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Itinerary.

Thursday Oct 27-Friday, Oct 28. Pre-cruise. Nuremberg.

We left JFK airport for ZRH.  We arrived Zurich at 10:45 and in 2 hours connected to our flight on Swiss Air to Nuremberg. The flight was late 30 minutes because of fog in Nuremberg. Zurich airport is very efficient and nice. Both flights from NY and Zurich had some empty seats so it was possibility to spread out. Our seats however were in section for 2 and we sat together.

We have relatives in Nuremberg whom we have not seen in 25 years and now they had kids so we were looking forward to meeting them. We agreed that they will come over to our hotel and we will go somewhere for dinner in old town. Because our flight was coming late, this kind of got our arrangements off schedule. We got a call from my cousin that they are already in old town near our hotel and they will be waiting for us at hotel. We still needed to take our car at Avis. Nuremberg is smaller city in Germany and has very easy manageable airport. Luggage arrived very fast, and we went to get our Avis car. We were supposed to get upgraded for midsize car but George ordered GPS. GPS were only compact car. We got Opel Astra 4 door with GPS, diesel. The reservationist gave us instructions how to set up in English. We took a car and tried to set it up but somehow could not.

We followed directions (they turned out excellent from hotel) without GPS. So much for extra charge for GPS! We hoped my cousins can help us with German language since we could not get to switch it to English. My cousin Ella called us from the road to check if we are on the right track and told us that it is hard to get lost in Nuremberg. We actually are getting lost everywhere…. But we got to the center (Alstadt) without problems. George stayed in the car, I got suitcases to the reception. Nice lady at reception told us that she will take our luggage into room herself and suggested where to park, 250 meters down the street. We found parking without difficulty and parked there. We took elevator down but somehow got out on another floor and walked out on different street. We got completely lost. Few people we asked did not understand what we need although they tried hard. Finally we decided to go back to parking and start from the elevator. This time we got on 3^rd level and exited on right street. Ella called us again and said they already are at hotel. We finally made it to hotel. And it was very exciting reunion. Relatives were left with pictures for some time while George and I refreshed. We went for dinner in German restaurant Hellig Geist Spital. My cousin Ella and I discussed it in advance on the phone and decided while it is touristy, the food is still good. Ella checked with her friends and colleagues at work. Since we got approval from local people, we were looking forward to this dinner. It did not disappoint. Great beer, potatoes, schnitzel, wurst, sauerkraut. We had warm apple strudel and apple kuchen (not sure about spelling, but it is apple slices fried in dough and sprinkled with cinnamon).

Speaking about restaurant itself, it is housed in medieval building which was a hospital spanned on two banks of the river. It was donated to city by city’s richest resident in 14c. A statue of this rich resident hangs out on the nearby second story corner of the Spital Apotheke. After dinner, we walked in the old town, then made plans to meet for tomorrow and we went to sleep.  

Hotel in Nuremberg.

We booked Romantik Hotel Am Joseplatz in old town. We stayed at Romantik hotels before and they are very charming. Am Josephplatz was no exception. Small but nice room. We had to go with queen room because only queen left nonsmoking at time of booking. They have other rooms different sizes. Bathroom is functional but very basic. Only shower, no bath. Other rooms might have bath, so make sure to ask. Good water pressure. Hair dryer of old model with not enough power.

Excellent bed with down comforter. Very cozy hotel with excellent service. They also took care of our guests who waited for our arrival. The hotel has internet at reasonable rate. Actually we used only for 15 minutes and they did not charge us at all. Breakfast buffet was very good with smoked meats, boiled eggs, smoked salmon, excellent breads and pastries, juices, cereal, yougurt, fruit.

October 29, Saturday. 

We’ve met one nice couple from Prague who said came for weekend relaxation in the spa  “Palm Beach” with saunas, thermal pools, etc. They invited us to go, but we were already booked for a day.  At 10 am my other cousin Nona and her husband Sergei came in to our hotel in one car and now with 6 people and 2 cars, we decided to drive to Rothenburg for a day. Since we could drive but did not know where, my cousin Ella and her fiancee Klaus were sitting in our car and navigated. As for GPS, 4 people who speak German could not set up our GPS. So we gave up. We always use in USA rental cars with GPS so we hoped it will be easy with Avis. Not so. Turned out we wasted extra money for GPS. It did show where we were driving, but did not let us enter address.

