Photoblog

Thumbs up for TSH

The visit to Zadar exceeded expectation. The weather was once more very pleasant and the seaside promenade provided the opportunity for a good walk. The Roman remains are now better presented and there is a museum which may be worth a visit at a later date. The sea organ was in good voice. As Silver Spirit prepared to sail, a crowd was gathering but it turned out that they were there to watch a light show at the monument to the sun. Not a send-off party for TSH and Diva, then.

The entertainment on Silversea needs some attention. TSH and Diva watched 'Blues Brothers Soul Sisters' in total disbelief at the cheesy performance. About 70 years out of date.

TSH and Diva rose at 5:45 in order to be in Observation Lounge for the sail into Venice. Unfortunately the Captain had got ahead of schedule so it was still dark and the Cruise Director who planned to give a commentary didn't realise the ship was opposite St Mark's Square until it was almost past. Early morning mist then descended, so the omens for the day were not great. However, the sun burnt off the mist and the tour of the Doge's Palace, the prison (via the Bridge of Sighs) and St Mark's Basilica was excellent. More views of Venice from the boat which took them back to the Silver Spirit.

On return to the Silver Spirit, they went for farewell burgers on the pool deck,  only to be assaulted by the pungent smell of a cigar from a nearby table. TSH went to point out that the smoking area was elsewhere. The smoker apologised and moved, at which point a massive thumbs-up sign was sent to TSH from a neighbouring table.

Towards Venice

A leisurely day at sea was followed by Venetian night - once again the 'top cruisers' had spent more than 1400 days on board. TSH and Diva were invited to dine with the Captain - for the first time on this holiday.

The visit to Dubrovnik started early enough that they had good views of the impressive marble streets and stone buildings before the hordes arrived from the large cruise terminal along the coast. After that, the streets became very over crowded.  At some of the smaller ports on this holiday, there were no other cruise ships but at the larger, or more popular, ports there have been regular sightings of Viking Sky and Celebrity Edge.

The coast along the eastern Adriatic sea is beautiful, with mountains and many small islands, so the last few days will be very scenic.

In spite of not having a good internet service, Diva has managed to just about keep up with her OU course, although a large amount of work will be needed as soon as she gets home to a good signal. The first assignment - as yet incomplete - is due very soon. She has also almost finalised her U3A talk on the golden ratio. TSH has worked on cataloguing and photoshopping his pictures, but the signal has not been good enough for much work on his website. TV reception has been patchy and at present their suite has vision but no sound.

Dinner with Ruth and Michael from Northern Ireland - they first met them in Alaska in 2018.

Volcanic ventures

Herculaneum, destroyed in the Vesuvius eruption of 79AD along with Pompeii, was a small but very prosperous town. It is a much smaller site than Pompeii and more of the buildings, along with some of their decoration, are still standing. An excellent guide really helped the visitors to understand what life was like. The visit is much easier than Pompeii because of the smaller size and the greater number of recognisable houses.

The Silver Spirit then anchored off Taormina in Sicily, providing excellent views of an erupting Etna. Intrepid TSH took the tender ashore to visit the volcano at close quarters, whilst Diva stayed on board. The tender ride was notable for being smooth.


He went to the Silvestri craters which are at 5,700 feet above sea level. The highest point of Etna is at nearly 11,000 feet but to progress any further up required a cable car ride and a further road trip which could not be completed in the time available. During the bus drive, he saw ash and lava  from many eruptions, including some this century. The walk round the extinct craters was interesting and provided views over a number of other craters and lava fields.


One enterprising “shepherd” was sitting by the path with a goat, posing for photographs – he appeared to be making quite a bit of money.


The drive up and down Etna was also interesting as a study of the behaviour of Italian drivers. The  road was very narrow in parts and one town was very busy because there was a festival.  At one stage the bus driver needed to ask a policeman for directions because of road closures. TSH learnt that rude gestures are universal.


Surprisingly, TSH saw at least one ladybird high up on Etna.

Magnificent sunset over Etna before an Indochine dinner.

Squabbles at the Vatican

TSH and Diva set out on the long day tour from Civitavecchia to Castel Gandolfo - the Pope's summer residence, which is not used by the current Pope. The private apartments were not as luxurious as they had expected but the marble floors were stunning, as was the view across the nearby lake, which sits in the crater of a hopefully extinct volcano. The gardens were very pleasant - as well as trees and some good flower beds, they had a number of ancient Roman features, including a partially-excavated theatre. The whole site is part of the territory of the Vatican and is larger than Vatican City itself. Lunch was a simple affair of bread and local cheese and ham.

There appeared to be many problems with the schedule of the tour and there was a lot of loud Italian   interaction (complete with a lot of body language and hand waving) between the tour guides and the apartment guards and then between the tour guides themselves. 

A street seller had a turtle on the top of his head but this was definitely not real.

Diva treated herself to a dessert at dinner - the lemon meringue pie had 15 small whirls of meringue surrounding the small lemon tart.

