River-cruising holiday provides
wonderful moments in Europe
Nancy Czerny in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
If the buildings on the shoreline could talk, imagine the stories they could tell!
The beauty of years of detailed construction work is told when one visits European churches, cathedrals. Truly, a photographer's delight!
During the day, or at night, traversing a lock is interesting and offers photo opportunities!
By George Czerny
We have had the privilege and joy of
having a front-row seat to a performance by world-class zitherist,
Tomy Temerson.
It was aboard the cruiseship Avalon
Luminary, as we sailed on the scenic Main River in Germany on a sunny
day.
In one word, they – Tomy
Temerson's concert and the cruise – were sensational.
In the space of eleven days, with
nine of them aboard the Avalon Luminary, our cruise holiday not only
entertained us with music, but we also enjoyed a lecture about the
European Economic Union, as well as excursions ashore to enjoy
wine-tasting and to see historic, interesting sites.
For us, the Avalon Luminary cruise
was a holiday of magnificent proportion. From the day we purchased
our tickets to the moment we left Amsterdam airport to fly back to
Toronto, Canada, everything was well organized and our every need was
met. Day by day we followed the scheduled plan under the watchful eye
of tour director, Nico de Nooyer. Day by day, we were treated as if
we were royalty aboard the Avalon Luminary. And to this day, we enjoy
Tomy Temerson's zither music thanks to the discs we purchased from
him. I suspect, judging by the variety of world addresses of fellow
passengers aboard the Avalon Luminary, there are people enjoying
Temerson's music all over the world.
But musical enjoyment, which
included other afternoon and evening musical sessions, did not occur
only on-board the ship. In one of the many excursions offered at
various stops along the Luminary's route, we visited Siegfried's
musicial museum. Not only was it musical, it was also magical and
well worth the effort and stroll ashore. That musical museum visit
was one of the many tours included in the price of our Avalon
Luminary cruise.
Price is a big factor when one
considers a river cruise. So is where you are going to cruise and
what you will do aboard and off the ship during the trip. There are
many factors to consider!
We started with river-cruise
guidebooks from our travel agent, Shawn McLean of Travelworld in
Collingwood. After studying those, we made lists of questions and
took them to our travel agent who answered them all. If she did not
know the answer, she had it within hours from Avalon Waterways.
We were fortunate enough to get to a
travel show in nearby Wasaga Beach at which various travel companies
had time to make presentations to the audience after which we visited
their booths and talked to their agents. We talked to Robynlee
Hyndman, who represented Globus/Avalon very well. Our questions,
not clearly answered in printed literature, involved such things as
length of time to be spent on connecting train, or bus, rides and
about things to do in spare time. All of our questions were answered
to our satisfaction.
The river-cruise marketplace is a
very competitive one. Approximately six major companies dominate the
marketplace and we studied them all, from what they offered
day-by-day, to price. Important to remember, compare apples to
apples and oranges to oranges. Some prices include air fare, and/or
gratuities. Some don't. It is imperative to know about these
differences.
You will probably pay more for a
river cruise holiday than you have ever paid for a one, or two, week
all-inclusive holiday at some on-land destination. But considering
how everything you require, from start to end in your river cruise,
will be included, it will be worth it!
We still consider our river cruise
with Avalon Waterways our trip of a lifetime and the best holiday we
ever had. We believe we received tremendous value for our money.
We chose the “Central European
Experience – Eastbound” presented by Avalon Waterways. This would
be an eleven-day trip with the best part of nine days travel spent
aboard the Avalon Luminary.
I have done a lot of boating on small
craft, large boats and on ships. One concern we had was “how rough
would it be travelling on a river cruise?” In a nutshell, this
turned out not to be a concern. Sailing aboard the Luminary was never
a rough ride. In fact, it was surprisingly smooth sailing.
People who are not used to boats, or
ships, worry needlessly about rough water when it comes to a river
cruise at least that was our experience.
I never saw a big wave in all the
time I was aboard the Avalon Luminary, unless you count the friendly
waves from passengers on one ship to passengers on a ship going in
the opposite direction; or friendly waves from people ashore.
There were waves produced by the
forward action of our ship and other ships. Those waves are called
“the wake” and V-out behind vessels that are in motion.
But there was nothing, ever, that
caused uncomfortable motion to those aboard our river cruiseship as
we travelled day and night along parts of the Main, the Moselle and
the Rhine rivers. Certainly, I never heard of anybody suffering from
motion sickness, nor did I ever see an unhappy fellow traveller on
our ship.
