Cruising – Page 6 – jane sadek

ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Performing Arts, Restaurants & Bars, TRAVEL

Formal Night on Vision of the Seas

June 25, 2018June 25, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: PUTTING ON THE RITZ

I love dressing for dinner. It’s not required on most cruises anymore. They discourage you from wearing flip flops and tank tops, but pretty much anything else goes. Even on formal night dressing up is optional, but I dress up every evening and on formal night I pull out the stops.

The Captain’s Greeting

I can only imagine how much the captain hates formal night. He has to get all dressed up, spend an hour or so shaking hands and taking pictures with skads of people he has no interest in and then he has to get up and make a big welcoming speech. It was probably fun the first hundred or so time, but he does this week after week after week! He probably realizes that most of the people are just there to get the free champagne.

Then after he makes his speech he has to introduce his management staff and let them make their own speeches. How would you like to take the top management out of your organization to entertain a crowd that just wants free champagne? Yeah, who’s running the boat – right? It was almost impossible to hear what they said, but as long as the trays of champagne wandered around the room, they had an audience.

Happy Birthday, Anniversary and Everything Else

Since this cruise was to celebrate Bill’s birthday, our travel agent asked which evening we’d like commemorate the occasion. I chose Formal Night. Bill’s birthday wasn’t the only celebration at the table. The Youth Pastor and his wife also got feted for their anniversary.

Our table mates were a blast, so we were grateful for the delightful company. The food continued in it’s mediocrity. This was the night of the lousy lobster bisque and I followed it up with a steak. Nothing to write home about. One more meal down.

Another Show, Another Disappointment

For formal night the entertainment was Boogie Woogie Wonderland, which was supposed to highlight the music of the seventies. They were a little loose about hitting their target. The seventies were my boogie woogie wonderland, but I have no idea what inspired some of the costumes they wore.

The songs they chose to highlight were among some of my favorites, but the voices just weren’t up to the challenge of the music. Overall, it was an entertaining show, but it just came up short in the quality department.

Awkward!

To top off our night, after the show we headed to the Some Enchanted Evening Lounge for The Perfect Couple Game Show. We were expecting a “Newlyweds Game” knock-off, but instead got the Embarrassment Olympics.

When we arrived Adult Karaoke was still going on. There was a group of drunken bridesmaids dominating the room whether they were on stage or not. I was glad when the spectacle was over.

Instead of a Q&A of martial habits, The Perfect Couple was a series of party games designed to embarrass people who were unwitting enough to volunteer to be contestants. Why pay entertainers when you can get passengers to entertain everyone with karaoke and awkward feats of skill. We made it through a few rounds, but when they started with tennis balls in men’s jeans, we decided it was time for bed.

Come back next week for sure, because we arrive in the Yucatan and enjoy a marvelous shore excursion.o

ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, Shopping, TRAVEL

Our First Day at Sea

June 18, 2018March 7, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: ENJOYING THE BOAT

There she is! Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas. On our day at sea, we explored many of her charms and suffered a few of her deficiencies. Come along and see how it went.

Up & At ‘Em

First up, the gym! I’m an early riser, so I take advantage of it to get in an hour on a stationary bike. The gym on Vision of the Seas is nice, but quite small. On this morning, pretty much every spot on the equipment was filled.

I got my hour in and headed back to the room via the the buffet. I filled up my soda cup, got Bill some ice water and picked up a few pastries in case Mr. Bill was ravenous.

Breaking Our Fast

We enjoy the luxury of sit down service and convivial company, so we returned to the Aquarius Dining Room for our morning repast. There is no assigned seating, so you get the luck of the draw in table mates. The luck of the draw in food was pretty marginal, especially their sorry excuse for Eggs Benedict.

We ended up at a table with a bunch of round dancers, who were nice, but only interested in their dancing, so we were relieved when a mother and her daughter arrived. After a little chatting we discovered they’d been caught in all the flooding from Harvey and it was interesting to hear about their experiences. They became our new cruise buddies and we enjoyed seeing them several other times during the week.