A change for the better

Before sailing from Monte Carlo, the captain announced that Silver Spirit would be going to Genoa in order to dock, as the swell was too great at Portofino to use tenders. Diva and TSH were pleased about this because they have visited Portofino twice already on this cruise, so they cancelled their booked tour  and instead paid their first visit to Genoa.


Genoa turned out better than expected. There were many fine buildings and the cathedral was well worth a visit. Outside the cathedral Diva and TSH talked to a member of the crew from the ship who was touring round Genoa on his bicycle.


Whilst on the shuttle bus from the ship to the city centre Diva and TSH overheard many inane comments.  One person was very confused when the guide said that Silversea had arranged for a shuttle bus to run at half hourly intervals from the ship and the city centre. 'So at 11:00 is the bus starting at the ship or at the city centre?' He had not grasped that the answer was 'both', as two buses were running – obviously he could not read the supplied timetable. Diva ended up in fits of the giggles.


TSH has been quite amused by the voice in the lift which announces  “Going Down”. Not really a cheerful message on a ship.


At lunch time, one confused passenger returned from the buffet to what he thought was his seat but was in fact on the other side of the dining room. It was of a concern to Diva that he had left his white wine behind but he solved this by getting a new full glass (the wine is included in the price paid for the cruise).  


Whilst going to the dining room, Diva and TSH encountered some people waiting for other members of their party to join them for dinner. This was at the back door to the dining room. At the proper entrance to the dinning room, there were also people there waiting for others to join them.  The same group, perhaps?

At the third visit to Livorno, TSH and Diva took an excursion to Pisa, which looked as beautiful as ever. In the cathedral, TSH was so busy spotting the place where he rescued the bat in 1995, that he tripped over the base of the column - but avoided falling. No harm done except to his pride.  They missed the final bit of the tour in order to buy tickets for the cemetery building, so that Diva could be photographed with the statue of Fibonacci which is kept there.

They were lucky to get to Pisa - a very loud noise followed by a clunking noise caused the bus to park at the side of the road. It turned out that the bracket holding the spare wheel had become loose. With the help of a passing lorry driver, the bus driver resolved the problem quite quickly.

In Pisa, as in Florence, there were vigilant police not only armed with automatic rifles but with their fingers on the triggers.

Despite the number of cancelled tenders and re-arranged ports, the sea is very smooth - on only one night so far has it been possible to feel the motion of the ship.


Diva and TSH hope that the news that someone is buying the Thomas Cook stores is good news for Thomas Cook staff.

The handshake

Back at Monte Carlo again – this time for two days. The first day the ship was anchored in a very heavy swell. The sea conditions for going ashore by tender were much worse than other days when the captain decided against it and went to another port. Could this be because senior Silversea people based in Monte Carlo are getting on the ship for a 'special event' tonight?

This is not just a Venetian Society reunion cruise - it is also celebrating Silversea's 25th birthday. There have been special events and gifts. The haul so far is: box of toiletries (Diva's favourite), Silversea tie/scarf pins, Silversea 25th anniversary tie/scarf pins, passport holders, commemorative small plate with traditional Monaco emblem. 

Diva and TSH dined with the SVP Hotel Operations & OBR who sounds important and is based in Monte Carlo. His home town is Sutton Coldfield, which detracts from the glamour a bit. Before the dinner, Manfredi appeared and shook hands with everybody at the table. Diva vowed never to wash again. Manfredi is referred to as 'the owner' (of Silversea), although, since he sold the majority share to Royal Caribbean, this is not actually the case. 


Diva decided against going ashore on the first day – short legs and a bouncing tender make the transfer from ship to tender very difficult. TSH has longer legs and took the bumpy ride into Monte Carlo. He then walked around - past the casino but importantly not into it. The return tender was loaded with a number of boxes which rumour has it were treats for the senior Silversea staff.

On the second day, Silver Spirit was docked and TSH and Diva were able to take the local bus to the 'jardin exotique' - a very pleasant cactus garden with spectacular views across the city and harbour.

Diva takes the biscuit

Whilst docked in Laverno, the tour was to Florence, which Diva had never visited before. She was impressed with the marble churches and the other massive buildings. It was not possible to go inside any of them, as the queues were extremely long, but they walked most of the main streets, either with the guide or during 'free time' afterwards.

TSH bought three silk ties (they were on offer at 15 Euro for three) from a stall on the market. There were no ties on sale as colourful as the one he bought in Florence in 1994 - Diva thinks this is a good thing.

The tour was well organised and the weather not too hot, so the day was not as strenuous as feared.

TSH also treated himself to an Italian ice-cream. Diva is not a great ice-cream fan, but was offered a small sample on a small piece of wafer. She ate the ice-cream and the biscuit  (both very good) before TSH pointed out that he had handed her the whole biscuit and was expecting some back. It was a very small biscuit!! TST was told that the biscuit was very good.

Dinner was taken on deck at night - pizza with the backdrop of a spectacular sunset and a few glasses of wine.

