. I don't know - I'll leave this up to your interpretation and perhaps input from other readers. But for your information they are in cabin number 217 just in case you'd sooner avoid this stateroom altogether!

That's all for now; catch you tomorrow!

Cin Cin!

Bill

[Bet & Peg]

Bill ~ you are fantastic and I join my voice in thanking you for you fabulous reports!!! I completely appreciate that you wouldn't report hearsay until you could confirm it - thank you for being so level-headed!!!!

 

The beginning of your trip was of such interest since it'll be the end of our Rhine River cruise in December! But now Vienna so SO interesting it gives me something else to think about!!!

 

I'm also enjoying your comments about Viking and how accommodating they have been - we found the same on our cruise last October. Along with about 25-30 other passengers, we had a problem getting to the ship on the French train - DH called them to alert them we'd be late and the Cruise Director called back with info on what trains to take. Delightfully shocked DH that he (the CD) had, first, gotten the message and, second, took the time to return the call! Hoping that our next experience will be as good!!!!

 

Thank You again - and, as someone else mentioned, could you just keep cruising and reporting!!!!!

[Big Tuna935]

We will be on the Skadl in August from Budapest to Amsterdam. I am enjoying your reviews and hints. Thank you.

[CelticMutt]

We actually arrived in Budapest at about 10 PM last night. The arrival into the city area and the Captain's drive about was nothing short of spectacular. It might have been the highlight of an incredibly wonderful trip in and of itself. As with many other cities most of the monuments and edifices of importance line the Danube. Since all are lit at night the effect is incredibly powerful especially from the river. We actually docked in PEST because the Danube divides the city into “Buda” and “Pest” sides. We jumped on the buses at 8:30 for a combined bus/walking tour of the combined city. We started with Pest and worked our way through the city ending up at Heroes' Square. Then over the Chain Bridge (right by the ship) to Buda and up the hill to the Bastion and Matthias Church - actually St. Mary's, but for some reason everyone calls it simply Matthias.

Our tour guide, Liz was a hoot. She was very knowledgeable and terribly proud of her Hungarian heritage but she had a fatal flaw for a tour guide. She kept up mixing up the English words for left and right so that when something we should be looking at was on the left she continually said "and on your right." At first we thought it was because she was facing us some of the time but soon found out that it was just a confusion on her part as to the translation. Still, she did a great job.

We came back to the ship for lunch and sadly to do some initial packing. Afterwords we did a quick 15 minute walk to the bronze shoe memorial right on the same river bank as the ship was parked. And then another five minutes to the Parliament Building which we had only seen briefly on the bus tour. Make sure you take the time to see this memorial up close; it is incredibly moving. Back on the ship we had a Hungarian specialties dinner followed by 4 very talented Hungarian singers/dancers accompanied by 3 local musicians - very nice! Up to the sun deck for some pictures of this beautiful city by night. Bus to Prague tomorrow!

Like Jimmy Buffett sang, It's Been a Lovely Cruise!

Bill

[OkieCruiser49]

This might be a lame question but do you find the need for a back pack during the tours? We are thinking about getting a pacsafe backpack if needed. We were thinking for rain gear, cameras etc. Thank you.

 

I would highly recommend the Eagle Creek Packable Daypack (available on Amazon.com). Its greatest virtue is that it folds up into a package about 6" on a side and one inch thick. It's not the greatest backpack, but it stows well, and it held our gear really well when we needed to carry jackets, laptop, iPads, etc. On both of our cruises we've gone with carry-on luggage only, and this is an ideal backpack for light packers!

 

George

[Cary Cruiser]

Great job Bill - thank you so much for taking the time to do

'live" posting. My wife and I will be doing the Romantic Danube in the fall, stopping at many of the same spots as you did so this helped a lot.

 

We will be starting in Prague for 3 nights. Looking forward to your impressions of the city. Is your post-extension in Prague through Viking? Are you staying at the Prague Hilton?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Great job ..

[burrma]

This will be the beginning of my attempt to provide a day-by-day review of this Grand European cruise on the Viking Idun, April 27 - May 11, 2013 - Amsterdam to Budapest (On-board wifi connectivity and geriatric energy levels being sufficient! ;))

We're on a United flight this evening; Newark to Amsterdam and hoping that the air traffic controller bosses got the message that Congress just restored their budget thereby (hopefully) getting us in to Amsterdam at about 8 AM Saturday.