Soon after we purchased our river
cruise trip, with the vacation code WRN 1011, Avalon Waterways sent
us our travel documents through our travel agent. These small
booklets provided more information than travel guidebooks do and
pinpointed specifics about things we had to know.
Our travel booklets had 52 pages and
covered 19 different topics at our fingertips. Topics ranged from air
information and an e-ticket receipt for our flights, to the itinerary
and optional excursions. There was a strong emphasis on safety in the
information provided and I strongly recommend that when you receive
your travel booklets you take the time to read everything page by
page. There are also sections in the travel-plan booklet which you
must complete.
Once booked for our trip, our first
time with Avalon Waterways, we had to open an account on-line with
Avalon. This was easily done and when I went to do it I found it was
half-completed by our travel agent as part of her excellent service.
Avalon also sent us a couple of
promotional luggage tags, which I felt were a waste of money on their
part. These tags did not have any use for a passenger, other than to
promote Avalon's name which is emblazoned on these blue metal squares
in white letters. Better, would have been for Avalon to provide
luggage tags which can be personalized by each passenger and which
carried Avalon's name on one side, opposite to the passenger's name.
As it was, I did not want to attach these heavy Avalon tags to our
luggage for fear that damage could be done if the tags caught on
something in transit. But these luggage tags were a minute issue in
the large scheme of things. I think Avalon should rethink this
give-away promotion. Give customers a whistle, or a set of
nail-clippers, or a small pocketknife, if you have to give us
anything at all.
On the plus-side of giveaways, we
did receive an Avalon-emblazoned, small folder for documents. That
was handy. I like to keep travel documents in one handy spot and the
folder made it handier.
On the day of our departure from
Toronto, we were aboard Air France flight 351 and it left on time. We
arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris 25 minutes ahead of
schedule. The flight was fine and the service was terrific.
At this Paris airport only 50 per
cent of existing customs stations were staffed and it took us,
standing like cattle herded together, two hours to clear customs.
That was not a friendly welcome to France!
An Avalon representative, Max, met
us just past customs and took us to a waiting area with seats
adjacent to a parking lot. Then, he went away to locate other
new-arriving Avalon customers. Once we were all assembled, we boarded
a bus and were driven to L'Hotel Du Collectionneur which is not far
from the Arc De Triomphe.
L'Hotel Du Collectionneur is a
five-star and it is palatial.
Our group was met at the bus by
another Avalon representative, Katherine, and then directed to the
lobby where we were assisted by a hotel staff member, Julie. We were
given an envelope from the hotel which contained information we would
need to know during our stay. As well, the envelope contained
flexible tags to be attached to our luggage on embarkation day.
Then, we were directed to the Avalon
Waterways' reception desk, which is on one side of the massive lobby,
and there we met our cruise director Nico de Nooyer. It's at this
point that the company's hospitality toward Avalon guests started to
kick into high gear.
Nico de Nooyer is a veteran cruise
director and his professionalism shone. We received Nico's verbal
greetings and also printed sheets which told us about the Avalon
Waterways desk's hours of operation, and what would be happening in
the two days to come. Information was presented about our upcoming
Paris tour and also about optional tours. We were invited to attend a
welcome reception at 5.30 p.m., that day, but until then we were on
our own.
It was the noon hour, so after
checking into our room, Nancy and I crossed the street outside the
hotel and settled in for lunch at Le Parthenon, which is half-pub and
half-restaurant. Lunch for the two of us cost 29 Euros. You will know
in advance, from your travel kit, when daily meals are provided and
when they are not. So, you have to budget for any meals that are not
included on your Avalon ticket.
We strolled locally, admiring the
architecture and enjoying the mild temperature (it was mid-October).
We noticed the Myanmar Embassy located across the street from the
hotel. Since my wife has family in Myanmar, we tried to get a meeting
with staff there. However, it was late in the day and that was not
possible.
On a sheet which detailed optional
excursions in Paris, we chose a Seine River cruise and a guided tour
of the Marais district. The latter was a walking tour with a guide,
set for the afternoon of the next day. The cost for this excursion
was 54 Euros per person and there were other trip choices available.
For the third day of our stay in Paris,
we paid 49 Euros each for a guided, morning trip to Montmartre and
the church of the Sacre Coeur. We were making full use of our
available free time.
We went to the Avalon Waterways
welcome reception for 5.30 p.m., and tour director Nico, who has 47
years with company at that time (“So, I'm part of the furniture,”
he joked.) made a number of points very clear to his guests.
