Viking Grand European AMS-BUD Aug 2016 photo journal with pre-cruise Amsterdam

[mimmy52]

 

 

 

 

St. Michael's Abbey in the distance

 

 

 

There was a café in the Rose Garden, although we didn't stop there. We were intent on having a famous Bamberg smoky beer.

 

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

Once we arrived at the Rose Garden, we had free time, so after admiring the view and the roses for a while, we walked back to the shops. Our guide had recommended Schlenkerla Smokebeer Brewery if we wanted to try the smoke beer. When Mark was giving his talk, he also mentioned that the people of Franconia can be grumpy. Bamberg is actually in Bavaria, but it was a region of Franconia for a long time and the people still consider themselves Franconian. My heritage is half German and I decided to check the genealogy I have to see if my ancestors came from Franconia. I can be grumpy. At any rate, we found Schlenkerla easily since we'd passed it earlier. It's the building with the flowers and green shutters.

 

 

 

Dee, El, a couple I'll call Tod and Kate, and I walked in and wove our way through tables looking for a spot. We started toward an empty table and the waitress yelled, "RESERVED!" So we found a different table.

 

 

 

The waitress came right over to take our order. Tod pointed to Kate and told the waitress they wanted to share a beer. She looked at him in astonishment, as if he had two heads. "You want to share one beer?" He said yes. Well, Dee, El and I had talked about the possibility of sharing one beer since we weren't sure we'd like it, but after that look from the waitress, we wouldn't have dared. We ordered one beer each. I asked about ordering a pretzel. "OUTSIDE," she shouted. I didn't want one that much. A minute later she was back, slammed a coaster on the table in front of Tod and Kate and yelled, "ONE BEER!" She then proceeded to slam a coaster down in front of Dee, El, and me. "ONE BEER, ONE BEER, ONE BEER!"

 

 

 

The beers came a few minutes later. The photo is El, me, and Dee

 

 

 

The first taste was rather unpleasant, but the taste grew on all of us. It smelled liked BBQ. I kept wondering where the picnic was. I'm glad I tried the beer, but I definitely liked the other beers I'd had in Germany better.

 

We had time to walk through the town and do some shopping. There's a Kathe Wohlfahrt shop here too, and we did go inside but I don't think any of the three of us bought anything there.

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

 

 

I know our guide told us what these lines are for, but I can't remember.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After shopping, we still had about an hour before we had to be at our meeting place at 6:15, so we stopped at a café. I don't remember the name of it but it was across the street from the former slaughterhouse building. PD Sam, Concierge Nina, and musician Emmanuel were inside.

 

 

 

Dee and El had coffee. I had hot chocolate which came in a big cup with whipped cream. El thought it was funny to add to the picture the cake they were going to share.

 

[mimmy52]

Today there had also been an optional excursion, leaving at the same time (1:00) as the included tour. The optional excursion was a Franconian Countryside Tour where you could "witness the natural splendor and breathtaking architecture of German Franconia and sample beer from one of its 300 breweries."

 

Both the included tour and the optional tour got back to the ship, which had now gone through some locks and arrived in Bamberg, about the same time. On the ship, we had only a short time before the 7:00 briefing for tomorrow (time moved back 15 minutes today for the briefing and dinner). These evenings when we would get back late to the ship were often the days that many people wear to dinner whatever they were wearing during the day.

 

For dinner there were four appetizer offerings. I had goat cheese soufflé which was delicious.

 

 

 

The chef's recommendation for the main course was braised lamb shank. I decided to have the any time poached salmon and I asked for a half order.

 

 

 

Herald is usually in the bar and he also helps serve wine at dinner.

 

 

 

For dessert, I had something called Bienenstich cake. When I asked Buzz what it was like, he said it was a regional specialty and mentioned almonds, honey and custard. Since then I've read it is also called bee sting cake. It was excellent.

 

 

At 9:00 Sam had organized another game, this one called Liar's Club. Members of the Vili crew participated and you had to figure out which of them was telling the truth or "telling porky pies." I think we were rather late leaving the dining room that night, but the next day it sounded as if those who participated had a good time.