We went back to the room so Bill could wrangle with his computer and the market. I took a shower and got ready for the day, in part by perusing the Cruise Compass and picking out the good stuff, like the Art Auction

Champagne Art Auction

One of my favorite things at sea are the Park West art auctions. How can you lose if you’re spending your morning looking at art and hearing tidbits about artists and the art world, while you sip free champagne? I’m probably not ever going to be bidding, but it’s relaxing, fun and interesting. Bill doesn’t exactly feel the same way. He’ll attend, probably more for the champagne than the art, but he sits there, giving me a running commentary on the dangers of buying art at sea, just in case I get the urge to lift my bidding card.

Were I to actually bid on something, it would be because I thought it was a pretty picture and I’d enjoy looking at it. Occasionally I’ll say something complimentary about a painting and Bill reacts as if I’m considering purchasing a fake Mona Lisa and he demands to know which wall we’d hang it on. It sort of takes the fun out of the dreaming, but I just shake my head in amusement and have another sip of champagne.

Beyond the champagne, there’s always a free gift of art. This time a 7×7 seriolithograph by Yuval Wolfson. If I had any space on our walls, I could frame it and hang it. Instead it will end up in my scrapbook. There was an extra bonus this time which will also find its way to my scrapbook. To hold the audience’s attention, they also have drawings for Royal Caribbean chotkies, like t-shirts and water bottles. To my amazement I won one of the drawings and I got two lovely 8×10 photos of the ship – one of which is shown above – and which will kick off my scrapbook of this adventure.

Winding Up the Day and Gearing Up for the Night

The auction lasted past the sit down lunch, so we were forced to go back to the Windjammer for a buffet lunch. It was marginally better than the Embarkation Buffet, but that’s not saying much.

Usually we would have explored more of the boat, but on this trip, Bill had to keep an eye on the market, so we went back to our room. I really can’t complain about the relaxation. The room was comfortable, the sea was just outside our window and after catching up on my travel journal I did a little reading.

Come back next week and I’ll tell you about formal night.

Accommodations, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL

While I Was Sleeping

June 11, 2018March 7, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE: VOOM DID NOT ZOOM

My first day at sea was ending, but Bill was unfortunately just getting started. Not the best way to spend a cruise.

The Trading Day

Many people think that folks who trade stocks are sitting at their computers all day long, buying and selling, and there are traders who do that, but that’s not Bill. He only makes a few trades a day, if any, at very specific times, mostly at the opening of the market. What he does the rest of the day is research, testing systems and writing code. In fact it’s what he does when the markets are closed that is the most important.

At the end of the day, when he knows whether it’s been a good day or a bad day, then Bill has to get ready for the next morning. His systems will tell him whether there are any potential trades coming up, but he has to decide to whether to execute them or not. He also has to be sure there is plenty of money in the accounts to make his purchases and he has to be very careful about his orders. A careless click on the computer or the wrong wording in the order could cost him thousands.

Trading on the Boat

So, as I changed into my pajamas, Bill was firing up the computer to get ready for his morning trades. Even sitting at his desk at home, this can take hours, according to what’s happening in the market. On this particular Monday, the market had been taking a nosedive since the Friday before and Bill had both of his hands tied behind his back. All he had was a laptop and a bad internet connection. Usually he has multiple computers streaming information onto two huge screens and a rocket-face internet connection which he pays a premium for.

While our cabin was plenty big for sleeping, relaxing, grooming and changing clothes, it did not offer Bill a perfect work space. There was a desk-like area for putting on make-up, but it was not ideal for his purposes. He was hyper-aware that he was just a few feet away from his sleeping wife, so he was trying to keep his movements and noises to a minimum. He also had very poor internet connection and was suffering from the speed of the computer and the small screen.

Electricity everywhere and not a plug to plug into!

Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning he decided he might have more luck with all of it out in the public areas. He’d find a comfy chair somewhere near an electrical outlet, prop his laptop on his lap and finish up his work. What he found was that comfy chairs were easy to come by, but electrical outlets were not. He tried a little bit of everything, but as soon as he would find something that might work, one of the other twelve people wandering around the ship after the bars closed would come sit next to him and do something distracting – like argue with their girlfriend or clip their toenails or listen to music so loudly that even though they were using headphones, Bill could hear it.

Eventually, he was able to discern there were no trades that had to made in the morning, but that was only half the battle. He needed desperately to do some more research, but it just wasn’t going to happen. He crawled in bed for an hour or two, but no sleep was to be had.