On train day, which would be when we
depart from this hotel, we were instructed to leave our luggage
outside our hotel doors by 7 a.m., for pickup by Avalon. The luggage
would be taken to the Avalon Luminary. This would work fine for Nancy
and me because we travel using a carry-on bag each and a suitcase
each. Whatever we needed for our time of transfer from hotel to the
Avalon Luminary would be in our carry-ons.
We were told about a number of other
important points:
- pickpocketing in France is a big problem, so beware.
- Check Avalon's bulletin board daily.
- For our guided tour the next morning (included in the trip price) be on time at the lobby, or miss the trip.
- Nico gave us the first of our daily newsletters. The newsletters would become an important communication vehicle for all of us Avalon guests. Sometimes, the newsletter would have a map printed on it, or be accompanied by a map sheet. This was very helpful.
- Put your cabin number on your luggage labels!
- Avalon guests departing from the hotel for the train station would be taken by coach on the day that we would go to the Luminary. For those guests taking the optional guided tour to Montmartre (that was us!) a coach would take us directly to the trian station after our tour. The train would leave at 2.20 p.m., that day and keep in mind that these trains leave on the minute!
The Avalon welcome reception gave us
a chance to chat with some of the other guests. They came from
distant places, such as Wales, Australia, and there was a group from
Wisconsin, U.S.A. Our ship, the Luminary, was about 85 per cent to
capacity in terms of the number of passengers it can carry.
After the welcome reception, Nancy
and I walked to a nearby supermarket on Rue Lisbonne and bought some
drinks, biscuits and salad to share. Much as supermarkets do in
Canada and England, their French counterparts offer take-away meals,
including salad options. Ours, “Orzo Au Basilic Petits Legumes
Fromage Frais” was very good!
So ended our Tuesday, our first day
in Paris. It was easy to see that professionalism prevailed in every
aspect of the hotel and Avalon Waterways.
On Wednesday morning, we had
breakfast at the hotel (included in the Avalon package) and then left
at 8.30 a.m., on one of two coaches filled with Avalon guests, for
our guided tour of parts of Paris. Our guide was Patricia and she was
excellent. We stopped at Emperor Napoleon's tomb, where armed guards
inspected our bags. Napoleon's body has been at this tomb since April
2, 1861.
We stopped at the Eiffel Tower for
long enough to take photographs and then headed back to the hotel.
For lunch, Nancy and I returned to
the nearby supermarket and bought crackers and a selection of
cheeses. We agreed, as we ate, that our morning tour was excellent.
This quality of guided tours would continue throughout our trip.
On Wednesday afternoon, we were on
time for the bus which took us to the boat for our Seine River
cruise, which was followed by a tour – once again with Patricia.
She equipped us with listening devices which we carried as she
explained about our surroundings. Along the way, I bought a map and a
Paris guidebook. Nancy bought some mini-quiches at a bakery.
In short, the Seine River cruise was
terrific and an excellent way to see (and photograph) various places.
We felt that for the money spent on the optional excursions we
received excellent value.
Back at the hotel, Nancy used her
i-Pad to communicate with family and friends in Canada. The wi-fi at
the hotel was excellent. Later, we would find out that wi-fi aboard
the Luminary worked well.
Let's be absolutely clear about
short-term visits to major European cities, in particular Paris and
Prague. Our Avalon trip, staying only a few days in each, allowed us
only a taste of what these historic cities have to offer. For a
fuller tourism meal, so to speak, one would have to visit such cities
for a week, or more, at a time. This is not a criticism, rather a
reality.
On Thursday morning, we had our
luggage in the hallway for 7 a.m., pickup and went for breakfast at
the hotel. Food and service were top-notch. We connected with our
guide Clarisia for a tour of Montmartre and were dropped off at the
train station with time to spare to catch our train.
At the train station, it was easy to
find tour director Nico who had an Avalon sign in hand. He was
constantly checking to ensure that everybody got onto the train.
Everybody in our group did!
I love train travel, so the two-hour
and twenty-minute trip by high-speed train across the French
countryside was a delight to me. We arrived at Luxembourg City and
moved on to a bus which took us to the Avalon Luminary at dock.
The rest of the day was spent
getting settled aboard the Luminary, having a fine dinner and
watching the world go by that evening before turning in for the
night. Watching the scenery go by from the deck of our ship, we
found, would become addictive. It was fun!
