Christmas Markets on the Elbe: Prague Day One
Bags outside the door by 0645, down to breakfast, back to the room to brush teeth, and get ready for the bus ride to Prague. It was a longer ride than I had anticipated, through snowy, icy roads and I regretted having both orange juice AND coffee with breakfast. I was eager to get off the bus in Prague quickly and find the nearest ladles’ room, and thanking God for getting me there in a timely fashion.
The Prague Hilton is huge. I am so thankful it is mid-winter, not even the peak of winter travel, and that it is not crowded. There is a large poker tournament going on. The Viking people have their own desk and helpers, we always know where to go with a question or a problem.
We set off immediately for our Prague tour, briefly on the bus which dropped us off near the Charles Bridge.
Our guide uses a Quiet Voice system, so we have ear-pieces on. We can hear her from about thirty feet or less, so while we are having our picture taken, we are also listening to her tell us stuff. Mostly to stick together as a group. There must be a hundred groups crossing the Charles Bridge.
So many tourists! You can’t imagine! We have crossed this bridge before, other years, even on New Year’s Eve Day, with our son – never like this. Prague is discovered.
We walked, crossed a small portion of the bridge with lots of tourists, walked a little around Old Prague – not going inside, and then, just around when the Astrological clock would be striking, then the guide took us down in the basement of the Bethlehem church for some kind of exhibition – we were free to use the restrooms and warm up, but we had hardly been out long enough to get cold. As we left the church, we told the guide we would leave and make our way back to the hotel on our own.
We eat the Bulgarians lunch
Ah! Free at last! We love roaming, and we were hungry. We found a wonderful restaurant, Deer, just about full, but room for us.
It was beautiful, and the beer was good, and we ordered deer, a consommé, and deer ravioli for me and a “fallow” deer for my husband. My consommé arrived, and it was light and delicious. Then our meals arrived, (sorry, we were hungry and forgot to take photos) and my husband’s was right and mine was not, but it looked great so I figured we might have been misunderstood and we ate our meals with delight.
As it came time to pay, the waitress brought our bill and AdventureMan looked it over – it was the original order, AdventureMan told her I had received, and eaten the more expensive meal, and would she adjust the bill so we would pay (more) for what we had eaten.
With some confusion, she went away, came back with the corrected bill – and told the people at the next table that there had been some confusion, and we had received their meal. We apologized profusely, and we were all laughing. They asked the waitress to please hurry the same meal to them and we had a great conversation, as we waited, them asking us if it had been a good meal and us assuring them it had been delicious. So much goodwill. They didn’t hate us for eating their lunch!
We found the main market, at the Clock Tower, and wandered around.
I checked Google and there was a bus from right at the market directly to our hotel, Bus 194, and we caught it. How cool is that? Equally cool is that in Prague, public transportation is free if you are 70 or older (some say 65). You MUST have ID with you to prove your age, but you ride FREE!
It took us through the narrow back streets of Prague, past interesting hotels and restaurants way off the beaten track. At one point the driver had to get out and move a garbage can in his way – the streets were VERY narrow. It was great fun and dropped us near the Prague Hilton.
We rested – we had already done 15,000 steps. We wanted to head to another Christmas Market. Confident we now understood the bus system, I asked Google Maps how to get to bus 135, but every bus that arrived with that number said (something in Czech) and DO NOT GET ON THIS BUS so we figured out they were going out of service. After waiting over an hour for one in service, we were really cold so we came back and ate a thoroughly mediocre expensive meal at the Hilton. Another day with over 17,000 steps – it has become routine on this trip 😁.
Christmas Markets on the Elbe: Saxon Alps and Bad Schandau
We got underway during breakfast, and sailed past increasingly hilly and interesting landscapes until the port talk at ten, which had to do with options in for a bus and hike at the top of the “Alps” and our dis-embarking in Decin. We went back to our room and shortly afterward, the alarm beeps started. We thought it was a mistake. They went on. And on.
I looked out and the fire door was closed. We got our life jackets and headed out but our room steward told us it was just a small thing, we didn’t need jackets, just a little problem. Then an announcement came asking all passengers to go to the lounge, and in the lounge, I was in a place where I could watch the crew. They were all in life jackets, and trying to keep the fire doors closed, except they had to keep opening them because there was no bathroom in the lounge; passengers could not go to their rooms, only to the one public restroom near the staterooms. Very strange.
Then the Captain announced that we could all go to lunch, but not to our staterooms.
As we sat at lunch, a fire truck pulled up, full of firemen. They put on hazard gear, and then – they came through the restaurant, to get to the engines at the back of the ship, I am guessing. Then came several cars of police, we don’t know why. After an hour or so, the firemen started leaving, the police came and left, and the Beyla continued very slowly upriver to a small town, Konigstein, where we stopped a while, a mechanic got on, more officials came back and forth, and a group got off to go hike up on the “Alps of Germany”. We sat in the lounge observing, and then the Beyla continued, slowly, to Bad Shandau.
