Some Final Thoughts
This was an amazing trip. I was very impressed with how amazing the Viking staff was and how excellent the customer service was. The food on the ship was wonderful. They really went out of their way to accommodate Mark's food allergies.
I was impressed by how devastating the second world war was on Europe. The bombings destroyed much of the historic buildings. Although there has been a concerted effort to rebuild as close to the originals it is a shame to have lost so much history. It was very evident that whole communities of Jewish people were decimated. It was very common to come to a street called Judenstrasse (Jewish Street) and find that there was nothing Jewish about it today. There were no Temples, shops, mikvas or any other evidence that Jews had lived and thrived there.
I had really wanted to go through the Panama Canal but since going through 50 locks on this trip I don't think I need to go through another one!!!
I love traveling with Rick and Sandi. They are lots of fun and add a lot if information and knowledge to the trip.
If anyone wants to go on a Viking cruise please let me know as I have some $100 coupons.
By the way, Mark took the gold ring we were given in Paris to a jeweler and it is a fake...what a scam!!! But I do feel much better that I did not take something that was of value to someone else.
Friday, August 3, 2012
July 29 Prague
Today is our last full day of the trip. Our first stop is the Prague castle. The castle was built in in 1344 by Emperor Charles IV for whom much of Prague is named. The palace was opened to the public after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. It was the offices of the Communist party before that. The current appearance of the castle dates back 250 years. The last king to live here was Rudolph II in 1612.
As we approached the castle we arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard. This is repeated hourly at each of the gates.
It was Sunday and the bells began to ring as our tour guide was talking about it. She waited to continue but after 15 minutes of bell ringing, we proceeded around the cathedral to continue our tour.
Jews first came to Prague in the 10th century since it was on an important trade route. By 1215 they were forced to live in ghettos by the pope. The gates were locked at night and during Christian holidays. At various times through history the Jews were protected by the king, or the victims of persecution. The 16th century was the best time for the Jews in Prague. In 1680 Old Town burned including the ghetto. The only buildings that remain from the ghetto are 3 synagogues and the cemetery. The Jews only had one site as a cemetery and over the years they had to add more levels, but the tombstones were all raised to the current level, resulting in thousands of tombstones only inches from each other. The oldest synagogue, called the Old New Synagogue, dates back to 1270. The Jews were taxed not only by the city but also by the king because he offered them protection.
Today is our last full day of the trip. Our first stop is the Prague castle. The castle was built in in 1344 by Emperor Charles IV for whom much of Prague is named. The palace was opened to the public after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. It was the offices of the Communist party before that. The current appearance of the castle dates back 250 years. The last king to live here was Rudolph II in 1612.
As we approached the castle we arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard. This is repeated hourly at each of the gates.
The cathedral next to the castle was first built in the 10th century. The 2nd church was built in the 12th century and the 3rd by Charles IV in 1344. Newer additions were built in the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest parts of the church are black with age but they can’t clean them without damaging the soft sandstone from which it is made. The cathedral has 20 chapels, the nicest one to Saint Wenceslas, the duke to Bohemia during the 10th century. He is referred to in a Christmas carol as “Good King Wenceslas”, however this song is not familiar to the Czechs.
Sunday services are going on so we do not go into the church. The Czech Republic is not religious and about 68% are atheists.
It was Sunday and the bells began to ring as our tour guide was talking about it. She waited to continue but after 15 minutes of bell ringing, we proceeded around the cathedral to continue our tour.
We exit through the front gate of the castle and arrive at a street where there are palaces that were built by the rich and powerful in the 17thand 18th centuries. We also have a view over the Little Quarter of Prague, the US and German embassies and the river.
We return to the bus and drive past a stadium built 80 years ago by the communists. It was built to hold 250,000 people for sporting events. In the hills above Prague there are many nice homes built in the 18th and 19th centuries.
We continue our walking tour through a park along the river. As we approach the Charles Bridge, we see many restored homes. There is a wall that Prague residents paint with pictures, words, etc. It was first painted as a memorial to John Lennon’s death and it continues to be painted over again and again today.
As we walk across the Charles Bridge, our tour guide talks about several of the 30 statues on the bridge. The statues weren’t added until the 17th century. One of the most viewed ones is of St. John of Nepomuk who was thrown from the bridge in 1393 after taking the side of the church in a dispute with the king. In 1387 the first stone bridge was built here replacing a wooden one.. At one end of the bridge is a small building that was the toll house for collecting taxes to cross the bridge.
We continued our stroll into Old Town, as our guide described the history of various buildings. At the corner of one is a statue to Rabbi Lowe, the rabbi from the Golem story, who is buried in the Jewish cemetery.