Safety is an imperative with Avalon
Waterways. Our tour guide Nico talked about it. Participation in a
safety exercise is mandatory at the beginning of the cruise.
Additionally, Avalon crew keep in touch with passengers by means of a
daily newsletter, a daily “Port Talk” before dinner, an
information channel on television and through a public-address system
on board.
There was a shore pass for every
passenger. It had to be taken ashore whenever you went there and,
later, returned to the front desk upon one's return to the Luminary.
The other thing that one had to remember to take ashore, if you were
taking part in guided tours, was a very handy listening device. It
too would be returned to the front desk when a passenger returned to
ship.
For those who simply had to get a
news report from home, Avalon Waterways had that covered too.
Daily, close to the front desk, there was a spot at which one could
pick up newsletters such as “The Canadian”, or “Britain Today”.
These were photocopied newsletters which brought news highlights to
our fingertips. It was there that we learned Bob Dylan had won a
Nobel Prize in literature, or that Ennis-Hill had retired from
athletics. To be blunt, news from home mattered little to us and
perhaps to most fellow passengers because there was simply so much to
enjoy aboard the ship and off it.
We awoke to find ourselves docked in
Grevenmacher near Trier (population 116,000). After breakfast, we
went ashore by bus to Trier and then for a tour with guide Andrea
Tullus. Trier is a remarkable city dating back to Roman days.
Alongside the river, in this case we are on the Moselle River, the
hills are covered with vineyards.
While we were in Trier on the
“included” tour, others had gone for an optional trip to
Luxembourg. We all got back to the Luminary in time for lunch and our
ship sailed at 1.50 p.m. Once again, the weather was co-operating
with a sunny day and we sailed past hilly vineyard after hilly
vineyard.
Before we left Grevenmacher, I
explored our dock area where there was a canal boat called “Zinnen”
which caught my attention. It turned out to have Maarten Van Lelyveld
and Ellen Graafland from Holland aboard. They had spent the summer
river cruising and would soon be heading home. Amazing!
It was also amazing at how close to
the underside of bridges our Luminary came. Before Trier, she sailed
under a bridge at which there seemed to be about half-a-metre's
clearance! River cruise ships, such as the Luminary, are designed to
have their wheelhouses – which jut up from the uppermost deck –
lowered. The captain, or his designate, then controls the ship from a
side-of-ship location. We spent a lot of time, when the ship was
sailing, on the sky deck near the wheelhouse. The sky deck provided a
wonderful vantage point and we enjoyed it a lot, sometimes with a
glass of wine in hand and often in the company of other passengers.
If the weather turned against us,
which is to be expected with a late-season sailing, we would watch
the world go by from the comfort of lounges; either near the bow of
the ship, or at the stern. In any area, you made yourself comfortable
and often the crew added to our comfort level with either cheerful
pleasantries in passing, or with the service of snacks and drinks.
We soon learned about the delights
of breakfast, lunch and dinners served in pristine dining areas
surrounding by fine staff. To say we were spoiled would be an
understatement.
At Trier, the Luminary went through
a lock, one of many she would traverse before our trip ended.
Locks are a fascinating place! Sometimes we traversed locks during
the day and could watch whatever was going on aboard the ship and on
shore. Sometimes, we went through locks during the night. Then, I
could open our balcony door and be face to face with the dampness of
a lock wall, just a metre, or less, in front of me; or so it seemed!
As we sailed past kilometre after
kilometre of vineyards, riverside villages, castles, landmarks such
as the Lorelei, or other marine traffic, we sat back, relaxed,
enjoyed the ship's amenities and chatted with fellow passengers.
A river cruiseship is a working
vessel, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It did not take us long to
realize that our voyage was the product of a complex and
highly-organized system involving professionals at so many levels:
the captain, navigation, food service, room service, on-board
entertainment. There were so many things that we could see and
applaud and many more behind the scenes, which we could not see, such
as the staff members who looked after propulsion, the galley, the
laundry and other necessities important to our comfort and safety.
TRIER, STEPPING BACK IN TIME...
On our day at Trier, the outdoor
temperature was nine degrees Celcius. It was cool, but sunny and we
essentially stepped back in time enjoying history there. On other
days, temperatures were comfortable enough in the teens.
We had studied our daily newsletter
which helped to organize us for each day. In the case of the Trier
day, we signed up for the included guided tour, got to the gangplank
before the tour's 8.30 a.m., start and made certain that we had our
shore passes and our listening devices. Our morning was spent
enjoying the guided tour, taking photographs and asking our guide
questions.
