.
12/8/2014 Monday EC177 from the Berlin Hauptbanhof to Prague Hlavni Nadrazi stations.
Intentions: We’ll take the European Cities train, Berlin to Prague in about four and a half hours. Then we’ll check in at the tour hotel and do some Prague in the later afternoon. Our hotel is supposed to be the Hilton Prague Old Town, but that could change. We’ll check it with Vantage prior to going there. Note to self: Get some Czech Kuruna bills before arriving here (about 20 kuruna per dollar, so get a several thousand for these two+ days).
Link to video of EC175



On the way to Prague, the train will travel along the Elbe River for a time. It has been suggested to get seats on the left side for the best view. We’re into Prague around dusk, so we should have time to check into the hotel and still do something interesting, like a nice walk & dinner.
Link to Prague Tourist Info


20141208 Monday Berlin to Prague ..Link To Photos..

We rose at a decent hour and went to breakfast downstairs, again a large spread so we filled up. Then back to the room. We fiddled around with computers and iPads for a while, then finished packing and went to the checkout counter.

After settling with the hotel, a taxi driver who had been waiting there helped us with our suitcases to his small Mercedes. We wandered through back streets, some of which were detours around construction, to the Hauptbanhof.

The Hauptbanhof is a huge pile of glass and the major station in Berlin. It has east-west above-ground lines for local trains and those to cities east and west. Underground, leading into a long tunnel under the government buildings and Tiergarten, is the north-south line for long-haul trains in those directions. It is also a major shopping destination, with many shopping venues available on several different levels.

We checked out what platform our train would use (3), and how to get to it. We went up a level and found the DB ticket office. Enquiring there, we found that the money changer was across the void in the center, and that the first-class lounge was next door.

We changed money from dollars to Czech koruna, then went into the lounge to sit and have free cokes and coffee.

About a half-hour before our train time, we went to platform three. The clever signs at platforms show the train number that will arrive next, its departure time, and where the various cars in the train will park relative to the platform. In our case, it showed that cars “2,2,dining,1” would be at platform signs B through E. The 2 is second-class cars, then a dining car, then the single first-class car.

The train was two minutes late, which bugged some of the people. When it arrived we all piled aboard. I think all those with seats in the front boarded through the rear door and vice versa. The train got underway long before we got seating sorted out. The seating was 2+1 with the two on the left side. We were next to each other facing forward, after receiving advice from the website called “the man in seat 61” that said the scenery after Dresden going through the hills could best be seen on the left.

The trip from Berlin to Dresden was uneventful through farming territory. After Dresden, the rail line joined the Elbe River and entered the scenic part. The bluffs along the sides of the river remind me of those along the Mississippi (much wider river).

We stopped at Bad Schandau, and after that entered the Czech Republic (a new country for both of us). Sunset is a little later down here, some 300km south of Berlin. It might be as late as 1615, when we pulled into Ústi. It's 1626 at this very moment and nearly dark. We still see the river at times, but it's time to put this away and finish it in Prague.

Later: We arrived at the “Praha hlavní nádraži” station a few minutes late. After descending from the car with our baggage (think old-timie ground-level platform) we went into the terminal and met our Hilton driver ($) who helped us put luggage into the car. Then we set off through rush-hour traffic to the hotel. I don't think we caused any accidents.
We checked in, ensuring we would have the same room for our night and for Vantage's two nights following. The room is nice. Wifi is extra, which is annoying.

Then we went to Zinc, the dining room of the hotel, which is supposed to be a major player in the city. After eating there, we can say it is expensive but very good. D had a chicken variety and various asparagus that she loved. I had the Nasi Goreng; very tasty with its prawns and chicken pieces next to rice with egg on top. The spicy condiment with it was as hot as English mustard – wow. We had an Argentinian malbec with the meal. Then we shared a strange tiramisu with port. All very, very, good.

Back to the room, Dolores settled while I dug out a $100 bill to feed the change machine in the lobby – no credit cards, just makes change. It sucked up the 100 and gave back 1980 koruna. I think it's a real money-maker for the hotel, since the exchange rate runs in the low 20's. But I needed tip money.

I decided I needed a thirst-quencher, so I went to the bar and had a Pilsner Urqell and had the barperson teach me how to say “Thank you” in Czech. Dĕkuji.

Then up to the room to finish this and post it, then sort pictures. 'Nite.

The Elbe River south of Dresden:




12/9/2014 Tuesday
Intentions: We’ll do some Prague during the day and later join the Vantage people to begin our “Danube Holiday”. Glenn & Marylou will arrive in the late afternoon. There’s a Vantage-hosted Welcome Dinner at the hotel, where I expect we’ll meet-and-greet all the Vantage people and our fellow travelers. One thing unique about this cruise is that space has been made available to the survivors of the Arizona flash-back fire that killed 19 young firefighters; also a few survivors of 9/11. This map is centered on the Hilton Prague Old Town hotel.

