Elegant Elbe on Viking June 12, 2009

[jcrandle]

We took this cruise, and I am finally caught up with lawn mowing and bill paying and photo uploading and can offer some of our experiences. First, thanks to those who traveled before and offered their insight, especially CincyAl, though we gleaned much good info from all of the posters on the board. I have uploaded quite a few photos which can be accessed on http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1136282020/a=1253449020_1253449020/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

hopefully that link works, though sometimes my software has problems with splitting urls.

 

DW and I are in our low 60s, and we opted to book our own air and pre and post cruise hotels.

 

We arrived Wednesday, June 10 after a three leg flight via Detroit and Schipol to Tegel. The taxi from the airport to out hotel on the eastern outskirts of Berlin, The Park Plaza was fairly quick, as the traffic was light. While the hotel was a bit far from the center, we did get a great rate on Priceline, and it is located a 100 meters from the tram stop, which for 2.10 euros takes you directly to the downtown area. Since we were tired after the overnight flight, we just walked around the area, explored local parks, found a bakery for breakfast the following morning, and a doner stand where we had dinner. The doner was huge, so we shared it with a half liter of beer each. After some more exploration, including finding an ATM, we turned in for the night.

 

Thursday we discovered that the weather had turned from warm and sunny to cold with periods of showers. We enjoyed our breakfast of fresh bread and coffee at the shop near the hotel. Since it was rainy, we decided to do some indoor stuff, and we rode the tram to Museum Isle and visited the Alte (old) Museum. It contained many artifacts of Egyptian origin, the most famous of which is a plaster and enamel bust of Neferiti. After a couple of hours wandering through the exhibits, we went out to find some lunch. After checking out several possibilities, we decided to try an Irish Pub. It turned out to be a good choice, as I had a steak pie with peas and chips, and Fran opted for the Irish breakfast, with sausage, bacon, and egg. Washed down with a cider and beer we were now fortified to brave the elements again. Now we walked back to another museum, the Pergamon, which displays many treasures from ancient Greece and Rome. Most notable is a huge frieze and colonnade from a temple excavated from the ancient city of Pergamon.We thought the quality of artwork and display rivaled the more famous Elgin Marbles, displayed in the Royal Museum in London. To be fair, the Pergamon ruins suffer more damage than the Elgin, nevertheless, they are magnificient. After this, we returned to our hotel to put on dry shoes and socks, and went to the doner shop to pick up dinner, which we took back to our hotel, to enjoy with a beer.

 

Friday started out with sunshine, though cooler. This turned out to be a cruel trick though, as we soon saw brief periods of rain interspersed with clouds. After breakfast at the bake shop, we packed our bags to move to the Berlin Hilton, where we would join the Viking tour group. A brief taxi ride got us from the eastern outskirts to the city center, and our hotel. Even though it was well before noon, we were pleasantly surprised that we were allowed to get our room immediately. After unpacking, we were phoned by the concierge to announce that our wine that we had ordered from the Amalienhof winery had arrived, and it was delivered to our room. We plan to enjoy it on the ship.

 

Fran had researched the ethnic markets, and suggested a Turkish street market. We navigated the subway system (U-bahn) with only minor difficulties. The market was large, and very crowded. They had a couple of whundred stalls selling food, clothing, dress material, tools, junk, office supplies, and more. We found our usual standby, a doner, and shared it by the river Spree while being entertained by a Turkish duo playing a banjo and Turkish saxophone. Following that, we returned to the hotel. Viking had offered a short walking tour of the area, but as it was still raining we decided to find an internet site to send a safe arrival message, as well as issue payment to the winery for our wine. We stopped in at a Starbucks that had a WIFI sign, but the barista told us that the rate was very expensive, and the Einstein café down the street offered free WIFI. Following we walked to a nearby restaurant, Lowenbrau, and had a wonderful german dinner.