The next day was much easier - a tender to Portofino, followed by a stroll around the town. Everything seemed very over-priced, but this is a millionaires' Paradise.

It is true that irony does not travel. Hearing a group of American women discussing past and future holiday 'shapping', Diva said to them that she was aware that there were no shops in the USA. One of the women kindly took the time to explain that there were lots of shops and went on to describe the variety of goods on offer.

The show given by the cruise director himself - singing and comedy - is one of the best on Silversea.

Another change

During the day at sea, the Captain announced that due to the significant sea swell, the Silver Spirit would not be anchoring off Alghero but would instead dock at Porto Torres. This provided the opportunity to walk to the beach, where TSH went to examine the rock pools but they showed no signs of life. Similarly, the only sea creature seen was a statue depicting a dolphin jumping over a rock in the sea - perhaps a local answer to the little mermaid.

Diva and TSH proved the local tourist representative wrong. She said that you could not miss the archaeological museum - they did. In truth, they found the site itself but not the way in and considered that the odd signpost might have helped. They also went to the interesting 12th century basilica, with its gruesome tales of martyrdom. They later viewed the town from the comfort of the Arts Café on the Silver Spirit.

TSH and Diva were invited to Venetian night this time and afterwards dined with the guest relations manager, who admitted that Silversea keep records about the preferences of all guests. He was non-committal about whether this included details of past complaints. TSH and Diva are not very important on this voyage, although they are experiencing excellent service and a lot of recognition by name. On both legs so far, the top cruisers have done over 1400 days. It puts their own 400 into the shade!!

No visible parrots in Porto Torres. Nobody is talking about Brexit - the subject is just too toxic. TSH is still 'playing nicely' but finds it hard going.

Local colour

After dinner with the Hotel Director, the show was, unusually, given by local performers, who sang and danced in local Italian style. An enjoyable experience.

The butler has now introduced herself. She is from Zimbabwe and has just joined the ship. She appears to be suffering from a cold but is soldiering on.

This cruise is intended as a reunion cruise for Venetian Society members, although  TSH and Diva have not met any old friends. The legendary Fernando, a one-time cruise director who is spoken of in hushed tones, is onboard. TSH and Diva have never met him before and have still not seen him in action, as he is taking no apparent part in directing the cruise.

Every Venetian Society member has been presented with a beautiful box containing toiletries and a candle. There was also a special event at a Sicilian farm (the Silver Spirit is docked in Palermo), consisting of cookery demonstrations, a puppet show, singers and dancers and a local-style lunch. TSH spotted a couple of raptors during the drive.

Dinner will be a snack affair from Room Service.

Still no butler!

The first evening meal in La Terrazza and the first lunch-time burgers have been consumed and are as good as ever.

The Silver Spirit is anchored off Sorrento in the Bay of Naples - an extremely scenic spot. Early breakfast delivered by Room Service - the new butler was reportedly  'busy'. TSH and Diva went to Pompeii by a tortuous route involving the tender, a shuttle bus and a tour bus, followed by a walk to reach the site. All in reverse to get back, so lunch was at the unseemly time of 14:30.

But walking in the steps of people who perished (or fled) almost 2000 years ago is quite an experience. More of the site can be visited than either TSH or Diva remembered from their visits long ago.

Pompeii was built on the site of a prehistoric lave flow from a previous eruption. Which should have given them a clue about what could happen.

At the time of writing, there is no sign of the new butler but there are now 3 bottles of champagne in the fridge.

Taking a parrot for a walk

The last call of the first cruise was to Livorno, from where TSH and Diva took an excursion to Lucca - a town inhabited at least since Roman times. Lots of very narrow streets, shops and churches. Perhaps the most notable feature was the Roman amphitheatre, which had shops and offices in its perimeter walls and a circular open space in its centre.

Goodbye to Bright, who is taking 2 months leave. After a contract of 7 months, that does not seem unreasonable.

While waiting for disembarkation, the faces of the leavers were classic - miserable because they were leaving, tense because they were travelling, anxious because the food and drink bonanza was over.

The morning was spent walking along the waterside at Civitavecchia, in a freshly landscaped area. Nearby ferries were painted all over with characters such as Batman.

TSH has been asked to do something outrageously bloggable without embarrassing Diva in public too much. So far, he has not obliged.

Oh, yes, the parrot. Sitting by the waterside at Civitavecchia was a man with what was initially assumed to be a toy parrot on his shoulder. However, this was not a dead parrot!! After a few movements of the head and ruffling of the feathers, TSH and Diva realised that it was real, that it was sitting there voluntarily and that it was acting like a pet. The man and his female companion were dressed more like tourists than locals.  Do people take parrots on holiday? Can you get a passport for a parrot? No idea of the back-story here.