We ended up in the old town square by the astronomical clock to watch the figurines move at noon.
We had been told that the Jewish Quarter was closed for the holiday of Tu B'Shvat (the commemoration of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem) so we had arranged for a private tour guide to take us to the Terezin concentration camp. Our Viking tour leader, Monigue, found out that the Quarter was indeed open so we called our guide and negotiated for him to give us a tour of the Quarter. His name is Jay and he was very knowledgable about the Quarter and the Jewish customs.
We had lunch at the Golem café before meeting our guide. There is a legend that Rabbi Lowe created a robot like creature from clay to protect the residents of the ghetto. One day the Golem got out of control, caused damage and hurt people so the rabbi made him lifeless again. The Golem supposedly is still asleep in the attic of the Old New synagogue.
We met our tour guide, Jay, and he took us for a walk through the streets of Old Town to show where the Ghetto walls used to be. We went into 4 synagogues that are all museums today, learning about the history of the Jewish quarter, and who their influential leaders were throughout the years.
Jews first came to Prague in the 10th century since it was on an important trade route. By 1215 they were forced to live in ghettos by the pope. The gates were locked at night and during Christian holidays. At various times through history the Jews were protected by the king, or the victims of persecution. The 16th century was the best time for the Jews in Prague. In 1680 Old Town burned including the ghetto. The only buildings that remain from the ghetto are 3 synagogues and the cemetery. The Jews only had one site as a cemetery and over the years they had to add more levels, but the tombstones were all raised to the current level, resulting in thousands of tombstones only inches from each other. The oldest synagogue, called the Old New Synagogue, dates back to 1270. The Jews were taxed not only by the city but also by the king because he offered them protection.
In 1850 the Jews were freed from the ghetto and allowed to live elsewhere. As the area became vacant, it became a slum and was eventually torn down and rebuilt. In 1868 a reform synagogue was built in the Spanish-Moorish style. It is still a beautiful building today.
As we ended our tour with Jay, our feet were sore from walking all day so we went back to Old Town Square for a beer. It started to rain but our table was covered by an umbrella, so we stayed reasonably dry. When it stopped, we found a taxi and went back to the hotel.
We had our final dinner in Prague at a nice local restaurant in the Imperial Hotel. The walls were covered in colorful ceramic tiles and art. It was a pleasant meal and a nice way to end the trip.
Again, thank you to my sister as I used some of her blog for this one.
July 28
We departed the ship after breakfast for our final two days of the trip. Our final destination for the day is Prague with a stop in Nuremberg along the way. The heat has finally broken but we were greeted with intermittent rain.
Our guide in Nuremberg is Rolf. Nuremberg was founded around the year 1050 and was the center of Nazi rallies in the 1930’s. Between 1300 -1600 Nuremberg was one of the 5 richest cities in Europe. Today it is more a working class city with a population of 500,000.
Hitler decided to have his Nazi rallies here for two reasons. First, the city has a major railway system making it easy for people to travel there. Secondly, this was the city of Imperial coronations during the middle ages. Hitler saw this as his city for coronation.
Our first stop was at the Nazi parade grounds. Here the Nazis would have massive demonstrations and parades, first with the brown shirt Nazi party members and their shovels, and later as a military force. The rallies would last several days. Surrounding the grounds were high beam lights shot light straight up for 8 km. The light was so intense that it could be seen as far away as the Czech Republic. Today the parade grounds are still used for car races and rock concerts but is in disrepair. Next to the parade grounds is the Nazi Congress Hall that was started in 1935 but never finished.
We returned to the buses as the rain started to fall. We saw from the bus some of the remaining the old city walls. Our next stop was the courthouse where the Nuremberg trials were held. The Allies decided to have the trials here for security reasons. The courthouse is connected to the jail so the prisoners never had to be transported outside. The trials lasted from November 1945 until October 1946. The four judges were from the US, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. 24 Nazi leaders were tried for Major War crimes here. They all professed their innocence until Rudolph Hess took the stand and described in great detail his role in murdering over 1milion people at Auschwitz. In October 1946 12 Nazi leaders were sentenced to death and 3 were acquitted. The rest were given prison sentences.
We again retreated to the buses as it started to rain and proceeded to the Imperial Castle. The castle was first built in 1050 and its current form is from 1545. The emperors would only live here a few weeks a year. They traveled between their many castles all over the country during the year to rule their country. The most important function of this castle was for coronation of a new emperor. The royalty would come here to swear their allegiance to their new ruler.