We have a 2:30 PM Viator Amsterdam Sightseeing Tour and Skip-the-Line Ticket to the Anne Frank House

http://www.viator.com/tours/Amsterda.../d525-2550ANNE

I'll continue tomorrow evening once we've been settled aboard.

Bill

 

Appreciate any tips you can give. Thanks. We are travelling on it in Oct.

[burrma]

Well, two corrections right up front. The first of which is that I'll be continuing this day-to-day review on this specific posting. It's been suggested and I agree that a "live from the ship" would be better served specifically in the general river cruising category.

The second of which is that were not on the Idun! As another poster in this category has mentioned previously, we too were switched from the Idun to the Embla. The official explanation was a bit garbled but basically the rationale was that the Idun was switched to take over a different itinerary when one of the ships wasn't christened on time.

We arrived in Amsterdam basically on time after about an hour and a half delay in work due to the air traffic situation. We were met in the Arrivals Hall area by a Viking representative and shepherded to a waiting bus for the 30 minute drive to the ship. We left immediately but the bus was about three quarters full and we were the last to arrive. I therefore don't know how long the initial passengers were waiting on the bus. There was no check in procedure at the ship – they simply accepted the fact that since you were there you were on the cruise! We waited in the lounge area with the rest of the passengers but were informed early on – about 10:30 AM - that our room was available. This obviously wasn't the standard time as a number of the other passengers were still waiting sometime later but we were lucky enough to have a room vacated early by the previous guest.

We have a Balcony cabin – number 329 and found that the room is small but comfortable and offered a fair amount of storage considering the size. The balcony is compact but offers two chairs and a small table and is nice for sitting and viewing the scenery. The staff here appear to be very accommodating and we have been treated to this point in time very well by the crew.

They offered a buffet lunch in the Aquavit lounge that consisted of pasta soup and a salad along with a couple of sandwich choices.

We tagged along with the included 1:30 walking on the way to our Viator city tour that was scheduled at 2:30 listed in the initial post above. A quick word about that: it was individually the worst tour I've ever been on. Of the 2 1/2 hours, almost a full hour is spent in the Diamond Museum which is basically a sales pitch for jewelry and diamonds. The tour itself was terribly unorganized and left almost a half an hour late which made the getting back to the ship on time problematic. It also leaves you off at the final stop which is the Anne Frank House and not at the point of origin. Frankly the sole saving grace of the tour was its "cut the line" entrance to this not to be missed attraction. The tour dumps you off at this location which is an additional half hour walk from the original jumping off point of the tour which in itself is an additional 30 minute walk from the ship. But even in a non-rushed tour the 5 PM drop off gives you an hour at the Anne Frank House before having to hustle back to the ship for 7 PM dinner. Cabs are scarce in the city so you may (probably will!) have to hoof it. (The available cabs seem to congregate at the hotels, so in a pinch you may want to try to pick one up at these locations.)

Our first dinner was quite good. I had the bass - nice. I found the portions to be fine contrary to some reports and I'm a big eater. This at least so far. We were a bit late for dinner but still found available spots with some very nice and entertaining dinner companions.

We hit the bar after dinner. A very nice piano player was performing for a very few passengers. It may be that it was a travel day or it may be the average age of the passengers, but there were six of us who had the place pretty much all to ourselves for a while. Although there were another group of three couples that were dancing as we were leaving. An early night after having been up for well over 36 hours.

Our impressions of Viking so far are very good. The ship is well-maintained and nicely laid out. The crew is polite and helpful. Our fellow passengers, the majority of which seem to be American and Canadian, are friendly and good-natured. But at 64 and 62 respectively we sometimes feel like we're the youngsters aboard athough I have to expect it didn't affect anybody's energy!

I'll hold off on posting any photos today as you can get as many as you want on Amsterdam pretty much anyplace. But I'll post a couple of thumbnails day on the more cruise-specific locations that we find.

That's it for today. I'll apologize in advance for any typos. I'm dictating this on the iPhone and it's a bit difficult to edit in that platform.

Bill

ps: In answer to Cary's question, "you're only as young as you feel", but sometimes you feel older than others!

B

 

When did you find out you had been changed to another ship? When you arrived? Glad to hear food portions were satisfactory for a big appetite as this was a negative I've read... small portions.