From Monaco to the Italian Riviera

The ports in this region mostly require tender operation, which is difficult when the sea has a high swell as a left-over from a recent storm. The weather is good (apart from a sharp shower in Portofino) and there is nothing about the sea which troubles the Silver Spirit. But transfer from ship to tender is difficult and, at Monaco, had to be suspended for a while during the afternoon - fortunately after TSH and Diva were back on board. The visit to Portofino did eventually go ahead but at one point it seemed likely that the day would be spent in Genoa instead.

They have had dinner with the Cruise Director but were appalled that they were not invited to Venetian night (for guests who have cruised with Silversea before). An oversight which as yet no-one has explained or apologised for.

The arrival in Monaco was to the old port, which meant that they decided to go into the old town and view the outside of the royal Palace. Different from central Monte Carlo, where they usually go, but there are still defibrillators at regular intervals to assist the wealthy residents who cannot manage the hills.  There were many helicopters overhead - obviously a standard mode of transport locally.

From Portofino, TSH and Diva boarded a local boat, which took them to visit the picturesque towns of  Santa Margherita & Sestri Levante.

For the first time, TSH and Diva have met a crew member from Kazakhstan - the waitress in Indochine was from there.  
They have an invitation for later to a 'bloody mary and mimosa party' in honour of guests like them who are staying on for the next cruise. 

Superb

A tender ride to Antibes passed closed by Dilbar, a massive super yacht belonging to a Russian man. The town presented an opportunity for TSH to stock up on Strepsils and Fisherman's Friends. He and Diva also saw the market, full of lavender, oils, spices and an array of fresh fruit and vegetables. They then made their way to the Picasso museum, where Picasso produced a lot of his works, some of which remain in situ.

A passer-by told TSH that his t-shirt was 'superb'.

France is not as it should be

The Welcome dinner was hosted by Cara, the cruise consultant. Unusually, she had invited a mixture of 'high Venetians' (our 2 Brits) with a lot of days and four people (USA and Australia) who had never cruised before. The mixture worked well, the only problem being that the tables in Indochine are rectangular rather than round, which makes it difficult to conduct a general conversation. The subject of Brexit was raised but fortunately everybody was sympathetic.

TSH and Diva spent a pleasant morning wandering the streets of Marseilles, finishing along the side of the Marina, before returning to the Silver Spirit for lunch.

The captain announced that because of rough seas to come, it would not be possible to run the tender service to St Tropez. The call was therefore cancelled and the new destination was to be Cannes. 24 hours later, the forecast has worsened, Cannes is cancelled and the call will be to Antibes.

All hail to Lady Hale and her colleagues!!!

Gaudi

TSH and Diva had pre-booked tickets for two of the Gaudi-designed houses - La Pedrera and Casa Batllo. The first of these was the most enjoyable, as the visit was early in the day, whereas Casa Batllo was very crowded and the stairs very steep. The roof-top on La Pedrera must be one of the most spectacular in the world, with its spooky chimneys which look like alien beings.  They certainly felt that they had made the most of their morning and visited two of the city's most famous buildings.

The metro was easy to navigate and the journeys not long.

Lunch provided a magnificent seafood buffet, more excellent salads and a frangipane for Diva. TSH had gorgonzola cheese.

Invitation for tonight for a Venetian Society dinner in Indochine.

A day of two halves

3:45 alarm and 5:00 departure for airport. Travelling is sleepless work!!

The only good part about Manchester Airport Terminal 2 were the exceptionally helpful and cheerful staff, both at the check-in booth (of which more below) and at security. The cafes were all crowded and grubby and Diva was baffled by not being able to order food without a table number when their table, and many others, had no number. The approach to the Gate was down a scaffold staircase and the journey to the plane was by bus. And then the heavens opened. Not friendly Manchester all-day drizzle but a real cloud burst, complete with thunder and lightening.  So by the time anyone made it to the plane, they were soaked. Including inside Diva's open silver sandals. The plane almost ran out of paper towels.

The Jet2 departure was one hour late and the experience gave a whole new meaning to 'cattle class'. Diva sympathised with the cabin steward, who had great difficulty in persuading one passenger to close his device for take-off and landing. He had to tell him the rules a great number of times.

On arrival at the cruise terminal, TSH and Diva quickly entered the luxury world of Silver Spirit. They didn't make the target 'lunch at 1' but by 14:00 were in La Terazza eating excellent salads, including a particularly good one with pineapple. No events at the drill, as Diva decided not to test the torch or the whistle. In an excellent example of nominative determinism, the butler, from Ghana, is called Bright.

New York strip-steak (Diva) and sea-bass (TSH)  for dinner, after 'my little allotment' starters on the special Silver Spirit plates.

TSH, who, in fairness, has a cold, excelled all day. He put the boarding cards for the return flight (for almost a month's time!!) into the folder for 'outward travel' so that a long delay was caused at the check-in booth whilst he searched for the 'inward travel' file. On arrival in Barcelona, the automatic password reader proved challenging and there was another hold-op for a while. 

Commiserations to all at Thomas Cook who helped to arrange this holiday and many others.