[oxypete]

I know our guide told us what these lines are for, but I can't remember.

 

I believe that they are gates used by kayak or canoe racers.

 

Appreciate the time and effort it takes to post these.

[jpalbny]

Mimmy, thanks for all of the great pictures of Bamberg! Many of the places are familiar to me from our visit there last September. We did not go by River Boat, but by train from Würzburg, where we were spending a few days before picking up our new Audi.

 

I hope you don't mind me expounding on a few places that appear in your pictures...they bring back some nice memories!

 

 

There was a café in the Rose Garden, although we didn't stop there. We were intent on having a famous Bamberg smoky beer.

 

 

 

We visited the Rosegarten too, while we were waiting for mass to finish, so that we could visit the Cathedral. Very enjoyable setting! Since it was a little after noon, we did not feel guilty settling down with a nice drink to enjoy the setting even more!

 

 

After this, we made the climb to St. Michael's Abbey. The views from there were great, and there are vineyards on the way down.

 

 

 

 

This cafe in your picture (wooden tables with red-checked square cloths in the middle) was where we had lunch. It's called Weinhaus Zeis, and we shared a platter of assorted sausages. I had a Rauchbier (smoked beer) which tasted great with the grilled sausages. Chris had more wine, of course...

 

 

 

Thanks for the memories! It is so cool to see that you were right within a few feet of these places where we were last year. Looking forward to your next installment.

Edited September 4, 2016 by jpalbny

[mimmy52]

oxypete, I was thinking our guide said they were for kayaks or canoes, but I wasn't certain. I figured some Cruise Critic person with a better memory than I would know.

 

JP, expound all you want! It adds to my enjoyment to know what other people did in the same place and to know it brings back good memories for you. Plus your pictures are always a welcome addition.

[mimmy52]

Nuremberg, August 12

 

The Vili pulled into Nuremberg around 9:00 in the morning. A rainy morning, I might add. We've had such wonderful weather until now, it's almost a shock to see a gray, wet, and chilly day. I took the included excursion, part bus tour part walking tour but those who took the optional excursion, the WWII tour, thought it was fantastic. I wish I could have done both. Every morning when I pick up my boarding pass and tour number, I also take the business card-sized card with the Vili's docking location. If you're going off on your own, you might need a taxi to return and the card will let the driver know where to drop you off.

 

Our tour guide today was Dominique, a student living in Nuremberg. She was very soft spoken and I had a little trouble hearing her on the bus even though she was using the mic, but with the Quiet Voxes she was fine. We drove past old city walls and the enormous former SS building, and commercial buildings that I can't recall.

 

We drove through Hitler's horseshoe-shaped coliseum, which was never completed. The bus made two turns through.

 

 

 

The next stop was Zeppelin Field, the **** party rally grounds. I thought we would be able to get off the bus and walk into it, but no. Maybe the WWII tour was able to do this. So the picture is from the bus on this rainy day.

 

 

 

I know we also drove past the courthouse where the famous trials were conducted, but except for the two places above, the bus didn't stop or slow down, so no other photos from the bus tour. After about an hour and ten minutes on the bus, we were dropped off at the top of a hill but the foot of the Imperial Castle.

 

 

 

 

It's so much more enjoyable touring in the sunshine. You don't get water on your head from your neighbor's umbrella and you can see better because you don't have umbrellas blocking the view. Which is not to say it wasn't interesting, just that it was more difficult to enjoy the viewing.

 

Starting the walk up to the castle

 

 

 

It seemed that a lot of the castle was being renovated, and there was so much equipment and scaffolding, it was hard to get a picture of how it really looks. We entered the castle grounds as Dominique described how the entrance zig zagged to make it difficult for invaders with battering rams to work up enough speed to push their way through. They would also have arrows and hot oil raining down on them.

 

 

 

The moat. It was never filled with water but apparently the walls were high enough to keep invaders from climbing them.