20141209 Prague Tuesday ..Link To Photos.. ..Link To Photos..

Up in the morning to breakfast in the room in which we ate last night. Not as elegant, but a good breakfast. Except the Germans have it all over these guys in the bread & roll department.

The Vantage people were in the lobby so we spoke briefly with them before we headed out on our walk. We stopped in the pharmacy across the street to get Dolores some ointment for her chapped legs, then into the large grocery named “Billa” to look. It has everything we would need and more; plus a big wine selection where we'll buy selected bottles to take to the ship.

We stopped in a small Christmas market outside Billa where Dolores bought a looped scarf to help her keep warm (the temperature started at 27*F and went up a little). Then onward, looking in or at stores and taking pictures of the old architecture of this town. We passed through Republic Square and took little back streets to the Old Town Square.

Old Town Square has a bigger market (still not all that big) but we didn't spend much time with it. Instead, we got into looking at the old buildings and narrow streets. We came across the old town municipal building, on the side of which is mounted the astrological clock that shows alignment of earth, sun and moon and date of the month or something. We'll learn more tomorrow.

Then we walked back by larger streets and through the ancient city gate to Republic Square. We took more pictures there, and then walked to the hotel.

Dolores was cold, so we had a port in the bar and went to the room. We did some computer things, and Dolores took a nap.

The get-together get-acquainted dinner started at 1730 but started slowly with chatting and then an introducing talk by the cruise director “Slavka”. It was pretty much the usual thing, except that there is a lock on the Danube that is broken. They are working to fix it, but the boat could not be depended upon to get through the fixed lock (if it gets fixed) to Regensburg due to all the commercial traffic that is waiting. So we will board the boat in Passau Thursday rather than Regensburg. Then we will bus to our events in Regensburg. There's often something like this, we just have to cope.

Most of the way through that, Glenn & MaryLou showed up and sat with us. After the talk, dinner began, and we chatted a bit; but much of that was stunted by the talk of the others at the table (Susan & Mike from NJ, Carol & Skip from PA, another lady without tag traveling singly, and us).

So after dinner, G&ML came to our room for a glass, then headed for bed. They'd been up and on airplanes from 1300 yesterday to 1600 today (minus 9 hours time difference), all on Delta – San Diego to Salt Lake City to Paris to here.

We are still doing computery things (it's only 2035) and then we'll settle.

Old Town Square:





December 10, 2014 Wednesday
From Vantage:
Prague Get to know Prague on a city tour featuring the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You'll also have time to search for unique gifts at the Christmas Market. Up for some fun? Join a festive pub crawl this evening.



The thing above is the Astrological Clock that shows time and earth-moon-sun alignment.

20141210 Prague Wednesday ..Link To Photos.. ..Link To Photos..

Cold & windy.

Up, breakfast & out.

Dolores & I joined the walking tour in the morning. The bus took us to the Jewish quarter, from which we were to walk back to the hotel.

I learned more about the early Jewish life here than I wanted to know, but it was interesting. There is a 1959-era synogouge that commemorates the Jews lost to the Nazis in WW2. On the walls their names are painted, alphabetically by surname. Eighty thousand of them. Drawings by children of that time are in one corner, showing police brutality and scenes the children saw; very heart-rending.

We walked through the old Jewish cemetery where they believe 100,000 are buried. The ground is raised above street level. When the cemetery filled (it's not large), a layer of sand was added, the old tombstones raised to the new level, and burials continued. They believe about 20,000 are in the upper layer. The oldest tombstone has been identified and renewed; it's from 1438.

We went on to the new synogogue, called the Spanish since it is in Moorish architecture both inside and out. The Jews in Spain were treated more gently than those in Nazi countries.

We split from the tour prior to its ending so that we could go into a small toy store Dolores spotted. We didn't buy anything, but a lot of it was really cute. A mole is the small animal here for children as opposed to our mouse.

Then we got into the Palladium, which must have been a mammoth department store at one time but is now filled with smaller specialty shops. Foot Locker is just inside the door, and Starbucks is one level down (there are five shopping levels, all large). This is the biggest mall in the Czeck Republic.

I found the Apple store but they only had the Apple mouse, and I needed something more compact. We found another store in level -2 that had a mess of meese, so I bought one there. We also stumbled into a gift shop and found something to bring home.

We came back to the hotel and found Glenn & Marylou, who had stayed behind to rest. Back to the Palladium then, to find a battery for Lou's watch. No luck. We found the place, but no one could get the back of the watch off to insert the battery.

But we found a little French shop where we had a light lunch with wine and/or beer that we enjoyed. We left and wandered through the little market on the edge of Republic Square, then through Billa so they could see it, and back to the hotel.

We sat around sipping wine and talking for hours, then went to a restaurant for dinner. They couldn't make room for us since we had no reservation. The French “Le Care” restaurant next to the hotel made room. We had a light dinner with expensive wine there. Then back to the room to settle and pack for tomorrow.