The castle was built with some interesting defense mechanisms, but the castle was never attacked. It was, however, badly damaged in WWII and was rebuilt. The city was destroyed in the war, but most people survived because of the extensive beer cellars underground to which they retreated during the attack. Reconstruction of the city started in the 1950’s and was completed in 1970.
The rain had stopped as we toured the castle. We then proceeded to the old town square where we had time to look around, shop and have lunch. As it was Saturday, there were a lot of locals in the old square enjoying lunch, shopping at the produce stands and listening to the various musical groups. A stage was set up for a music concert to be held that evening.
We walked around and did some shopping before returning to the bus. We left Nuremberg at 1:00pm and continued onto Prague.
Thank you my sister Sandi as I copied this from her blog. She has a better memory than I do....she is six years younger.
We arrived in Prague at about 5:30. We went to our hotel, the Hilton. This is the hotel that US presidents stay in when they visit Prague. It is beautiful and very modern. After a quick shower we headed for the Kampa Park restaurant where we had reservations for dinner. We walked across the famous Charles Bridge to the restaurant that is located at the foot of the bridge in a very famous park. We had a wonderful table along the river. Unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction to something and I felt slightly ill and could not eat my lovely dinner. I did enjoy the company and the view. Back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.
July 27, 2012 Bamberg
Today we took a bus to Bamberg, a city known for its Rauchbier, a smoked beer made with malt that's been dried over open flames. Eight breweries operate here upholding a tradition that's two centuries old. I tried the beer and I really liked it. I hope I can find it in St. Louis.
It might be surprising to learn that this inebriating city was founded largely on a very sober Christian faith. In 1007, Emperor Heinrich II made Bamberg the center of the Holy roman Empire and the capital of his reign. He intended for it to become a second Rome, like its Italian model, Bamberg was built on seven hills, each with a church on top. He ordered the building of a new cathedral, which was consecrated in 1012 and remains the architectural and spiritual heart of the city. The cathedral art work includes three dimensional art like this leg. Both the Emperor and his wife were buried in the cathedral, as was Pope Clement II. Heinrich also founded St. Michael's Abbey for the training of the clergy. Both are still standing and are considered superb examples of late Romanesque architecture. Soon, Bamberg was the center of the Holy roman Empire and bishops became princes of the land. but the Protestant Reformation eventually cut the bishopric's territory in half. Later, the 17th century Bamberg witch trials cast a dark and tempestuous curtain over the city. Bamberg was unusual in that five of its mayors--all men--were identified as accomplices to witches and burned at the stake.
Bamberg's prosperity has always been linked to the river. In the Middle Ages, it was the starting point for shipping on the Main, and its now the northern starting point of the Main-Danube Canal that was built between 1960 and 1992. It is also a vibrant cultural center that blossomed beginning in the late 17th century at the time of the founding of the University and rose to prominence 100 years later when Bamberg became the center of the Enlightenment for southern Germany.
One of the few cities in Germany not destroyed by World War II bombing, Bamberg is the largest Old town to retain its medieval structures; because of this, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Along with its Gothic, baroque and Romanesque architecture, the city was laid out according to medieval planning rules as a cross with churches at the four cardinal points.
When we arrived back at the boat, there was a challah and wine waiting for us so that we could have a brief service to welcome the Sabbath. The boat's chef used my sister's challah recipe to make his first challah. Although there were about a dozen Jewish passengers we only had about half a dozen at the service and several were not Jewish.
Today we took a bus to Bamberg, a city known for its Rauchbier, a smoked beer made with malt that's been dried over open flames. Eight breweries operate here upholding a tradition that's two centuries old. I tried the beer and I really liked it. I hope I can find it in St. Louis.
Bamberg's prosperity has always been linked to the river. In the Middle Ages, it was the starting point for shipping on the Main, and its now the northern starting point of the Main-Danube Canal that was built between 1960 and 1992. It is also a vibrant cultural center that blossomed beginning in the late 17th century at the time of the founding of the University and rose to prominence 100 years later when Bamberg became the center of the Enlightenment for southern Germany.
One of the few cities in Germany not destroyed by World War II bombing, Bamberg is the largest Old town to retain its medieval structures; because of this, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Along with its Gothic, baroque and Romanesque architecture, the city was laid out according to medieval planning rules as a cross with churches at the four cardinal points.
When we arrived back at the boat, there was a challah and wine waiting for us so that we could have a brief service to welcome the Sabbath. The boat's chef used my sister's challah recipe to make his first challah. Although there were about a dozen Jewish passengers we only had about half a dozen at the service and several were not Jewish.
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