 

Saturday showed improvement in the weather, as the rain cleared, and we were promised a high of 19c. While it did take a long time to warm up to that, it was pleasant in the sunshine, though breezy. We enjoyed a very nice breakfast in the hotel, included in the room rate. This morning we had a four hour bus tour of Berlin. We did stop for brief photo opportunities at the remains of the Berlin wall, the Brandenberg gate, and Checkpoint Charlie, after which we enjoyed more german cooking at the Lowenbrau. After lunch we walked to the Pergamon museum, visited several street markets, and finally walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will check out, and travel via bus to Potsdam and Magdeburg, where we will board the Viking Shumann.

[jcrandle]

Second installment

 

Sunday. June 14. Today promises to be a prettier day, partly cloudy with a high around 20. After another first class breakfast, we load up the busses to head to Magdeburg, with a sightseeing stop in Potsdam. The drive to Potsdam was less than an hour, and we visited the New Palace, one of several built by Frederick the Great, one of the early kings of Prussia. We had an English speaking guide on out tour bus (the ship’s company was split between three busses) , but when we reached the palace, we picked up a second guide to take us through it, and she spoke only German, so it was a bit tiresome as our bus guide would have to translate. We got the important messages, though, and one of them was that although there were beautiful furnishings in the palace, most were either brought there from other palaces, or were reproductions, as the original ones had “gone east”, or been taken by the occupying Soviet troops. Finally I suggested to the tour guide that spoke English that the Germans should negotiate a trade with the Russians to exchange the German treasures that the Russians had taken for the Russian treasures (like the Amber Room in St. Petersburg that the Germans had looted. I’m not sure she was impressed by my logic, however.

 

Adjacent to the New Palace is another of Fredrick the Great’s palaces, sans souci which is a French phrase for the Australian expression, “No worries, mate.” We took a 30 minute walk around the outside. Built in the mid 18th century, it boasted a water reservoir at the top of a hill to supply the magnificent fountain, however, lacking a means to pump the water at that time, he had hundreds of soldiers use buckets to carry water, resulting in a one minute spray of less than 8 inches.

 

We also got to see the outside of Cecilienhof, a large estate formerly belonging Crown Prindce Wilhelm, one of the last of the Hoenzollerns.. It was there that in 1945, the Allies finalized the agreement splitting Germany into the 4 sectors, each to be administered by one of the allied powers. The estate is now a small, expensive hotel. Our guide recounted the history of the place, both from the royal owners as well as the famous Potsdam Conference. Then we were driven to an area of the town with shops and restaurants to have lunch. We found a nice outdoor café and had very tasty lunch of schnitzel and noodles and salad, washed down with ½ liter of local beer. Then it was back into the bus to continue on to Magdeburg.

 

We were delayed about 30 minutes due to road construction, and had our welcome aboard drink and introductions of the officers and staff. Then it was downstairs to the restaurant and dinner. The Captain’s dinner was very good, with a starter, soup, a large broiled prawn on risotto, and choice of entrée. We chose the veal loin, and all was very tasty. Afterwards, we finished unpacking and storing our stuff, and then it was time for bed.

 

Now might be a good time to tell about out Schiff, the Clara Shumann. It is long, 100 metters, relatively narrow (though not as much so as the canal boats in England. It has a rather shallow draft (one meter) and hydrojet drive, to accommodate the shallow Elbe. In the safety talk, the cruise director said if the ship sank, to just go up to the top deck, which would be well out of water, and to take our cameras to record the event. Accordingly the cabins are small, about 120 sq ft. and the closet space is very limited. There is a couch that makes into a single berth, and a pull down single berth on the other side of the room. It has 60 cabins on two decks. One problem for our older group of cruisers is that to go from cabin decks to the lounge deck, dining deck, or topside to the sun deck, you must go up or down stairs. There is a chair elevator on each of the stairs, but the stairs are effectively blocked when the chair is in use, and the loading and unloading time slow the thruput

 

Monday we awoke to a partly sunny day. We docked outside of Dassau during breakfast and at 8:30 were loaded into busses for the 25 minute ride to our destination, Worlitz Park. Built in the late 18th century by Prince Leopold III it was inspired by his visits to English parks, and has a lake and a system of canals and bridges that make a classic park. It was recommended that we take a gondola ride on the lake and canal, and we were treated to splendid views of the various buildings and features while enjoying a narrative by our oarsman. It was really a slow paced tour, and the sun and warmth made it an excellent morning.