Another thing we found in our car that backseat door were locked us as kids locks. We could not open them from inside. Klaus however is a brandmaster (chief fireman) and had some key which he told us could open any door. So he unlocked safety lock. I just would not know how we would figure it out ourselves.

Otherwise the car was new, Opel Astra, was pretty much acceptable however, for economy car, it does not have much power. George was looking forward driving on German Autobahn where no speed limit, but we were no match for better cars. Porsches and BMW’s were passing by as with speed of lighting. Sergei followed us in Volvo and he also very soon  passed us and we had to follow them.

Rothenburg is very nice small medieval town, the weather was very nice and there was foliage and all was beautiful. We went to criminal museum. Interesting staff. Then we browsed stores including famous Christmas store. We had lunch, sausages and potatoes. The food was just OK so we skipped on dessert and later on we found nice café with wonderful dessert. It is called Café Uhl which is located in the building housing hotel with the same name.

I can tell you that in our party of 6 people 4 spoke German and Russian. Klaus only speaks German and 2 of us spoke English and Russian. Even though we speak Russian we imbed mostly English words and they required translation. But we worked out communications pretty well including translation for Klaus. J 

After that we walked in the parking and went to our cars and drove back to Nuremberg. My aunts and uncles (I have 2 of each) were waiting for us with dinner so we went to their apartment. On the way we stopped in some small village where Klaus was born and lived there most of his life. He got some smoked meat for dinner. It was delicious and smelled so good… Klaus explained through my cousin that this is the best meat in the area. The store was actually closed but they opened for him. We continued to go to Nuremberg. Family dinner was nice at my aunt and uncle’s apartment, it was very good to see them after many years now that we live in different countries. We drove back to the old town . It took about 20 mins, but we got lost in one way street and finally got to the hotel.

Oct 30, Sunday.

We met Ella at breakfast and we walked in the town. The rest of the family was still sleeping, she said. So we spent morning with her. We visited castle, Durer’s house, Rathaus, main square, fountain and well. The well had ring which you turn for love (right ) or for money (left). I climbed and turned both. Lunch was at Bratwurst Roslein, clientele was mostly local. Very good food. There was a platter for 2, but we could not finish it with 3 people. Nurnberger sausages, potato, some dough with crackling, krauts, duck, goose, washed down with beer.. Applekuchen for desert. .

 We drove to the port to drop the luggage off at the ship.

There are Nazi’s documentation center and also Colosseum Hitler built for his gatherings. Unfortunately documentation center was closed (Nuremberg trials were there). We went to field where Nazi’s marched . Now it is peaceful park.

After that, we dropped the car off at Avis and walked to Ella’s apartment nearby. We met the relatives again, spent some time there, said good bye to all of them. We took taxi to ship.

Cruise.

Embarkation.

There is actually no official embarkation. We dropped our bags off and they put stickers on our bags when we went to drop the car. Came back later on in taxi and walked in, gave passports. Our bags were staying at our door.

It was about 6pm when we came to the ship and unpacked. Dinner was at 7pm.

Ship and Cabin description.

So far we liked the ship. It is 3 year old Amadeus Symphony.

The ship has capacity of 100 people, and on this sailing we had 77 people, from USA and Canada and one couple from Ireland. The cabins are good size I think 160 sq ft . Very good water pressure. Towels are kind of skimpy, we would prefer fluffier and bigger. I also would prefer for the bathroom to have towel rack away from the toilet. Few times towels were falling into toilet.

Very comfortable queen size bed with good lights and nice comforters. Very good quality wood furniture throughout. Closet space was enough for us but could have been more and also more shelves in bathroom would help.

TV had one CNN channel, few local german channels, one channel which is hooked up to camera in front of the ship so you can see outside without going outside. They also show dvd movies at 3pm and 10pm on 2 channels.

The drawback is that there was not internet on the ship. You can only send email and they charge 3.50 eur per email. Of course there were internet cafes available at the towns however, for a 3 year old ship I would expect business room with few computers.