For every shore excursion, it was
made clear from the start whether the walk would be easy, or
not-as-easy. That was appreciated. Colour-coding on listening devices
helped to organize passengers to their comfort level of tour. Some
passengers chose to go on tour on their own, either on foot, or using
one of the available bicycles. In our case, we did the guided tours
and then took up any available, remaining time with exploring on our
own. It was always friendly, with no pressure and just the occasional
verbal nudge from a guide to ensure the group stayed together; or
waited politely for a straggler.
Thanks to the guides anywhere on our
riverside stops, we always had the highlights of their community
pointed out to us. Additionally, the maps given out prior to leaving
ship were always helpful to have.
Daily, our newsletter noted times
for everything: early-riser breakfast, buffet breakfast, late-riser
breakfast, sightseeing tour departure time, lunch time, optional
excursion details, departure time from whatever dock we were at,
coffee-break time (although coffee, tea and snacks were available
around the clock at the stern lounge), any stop-and-go visits
enroute, happy hour, Port Talk, dinner, after-dinner entertainment,
late-night snack, estimated time of arrival at our next destination.
On board, every day, we got to
listen to a guitar player called Valentin. He entertained us
skillfully and his rendition of Purple Rain was superb!
We sailed from Trier at exactly 1:45
p.m., with theme music as background from the public address system.
This background music was never too loud and it was uplifting. In a
small way it was like a musical speech saying “here we sail again!”
I enquired about this piece of music, played each time we sailed away
from a dock. The stirring piece was “Conquest of Paradise” by
Vangelis.
Truly, we were in waterways
paradise, going to sleep in one area and awakening in another.
We awoke moored on a bend in the
Moselle River at Bernkastel-Kues.
KING AND QUEEN OF THE CASTLE....
By shortly after 9 a.m., we were
walking with our excellent guide, Genevieve Schmidt. This tour was
directly from the ship. We walked away with our guide to the historic
downtown of Bernkastel. After her tour, Nancy and I followed a trail
through a vineyard and walked up and up and uphill.
Our destination, always looming
above us at the top of the hill, was Landshut Castle, a medievil
fortress which dates back three centuries. It might have taken us an
half-hour of walking slowly, stopping for a rest and then walking
some more, but we got to the castle.
From the castle, looking down at the
Moselle River we could see the town, cars, the Avalon Luminary and
everything down there looked like Matchbox toys. The castle is being
rebuilt, but it's a slow process.
Our view included a bridge over the
river, the small community of Kues on the other side of the river and
a splendid panorama of vineyard-covered hills for as far as the eye
could see.
We got back to the Luminary in time
for lunch and then we were off again for a tour of the nearby
Weinmuseum, also called the Bernkastel Vinothek.
It was a 15-minute walk, including
crossing a bridge over the Moselle River, to the wine museum were we
were cheerfully greeted with a complimentary pretzel and taken to
underground cellars with arched roofs; wine samples beckoning.
Things are extremely well organized
for visitors to the wine cellars. I learned that its displays and
servings, free samples and opportunity to purchase bottles of wine,
were all because of the co-operation of families which have vineyards
in this area which date back hundreds of years. There are dozens of
vineyards, perhaps more than 100, so it would take a return trip in
order to do more sampling!
Our wine cellar guide, Jan Nikolic,
was very friendly, helpful and – of course – I told him about our
local vineyards just in case he needs a holiday target for a trip to
Canada! Jan Nikolic was representing Rieslinghaus, an on-line shop,
when we met him.
After our wine museum tour, Nancy
and I walked back to Bernkastel's tourist office to learn more about
this community. It's a fascinating place and one which we truly can
say we “tasted”.
At the tourist office, I bought a
map of the Moselle River area for three and a half Euros. I like to
pinpoint where we are whenever we travel.
This river cruise experience was our
first such voyage and I found myself wanting to know exactly where we
were at various times. There were signs on towns and at locks along
the way and, obviously, whenever we stopped at a designated spot it
was clearly evident because of signs.
But I missed not being able to tie
our location, wherever we were, to something as tangible as a map.
Perhaps they have this aboard river
cruise ships. Perhaps, the Luminary had it televised with an on-ship
channel. I did not watch television, so I can't say. I did notice a
black-and-white chart which pointed out names of locks. But that just
didn't do it for me. Not a complaint, not even a problem; just an
observation from this traveller who – for the second time in his
life – felt a bit lost by not knowing his position. (The first time
I was lost, it was in a wilderness area of New Brunswick, Canada.)