 

We returned to the ship for lunch. An optional tour had been offered for the afternoon, but there were too few takers to hold it. It was to visit the Bauhaus school, and architecture school famous for introducing modern architecture. We did get to see the outside, and I’m just as happy we didn’t go.

 

Tuesday we were threatened with rain, but we were pleased to see clouds, but no rain when we woke. We boarded a bus at 8:45 for a two mile ride into the town center .We visited the home of Martin Luther where he spent over 30 years. My knowledge of the reformation was limited, and I had always thought that he was a priest, but in fact he was a monk. He was well educated, though, and was employed as a teacher in the university located in Whittenburg, teaching theology. He married at the age of 40 or so, a younger woman who had escaped from a nunnery, and had come to live in Whittenburg.

We visited the town church, where he preached, and also the castle church where his 95 theses were nailed to the door. The castle church was destroyed and rebuilt in the 19th century, so the doors that the theses were nailed to, were long gone, and replaced by bronze doors. I guess they were like the proverbial hatchet that Washington used to cut down the cherry tree, the handle had been replaced 5 times, and the head twice, but it was still the original hatchet!

 

Anyway one of his major gripes with the church was the selling of indulgences. I had always understood that they were blanket permissions to sin, but the guide said that they were passes to bypass purgatory. When you had purchased a letter of indulgence, when you died, your soul went immediately up to heaven. So the church made a lot of money greasing the path to heaven for the wealthy. One of the guys in our group made the comment that we had come full circle since then, with the buying and selling of carbon credits!

 

The more we walked, the sunnier and warmer it got, so when we went back to the ship for lunch, it was very pleasant, and continued as we traveled upstream to Torgau. I will close and send this portion of the narrative now, and pick up later with our walking tour of Torgau.

[jcrandle]

Third installment

 

Tuesday evening we arrived at Torgau for a walking tour after dinner. Torgau has two historical moments. It was the town that Martin Luther’s wife settled in and was buried after his death. It also was the meeting place of the US and Soviet forces on their drive thru Germany in 1945. The town was very pretty, but as dead as Frau Luther. I don’t think we saw more than five or six cars, and the restaurants were just as dead.

 

Wednesday we docked in Meissen for a bus tour around the city and a visit to the porcelain factory. Our guide told of the secretive research that was done in an unused castle to develop the process for producing the strong white china that Meissen is famous for. We learned that the early king of Saxony, August the Strong (who earned this moniker both because of his impressive physique, as well as the legend that he had 365 children by his wife and numerous mistresses) had commissioned the search for a local china source, rather than spending his money (talers) on Chinese or Japanese dishes. after a few years, the pottery became very expensive, and it was pricey when we visited the factory shop. We got back on the ship, had dinner, and then went up to the top deck to enjoy the sail into Dresden at sunset. The weather had been warm and pretty all day, so we had many photo ops as we arrived at our anchorage for the next day.

 

Thursday the ship stayed docked all day in Dresden, and would not leave till early the next morning. The downtown area was almost completely destroyed in the fire bombing in 1945, but has been rebuild/restored under the GDR (communist) government and later after reunification in 1989 by the German government. Many of the old buildings were rebuilt in the same look as original, and they are very impressive. We toured the Green Vault after a 30 minute bus tour around the city. Named for the green beams in the ceiling, this was the treasure house of August the Strong, and had many of the works of art, porcelain, and jewelry that had belonged to the Elector of Saxony. All of the exhibits showed a high degree of workmanship, and the most spectacular item was a jeweled piece that was worn on August’s hat that had a huge green diamond as its highlight. The green color is ostensibly due to radioactivity during the diamonds formation, but my guess is a mineral impurity. It was, however, quite impressive.