This cruise, from Nuremberg to Tier (Luxembourg) is also packaged by tour companies like Globus and others to cruise tour. So about 1/3 of passengers started tour in Berlin, they bus passengers to cruise and after cruise will go to Antwerp (Belgium). I thought it was too long bus drive from Berlin to Nuremberg, I would rather catch a cheap European flight, train would be also faster. My apprehensions turned to be right because all people who took Berlin pre-cruise tour and were bussed to Nuremberg, complained that they lost all day. Nothing to see in between.

Meals.

Dinner first night was nice, well prepared however I was disappointed because no selections of local food. German wursts would be nice but the food was geared towards average American tastes. Deserts were also American type cakes and pastries. No apple strudel. In next days, we noticed that most cakes had the same base, only different top (fruit, chocolate, etc). Boring selection. I was glad we had German food first 3 days. Wine was free with dinner – choice of red and white. Unbranded  Austrian wine with Amadeus waterways label. Excellent cheeses after dinner however they were all the same and few days they run out of blue cheese. Other wines, beer and alcohol were available from the bar. But later on, few times, we wanted dark beer and they ran out.

 Lunch was buffet. Ok food, selection of salads, one cake, ice cream, cream soups (one cold, one hot).

Cruise Itinerary.

 October 31, Monday.

We overslept full breakfast. We had continental breakfast from 9-10 (croissants, coffee or tea and OJ). This lasted for next 2 hr for next meal (lunch). After lunch, there was a brief lecture from cruise director about locks and navigating on rivers. We were passing canal between Main and Danube. The ship also has GPS display so you can see where you are. After breakfast, there was a selection of cd’s from the opera – choice of our cruise director. We enjoyed it however not sure majority of other people liked it.

We arrived to Bamberg  after lunch. It is nicely preserved medieval town, UNESCO heritage site. We took 2 hr walking tour in two groups and afterwards had 2 more hours on our own. We went to local bar with another couple and sampled famous smoked beer. We are getting addicted to german beer at this time.

Bamberg is an arhictecural treasure of building from the early middle ages, the gothic period, the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods. The oldest part of the town is the high west bank of the left arm of the Regnitz river with the cathedral and the old Benedictine abbey of Michaelsberg. The borough which grew up from the 12^th century lice between to banks of Regnitz River. There is an university town, and its symphony orchestra has an international reputation. Many breweries and the local beer is Ruachbier.

Bamberg has a history of Jewish Heritage. Jews lived there since medieval times and very much integrated into economy, mostly in trade industry and banking. When Nazis provoked Krystalnacht and started fires of Jewish properties, the firemen brigade put fires down, and later paid dearly for this.

The German emperor had one of his residences in Bamberg. From the 12^th century the clergy who were living in the higher parts of the town, had run-in with the local burghers who were living in the valleys. In Bamberg, it only took 600 years for all the conflicts to end and burghers end up in disadvantage. So many of most beautiful buildings found in higher parts of the town. We visited cathedral which is part Renaissance and part is gothic and used by two churches. The houses at the river called a little Venice. Very attractive beautiful town.

Back to the ship, we had dinner. The theme was Halloween dinner. (In Germany?)

November 1^st, Tuesday.

We had full breakfast (omlettes, and usual breakfast fare). The cruise invited guest lecturer to talk about history of Prussia. The lecturer turned out to be very interesting person. Then it was team trivia, we won a prize. J

At noon we arrived to Wurzburg. We had a tour of Rezidenz, a superb Baroque palace, built n 18C by Balthazar Neumann, an architect of legendary status in Germany. It is one of the biggest in Germany and Germans call it their Versallies. It has impressive Rococo art work. Wurzburg itself is the intellectual, secular and industrial center of lower Franconia; university city; former headquarters of the Knights of the Teutonic order, the Franciscan and the Dominicans and stamped by the artistic tastes and architectural frenzy of the Prince-Bishop who made Wurzburg one of the Germany’s most splendid cities. The predominant style is Baroque but one can follow the whole development of architecture from the Romanesque basilica to the Rococo.

