Thurs. Oct. 22, 2015
Spent this AM in the historic center of Nuremberg. I must confess, for the first and hopefully last time in my travel planning endeavors, I booked the wrong day for the train tickets. We went directly to the train station and for an extra 70 euros were able to get everything straightened out.. We spent our last afternoon cruising north of Nuremburg. Seemed inconvenient since all passengers depart out of Nuremburg, but they told us there was no place for overnight dockage. We had our farewell dinner with Dodi and Pat and Mary, then said our good byes as they are all getting up and off by 7:00 AM tomorrow.
Spent this AM in the historic center of Nuremberg. I must confess, for the first and hopefully last time in my travel planning endeavors, I booked the wrong day for the train tickets. We went directly to the train station and for an extra 70 euros were able to get everything straightened out.. We spent our last afternoon cruising north of Nuremburg. Seemed inconvenient since all passengers depart out of Nuremburg, but they told us there was no place for overnight dockage. We had our farewell dinner with Dodi and Pat and Mary, then said our good byes as they are all getting up and off by 7:00 AM tomorrow.
Hallway to our room
Cruising
Morning sky
An artist's palette of color
Watching the scenery from the bow of the boat on our TV in our room
Entering lock
Stern thrusters kicking up the mud
Nuremberg
Market at Nuremburg
Jon picking up some Christmas surprises
Color everywhere at the market
Outdoor cafe
St Lorenz Cathedral
Cafe
Castle Kaiserburg
Sausage restaurant with wood for cooking
Court yard in castle
Viking boat at dock
Cruising, looking out our door with train going over head
In Germany - a German Shepard of course !
Cruising views
Jon, Me, Mary and Pat
Jon and Pat
The three gals
and the guys that love us !
Friday. Oct 23, 2015
Jon and I were picked up at 9:30 AM and we are at the train station waiting for our train to Munich. We have been talking about our cruise experience. We both enjoyed it very much, but it was not the best suited to us for how we prefer to travel. Everything is on a schedule, and at times it felt like allot of hurry up and wait. You were not able to get off the boat and explore at your leisure with the ability to return to the boat when you wanted except for in Vienna. You don’t really have allot of options to just eat by yourself if for two, and I found the constant need to have to talk and be social a bit draining and intrusive. The staff were extremely attentive and helpful which we appreciated, the ship was well laid out, clean and comfortable. I thinks most people who take this river cruise will really enjoy it. This was our fifth travel adventure with Dodi. We will have to start thinking about our 2017 trip, but I think we will keep it more geared to an adventure! We should arrive in Munich around noon and will hit the pavement ready to explore !
Jon and I were picked up at 9:30 AM and we are at the train station waiting for our train to Munich. We have been talking about our cruise experience. We both enjoyed it very much, but it was not the best suited to us for how we prefer to travel. Everything is on a schedule, and at times it felt like allot of hurry up and wait. You were not able to get off the boat and explore at your leisure with the ability to return to the boat when you wanted except for in Vienna. You don’t really have allot of options to just eat by yourself if for two, and I found the constant need to have to talk and be social a bit draining and intrusive. The staff were extremely attentive and helpful which we appreciated, the ship was well laid out, clean and comfortable. I thinks most people who take this river cruise will really enjoy it. This was our fifth travel adventure with Dodi. We will have to start thinking about our 2017 trip, but I think we will keep it more geared to an adventure! We should arrive in Munich around noon and will hit the pavement ready to explore !
Outside of the boat, waiting for our taxi
Nuremberg train station
Your own little cabin on the train - the way to go....
Arrived in Munich shortly after noon. We walked to our hotel which was about a fifteen minute walk from the train station. We could not check in till 3:00 so we set off by foot to explore. Ended up at the infamous Haufbrauhaus. Very touristy but when in Munich…… It is a huge beer hall and you just walk around till you find a place to sit, with any group. We ended sitting across from the Oompah band. We eventually made it back to the hotel to check in and re group. Ironically, we ate Kennedy’s – an Irish Pub. It was a bit crazy, packed but fun. I think we were the oldest ones there. Everyone was out, street acts, people strolling around lots of beer places – a fun Friday night.
Walking from hotel to the Marienplatz
The Gothic town hall
The Glockenspiel tower
Inside courtyard of the town hall
Street side entertainment
I don't know......
The famous beer house
Inside - you just walk around until you find two empty seats, at any table, and join whoever is already there - it is kind of organized chaos
Once you find a seat - happy, happy !
Complete with an Oompah band
and more entertainment
Street cafe
Another shot of town hall
I think our hotel room was smaller than our boat cabin, but the location was perfect
Practicing our selfies again by taking our picture in the mirror behind the bar Below is a video of an awesome street band
Sat. Oct. 24 Munich Germany
We were up and off this AM to tour about on the HO HO bus. Saw the main sights, Scholl Nymphenburg, the Olympic Park, BMW place, the English Gardens and the area around the Marienplatz. I am not sure what happened between last night and today, but about 3,000,000 million people arrived overnight. I am talking people moving in one large mass, unable to get our of crowds – I can not begin to imagine what it must be like at Oktoberfest and I have no desire to find out ! We spent some time at the Viktualienmarkt which was crazy busy, but fun. I never thought I would get excited about artichokes, but they had the most beautiful artichokes, including purple artichokes that I have ever seen before. The German beer somewhat makes up for the ridiculous crowds, but I think it will definitely be better once we head out of town tomorrow to some smaller town.
We were up and off this AM to tour about on the HO HO bus. Saw the main sights, Scholl Nymphenburg, the Olympic Park, BMW place, the English Gardens and the area around the Marienplatz. I am not sure what happened between last night and today, but about 3,000,000 million people arrived overnight. I am talking people moving in one large mass, unable to get our of crowds – I can not begin to imagine what it must be like at Oktoberfest and I have no desire to find out ! We spent some time at the Viktualienmarkt which was crazy busy, but fun. I never thought I would get excited about artichokes, but they had the most beautiful artichokes, including purple artichokes that I have ever seen before. The German beer somewhat makes up for the ridiculous crowds, but I think it will definitely be better once we head out of town tomorrow to some smaller town.
Scholl Nymphenburg
Tour bus - any language
Nymphenburg palace
The Munich Olympic Park
Cafe about 10:30 AM
Same cafe about 3:00 PM
The amazing purple artichokes !
Of course - a beer stop at the Market
I wanted one of these guys - but no room in the suitcase
Cheese, Cheese and more cheese
A nice sunny day to see the Town Hall
Our ride