 

After lunch we took an optional excursion to Pillnitz, originally the residence of August’s favorite mistress, Grafin Cosel, however, she tried to influence political decisions, and the schloss was taken from her and used as the summer palace of August the Strong. The central courtyard had many flowers, arranged in a formal garden. Modeled after the one in Versailles, it was impressive. They also had an English style garden that contained the oldest chrysanthemum in Germany, a gift from Japan in the 18th century. Since the variety was not winter hardy, a wooden structure was built to protect it. After WWII, the GDR built an elaborate moveable greenhouse that could be rolled over the tree in winter, and removed in summer. The museum at Pillnitz had many arts and crafts on display, as Pillnitz was used for safekeeping of many of the Dresden treasures in WWII.

 

Friday we leave Dresden at 6 AM, and the noise awakens us. It is good that it did, as we cruise through a very scenic area leaving Dresden, including passing Pillnitz again. We had previously had a lecture on the floods of 2002. The Elbe typically has spring floods as the snow melts in the mountains, and a series of flood control lakes had been built to hold the water and release it gradually, however the flood of 2002 was a summer flood, caused by three weeks of rain in the Czech Republic. Since it was unanticipated, the lakes had not been drawn down to low levels to hold the water, and this area had extensive flooding with Dresden being one of the hardest hit.

 

We now enter the area known as Saxon Switzerland. The banks of the Elbe rise precipitously to rocky promontories. Visited by treckers and climbers, this is the outdoor life area of Saxony. It also has lots of beer gardens overlooking the river. This morning we enjoyed a Saxonian Fruehschoppen-Brunch at 10:30. We enjoyed sausages, meatballs, soft pretzels and potato salad washed down by complimentary beer. We also got the news that the locks in the Czech republic were broken, and we would be bussed the last 20 km. That would be no great hardship, as it just added 30 minutes to the planned bus ride to Prague.

 

This afternoon we anchored at Bad Schandau. The area has a long history as an outdoor playground, both as a hunting area for royalty, before that, a home for robber barons, and a spectacular system of sandstone monoliths. The “Bad” name refers to a bath, or mineral spring, so the area had a natural spa with a high concentration of iron and other minerals. We boarded busses to travel up to the sandstone cliffs named the Bastei, or bastion, and indeed the steep uplifts would have provided a natural fortification for the inhabitants. We had spectacular views of the Elbe, and saw the paddle wheel cruise boat far below. I’ll have to make a note to ask the guide if it is indeed a “steam powered paddle wheeler” as she described it. There’s no coal smoke coming from the stack, so if it is steam powered, they have converted to a fuel oil burner or if they now have a diesel engine. Enquiring minds want to know.

 

We just passed into the Czech Republic just now. As they are in the EU there is no longer a border checkpoint with customs and immigration checks. We just motored right on thru. Tonight is to be the Captains farewell dinner, though we have one more night on board the Clara Schumann after tonight. We did lose internet connectivity when we entered the entered the sandstone mountains. I probably won’t be able to send this until we reach Litomerice, our next stop in CR.

[jcrandle]

Final installment

 

Saturday we awoke to partly sunny skies, though cooler. Fran was up early to go out and take photos of the castle where we had docked overnight (Decin). I slept in, and after breakfast we had the disembarkation briefing, then we climbed up to the sun deck to enjoy the sunny, cool day. Around 10 AM we reached our first lock at the town of Usti. We had been traveling very slow all morning because the river was so shallow. The lock raised the ship about 35 meters, so after we left the lock we were able to resume our normal cruising speed. Just before noon, our cruise director, Martin, announced that the wheelhouse was open for visiting, so I took a quick tour. There was no narrative, and the pilot’s English was sketchy, so it was only a few minutes of looking at the instruments and displays. They had four steering wheels, one for each of the three hydrojets, and one for the bow thruster. The central screen is a radar view of the surroundings, and on one side he had a GPS moving map display that showed the river and banks. The rest of the gauges showed the health of the engines, fresh water tank status, diesel tank status, depth under the keel, etc. We picked up internet connectivity while we were upstairs, and Fran was able to read and answer some of her email, before we lost it again. Besides, it was getting so bright it was difficult to read the screen, so we decided to go downstairs for lunch.