Can harldy wait to keep reading your reviews; sincere thanks

[CelticMutt]

First of all to answer a question. We were only informed about the change of ship as we arrived at the Embla. As I've said already, this complete lack of notification was a hardship to a number of people that have talk to you on the cruise because they could not find the ship that we were scheduled on. Absolutely no one that I talk to have a problem with the ship changeover itself, it was simply the lack of notification that was a problem. Viking obviously knew about this way in advance so their lack of communication was not an oversight.

(Incidentally if anyone wants to communicate with me specifically about any questions my email address is WMdotROBERTSONatCOMCASTdotNET [dot=. and at=@]

We were on our bus for the trip from Budapest to Prague at 8:30 in the morning. The day was by far my least favorite with Viking. We were told at our briefing that the trip would take six hours and then told on the bus that it was actually seven hours but ultimately the trip took eight! The eight hours included a two hour stop at a fairly decent restaurant with terribly poor service, Accounting for the extra hour travel time. A lot of the roadway we traveled on was built during the communist period, and while technically a superhighway it road more like a washboard. To make matters worse when my wife called Viking about six weeks prior to our departure she was told the transfer was via train. Suffice to say that when we arrived in Prague we were stretched a bit thin.

However, the check in was very smooth with our keys being delivered on the bus and the Hilton Hotel (there are two of them in Prague - we are staying at the Probrenzi one) is very nice, our room is fine and the services at the hotel seem to be very good. The Prague marathon is being held tomorrow and the hotel is quite full but that does not appear to be affecting services here at all.

Feeling a bit wimpy, but we decided just to unpack grab a quick burger at the bar (it actually was quite good!), watch a movie and get a good nights' sleep in preparation for our pretty full two next days in the city of Prague.

A votre sante!

Bill

[burrma]

First of all to answer a question. We were only informed about the change of ship as we arrived at the Embla. As I've said already, this complete lack of notification was a hardship to a number of people that have talk to you on the cruise because they could not find the ship that we were scheduled on. Absolutely no one that I talk to have a problem with the ship changeover itself, it was simply the lack of notification that was a problem. Viking obviously knew about this way in advance so their lack of communication was not an oversight.

(Incidentally if anyone wants to communicate with me specifically about any questions my email address is WMdotROBERTSONatCOMCASTdotNET [dot=. and at=@]

We were on our bus for the trip from Budapest to Prague at 8:30 in the morning. The day was by far my least favorite with Viking. We were told at our briefing that the trip would take six hours and then told on the bus that it was actually seven hours but ultimately the trip took eight! The eight hours included a two hour stop at a fairly decent restaurant with terribly poor service, Accounting for the extra hour travel time. A lot of the roadway we traveled on was built during the communist period, and while technically a superhighway it road more like a washboard. To make matters worse when my wife called Viking about six weeks prior to our departure she was told the transfer was via train. Suffice to say that when we arrived in Prague we were stretched a bit thin.

However, the check in was very smooth with our keys being delivered on the bus and the Hilton Hotel (there are two of them in Prague - we are staying at the Probrenzi one) is very nice, our room is fine and the services at the hotel seem to be very good. The Prague marathon is being held tomorrow and the hotel is quite full but that does not appear to be affecting services here at all.

Feeling a bit wimpy, but we decided just to unpack grab a quick burger at the bar (it actually was quite good!), watch a movie and get a good nights' sleep in preparation for our pretty full two next days in the city of Prague.

A votre sante!

Bill

SO kind of you to write when you are still on holidays; read all your threads last night and realy enjoyed. Found the info on the trip from Budapest to Prague very intersting; we are also going by coach; no stops but from Prague to Nuremberg; doubt it but hope that highway is a bit better for our trip. Did you have any customs to go through on this bus trip? We are doing Prague three days before the cruise and then Nuremberg to Budapest and tghen staying two days in Budapest. If you need extra walking tours today; look for Extravaganza with blue umbrealla; they get fabulous reviews; meet at 11; and 2 I think downtown; free 3 hour tours except for tips. If walking is problem; steep hill to castle; take tram up; save your energy for later. ALso a good, the best river cruise to see sites at night; (I understand there's many) but take the river cruise near the Charles Museum; doesn't go through locks which is a long wait like the others do; suppose to be beautiful at night to take this ride; only one hour and reasonable with free drink and snack and also free admission to Charles Bridge Museum.

Enoy and will look forward to reading more of your trip. We go in Oct.

By the way: that's terrible about Viking not telling you that your ship had been changed and you not being able to find it.