To Amsterdam and finish

The final day was spent sailing through the flatlands of the Netherlands, with windmills as the main attraction. At Kinderdijk, a World Heritage site, there are 19 historic windmills. TSH went on a walking tour of some of the windmills, including visiting one that at one time had housed a family of 15 people.

The word amongst the Embla passengers is that the Danube below Budapest is still closed to help with the search for the bodies of the people drowned in the recent collision. Hence ships such as the Viking Lif cannot go south and also cannot go north because of the high water. It is rumoured that passengers have decided to abandon their cruises and return home.

The infrastructure of the Danube/Main/canal/Rhine is not really capable of supporting the amount of traffic it has attracted. A victim of its own success.


The holiday was completed with the KLM flight from Amsterdam to Manchester.

Cologne

The city is dominated by the twin towers of its famous cathedral. However, surprisingly, it also has a lot of Roman ruins, which are to be incorporated into a new museum combining Roman and Jewish cultures. The centre of the city has many stolpersteins, brass plaques in the pavements commemorating those who were killed by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s.

After having an organised tour in the morning Diva and TSH went back into the town centre on foot. This involved walking across the bridge that also carried all of the railway tracks into the station, giving TSH another train photo opportunity. The bridge was festooned with padlocks attached by people who then threw the keys into the river.

The Viking Elba is now sailing through the Netherlands. Flat but no windmills yet.

A few technical problems on the ship. Two power cuts. One whilst TSH was in the shower. No water. Later, general problem with toilets, although that was fixed relatively quickly.

To Cologne

The Embla is now on the Rhine, which is both wider and busier than the Main.  The gorge provided many views of castles which are now either ruins or hotels. Castles thus became as plentiful as churches. TSH also noted that there were railways running along both sides of the river, so the camera was kept busy.

There was a stop for a visit to Marksburg Castle. The weather is much warmer now and Diva was most unimpressed at the climb to the castle in the afternoon heat. She returned to the bus and was very careful to get on one marked with the correct ship, as there were several Viking groups at the castle. When unfamiliar faces started appearing on the bus, she knew that they were on the wrong bus and explained this to them. It turned out that the sign on the bus had been changed whilst she was on there, so she had the humiliation of a group of people explaining to each other that the woman ‘was on the wrong bus’.

TSH thought the visit to the castle was ok but was probably more interesting to people coming from countries where no old castles existed. He would have preferred to stay on the ship to Koblenz and spend time there. This was another occasion when Viking dropped off an excursion from one point and picked them up from another, reducing flexibility for returning to the ship early or late.

There is now a member of Reception staff dedicated to TSH’s cap, which he has so far lost 3 times. Each time, he has thought his holiday to be over and each time he has been very relieved when his personal ‘lost and found’ officer returned it to him. Note from TSH – The story on the cap has had a certain amount of poetic licence added by Diva.

Wertheim

This was the most picturesque town so far – narrow cobbled streets and attractive old buildings. TSH and Diva walked back to the Embla along the riverside.

There is still a great party atmosphere on shore – everyone drinking beer and waving.

Dinner was a ‘typical’ German buffet., although modern-day Germans probably eat the same international food as the rest of us. There was a galley visit afterwards. It is very small and the staff of only 12 are working miracles with such a good variety of food produced in such a small space. Tiny compared with the galley on even the smallest (300 guests) ocean cruise ship. There are about 200 passengers on the Embla.

Maths went better – all correct today.

Germany

Viking Embla has its top deck folded down and this is likely to remain the case for several days. This is not connected with the high water but is normal for the low bridges on this section of the river.

In Bamberg, Diva rebelled against another guided tour, especially since it was one where passengers were to be dropped off at one quay and collected from another. The ship’s record on keeping to such a timetable is not great, because of queues for locks. Diva spent a pleasant morning with a past paper for her maths exam. Scored 86%, which is only 1 mark clear of what she needs, so it was not the best attempt ever – normally she has managed to score 90%+.

TSH went on the organised walking tour of Bamberg which revealed the town to be the prettiest visited on the trip so far. The two hours of free time allowed TSH to wander and make extensive use of his camera. Whilst many places claim to be like Venice but have few waterways Bamberg did at least have a gondolier plying his trade on the river. TSH did not get round to testing the local  smoky beer which is said to taste like liquid bacon.

Embla sailed past a very friendly German town where the locals had obviously enjoyed the beery aspects of the Public Holiday of Ascension Thursday/Father’s Day. There was a group of girls who seemed to be practising their cheer leader routine. Many waved and one woman asked ‘Wovon sind sie hier?’, looking delighted when Diva replied ‘England’.

The visit in Wurzburg was to the residence of a prince-bishop. The outside of the building is not particularly attractive – it looks like a much larger(!!) Buckingham Palace. But the inside is full of art and very elaborate décor, especially the ’mirror cabinet’, which is a small(ish) room lined with mirrors and gilt and paintings.

The passengers now all know that the tragic incident on the Danube in Budapest involved a Viking cruise ship, although no Viking crew or passengers were harmed. River traffic downstream was halted for some time whilst emergency services searched in vain for survivors. The Viking captain has been arrested.