It was almost dark when we arrived, we knew the group was expected back at 4:30 and we wanted to see if we could find an ATM in Bad Shandau, so we asked if we had time to walk into town before the boat departed again. The desk person told us yes, that the Beyla would not be departing tonight for Decin, but would remain in Bad Shandau until the problem could be remedied. (We still don’t know exactly what problem.)
We walked into the town, which reminded me of many small German towns we have lived in, lit up and decorated for Christmas, beautifully, simply, mostly with natural materials. We found an ATM and a halal butcher, a bakery or two still open, small clothing stores and gift stores. It was one of my favorite stops.
We never see another passenger from the ship. We have this small town of Bad Schandau all to ourselves.
Many buildings have high water markings, showing how high the Elbe has risen during floods
As you might guess, I find these wood carvings charming. If I didn’t already have one, from long ago, I would be so tempted to buy a couple more. But how many do I need? How do I get this back with my limited baggage? And who will want this when I am gone? Reluctantly, I pass.
Back on the Beyla, the crew continued heroically. Some people didn’t even know we were supposed to leave for Decin. It was our last night on board the ship, with a jolly group at dinner. I had pumpkin soup, chicken in wine sauce, and a plum tart, all wonderful. There are many of these passengers we hope we will see again, on a future cruise.
We went back to the cabin to finish up our packing and ready ourselves for arrival in Prague.
Christmas Markets on the Elbe: Meissen
We left Torgau early in the morning cruising slowly through the snowy landscape to Meissen, with an arrival just after lunch. We are all delighted for the opportunity to catch up – re-organize our suitcases, catch up on e-mails, just watch the Elbe drift by – so very rural, all the way. Churches. Monasteries. Fields. People are out walking their dogs. We love that so many wave at the boat.
We are right in the middle of the demographic on board. There are some young sixty’s. There is one woman, stalwart and brave, who is 88. We like her a lot. The people who have chosen this cruise are interesting; we all tend to switch around at meals and have gotten to know one another. When there are only maybe 90 passengers, you become familiar quickly. There is one group of maybe 22 people who were all from Philadelphia, worked together in a start-up back-in-the-day, and who have traveled together for years. They are also good mixers.
The big topic is The Next Chapter. Some of us have already downsized, some are in the process, and some are contemplating it. While I was not a big collector as a young wife, I do have treasures, some with which I have parted, and some of my Middle East treasures passed along to Little Diamond. The problem we all have is that we all have treasures our children and our culture no longer value. Times are changing, no one wants a buggy whip or fine china or crystal champagne glasses for 40 people, LOL.
We board the bus for the Meissen factory, but once there, we told Eve we would take off and we could make our way back to the boat on our own. I think she was taken aback, but she rolled with it after asking Gary “You don’t want to learn about porcelain making?” and then to me, in disbelief “You don’t want to buy some Meissen pieces?” “No,” I responded, “We just want to walk and enjoy our time here.” And she let us go.
We stopped and picked up money at the ATM, limited to under $500/day. That would be plenty, except that we are trying to gather funds for our June trip with the family. I asked some nice women, one with a baby carriage, how to get to the market, and they gave me simple directions. I can still speak and understand the simplest German, not the complicated German.
The town hall has numbered its windows like an Advent Calender, and they open to a different display with each day. We walked around the market – and then headed up to the cathedral on the top of the hill, a hike of several hundred steps uphill, with a few level areas where we could catch our breath as much younger hikers breezed past us. It’s humbling.
But what a thrill to reach the top, see the massive church complex at the top of the hill, look out over 180 degrees of vineyards, the Elbe, the old city of Meissen and the newer areas.
Sometimes, when you’ve done something like climb straight uphill on snowy, icy steps, and you’ve made it – it’s just great to be alive.
We slowly wound our way down the hill via the streets, and the steps, ending up back in the old market. Nearby, we found a cafe where we ordered the hot chocolate (it comes with lots of whipped cream) and apfelstrudel.
I actually like the decorations sold in some of these specialty shops better than the goods I see in the Christmas Markets.
The walk back to the ship was actually very short, but also windy and we were cold when we got back. I snuggled up under the featherbed for a nice, but short snooze. It was the Viking Explorers cocktail hour night, special drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and then the announcement of the German Night dinner and our Port talk for the next day’s visit to Dresden, 90% destroyed by allied bombers near the end of WWII.
Not my favorite dinner, but lovely for those unfamiliar with German food. Heavy emphasis on Bavarian fare, blue and white decorations, sausages on the table, first course of charcuterie, nice cuts of black forest ham, salami, and some very nice cheeses (sort of odd progression.) Then a buffet of primarily sausages and noodles, rot kohl, but also some sauerbraten and chicken schnitzel, which I had with green salad and a little potato salad. Skipped dessert, still happy with the afternoon’s apfelstrudel. Around 2030 my husband kicked me under the table to indicate he was ready to leave. Got things ready for the next day, got ready for bed, and had one of the best night’s sleep since we arrived.