Come back next week for our day at sea.

Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, TRAVEL

Off to Dinner

June 4, 2018June 4, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE: NICE TO MEET YOU!

Even though the Embarkation Buffet on Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas was a disaster, it was still early in the cruise, so I gave them a pass. I blamed us for being so last minute and hoped better meals were ahead. I was also interested in who we’d end up with for table mates.

Matches Made in Heaven

When it comes to our table assignments, so far we’ve been pretty lucky and thankfully, for this cruise, our luck held. I’m not much on names, but Couple #1 was a youth pastor and his stay-at-home wife. Couple #2 was a pair of coffee shop/truck entrepreneurs. Couple #1 was on their first cruise to celebrate an anniversary. Couple #2 seemed to be frequent cruisers. He liked to gamble.

I happen to enjoy formal dining arrangements, a holdover from traditional cruising. One of the big reasons is because I don’t like training a new waitperson for each meal, but I also like the opportunity to get to meet new people, even if though no one may become my new best friend.

We’ve been through a variety of seating arrangements, from formal, timed meals with assigned seating, to Norwegian’s Freestyle. My least favorite was Freestyle. We were traveling with friends, so we really didn’t miss the chance to meet people, but having a new waitperson every night was not so much fun.

Not Exactly Heavenly Food

I was looking forward to our first meal, because first nights at sea are traditionally lobster night. Not on this cruise. You could get lobster, but it was over there on the part of the menu where you had to pay a surcharge. I like lobster, but not enough to pay extra for it. Instead I had escargot for an appetizer, lamb shanks for my entree and a pear concoction for dessert. It was a decent meal.

The escargot was off the charts. Not even the hint of a complaint in that department. The entree was OK. I would have preferred lobster, but nothing wrong with what I had. Dessert was a disaster. If you ordered a Pear Chocolate Crisp, what would you think you were getting? Well, probably not what I got – a row of mousse-y squirts with puree’ed pear in the middle of each squirt and a hardened chocolate decoration stuck in the center of the plate.

They really liked mousse-y, pudding-y desserts on this cruise. Like the Chocolate Sensation they always had in the buffet. It was kind of a chocolate fluff with a chocolate crumb crust. If you saw my face while I typed that, you’d know how bad it was. The Pear Chocolate Crisp was in the same category. With their penchant for mousse and pudding you might think their Creme Brulee would have been good. Well, it wasn’t. It was better than the Pear Chocolate Crisp, but so runny that I would have been embarrassed to call it Creme Brulee.

Instead of beating you up day after day with how bad the meals were, I’ll do some summarizing here. The Lobster Bisque was awful. No cream was used in the making of that soup! Campbell’s cream of tomato soup is thicker and at least as tasty, if not more flavorful. Two guys at our table would order steaks cooked exactly alike, but only one of the steaks would come out with grill marks on it. How did they even do that? The carrot cake was so dry that you could have choked on it. Each meal was an exercise in how not to cook! What a disappointment!

As bad as what we were eating was, one of the ladies at our table required a gluten-free menu and she was having a very hard time. This was no fad thing. Gluten made her sick and caused her hair to fall out. She was not the kind to make a big deal out of it, the way I see some people do. She was very gracious and appreciative of the efforts expended to accommodate her, but I noticed she would look hopefully at every dish delivered, give it a taste and then quietly push it away.

It was time for bed, at least for me. Come back next week for the next chapter of our adventure.

ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Performing Arts, TRAVEL

Dinner & a Show, But Not in That Order

May 28, 2018March 6, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE: WELCOME ABOARD SHOWTIME

Though he was still fighting the internet, my sweet husband put a good face on it and headed to the Masquerade Theater with me for the Welcome Aboard Showtime. Live entertainment is something we really enjoy, but don’t often splurge on it. It’s usually one of the highlights of our cruise. Follow me to the 5th deck.

Getting There is Not Half the Fun

Our least favorite space on any cruise boat is the casino. The area is usually loud, and it also has lots of lights blinking, garish decorations and second hand smoke. For some reason, the people who design ships think it’s cool to direct traffic through there. We disagree with them, but apparently that doesn’t make any difference.