 

[mimmy52]

Forgot to mention that when we were dropped off at the castle, you didn't have to get off and tour the castle. The bus would drop you off in Nuremberg at the meeting point and you could walk around the city on your own. Dee and El decided to do that.

 

Entering the castle grounds with no need for battering rams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came to a spot that had good views over the city

 

 

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

It was a quick walk through the castle area. What took the longest was waiting for everyone who wanted to use the bathroom since we weren't the only tour there.

 

Leaving the castle

 

 

 

 

 

It was a pretty steep descent.

 

 

 

 

 

Walking away from the castle into town

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

 

 

St. Sebald Church

 

 

 

 

 

The Rathaus

 

 

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

Next to St. Sebald was a café that our guide said had the delicious small sausages (about 3 inches) that Nuremberg is famous for. About a block past St. Sebald and the Rathaus, we came to the Hauptmarkt where there was a market in progress. You could get the tiny sausages there, too, along with lebkuchen (the gingerbread-like cookie), produce, or flowers.

 

 

The market, by the fountain, was our meeting place at 12:30. I wanted to see St. Sebald Church so I walked back to it.

 

From one end of the church

 

 

To the other

 

 

The remains of St. Sebald are interred in the gold casket.

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

I made sure I was back at the Hauptmarkt about five minutes before noon when the Glockenspiel went into action.

 

What you can buy at the market

 

 

 

 

 

Lebkuchen anyone? Gluten free!

 

 

The glockenspiel begins. Two trumpeters blow their horns, then a drummer drums, a bell ringer chimes his bell

 

 

 

And then Prince-electors circle the Holy Roman Emperor. Considering the rain, I was pretty happy with how my photos turned out.

 

 

 

It all ends with the angelus ringing. In the market place is a fountain. The name of the fountain is the "Beautiful Fountain." I'd read about it. Today it's anyone's guess at how beautiful it is since it's completely covered while it's being repainted. Our guide said it was supposed to take a month and it's already been a year. That does not sound like German efficiency.

 

 

 

That is a picture of the fountain showing in the photo, not the actual fountain.

Edited September 4, 2016 by mimmy52

[mimmy52]

A block or two past the church with the glockenspiel is a sculpture called "Ship of Fools."

 

 

 

 

I decided not to walk any farther since it was getting close to our meeting time. Instead I paid a quick visit to the Church of Our Lady, the church that houses the glockenspiel.

 

No one is eating outside today.

 

 

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

Our meeting time was 12:30 and it was a short walk to where the busses were parked. There was a lot of traffic, and it was 1:10 before we were back to the ship. Since lunch started at 1:00, I went right to the dining room.

 

The appetizers for today.

 

 

 

And the pasta for today, Cavatappi Pasta Arrabiata with tomatoes, spring onions, red onions, spicy tomato sauce.

 

 

 

If you were touring Nuremberg on your own, you had to be back on the ship by 2:15 at which time it would leave for Roth. But you could still see Nuremberg in the afternoon, either on the optional tour or on a shuttle. Both left at 2:15. I was signed up for the optional excursion, "Surviving the War: Art in Nuremberg." Dee and El hadn't signed up for this tour in advance, and when they tried, they found it was full. When I received the "My Viking Journey" online link after we made our Viking reservation, there were three optional afternoon excursions to choose from. I gather that two of them didn't get enough people signed up.

 

When we leave the ship, we can borrow a Viking umbrella and take a bottle of water. Usually someone is handing out the water before a tour.

 

 

 

We drove past some of the same structures we saw this morning, including the old city walls.

 

 

 

 

 

The bus drove us to the castle again, but instead of entering the castle grounds, we went in the opposite direction.

 

[mimmy52]

A different tunnel from this morning.

 

 

 

On the other side of the tunnel is the Albrecht Durer Haus.

 

 

 

On another building, there's St. George again with his dragon.

 

 

 

This is also where that strange rabbit sculpture is, based on one of Durer's paintings.