SIncere thanks; Enjoy Prage

[CelticMutt]

Our First day in Prague, Czech Republic. We were up and out to breakfast about 8 AM. They have a separate restaurant for the groups with breakfast vouchers. Breakfast here is a very nice buffet or off the menu and both choices were excellent! After breakfast we wandered around a bit down to the Powder Tower Square. The Prague marathon was being held today and it really gave us a nice opportunity to see a marathon much more up close than those I've been able to see in New York City. (Don't expect to see this event at every Prague extension!) We did a little window shopping but had to be back to the hotel for the Optional tour to Leibowitz Palace at Prague Castle. Because of the marathon the included walking tour of the city was postponed until Monday. This worked out great for us because we didn't have it a conflict with The optional Palace tour.

The tour was pricey but in our opinion well worth it! It did not do an in depth coverage the outside of the Palace but instead concentrated on those inside areas not often available to the normal tourist. We were escorted inside to a very beautifully laid out lunch room. Choices were limited to lasagna or the ever present goulash but both were good and included a salad as well as a very nice dessert. After lunch we were treated to a 20 minute classical concert by three-piece ensemble. It was excellent! We then proceeded to a chore of the restored Leibowitz treasures using a hand held device that explained The various pictures and artifacts each stop. The tour ended up in the lunch room where we all gathered for our trip down the back stairs (quit a little trek) to the waiting bus. Incidentally since you are not allowed to take pictures of the Leibowitz treasures we were given a very nice art book containing pictures of the most important artifacts which was personally signed by the current head of the Leibowitz family. As I said, if you're in Prague with Viking do this tour!

We ate in a restaurant in old town but because of the crowds associated with the marathon had to opt for a second choice French restaurant called La Gare that really didn't meet up to our expectations.

That's it for today; pooped!

Sanitas Bona!

Bill

[CelticMutt]

Lobkowicz palace Not Leibowitz; damn dictation program!

Bill

[pbeach]

Bill, what dictation program/device do you use?

[burrma]

Our First day in Prague, Czech Republic. We were up and out to breakfast about 8 AM. They have a separate restaurant for the groups with breakfast vouchers. Breakfast here is a very nice buffet or off the menu and both choices were excellent! After breakfast we wandered around a bit down to the Powder Tower Square. The Prague marathon was being held today and it really gave us a nice opportunity to see a marathon much more up close than those I've been able to see in New York City. (Don't expect to see this event at every Prague extension!) We did a little window shopping but had to be back to the hotel for the Optional tour to Leibowitz Palace at Prague Castle. Because of the marathon the included walking tour of the city was postponed until Monday. This worked out great for us because we didn't have it a conflict with The optional Palace tour.

The tour was pricey but in our opinion well worth it! It did not do an in depth coverage the outside of the Palace but instead concentrated on those inside areas not often available to the normal tourist. We were escorted inside to a very beautifully laid out lunch room. Choices were limited to lasagna or the ever present goulash but both were good and included a salad as well as a very nice dessert. After lunch we were treated to a 20 minute classical concert by three-piece ensemble. It was excellent! We then proceeded to a chore of the restored Leibowitz treasures using a hand held device that explained The various pictures and artifacts each stop. The tour ended up in the lunch room where we all gathered for our trip down the back stairs (quit a little trek) to the waiting bus. Incidentally since you are not allowed to take pictures of the Leibowitz treasures we were given a very nice art book containing pictures of the most important artifacts which was personally signed by the current head of the Leibowitz family. As I said, if you're in Prague with Viking do this tour!

We ate in a restaurant in old town but because of the crowds associated with the marathon had to opt for a second choice French restaurant called La Gare that really didn't meet up to our expectations.

That's it for today; pooped!

Sanitas Bona!

Bill

 

Thanks; keep them coming when you have time. Glad you recommended the Palace tour.

[jiminyC_fan]

I would highly recommend the Eagle Creek Packable Daypack (available on Amazon.com). Its greatest virtue is that it folds up into a package about 6" on a side and one inch thick. It's not the greatest backpack, but it stows well, and it held our gear really well when we needed to carry jackets, laptop, iPads, etc. On both of our cruises we've gone with carry-on luggage only, and this is an ideal backpack for light packers!

 

George

 

Thank you very much.

[CelticMutt]

On which dictation program I was using: The one that came with the iPhone 5. But the problem I aluded to really wasn't a "dictation problem" I said Leibowitz and the program wrote Leibowitz! Just misspoke the name.