 

 

That's most of the narrative. We disembarked in Litomerice as the next lock up the river was broken, though that really didn't alter any of the tour timings, as the distance to Melnick was not great, and we were to be bussed into Prague from there anyway. We stayed on the Viking tour at the Corinthia towers, which was an OK hotel, though a bit out in the suburbs. It is located adjacent to a subway stop, which allows easy access to the touristy areas of Prague. The Viking staff were also helpful to recommend a very reasonable local restaurant/bar within a 10 minute walk that we enjoyed. Earlier cautions that the hotel restaurant was expensive were correct. We had booked an additional day on our own via Priceline at the Moevenpick on Motzartova (yep, right around the corner from a house that Motzart lived in) which turned out to be a very nice hotel, I'd rate it above the Corinthia. It was a short walk to the tram line, and we did some additional sightseeing from that base.

 

 

 

After checkout, the Moevenpick arranged their private car to take us and lugage to the airport at a rate comparable to a taxi, which was very helpful. As others have posted, taxis in Prague range from honest to cheats, and our cruise director pointed out how to recognize a couple of reliable firms.

 

 

 

From Prague we took a Czech Airline flight to Manchester for the next leg on cruising, but that's another story, which I will post on another thread.

 

 

If you have questions, I'll try to answer them. We had a wonderful cruise, the food was good, though at time the portions seemed small, extra servings were often available. Our fellow travelers were friendly and entertaining. The Viking staff were competent, hard working and friendly.

[CincyAL]

Glad that you enjoyed the trip as much as we did.

 

CincyAL

[jcrandle]

Thank you. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Jesterscourt]

Thanks for the comprehensive review! I will be going on this trip in Oct. and would like to ask you questions as they come up. I will also be going a day early on my own and will stay at the Circus Hotel in Mitte and then transferring to the Hilton as you have done. The way you explain it, there is a walking tour on their first day as well as a bus tour the following day provided by Viking? And I take it that dinner that first night is on your own since you picked the restaurant? Thanks for taking the time to help future Elbe guests!

[jcrandle]

That is correct.

[Jesterscourt]

The reason for the confusion on my part is that I believe in our trip, we only have one night at the Berlin Hilton and then leave the next day for Magdeburg/Potsdam, whereas, it seems in addition to your own night in Berlin, you also spent 2 nights at the Hilton. Incidentally, did they get a chance to show you Magdeburg, which is a city that has sufferred over the years, but is quite the destination now according to what I have read and seen on the internet. Again, thanks for taking the time post-vacation to answer our questions. I will do the same when I return in Oct. to help others!

[Jesterscourt]

Ok, Crandle party. A few more questions. It was recommended that we skip the Meissen Porcelein Factory tour and just enjoy the town square. What do you think? Also, would you recommend schlepping a laptop on the trip? I like the idea of emailing my family my adventures each day, but do not absolutely need it. I would only like to bring it if I can use it in the room, library, or lounge at night. Also, do not want to struggle with it if it is impossibly slow. What has been the consensus on that and do they have a computer they will let us use at the front desk? Thanks. Steve

[jcrandle]

Our cruise included two nights in Berlin at the Hilton and two nights in Prague at the Corinthian Towers. We booked two additional pre-cruise nights in Berlin via Priceline's bidding and for $145 for the room for two nights were pleased with our assignment, the Park Plaza Prenzlauer Berg. It was a few steps to the tram stop, and only a few more to the subway. Our Extra night in Prague was again booked thru Priceline and we were assigned the Moevenpick Hotel Prague, a four star hotel in a very accessible area of Prague at a cost of $55.

 

We did not tour Magdeburg, as the Port was several miles outside of the city, and our bus was delayed due to construction on the Autobahn.