After Rezidenz we walked to the Cathedral and then to the Market Square. The stores were closed but there was a fair on the Market square. We had coffee and apple strudel at Market square and then got back to the ship,

 After dinner, there was a local duo played different local folklore music.

November 2, Wednesday

We had early arrival to Wertheim after breakfast. Wertheim lies at the foot of a huge fortress that was built in 13^th c  and destroyed during the 30 years war by the emperor’s troops. The town has many half-timbered houses dating from 16c lining the narrow streets. There is a gothic church dated from 1384-1445 which contains about 40 tombs of former gentry of the town. Wertheim is situated there the Tauber River joins Main. There was a glass demonstration at local glass factory but we skipped it and walked this small town instead. We found internet café and then went to few stores. Back to the ship continue to next town Miltenberg. On the way the guest lecturer was talking about Weimar years of Germany, it was very interesting lecture with many questions and discussions, about Hitler coming to power. Once in Miltenberg, we went on a short city tour and then walked city by ourselves. That evening it was pirate dinner. Kind of tacky for our taste and then there was a crew talent show. I am really getting sorry for these young people who after hard work day also have to perform so these shows are not for our liking. But again, this is my own opinion. The majority of guests seemed to be liking the show.

 Nov 3, Thursday

After breakfast, we arrived to Rudesheim. There was a little touristic train which took us to upper town where there was musical instruments museum. I did not want to go there but eventually was glad that I went, it proved to be entertaining. The guide there was good, although her manner of speaking was like talking to schoolchildren. Many guides do that, it drives me crazy. Anyway the museum had very interesting mechanical instruments and afterwards were interesting souvenirs at the store. We walked back through the city to the ship. We were cruising on the Rhine through the River Valley to Koblenz. It was nice warm sunny weather and the scenery was very nice, with many castles on the way so that part of the trip was very entertaining. We arrived to Koblenz in the afternoon, first we went with a tour guide but very soon took off on our own. The ship stayed until 1am in the port that night so we had plenty of time to explore. Koblenz is on the corner of Rhine and Mosel rivers. This is German’s wine country, a lot’s of vineyards on the way.

We had dinner in town, in a schitzelhaus. Good local food and beer.

In the evening, when we came back to the ship, we had entertainment of a classical trio from Belgium (guitar and two violins). Very good performance.

Nov 4th  Friday

Cochem in the morning, it was a gem of a small town. We took a tour of town and went up the hill for 11^th century castle, beautiful . There is also a Capuchin monastery from 1623. The town is surrounded by the remains of medieval walls, including 4 gates, the oldest dating from 1332. There are narrow streets, small restaurants, hotels. Very cute.

There was not much to do on the way from Cochem to Zell except lunch and it was raining. We talked to other passengers. Cruise line in this case could have been provided some activities or entertainment.

Anyway, about Zell. It produces the wine known as Black Cat. There is a parish church in the Markplatz, 11 c . In the Classical church 13c there is a 15C Madonna. Some of the former fortifications remain including a13c round tower.

The valleys of the Mosel and Rhine river are setting for some of the Germany’s most romantic and beautiful wine country. From the corner of France, Germany and Luxembourg, the Mosel flows flows for 145 miles to join the Rhine at Koblenz. Viticulture has been the heart and soul of this Valley for past 2000 years. Settled originally by Celts, the Romans conquered and were the first to establish vineyards systematically during their 450 years of rule. The vine is the only crop that flourishes on steep slate slopes.

The town is really small, few streets by the river. Most of them were closed at 5pm, and there was light rain. Our agenda said that the town representatives are coming to visit us on board… The town had 2 places for internet but each had one computer which were occupied. Dissapointed, we came back to the ship…

However, in an hour, there were guest on the board.. The mayor himself with wine princess (representative of the wine region). They made a speech welcome from mayor and wine princess was telling us about Black Cat wine. Then, adorable children 4-5 years old came out in black cat costumers and danced for us. That was a surprise!

Our spirits went up. We went for dinner and after dinner we were called to the lounge again. The city brass orchestra of 24 people came in. The town officials brought in wine for wine tasting, and with music and wine it turned out a very lovely evening. So surprise from Zell! The town came to see us!