On Vision of the Seas going through the casino was just about the only way to get to the theater without going outside and when you’re all dolled up, outside is not preferable. Those romantic shows you’ve seen, where a couple stands at the railing of a ship at the end of the evening, are lies. Most evenings, unless you’re on a protected deck, the wind is enough to blow you and your carefully coiffed hair into the sea.

Bill probably didn’t even realize what kind of expression he had on his face as we walked through the casino, but I saw it. It definitely said, “What have I gotten myself into?” I was hoping the show would be good.

The Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers

For fun lets call them the RCSD for really-can’t-sing-or-dance. Well, there was one guy who was a pretty good dancer, but I’m not sure whether he was all that good or they were all that bad. When he’d do a high kick, he’d almost smash his nose, but none of the others were anywhere in his league, so even that was distracting rather than entertaining. The singers were consistently weak. I know there are all kinds of really talented people out there dying for an opportunity of any sort. Where were they all when it was time for Royal Caribbean auditions?

The Comedy of Nery Saenz

The best part of that evening’s entertainment was that the RCSD were not the whole show. The bulk of the time was devoted to a really funny comedian. I’m not all that crazy about comedy routines, because usually they cuss too much, use foul language, depend on sexual innuendo and insult people. This comedian managed to be funny without resorting to any of that.

The comedian’s primary shtick focused on how un-glamorous it is to be a comedian on a cruise ship. He poked fun at himself and his husbanding skills. You got the idea that while being away from home all the time was difficult, he really loved his wife and family. He also had a show later that evening, so he’s probably well-versed in cussing, foul language, sexual innuendo and insults, but I didn’t go to that show and I’m glad I didn’t. If only people 18 and older are allowed, I’m probably not going to enjoy it.

After the show it was time for dinner. You won’t want to miss that, so come back next week.

Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Welcome to the Galveston Cruise Terminal

May 7, 2018March 5, 2018 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE: CLIMBING ABOARD OUR CRUISE

After all the difficulties Bill had faced trying to get out of town, our actual departure was fairly smooth. We left within 15 minutes of our targeted ETD. We miscalculated where the HOV lane would dump us, but even going out of our way in downtown Dallas, the traffic was so bad on I-30 we made time with our mistake. About 11, we exited at a rest stop to use the facilities and change drivers. By 2, we were at the cruise terminal, but so were a whole lot of other people.

Not Exactly a Tourist Destination

I want you to know that Galveston is a wonderful place to visit, but you wouldn’t know that from a picture of their port. It is an industrial port with a couple of cruise ships thrown in for good measure. What can I say? It’s ugly!

We dropped our bag off at the terminal and made our way to the parking lot. (Yes, that was a singular bag! I got everything in one suitcase!) We’d saved $5 by booking online (Thank you, Sherry!) We needed to be on board by 3:30 and I hadn’t been worried when we got to the terminal, but the parking lot made me nervous. I don’t even think a hurricane would have lit a fire under these people, but we did make the deadline.

Going Through Security

I understand the need for security measures, but I hate it. You’re passing around important documentation and taking valuable items out of your carry-on, not to mention dressing and undressing. When I’m flying, I try to dress around the metal detectors, but to tell you the truth, I didn’t even think about going through a metal detector to get on board the cruise. Maybe that’s why I had on a metal belt and shoes with metal decorations on them. I took off the offending accessories and tried again. That time my sunglasses set it off.

I went through all the rigmarole of getting dressed again and headed for check-in. Suddenly, I needed my glasses and I couldn’t find them. This would cause a panic in any situation, but if you read my blog last week, then you know why the disappearance of my glasses made me absolutely frantic. I ran through the terminal back to the place where I re-dressed. I made the people at the metal detector and x-ray machine prove my sunglasses weren’t there. I felt tears brimming in my eyes.

I ran back to the pile I’d left next to Bill and started rifling through my backpack again. Bill wasn’t happy. At the moment he was more interested in checking in, but if I had lost my new prescription sunglasses, he was going to be even more unhappy. Sitting in the floor, dumping everything out of the backpack I did find the glasses, but by then I was already suffering heart palpitations. It would take me awhile to get back to normal and before that could happen, I would misplace another pair of glasses.

But enough about my glasses, lets go have lunch.