 

As for the Meissen tour, we enjoyed it, but we've seen Royal Doulton and Wedgewood tours, so they are all very similar. I would say if you are not interested in the history and process of porcelain, you could skip it. The tour did have about 45 minutes free at the end, if you skipped the factory store and museum.

 

I had passed my old laptop (heavy, large and underpowered) to my daughter who was happy to get it as hers had died. I had bought a 10 inch Lenovo netbook which I took on the cruise. It is much lighter and more powerful than my old notebook. The only downsides for me are the keyboard and screen are smaller than I like but the portability outweighs that. That said, I used the netbook to email our kids what was going on (the basis for my narrative posted above). I also used it to pay bills, and other web based applications. Service availability was spotty. OK near populous areas, unavailable in the boonies. Speed was acceptable, though I didn't upload more than a few photos, and those were highly compressed.

 

One consideration about using the ship's computer is that there is a charge to use it, while access on your own laptop is at no extra charge. I didn't investigate the rates for the computer usage, or how busy it was, but if you had signed up for the ship's computer and were out of wireless range, it could be frustrating.

[Cruisin Kay D]

Very interesting narrative of your trip and such wonderful photos -- we have been on Viking Sun on Rhine and have considered other Viking trips.

[swanieswan]

Thanks for the great information. I appreciate it very much.

Swanie/Users/margaretshulman/Desktop/MartiniMateavatareduc.gif

[jcrandle]

You are all welcome.

[mike35]

We were on this cruise with the reverse itinerary in April. Great narrative, but I'll just add a couple of things.

 

• I took my laptop (which I always do on cruises). Internet access was spotty aboard the Schumann, but it was "up" enough to check e-mails, do some business, etc.
  
• I agree about the Corinthian Towers. Other river cruise lines that include Prague book in a centrally located hotel.
  
• We enjoyed the Meissen factory. DW was all excited about getting a "bargain" in the seconds shop; imagine her dismay when one cup and saucer was 160 Euros!
  
• For those interested in Judaica on this itinerary
  
  • The Jewish Quarter in Prague is amazing - the cemetery is like nothing we had ever seen, the ancient synagogues are beautiful, and the museum was very interesting.
    
  • Viking offers an optional tour from Litomerice to the infamous concentration camp at Terezin (Theresenstadt) - chilling!
    
  • Above one of the churches in Whittenberg was an incredibly obscene anti-Semitic carving; underneath it was a holocaust memorial - what a display of opposites
    
  • There is a new architecturally significant synagogue in Dresden, close to where the boat docks. They offer afternoon tours in English. Quite interesting!
    
  • Berlin offer a wide assortment of venues of interest
    
    • The old synagogue
      
    • The Jewish Museum - Amazing!
      
    • The holocaust memorial - near the Brandenburg Gate
      

What did you think of the cruise director Martin? Was his assistant CD still Mercedes? We found her to be a delight. As for Martin, while he was full of information, we found him to be rather stand-offish and not at all personable.

[Jesterscourt]

I do have a few more questions now that I have looked up our entire itinerary on Viking Cruisetours. As it happens, we are staying 2 nights afterall at the Hilton giving us much time in Berlin! One thing I would like to know is what Viking covers in its walking and bus tours of Berlin so as not to duplicate some of the activities on our own time prior to getting together with the group. It seems that we go to Potsdam in the morning on our way to Magdeburg. We have lunch on our own in Potsdam. How much free time do we have there before getting back on the bus?As the ship does not leave until midnight, I assume some people ventured out to explore Magdeburg in the evening unless the dock is very far from town? Thanks again for the great info, and don't worry, I'll have more questions later about some of the other towns.

[jcrandle]

We did not take the walking tour with Viking, as it was raining pretty hard, so we elected to walk to a nearby restaurant. The advertised walking tour was to last about 50 minutes, and cover the 15 or so blocks in the vicinity of the Hilton. I believe they planned to go as far as Unter der Linden.