Nov 5, Saturday.

We arrived in the morning to Bernkastel, it was again one small cute town, not much to see but good to pass buy. We skipped guide and explored on our own. Unfortunately, we only had 2 hours in the morning and stored only started opening up. It is again yet another town with vineyards on Mozel River. The most famous wine is Bernkasteler Doktor. We did not try it. The market place with the ruined castle on Landshut rising over it has become a symbol of the Mosel. There was an interesting fountain in the market square and artistic weathervanes on the gables of the half-timbered houses. Usually they have many visitors in September for wine festival.

In the afternoon, ship departed for Trier. Trier is the Germany’s oldest city 6 miles from Luxembourg border. Julius Ceasar conquered Trier in 56 BC and it was a major river port and a center of trade routes. Many Roman emperors including Constantine the Great preferred to live in Trier instead of Rome. The old roman walls included four massive gateways Porta Negra is the famous site of the town – one of the largest existing Roman gate in the world and 47 towers. There is a colloseum in the hills. Trier is UNESCO’s World Heritage site. It sits on the Mosel and the mountains surrounding the town are Eifel and Hunsruck mountains. Karl Marx was born here.

We skipped the tour and went on our own to the Trier center.

In the evening there was captains dinner, baked Alaska and all the staff. There was some dancing and music with piano player, but we had to pack.

Nov 6. Sunday, departure. Post-cruise.

Most of the passengers continued their trip to Luxembourg and Belgium by bus. We were spending one night in Luxembourg so we went with the rest of the group on their bus to Luxembourg, that was a good deal (free!) for us. Trier is about 45 minutes from Luxembourg City but on the way we also stopped at Luxembourg American Cemetery, where General Patton is buried. It is impressive site. You can see details at . ABMC – The American Battle Monuments Commission is an independent agency of US Government responsible for design, construction and maintaining permanent US military cemeteries and memorials in foreign countries. The cemetery contains the remains of 5,076 Americans. In 22 instances there are two brothers resting side-by-side in adjacent graves. 101 Headstone mark the graves of “unknowns” whose remains could not be positively identified. There are 118 graves with Star of David, commemorating Jewish soldiers, and others are white marble crosses.

Afterwards, we continued to Luxembourg. This small country, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is an independent state 51 miles long and 32 miles wide, encompassing area of 1000 sq miles and a population 450,000. Luxembourg City is the capital where we proceeded to our final destination. The country started in 963 and a castle fortress was built later, known as “Gibraltar of the North”. It has walls studded with forts, all linked by underground tunnels known as Casemates. In 1890 Luxembourg became free and neutral. Despite this, the country was occupied by Germans during WWW’s . The battle of the Bulge was to a great extent fought on Lux territory. In 1948 it gave up its neutrality and is a founding member of EU. Currently it is a prosperous country with the industried:

Steel industry is the ¼ of Lux exports . Another industry is banking – Luxembourg is the 8^th largest banking country in the world. Tourism contributes the great deal in economy. And, finally, there are various EU institutions since Lux  (member of Benelux), being the forerunner of the present larger European community. 32% of population is foregn. French and German are official languages and Luxemburgen or Letzebuergesch is the f Mosel-Frankish dialect. Local items to buy is Moselle wine, chocolates and famous Villeroy & Boch porcelain.

The food is excellent and the country has more Michelin-starred restaurants per sq mile than any other country in the world.

We were given the tour of the Lux city which ended in the center. The group continued to Belgium, we said good bye to them and walked to our hotel 4* Hotel Cravat, right in the center.. It was lovely with good side room and large bathroom. We had nice lunch in the restaurant nearby and set to explore old city (casemates, square of William II, beautiful cathedral). The weather was nice and we set in the central square under sun. It was gorgeous. In the evening, we had dinner at hotel’s restaurant Normandy. It was supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the town, but somehow we did not order right thing (fish and veal). The appetizer and dessert were the best, but main course was not what we expected. In any case, it was a lovely dinner. We went back to hotel to sleep. Next morning, we took taxi to airport and flew home via Zurich. The planes were 30% empty so it was good to spread out. This concluded our trip.

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