Viking Embla

TSH and Diva have the same cabin as before. Almost the same but the lighting system is different. Lots and lots of switches but this time without labels. And some seem to be interdependent!! The ship layout is identical to the Viking Lif.

The visit to Nuremburg was one of the best so far. Chilling visit to the Nazi rally area, followed by a guided walk around the attractive city centre. It has mostly been rebuilt since the serious bomb damage inflicted by the Allies in WW2. But, like everywhere else on this holiday so far, there is a huge amount of scaffolding and a huge amount of building work.

Before Nuremburg, Regensburg felt like freedom. No tour group. No waiting around. No monotonous guide. No earpieces. Just a stroll round a pleasant town, which is a mixture of a real town with real inhabitants and a number of tourists.

Now that the ship is in Germany, wearing of seat belts is compulsory.

The food on the Embla does not seem to be as good, but maybe that is just a bad first impression after a long tiring day. TSH did not finish his dessert at lunch time – a first for him!!

By moving ships, the opportunity to cruise the Main-Danube canal (a great feat of modern engineering) has been lost. The rest of the canal was mostly navigated by night. This has all been a great source of disappointment to Diva, who had attended a talk about the canal and really wanted to experience it.

Early Disembarkation

The Viking Lif captain has so far had very little communication with the passengers. So when he spoke over the PA system just before lunch, TSH and Diva already knew that there would be no good news. The Danube has risen so far that not only can the Lif not progress further, but it needs to retreat downstream - back towards Passau - to avoid being totally trapped.

So at some time over the next 24 hours, everyone will pack, disembark and transfer to an identical Viking ship which is somewhere around the canal. Tomorrow was to be a highlight for Diva - traversing the many locks linking the Danube with the Rhine, and then an escorted tour to Nuremburg. It is not yet clear what time the transfer will happen or where the new ship will be.

Watch this space!!

From Austria to Germany

The river is very high and the bridges are very low but so far the ships are managing to creep along, although the whole of their upper decks are folded flat.

The riverside is scenic – steep sides in some places, small groups of houses and the occasional castle. Melk Abbey is stunning   - lots of elaborate gold. There is a huge library and attractive gardens. There is also some modern art in some rooms – an interesting contrast

Passau – the first port in Germany – was very crowded with many river boats. The organ recital in the cathedral was most impressive.

The hotel Director spoke to the passengers about the fire alarm – they know what alarm triggered but they still do not know why. There were issues with communications on the night – some passengers knew immediately that there was no problem, whilst others, such as TSH and Diva, did not. Some guests did not understand that fire doors close automatically but can still be opened – they thought that they were trapped. The hotel Director said that procedures and safety instructions would be reviewed. Perhaps this should have been done after the Viking incident in Norway earlier in 2019.

Alarm!!

3 am. 7 short blasts on the Viking Lif alarm system. Warm clothes. Coats. Hats. Shoes. Contact lenses. Inhalers. Life jackets. No time for mascara.

About a quarter of the passengers gathered at the muster station on the top deck. Where were the others? There were no officers to explain what was happening, in spite of one passenger banging on the wheelhouse door asking what was going on.

Eventually, the programme director made an announcement that it was safe to return to state-rooms. No reason was given at the time but the next morning Reception said that a fire alarm had gone off but they did not know why. It is said that all the crew were dressed and ready for action in an impressive 3 minutes.

The adrenaline rush meant that Diva did not sleep for the rest of the night, in spite of drinking a cup of camomile tea.

In which Diva is very Diva-ish

The morning excursion to the centre of Vienna provided a good overview of grand buildings with magnificent architecture. Budapest is grand but Vienna is even more so. Many of the buildings have been cleaned and restored but there are still many in scaffolding, including the Parliament buildings.  The representatives are meeting in temporary accommodation – just like the plans for Westminster.

The afternoon excursion to the market with the chef was less successful. The group of 19 passengers travelled on the metro into town and then walked to the busy market. The market itself was interesting – fresh produce and many nuts and spices. There was even a shop with (presumably) legal cannabis. There were three tasting sessions as they walked around – nibbles such as humous and olives, sauerkraut made traditionally by fermentation and then cheese and wine. All excellent. Well, maybe not the sauerkraut.

But Diva got very hot and tired and the metro was extremely crowded. When they left the metro, the guide ignored the sign that said ‘to the ships’ and headed towards what she called ‘the scenic route’. Diva was by now exhausted. So when a passing tourist, obviously lost, asked her ‘are you going to the ship?’, she replied ‘I have no idea’. Which is, of course, Diva code for ‘I know exactly what is going on and I do not like it’.  When she overheard the tourist telling her friend that ‘that woman over there does not know where she is going’, Diva joined in the conversation, objecting strongly to being described in such terms. As a result of this altercation, which lasted a few minutes, Diva missed the green light for crossing the road and the group had to wait for her. By now, she did not care whether they waited or not – she knew she could find the ship without help. The situation deteriorated when the guide said ‘did you not hear me say that you should cross quickly?’ Diva does not like anybody giving her orders. TSH knows this well and never tries to intervene in such circumstances. A very wise man indeed.