Bill

[pacmom]

Celtic, sorry you didn't have a good meal at LaGare. We had a dinner there in Dec of '11--meal was wonderful. We did have reservations and they were turning prople away at the door. For anyone else going and staying at the same Hilton, there is a wonderful Check restuatant a bout a block from the hotel across from the Metro/bus station. It is right before the beer garden and like so many other restraunts in Prague downstairs. Have loved your report. Pat

[CelticMutt]

The postponed walking trip of the city of Prague was held this morning from 8 AM to 1:30 PM. We jumped on the bus after another excellent breakfast in the group's dining hall. This really was an excellent overview of the entire city of Prague. We went to the Prague castle and saw most of the sites in Old Town as well including the Charles Bridge the Powder Tower and the John Lennon graffiti wall. The tour let us off right in the main square of old town in front of the Astronomical Clock. We opted for some lunch and a couple of beers at the open air café directly across from the clock. As our tour guide told us, it was a little bit more pricey than some of the back street restaurants but we have the perfect opportunity to do some people watching and to await the ringing of the bell at 1 PM. Interesting, but not quite worth the huge crowds that gather every hour to witness it! We took a leisurely walk through a lot of the rest of old town to do some souvenir shopping on the way back to the hotel and preparations for dinner.

I won't go into detail about the churches and the sites – you can pick them up in any guide book. It's a beautiful city but you can clearly see the differences in restoration that occurs in a totally capitalistic society and one that has only been so for the past 25 years. But this really is an excellent overview tour of the city and if you only have a limited amount of time or if you wanted something that will give you a flavor of things that you wanted to pursue later on, this is an excellent choice. I actually wish the overview tour and the palace tour could have been reversed. Additionally, the two tours done one after the other (the way they were initially planned, would have been a lot in one day. Even so, I'd highly recommend doing both!

We had a farewell dinner at the Imperial Café right at the start of old town and made plans to meet again next year in Spain for another Viking cruise!

I am sitting in the Prague airport dictating this final message. Transfers here were once again efficiently handled by the Viking team and the Prague airport itself is modern and was very efficient in getting us through checking.

And so I'll sign off for now. Once we get home I'll do a last overview of the trip and once again, I am available to answer anyone's questions about anything that I can offer help on.

Slainte,

Bill

[burrma]

The postponed walking trip of the city of Prague was held this morning from 8 AM to 1:30 PM. We jumped on the bus after another excellent breakfast in the group's dining hall. This really was an excellent overview of the entire city of Prague. We went to the Prague castle and saw most of the sites in Old Town as well including the Charles Bridge the Powder Tower and the John Lennon graffiti wall. The tour let us off right in the main square of old town in front of the Astronomical Clock. We opted for some lunch and a couple of beers at the open air café directly across from the clock. As our tour guide told us, it was a little bit more pricey than some of the back street restaurants but we have the perfect opportunity to do some people watching and to await the ringing of the bell at 1 PM. Interesting, but not quite worth the huge crowds that gather every hour to witness it! We took a leisurely walk through a lot of the rest of old town to do some souvenir shopping on the way back to the hotel and preparations for dinner.

I won't go into detail about the churches and the sites – you can pick them up in any guide book. It's a beautiful city but you can clearly see the differences in restoration that occurs in a totally capitalistic society and one that has only been so for the past 25 years. But this really is an excellent overview tour of the city and if you only have a limited amount of time or if you wanted something that will give you a flavor of things that you wanted to pursue later on, this is an excellent choice. I actually wish the overview tour and the palace tour could have been reversed. Additionally, the two tours done one after the other (the way they were initially planned, would have been a lot in one day. Even so, I'd highly recommend doing both!

We had a farewell dinner at the Imperial Café right at the start of old town and made plans to meet again next year in Spain for another Viking cruise!

I am sitting in the Prague airport dictating this final message. Transfers here were once again efficiently handled by the Viking team and the Prague airport itself is modern and was very efficient in getting us through checking.

And so I'll sign off for now. Once we get home I'll do a last overview of the trip and once again, I am available to answer anyone's questions about anything that I can offer help on.

Slainte,

Bill

 

Love reading your threads; will look forward to your overview; I will probably have questions for you; this is our first river cruise after many ocean cruises so all new to me.

Sincere thanks

[Cruzin Terri]

Thank you for your daily posts. I am sure they are time consuming. They are very informative and interesting. I'm enjoying reading about your adventures.

Terri