Christmas Markets on the Elbe: Wittenberg
Off to Wittenberg, where our guide Christian takes us first to the old Catholic Church where Martin Luther posted his 95 theses, against practices of the Catholic Church which, according to his reading of scriptures, were just wrong and needed to be corrected. He did not intend to create a schism or a new religion. So here is the portal where there once was a door that is no more, burned in a fire, where Luther posted his 95 theses requesting correction of wrong-doings by the church.
From there, visited various neighborhoods in Wittenberg, visiting Martin Luther’s home with Katerina Von Bora (a wondrous woman Luther referred to as his morning star, a hilarious reference with a double entendre, as a morning star is also a lethal medieval cudgel with pointed spikes on its head.
We ended up downtown at St. Mary’s, the church where Martin Luther preached, a beautiful fine place, more simple and much less elaborate than the Catholic Church. Christian gave us so much information; that I am now not able to keep it all straight.
I am grinning because someone had made a snowball and tucked it in Katarina’s curled hand. It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it! But it did give me a grin.
Below is the church where Martin Luther preached, after being excommunicated from the church and marrying Katarina Von Bora, who escaped a nunnery with several other women not interested in being nuns.
He told us about Luther’s anti-Semitism, in the context of the times, and of the town and the church’s continuing attempts to find redemption in coordination with its Jewish community. Christian told us about the tragic waste of the holocaust, how it hurt all humanity, and that the German people are determined that such a mindset will never again take hold in today’s Germany. We can only hope.
This time, we were successful in obtaining money from the ATM. We wandered through the Christmas Market and found our way back to the bus. We had a short trip to meet up once again with the Beyla, which in our absence, had transferred to the little town of Zahna-Elster. We quickly cleaned up, ate lunch and the Beyla left Zahna-Elster to make our way up the Elbe to Torgau, where the American Forces and Russian forces met near the end of World War II.
For the first time since our departure on Monday, we have had some time to breathe. We strolled through the lounge, admiring all the decorated Christmas trees, we organized our room, participated in the safety drill, and met up once again with Janice and Don. It was over very quickly, we came back to our cabin and as my husband napped, I uploaded photos, caught up with correspondence, and organized my thoughts to begin this journal of our journey.
I went to the nearby coffee and tea station, which also has three kinds of cookies, to pick up some chocolate cookies before I woke my husband (his favorite cookies). We gathered in the lounge for the Port Talk with Eva, as she briefed us on tomorrow’s excursions and events. After that, there is a walk into Torgau to view the memorial.
We went early enough to get good seats for the Port Talk, but as my husband decided he would go after all (he hadn’t wanted to get so cold again), and I decided not to go – Eve had emphasized how slippery it was and that anyone with mobility problems might not want to go, and that Torgau is always the coldest place she has ever visited, LOL. I thought “I’ll just skip this one.”
I snuggled under the featherbed, happy not to be out hiking in the dark.
Christmas Markets on the Elbe: Viking Beyla
When we signed up for this trip, the world was still deep in the midst of the COVID plague, and signing up was a leap of faith. We loved that Viking gave us a risk-free guarantee; if we needed to cancel, we would lose nothing. We admire Viking for the integrity of their operations, the quality of the people they hire, the respect with which they treat their employees, and the high degree of content in their shore excursions. We also greatly appreciate the freedom they give us to go on their excursions or to go on our own, and that they provide shuttles back to the ship.
For almost three years we waited to take this trip. We love Viking’s ocean voyages, and we also love the river voyages, particularly because many times they dock right in the city we are visiting and we can come and go, have dinner at some amazing restaurant on land, as long as we are back at the ship for departure. Viking is a line for grown-ups. They treat us with respect, and most of their customers are repeat customers.
We had no idea what the sailing part of this trip would look like. We found a couple YouTube videos and they made it look rural, somewhat industrial, and kind of boring. Our experience – admittedly enhanced by almost unceasing light snowfall – was very different. It was magical.
The portrait of Beyla, handmaid to Freya at the head of the stairs.
On our last day aboard the Beyla, the fire warning sounded. Our cabin attendant said it must be a mistake, but shortly after that, the Captain made an announcement asking all passengers to please move to the lounge, which we did. We didn’t know what was happening, but learned there was a small fire in the engine room, and they wanted to be sure the passengers were kept safe.
Our admiration for Viking procedures only grew. We made an unscheduled docking, where fire trucks and police appeared while we were eating lunch. How did the kitchen crew get lunch ready while there was a fire alert? How did all the scheduled tours get re-routed to accomodate the new docking?
It wasn’t scary. It was fascinating. We love operational planning, and we love to see professionals in action during inevitable unforeseen circumstances. We thought Viking handled this disturbance with poise and good training.
And now back to our daily destinations and Christmas Markets!
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