Architecture, ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Shopping, TRAVEL

A Lovely Afternoon in Passau

December 21, 2016December 21, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: GLADLY GUIDELESS IN GERMANY

After lunch Bill and I ventured into Passau on our own. While we’d been frustrated by our guide’s demeanor during the morning, he had led us through a shopping area and shown us a nice riverside walkway. Passau is no Vienna and we’d had lunch, so Bill was amenable to hoofing it around on our own.

A Marvelous Afternoon

While our morning tour had left a bad taste in our mouth, it had not besmirched the charming little town. The first item on my agenda was to find some tokens for my friends. A thorough search of the room did not turn up any of the darling gingerbread ornaments I bought in Cesky Krumlov, so I needed to get busy. I wanted to get something for my Bible Study girls and then I had a couple of other friends for whom I wanted to buy something more substantial.

Passau has a significant pedestrian area with shops called Ludwigstrasse and nearby are a couple multistory of enclosed malls. My patient husband wandered through all of these with me, hunting down the appropriate souvenirs – only I wasn’t finding much that I thought was appropriate. Finally, we wandered into a knick-knack store and while most of the items were tacky bibelots with the words “Passau, Germany” emblazoned on them, I found a shelf populated with charming ceramic cherubs molded into a variety of poses. I’d found the trinkets I wanted for my Bible Study girls.

Strolling Along the River

I was still baffled about what to get for my best friend and my next door neighbor, who is truly the best next door neighbor in the world, but Mr. Bill was ready to roll. We headed toward the river and were hugely rewarded.

The morning had been chilly in more ways than one. Yes, our guide had been Mr. Rude, but the weather was overly crisp, also. I’d layered up with a denim jacket and a wool cape, but had still been uncomfortable. The afternoon weather was so glorious that we might have been in Dallas on one of its best days.

We discovered it was the first really warm day for Passau that spring and the whole town had turned out to enjoy the river. Children tossed balls into the air. Lovers ogled one another on shared blankets. Giggly girls shared secrets strolling along the river. Another girl sat on a stairway leading down to the river captivated by a book. Beer drinking students toasted everyone that walked by. It was like a movie set!

Once More to the Ludwigstrasse

Armed with a map the rude guide had provided, Bill and I maneuvered around the finger of land pointing to the confluence of the Inn, the Ilz and the Danube. When we got back to the boat, Bill agreed to hit the Ludwigstrasse with me one more time. I was in a tizzy. I had to finish packing and dress for dinner soon, but I just didn’t want to head home without something for my friends.

As I bounced from storefront to storefront appalled at the pricing, Bill came to the rescue. One of the clothing stores was having a bit of a sidewalk sale and Bill pointed it out. I doubted anything would be affordable, even marked down, because all the prices I had seen were pretty steep. Bill helped me figure out the exchange rate and the discount. Suddenly, I was all smiles. Not only had we found exactly what I’d love to get for Deb and Sherry, but I wasn’t going to break the bank!

It was a quiet night on board. The evening happy hour was devoted to disembarking instructions. Dinner was delicious, but sad. We’d made wonderful friends and we didn’t know when we’d see them again. Then there we had to be out early in the morning. For all practical purposes, the cruise was over.

Come back next week and I’ll get you back to Dallas. In the meantime, enjoy this video of our final stop.

ART, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Music, Performing Arts, TRAVEL

A Great Night of On-board Entertainment

November 30, 2016October 13, 2016 Jane Sadek

Cruise buddy Deb hams it up with the talent — Cruise buddy, Deb, hams it up with the talent

TRAVEL THERE: RODGERS, HAMMERSTEIN AND MOZART

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, it did!

Back to Elegant Dining

I’d been disappointed by the over-hyped Taste of Austria dinner. Visually, it had been lovely, but the culinary experience couldn’t beat what we’d already been enjoying. Quality not quantity is my interest.

After my trot around Linz, we scurried back to the boat and I jumped into my evening attire. This was the penultimate evening of the cruise and the captain was throwing a cocktail party. That included a toast, which meant champagne would be served. So I was janie-on-the spot in the lounge. I didn’t want to miss any champagne. The captain didn’t try to labor through another bout of English, thankfully. Instead our cruise director translated for him.