Perhaps somebody could create a
magnetic, map panel, adjacent to the front desk, on which could be a
magnet – shaped like the Luminary – which would pinpoint the
ship's location in relation to its river travels.
I could also argue that somebody on
vacation on a river cruise does not need to know his, or her,
location in pinpoint fashion and should simply enjoy the trip!
When the Luminary sailed from
Bernkastel at 3 p.m., on that day, I was at our cabin's balcony, with
the door open, watching swans which were swimming alongside the ship.
By 4 p.m., we were sitting in a forward lounge with Cindy Jenkins and
Rick DeKryger of Dundas, Ontario, toasting their eighth anniversary.
There's no pressure to meet fellow passengers, but as faces become
familiar, smiles and pleasantries exchanged, one can soon be sitting
for a meal, or a drink, with somebody from somewhere else in our
world.
Later in the evening, following a
delicious dinner, we chatted with Bill who worked for Harley-Davidson
in Wisconsin, U.S.A. Our common denominator, a love of motorcycling,
had us chatting then and later in the trip.
Aboard the Luminary, after every
dinner, there was always entertainment. On this evening we enjoyed a
couple of hours of music and camaraderie until it ended. Then, we
went to the sky deck and watched the darkened shoreline slip past in
the silence as the ship moved downstream as smoothly as silk. The
river was calm and a full moon watched over us. There was a noise on
one riverbank and a light. Then, from the darkness a noisy freight
train rattled past and on into the darkness, leaving us in silence
and moonlight. It was lovely.
In addition to guest speakers,
musicians and other entertainment, passengers could sign up for a
Panorama Bistro dinner. We enjoyed ours! Later, we completed a
questionnaire from the company which asked us many questions about
the dinner, the comfort level, the food quantity and the dishes
served. Ah, the dishes served! Once again we were spoiled.
We gave everything top marks, as
well as commenting on how spotlessly clean things were kept aboard
ship. Mary Pete looked after our cabin and did an excellent job.
The Panorama Bistro dinner we
enjoyed had as starters: roast beef, smoked salmon, quiche lorraine,
or grilled vegetables – your choice – followed by potato soup, if
you wanted it. Main dishes – your choice – veal cheek, fillet of
plaice or Kasespatzie-Rosti. Then, if you wanted it, a cheese plate,
followed by – your choice of dessert – Black Forest cake, or
mousse from roasted nuts, or White Passion.
Given that the regular, daily
dinners were a culinary delight, the special Panorama Bistro dinner
moved us into Second Heaven and the service was as excellent as the
food.
There were many optional features to
our Avalon Waterways' cruise. We enjoyed the included guided tours,
but signed up for the optional Folklore Show Dinner days ahead in
Prague. The cost for this was 64 Euros per person and we were to find
out that this was well worth it.
If you are on a river cruise and
wake up during the night, take a few minutes to open your balcony
door and see what's outside. One night, I opened the door to darkness
punctuated by city lights and large buildings. I think we were
passing through Koblenz. Seldom, during the day, did we see large
cities. Usually, we passed hills, vineyards, small villages and,
occasionally, a campground, or a trailer park. Here and there, from
the shoreline, people waved in friendly fashion at the Luminary.
Having thoroughly enjoyed our visits
to Trier and then Bernkastel-Kues, we thought that those
municipalities and what they offered were highlights of our trip. But
each day brought new highlights and that would be the case again in
Rudesheim.
On one cool and foggy morning, I
awoke before dawn, opened our river-facing, glass door and noticed
the lights of the Luminary were reflecting from house windows ashore
which we were passing. Yes, we were that close! Somewhere ahead of
me, in the galley at the bow, staff were preparing breakfast. I could
smell the bacon cooking.
Dawn broke, we enjoyed breakfast and
then watched the world go by from the Sky Deck where I chatted with
Ramiro, a passenger from Wisconsin, U.S.A. By noon, we were moored at
Rudesheim.
We were prepared for Rudesheim. We
had read our daily newsletter, had looked at a provided map of this
city on the Rhine River and also reviewed a map which showed the
Middle Rhine area. Each time we received a map it would have
information about a community, sights of interest and history on it.
But nothing prepared us for
Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett because it is difficult to
find something else as unique!