A good dinner – Szechuan-style tenderloin of beef.

The water is said to be 2 – 3 metres higher than normal. And some of the bridges are very low.

A Day on the Danube

The cruise continues to pass by a bewildering array of countries – Hungary, Slovakia and into Austria today. The Viking Lif passed right through the centre of Bratislava, which is a mostly modern city. The surrounding countryside is mostly flat and covered with trees but there have been glimpses of distant mountains.

The entry into Vienna involved locks and a number of extremely low bridges. The Captain arranged for most of the infrastructure on the top deck – including his wheelhouse – to be folded down to pass under them. TSH stayed on the top but made sure he stood on the lowest section. The hope is that the river does not rise further, or there will be real trouble with the voyage.

TSH and Diva have been asked about ‘the royal baby’ by a number of people from the US, who seem far more interested than are most Brits. They were more surprised to be asked about the British experience with crop circles, which may (or may not) be of alien origin. Linked to a question about whether they saw aliens in South America near the Nazca lines.

Rumours

The river is very high. Parts of the upper Danube are already closed to river traffic which cannot pass under the bridges. This would mean taking buses to the ports and/or moving ship to a Viking ship at the other side of the problem.

Hopefully the situation will change soon.

Ready for safety drill

Budapest

This long-awaited city does not disappoint. In spite of heavy WW2 bombing, there are many neo-classical late 19^th century buildings in excellent condition. These are mostly on the Pest side of the Danube. The older, Buda, side has a magnificent cathedral and a good look-out point over Pest. The buildings around the river are all illuminated at night, providing a magnificent spectacle.

The guide seemed to be very supportive of Hungary’s right-wing government. ‘It is a good feeling that there are no immigrants, so we have no crime problems’. ‘The immigrants are all illegal and uneducated so we cannot take them here’. The arabs/turks were not creative people’. etc. etc.

Despite the lack of immigrant crime, there are many armed police, and in the evening there was a fast motorcade with many many blue flashing lights. This is all probably because there is a Chinese delegation in the city.

For the first time on this voyage, the rain started in earnest and TSH and Diva got very wet. Fortunately TSH has his water-proof trousers. Diva took the opportunity of a free afternoon to have her nails done at a Trip Advisor recommended salon – they did an excellent job.

There was also a free day in Budapest. In the morning, TSH and Diva walked along the bank of the Danube to the market Hall, which is a mixture of fresh produce for local people and souvenirs for the many tourists. Lots of paprika – some still on stalks. In the afternoon, they walked to the very grand Parliament building.

Viking has an annoying ritual of playing ‘Good morning, good morning, we’ve slept the whole night through …….’ (Doris Day??) as the first tour of the day departs. It is a sign of how much the plot has been lost that Diva found TSH singing along!!

About half of the passengers disembarked in Budapest and a new group has joined the Viking Lif. There are several Viking ships in the city, so during tours we are more like 1000 tourists rather than the 200 from the Lif.

Dinosaurs?

A dinosaur egg?

Lurking in the trees

Welcome to Hungary

The day’s schedule stated that the ‘face-to-face’ entry into Hungary would begin at 6:00, so TSH and Diva rose at 5:45. They wanted to be showered, shaved, dressed and mascara’d  before meeting Hungarian border guards. They were actually called at 7:10, followed by a morning on the river after the guards left!!

Hungary appears to be much more prosperous than anywhere else seen so far on this voyage. In particular, a large sum of money had obviously been spent on renovating the cathedral in Kalocsa. This was the venue for another, much more professional, organ recital.

The horse display was not, in Diva’s opinion, world-class, but a group of men rode horses and carriages at speed around an arena, cracking whips throughout. The most impressive was the man who rode standing with one foot on each of two horses, whilst controlling eight others. There were also long-horned Hungarian grey steppe cattle. Diva passed on the stables visit, as it was very smelly, but TSH went in and, as well as horses, saw curly-haired pigs. Diva had to spring quickly out of the way, as she ended up in the path of the carriage rides. Neither drank any of the strong alcohol which was provided, although both ate the bread with paprika spread and tried (and rejected) the cheesy scones.

Once more, TSH ate the regional specialities for dinner – goulash soup, paprika chicken and plum bread and butter pudding.

Croatia

The landscape is now very flat and very lush. The area around Vukovar is very agricultural but the city has a fine church, where TSH and Diva were treated to an organ recital. The square outside was impressive but there, and across the region, there were ruined buildings and some scarred by bullet holes, in a reminder of recent conflicts. The region has also suffered a major loss of industry and employment. Every guide has a different narrative about the conflicts – it is still a volatile situation.