After the toast, the lederhosen, dirndls and oom-pah-pah were gone from the dining room- much to our relief. We waxed nostalgic about our service throughout the evening as if we’d been living on the boat for years, instead of a matter of days. The Viking Daily had promised Mozart and the Sound of Music as our evenings entertainment and we wondered how that mixture would pan out.

A Salzburgian Romp

A troupe of singers appeared and offered a few tunes. Their voices were wonderful and they wore authentic period costumes. The evening started out very high-brow and then they began the audience participation part of the performance. I was not surprised in the least that they chose Bill. They always choose Bill. I’m beginning to think he must be offering bribes. Anyway, here’s a few photos from his appearance.

That was fun, but the next part was even more wonderful. They switched from classical to a classic, The Sound of Music. I can’t say I was actually yearning for tunes from the Julie Andrews movie, but as soon as the first few bars of intro wafted through the lounge, I had tears in my eyes. The singers merely zipped through the soundtrack, hitting the high points, which was lovely, but I secretly wanted more. I wanted to be reminded of every frame of the movie and especially Edelweiss, which is on my personal top 10 (along with Leon Russell’s Stranger in a Strange Land, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Gordon Lightfoot’s Rainy Day People.) I’ve never streamed a movie to my phone, but it did cross my mind that evening.

The performers were real characters. They were hamming it up with all the guests, so Bill wasn’t the only one to garner their attention. He’s just the only one who entered the spotlight. After the performers left, the tempo got much faster and the girls hit the dance floor. I have a few more photos to share below.

The boat didn’t head towards our next destination until 10:30 and I’d entertained thoughts of taking another stroll onshore, but it didn’t happen. If you let them, Viking will fill every moment of your day and that’s what happened on this particular day, except for the visit to the Mariendom.

Next up is Passau, Germany. Come back next week and visit this lovely little town at the confluence of rivers.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Checking Out the Czech Republic

October 26, 2016October 8, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: SHORE EXCURSION TO CESKY KRUMLOV

The city of Linz provided our starting point for a bus trip to the Czech Republic. I woke up to this lovely landscape, complete with Ferris wheel – a pleasant surprise. Breakfast was early, because the bus boarded at 8:30. Our cruise buddies were assigned to the same bus as we were. I think one of them had done the legwork to see that this happened and I appreciated it, because it make the excursion a very special day.

First Things First

If you’re headed to Cesky Krumlov, don’t call it Cesky. Cesky means something like ‘bend in the river’ and apparently the Czech Republic has a lot of crooked rivers, because there are a lot of Cesky Thises and Cesky Thats. Perfectly fine to shorten it to Krumlov, because that’s unique.

Next up, we loved our guide – a young hip guy who grew up in Cesky Krumlov and loves his little city. We were half in love with it too before we even arrived.

A funny part of the bus trip was the stop at a service station. I was never quite clear why we did it – something about changing money, but we just stretched our legs and took a stroll around the convenience store. It reminded me of a roadside stop in the Bahamas with Josay, the worst tour guide we’ve ever had. All the tour buses stopped there, but it was certainly no Buc-ee’s.

Sneaking in the Back Door

One thing you’ll discover if you sail with Viking – they’ve got this cruising thing down pat. I’ve cruised with a number of different lines, both river and ocean, and I never have seen anybody who has the logistics of things figured out so completely. They park their boats in the best places, their tour buses are just steps away from the gangplank each morning and their guides are without a doubt the best-dressed and most professional of any I saw.

Cesky Krumlov certainly qualifies as a tourist trap. By the time we hit the castle proper, there was a deluge of folks standing around listening to a guide. I can only imagine the parking nightmare somewhere around that town, but Viking had it’s own parking lot somewhere on the garden end of the castle grounds, away from the nightmare.

Because of Viking, we stepped off the bus and into a Renaissance garden. Fountains danced, the sun was shining and I was a happy camper. Our guide allowed us a few Kodak moments and then led us down the hill and through a back gate to the castle proper. There we were treated to some of the most charming vistas of the day.

The Castle Proper

Cesky Krumlov Castle is a UNESCO site and they do a pretty good job of attaching their name to the best places in the world. You may never have heard of the Lords of Krumlovs, but their castle grew into an architectural history lesson. Rather than rush you through it, the way my tour did, I’ll invite you to come back next week, but in the meantime, enjoy this video of our day in Cesky Krumlov.