We had lunch aboard before heading
off for a tour of Rudesheim. As the days pass, one gets to know
servers at meal times. Many of the ones on our ship came from
Romania. We also got to know “Chef Bobi”, or at the front desk,
receptionists Elena, or Ahmed. From time to time we met the captain
of the Luminary, Roger Spoor. Sometimes he had time to chat briefly,
at other times we knew that he was busy with work and we did not
interrupt him. To a person, Luminary staff were friendly and made us
welcome.
RUDESHEIM, MUSIC AND ASBACH
At Rudesheim, what started as a
foggy morning in mid-October turned into a lovely sunny day just as
we left the ship. We were taken to the heart of the downtown area by
means of a small train; one of those imitation trains, not a real
train. This one had a small engine and small cars behind it in which
we sat. Our first stop was Siegfried's Mechancial Music Cabinet which
is the brainchild of a private collector, Siegfried Mandel. He
started small, collecting mechanical musical instruments. Today, his
collection, located in an architecturally-fascinating house, is one
of the largest collections of musical instruments in Europe.
We had a guided tour, which included
demonstrations, and it was not simply excellent. It was amazingly
awesome!
I purchased a little booklet,
written in three languages, which tells the history and explains
about instruments at Siegfried's spectacular museum. Take history and
add music and you have a winning combination for visitors to enjoy!
Our guided tour involved a second
surprise, an introduction to Asbach, a brandy. We walked to
Rudesheimer Schloss, a large restaurant which made us very welcome.
There, we were poured a coffee which contained well-heated
Asbach....”The Hot Original” they called it on a recipe card,
which also carried a recipe for “The Cool Delight”.We were
welcomed everywhere we went.
As with previous stops, we bought
souvenirs and enjoyed ourselves before heading back to the Luminary
for “high tea” to the sound of guitarist Valentin playing Carlos
Santana numbers. At 4:45 p.m., the Luminary sailed for Freudenberg,
once again to the strains of Conquest of Paradise.
Avalon Waterways never ceases to
amaze us with entertainment, beyond the on-board guitarist Valentin.
A trio which calls itself “La Strada” performs a concert in the
lounge before dinner. Two very-talented violinists, Stefan and
Vladimir, are accompanied by guitarist Kristina and thrill us with
their music. Later, they leave the ship.
At this point in our travels, the
topography alongside the river has changed. Gone are the
vineyard-laden hills. Now, the countryside is flat and wooded and
there is more marine traffic passing us. As the hours go by, we go up
in locks, seldom feeling any motion. We sail under traffic-topped
bridges.
Early morning brings a pinkish sky
in the east and I see a jet plane flying not far from the river.
Judging by the number of construction cranes I have seen in built-up
areas and at locks, Germany is in some sort of vibrant economic boom.
Two pieces of paper arrive under our cabin door. One is an Optional
Excursion Receipt and the other is an informative piece about Water
Locks:The Key to River Cruising.
By now I have taken 1,802
photographs!
Our daily newsletter invites us to
“Zither Melodies” by Tomy Temerson at mid-morning. We attend this
concert, which is fantastic, and I not only photograph this skilled
musician, I also make a video as he plays Edelwiess. He tells us that
there are only five professional zither players in the world and he
is one of them. We are not only entertained, we are honoured to be in
his audience. He's that good!
FLOATING LOWER AT FREUDENBERG
Approaching Miltenberg on the Main
River we come to a bridge and the Luminary is too tall to go under
it. Because water ballast had been pumped from this ship the day
before, we are now riding higher above the water. Now, our captain
has water being pumped into the ballast tanks to bring the ship lower
in the water so that we can sail under the bridge. It takes a little
while, but soon we go under the bridge and dock at Freudenberg.
From Freudenberg we take a coach to
nearby Miltenberg for a guided tour. Once again, we step back in
history and Gary, also from Wisconsin, and I team together for a
visit to a local brewery while Nancy goes shopping with his wife
Jane.
Gary and I visited the Faust brewery
which has been operating here since 1654. We buy some beer to take
back to our cabins.
Time flies when you're having fun
and we make it back to the Luminary with minutes to spare, but well
in time for high tea before the ship sails for Wurzburg. Later, we
have dinner and enjoy another Avalon surprise...”the one and only
Luminary Crew Show”. It's fun and we find out about other talents
crew members have. Our gratuities for crew members have been pre-paid
as part of our ticket-purchase package, but there are times when you
want to give them a little something extra. This is one of those
times.
In addition to the on-shore
activites, we have seen interesting things on the riverside.
Sometimes we see wildlife, sometimes castles, sometimes passing ships
which have interesting names (Red Dragon, for example). In one place
we sail past a factory which is emblazoned with a familiar name:
Magna!