 

 

 

Looking down the street

 

 

 

And around from another angle

 

[mimmy52]

Stefan had been our tour guide but now he introduced us to another guide, whose name I didn't catch, who will lead us through the bunker where both German art and stolen art were stored in WWII.

 

 

 

On our way to the bunker

 

 

 

The bunker had been a storage facility for beer and it had six cells in it where art was stored, including the stained glass windows from St. Sebald and any piece of art that was moveable.

 

 

 

Inside the bunker

 

 

 

This bunker was not as large as the salt mines used to store treasures that are depicted in the movie "The Monuments Men." Still it held stained glass windows from St. Sebald and a stolen altarpiece from Krakow.

 

 

 

A photo of the stolen altarpiece hangs in the bunker now.

 

[mimmy52]

 

 

There was a photo of a big crate built around the casket of St. Sebald to protect it, starting with wood and then adding bricks.

 

 

 

 

 

This is how some of the statues from St. Sebald were stored.

 

 

 

The guards' room

 

 

 

Toward the end of the war, pieces of the Imperial Treasury (now in Vienna) were stored here too.

 

 

 

There were a lot of photos showing Nuremberg before and after bombing during WWII when 60-80 percent of the city was destroyed.

Edited September 4, 2016 by mimmy52

[mimmy52]

At the end of the tour, we were turned back over to Stefan who walked us to St. Sebald.

 

On the way to St. Sebald

 

 

 

Back at St. Sebald. I hadn't realized this church would be part of the art tour.

 

 

 

 

 

He showed us the casket I'd seen that morning and the sculptures that had all been stored in the bunker.

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

 

 

After St. Sebald's, Stefan walked us to the Hauptmarkt and that ended the tour. It was 5:00 and we had 30 minutes free time. It would have been an hour except the ship was still in Nurnberg rather than in Roth where it was scheduled to pick us up. For those who had taken the shuttle, it also left for the ship at 5:30. I'm not sure how the shuttle people were alerted to the change. When Sam met us at the ship, he said it turned out the traffic at the lock was so bad, they wouldn't have gotten to Roth until about 9:00 that night. We were back on the ship around 6:00 and we left Nuremberg immediately.

 

It's always fun to look forward to dinner, even more so now that we know people. There were four appetizer choices including blue cheese stuffed meatballs, but I had Bibb lettuce and three pea salad.

 

 

 

Braised Beef Brisket was Chef Johnny's recommendation (can't remember what I had). There was a special occasion at the next table.

 

 

 

For dessert I had another regional specialty, but I lost the name of whatever it was. Different from the one the night before, although there was a similarity.

 

[Redtravel]

I just got back from the cruise following your cruise on the Viking Vili. I am enjoying your postings and photos. I am amazed at how different your cruise was compared to mine. I started in Budapest and went to Amsterdam. While the places that we went were the same, you saw places that I did not see. The most amazing change was in the staff. We had a different hotel director, cruise director, and captain. Nina Van Loon was our concierge and yours. She was amazing. She gave excellent info, always was pleasant, and had limitless energy. Looking forward to reading more of your postings.

[mimmy52]

Redtravel, I would love to hear more about your cruise, what the weather was like, what you enjoyed doing, etc.

[mimmy52]

A quick update before I upload more photos. I remembered these just in time since they were on my iPad and not on my camera. Between Nuremberg and Regensburg, we went through several really deep (90 feet) locks. We left Nuremberg somewhere between 6:00-6:30 and as close as I remember, it was around 10:30 when we started going through these deep locks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I never got tired of watching the ship go through locks.

[jpalbny]

Wow! Incredible lock pictures. Never went through one that deep on any of our itineraries.

 

Looks like you did a lot in Nuremburg. We didn't cover as much ground when we were there, but what you saw looks familiar from passing by. Really enjoying this thread.

[mimmy52]

jp, glad you're enjoying the thread since I enjoy posting it and keeping the memories alive. Our program director said by the end of our cruise we'd be tired of going through locks, but I never was.