    There was also a visit to ‘a typical family home’. Diva opted out of this because the domestic animals, in spite of huge pressure from the householder, who insisted that the animals would stay outside. TSH later reported at least one animal inside the house. The house was not that typical, in that the hostess was running a business selling cakes, alcohol, CDs and ice cream.

Food on board continues to be excellent but there was a temporary issue with the supply of Earl Grey tea. How many cruise ships has Diva drunk dry?

Belgrade

This is the most developed, most western and cleanest of the places visited so far. Even the dogs appear to be domesticated rather than feral. The shops, including familiar names such as Zara, were all open despite it being Sunday.

The tour started at 8:00, perhaps to avoid some of the crowds from the 8 other ships parked in the city – TSH and Diva had to walk through another ship to reach the quayside.

A walk round the fort provided panoramic views over the city and the two rivers which meet there. (Danube and Sava) This area had a small exhibition of large dinosaur models.

The Orthodox cathedral is still under construction and the only part currently open to visitors is the crypt, which is completely covered with magnificent frescoes. The dome is said to be amongst the largest in the world – TSH and Diva have seen many such spectacular domes with great claims to world-wide fame.

A statue of Tesla honoured the local man who worked on the theories of electromagnetism and alternating current – ironic that the cars which currently bear his name run on direct current.

There were a lot of brides in the city centre – it turned out to be the day when wedding fees were waived for a mass wedding at a public building in the city centre.

Serbia in general, and Belgrade in particular, have been fought over for centuries and the country has changed its name many times. The guide explained that by the age of 23 she had lived in 4 countries without ever moving out of Belgrade.  She also provided the Serbian narrative about the Kosovo troubles of the late 20^th century – a one-sided account.

The evening meal was a buffet with local dishes, enlivened by a performance from local singers and dancers and an overhead thunderstorm with hailstones.

Between the Balkans and the Carpathians

Today TSH and Diva are doing extremely scenic cruising between two sets of limestone cliffs. It feels similar to cruising the Norwegian fjords. Bulgaria has been left behind and now there is Serbia on the left, with Romania still on the right. Some of the buildings look quite Alpine, and there are low-level clearings with crops, including (possibly) vines. The entry to this part of the cruise was through the ‘Iron Gate’ locks. Like other locks on the voyage, there is no charge for passing through – the locks are funded by selling the hydro-electric power they generate.

Yesterday in Bulgaria, the excursion was to a group of weathered rocks which resembled a turtle, an elephant and Abraham Lincoln. Some people went to the top of the rocks and TSH won the prize for the fastest ascent from his bus. (a fridge magnet).

There are plastic bottles floating on the surface of the water in places, but this is not litter – they are in organised groups and mark (illegal) fishing nets.

The guide pointed out a white rock which he said was a dinosaur egg but TSH and Diva thought that was silly and that a palaeontologist would think differently.

TSH heard a cuckoo! And eventually so did Diva – her first ever!!

Food is excellent and laundry service is within a few hours. TSH and Diva have brought far too many clothes for the small wardrobe – if they had known about the rapid laundry, they could have transported much less luggage across Europe.

Forgot to mention that by the end of the first part-day on board, Diva had already lost her room key. In her defence, she has no memory of TSH passing it to her, as he insists he did.

Technical notes

Regular readers might remember that in August 2014 TSH and Diva were on a Viking ship where the lighting system was impossible to operate:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=42216771392184993&pli=1#editor/target=post;postID=3094332786110639458;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=6;src=postname

Viking have clearly noted Diva’s comments and there are now 4 panels around their cabin that look like this: 

Diva has still not worked out what all the buttons do, but they are obviously trying.

Getting started

This is the first chance of updating the blog – Viking have kept TSH and Diva very busy indeed. The day in Bucharest, whilst interesting, was very long and tiring. The morning starts are early – especially if you are already 2 hours ahead of home. They saw the enormous palace built for the dictator Ceausescu – he never lived in it!! So far, no significant rain, other than a thunderstorm during dinner.

Romania is now finished and the ship has moved on to Bulgaria. Diva resisted the cosmetic products made with Bulgarian roses – the pure oil is more expensive than gold!! But she had succumbed in Bucharest to the locally developed anti-ageing cream.

In this area, both Romania and Bulgaria are very agricultural.

The food and service on board are as good as ever and TSH and Diva have already eaten chateaubriand. No time yet to drink the welcome champagne.

Creatures spotted along the way: A (model) giraffe outside the Bucharest natural history museum. Storks nesting on the top of telegraph poles. A rare black stork. A stegosaurus lurked in the trees but this may also have been a model.

Not at the river yet

TSH and Diva are in their Radisson hotel room in central Bucharest. It has been a long day, and the air control delays at Amsterdam added an hour or two on. But the noodles on the plane were good, the room is OK and Bucharest looks interesting. On the way in from the airport, they saw up to date modern development, soviet-style wedding cake blocks and grand 19th century buildings, some of which were beautifully kept and some of which were in ruins. There are a lot of flags associated with Romania currently being part of the EU Presidency soon. Early start tomorrow (again!!!)