 

The bus tour was about two plus hours and had stops for walking/photos at a couple of wall locations, the Brandenberg Gate, and Checkpoint Charlie. The other city buildings were viewed from the bus.

 

The Potsdam stop for lunch was about an hour and a half. We had time to walk down one of the main streets, read the posted menus on 5 or 6 restaurants, and have a nice lunch. There was not enough time to do much other wandering. Our total distance walked was probably about a mile or so.

 

The Magdeburg dock was not near the city, certainly not within walking distance. Also, due to construction on the Autobahn, we were an hour late arriving at the ship, and after stowing our luggage, it was time for dinner. I am not aware of anyone that might have gone out after dinner. The ship did not depart till midnight, but it wasn't in an area that was downtown.

[Jesterscourt]

Thanks for the info about Berlin, Potsdam, and Magdeburg. Concerning Dessau, it seems that the afternoon tour of the Bauhaus School was cancelled so was the ship docked close enough to town to just walk around for the afternoon? It sounds like you had an awesome morning in Worlitz Park and we are looking forward to that. I realize that I am taking away the element of surprise by asking details ahead of time, but it's my way of getting more out of the voyage and making the memory last longer as you are doing. Keep it up! thanks

[jcrandle]

Thanks for the info about Berlin, Potsdam, and Magdeburg. Concerning Dessau, it seems that the afternoon tour of the Bauhaus School was cancelled so was the ship docked close enough to town to just walk around for the afternoon? It sounds like you had an awesome morning in Worlitz Park and we are looking forward to that. I realize that I am taking away the element of surprise by asking details ahead of time, but it's my way of getting more out of the voyage and making the memory last longer as you are doing. Keep it up! thanks

We passed the Bauhaus area on the way to Worlitz park. It seemed to me that it was less than a mile or so from the ship, but I wasn't paying close attention. I'm sure the cruise director can advise you as to the distance, and if it would be advisable to get a taxi if the optional tour is not offered.

[Jesterscourt]

Thanks for the info. I love your metaphor for Torgau "dead as Frau Luther"! When we went on our Rhine/Mosel and even our Holland tulip river cruises, it was my impression that the boats always docked right in or near each town so we could easily walk into town. Is this not the case with most of the Elbe towns you visited?

[jcrandle]

Most of the docking areas were within walking distance of city buildings and streets. My memory fails me as to how far from the city the Magdeburg dock was. I do remember that there were no buildings within sight of the ship. Here's a map of Magdeburg http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocalMaps-g187406-Magdeburg-Area.html I expect the ship was possibly docked in an industrial area, though I don't know for sure. I'm certain that your cruise director will be able to provide detailed info about docking on the cruise. They will be available when you check in to your first hotel, at either Berlin or Prague, depending on your travel direction.

[Jesterscourt]

I have a question about the Czech portion of the voyage. Did Viking offer an excursion to Terezin Concentration Camp since Litomerice is just a few km. from there? It sounds like there was a minor itinerary change due to the river level that might have precluded such a venture, but I was wondering if anything was mentioned about it.

[jcrandle]

I have a question about the Czech portion of the voyage. Did Viking offer an excursion to Terezin Concentration Camp since Litomerice is just a few km. from there? It sounds like there was a minor itinerary change due to the river level that might have precluded such a venture, but I was wondering if anything was mentioned about it.

Viking did offer an optional tour to Terezin. We did not take that tour.

[CincyAL]

We took the tour in April along with about 30 others. Due to the sensitive nature of the tour there was a very SOFT sell. Very glad we took this option. Along with all the beauty & cultural afforded by this trip, one should not miss the stark reality of WW II.

[Jesterscourt]

Thanks for that Al. We arrive at Litomerice on a Saturday however and I imagine Terezin would be closed on a Saturday. Wouldn't you know it! I spent a week in Prague last year and didn't go to Terezin then, because I knew we would be close to it on this trip and I didn't calculate the Saturday issue! However, I did take a comprehensive Jewish Quarter tour that gave me a flavor of the atrocities and sufferring.