Accommodations, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL, Travel Planning

Cesky Krumlov and the Czech Republic

October 19, 2016October 20, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: SOME PLACES SEEM FURTHER AWAY THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE

“Go” is an important word in my vocabulary. Whatever the destination, I want to go. I want to go to Tucumcari and Timbuktu. I want to go on safari and I want to go shopping. I want to go on a boat and in a plane. However, I confess, given the option, I’ll go for the exotic every time. Maybe not the inconvenient and uncomfortable, but exotic? I’m all over it.

That’s how I ended up on a cruise visiting Budapest, Bratislava and Cesky Krumlov. These aren’t cities the majority of American travelers visit, so they were ever so much more interesting to me. I was particularly interested in Cesky Krumlov.

I Remember Czechoslovakia

Though there is nothing new under the sun, this old world has changed a lot since I was a kid. I grew up thinking of gray-suited Soviet bureaucrats, each with a finger on the nuclear red button, as the bad guys. Nowadays the bad guys wear turbans and are more likely to have dirty bombs than an ICBM. I also grew up with a country named Czechoslovakia being mentioned on the nightly news. That’s back when a guy in Poland, named Lech Wałęsa, was causing a lot of headaches for those guys with the red button.

In my twenties I was a regular visitor to West TX on Labor Day. This charming little town, which is actually in Central TX, has a festival that celebrates all things Czech – especially kolaches and polka music. I crushed on one of the local folk dancers, lived from year to year with dreams of potato pancakes with brats and thought Brave Combo was one of the coolest bands ever. (I’m over my crush, but I still love Brave Combo. I still love the kolaches, too, but rarely allow myself the indulgence.)

When I first read Viking’s Danube Waltz itinerary, the inclusion of the Czech Republic gave me pause. The last time I checked, the Danube didn’t visit ~~Czechoslovakia~~ the Czech Republic. Closer inspection revealed Cesky Krumlov would be reached by a bus trip from the dock in Linz. That made more sense.

Other Viking Options

Perhaps exotic is not your thing. If so, Viking has you covered. If bus trips don’t do it for you, then cruisers are welcome to enjoy a walking tour in Linz. I must warn you however, if you take the walking tour, someone could get a picture of you on this obnoxious yellow tram. I think it’s important for you to realize this. The memory stick of photos we purchased on the cruise included a series of these tram pictures, some of them with close-ups. Tourists beware!

If bus trips aren’t your problem, but you’ve never wandered around Austria, then there’s a shore excursion touring the countryside around Linz and I would heartily recommend it. Austria is gorgeous, especially when you get away from the big cities and wander the verdant farmlands dotted with small towns and onion-domed churches. Having had the opportunity to do that, I knew I had to hit Cesky Krumlov. On the other hand, having wandered the verdant farmlands dotted with small towns and onion-domed churches, it was very tempting to enjoy it again.

Let me tell you about the third option which was enjoyed by a number of my fellow cruisers. I think they are crazy, but perhaps you’ll like their option. We were on the boat with people who never never disembarked between the embarkation in Budapest and the final destination. One of them was a delightful lady in a wheelchair and I got her. She had no desire to maneuver her very cool motorized wheelchair through the streets of Europe, but she was so happy for her husband to have the opportunity. She was petted and cooed over by the staff, and it was apparent she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

But she wasn’t alone with the crew on the boat during the day and the rest of her tribe wasn’t wheelchair-bound. They just didn’t like all that shore excursion stuff. They were having the time of their lives. They’d gaily wave adios to their disembarking traveling companions in the morning and I have no idea how they occupied themselves while we were gone, but come lunch time they had the best seats in the dining room all filled up. If there were afternoon shore excursions, they’d repeat the fond farewell of the morning and when we came back in the evening, they staked out the Aquivit Terrace as their own. Fat chance having a drink on the bow if you didn’t have friends among the these shore excursion dropouts.

So, let me urge you, if your significant other is just dying to go on a cruise and the thought of enduring days and days of shore excursions makes you a little crazy, so ahead and go on a cruise. You can go on a cruise, never leave the boat, and still have a great time. Your cruise-loving companion will love you for it.

Well, we didn’t quite get to Cesky Krumlov, so I guess you’ll just have to come back next week. See you then!

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