This morning, docked in what looks
like an industrial area of Wurzburg, we are ahead of schedule. We go
to tour director Nico's briefing and get new luggage tags and two
newsletters for Nuremberg and Prague. We had free time ashore to
explore in the morning and after lunch we took a coach to the
Residence Palace. We leave all of our bags on the bus and are told
that photography is not allowed inside the palace.
One of Wurzburg's famous sons is
Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen who produced and detected electromagnetic
radiation in a wavelength range, today known as x-rays. That was in
November 1895. It earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in
1901.
As we visited Wurzburg it was
apparent that community leaders have a strong focus on looking after
tourists. From excellent signage to walkways at the waterfront, to
public toilets, Wurzburg welcomed us.
Back aboard the Luminary by 4.:45
p.m., we enjoyed coffee and cake as the ship set out for Bamberg.
Later, we enjoyed the captain's Farewell Dinner. Crew members were
introduced and drew loud applause for a job well done.
After dinner, we received
questionnaires which sought our opinion of the cruise. We also
received disembarkation information, a newsletter for the next day
(to do with Bamberg), gratuity envelopes for the captain, cruise
director and crew. (If you have already provided a gratuity, one can
ignore these, or provide an additional token of thanks.)
This evening, just before midnight,
we hear noise above us somewhere in the vicinity of the top deck.
The shoreline stops moving and with the cabin's balcony door open we
soon figure out that we are stuck under a bridge. As our captain, or
his designate, solves this situation, the “Travel Marvel Diamond”
sails between us and the shore heading in the opposite direction from
us. I marvel as that ship clears the underside of the bridge by what
seems to be half a metre. About two hours later, the Luminary sails
free, heading for Bamberg. There has been no serious damage done
The next morning, after breakfast, I
see a fellow with his bicycle being helped aboard our ship at one of
the locks. He is Alexander Estel, a historian from Nuremberg, and
mid-morning he gives a very interesting talk in the lounge about “The
European Union – History, Challenges and Changes”. His insight
was much appreciated judging by the question-and-answer period which
was lively. Following his address to Luminary passengers, Mr. Estel
with his bicycle left us at the next lock.
We docked at Bamberg, had lunch, and
headed off for a tour with our guide Sabina.
Historic Bamberg has many unique
features. One of them is that the Old City here has been declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. As with other places at which the
Luminary had stopped and at which we had tours, there was much to see
and the opportunity to do some shopping, or try a cafe, or bar.
Bamberg was also the first and only
place at which we experienced an unpleasant attitude toward tourists
from some locals. In one book shop, I saw a carry bag for sale with
the slogan “I'm not a tourist, I live here” printed on it in
large letters. In another spot, as our group stood and listened to
Sabina, I saw a passing bicyclist showing his disdain for tourists
with his body language. Not nice.
We were told that cruiseship
companies were preparing a documentary which would highlight the
economic benefits to communities which embrace visitors. I hope it
worked for them.
Our worst example of anti-tourist
sentiment came from a server in a bakery-cafe. After standing in line
to order coffee and cheesecake and being ignored repeatedly by the
server at a counter, she eventually relented and served us. When she
brought the plates carrying our drinks and cakes she literally threw
them at us with enough force that the plates clattered on the
countertop. I wish I was fluent in German because I would have had
words with the manger. Instead, I waited until we got home and wrote
them a letter of complaint.
To be fair, I do understand that
having groups of tourists flooding onto sidewalks and impeding local
pedestrians is not only bothersome, but disrespectful. But I do
believe this matter can be resolved to the satisfaction of all
concerned. Because I live in a tourist area in Canada, I also
understand the value of tourism, in financial terms, to a small
community.
Back at the ship that evening, we
enjoyed the captain's farewell reception, Nico's Port Talk (as usual)
and chatting with new-found friends Peter and Linda from Wales and
Anne and Peter from Australia.
That evening we received our final
invoice (excluding gratuities) for souvenirs, postage stamps and bar
drinks aboard the ship. Our total was 83.20 Euros. I mention this as
a reminder that even though the trip is all-inclusive, there are
sundry things for which you will need money, or a credit card.
At Nuremberg, our trip aboard the
Luminary ended. Our luggage was picked up from in front of our cabin
at 7 a.m., and was taken to a waiting coach which would take us to
Prague.
I was worried about the four-hour
coach trip, thinking that it might be uncomfortable. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Our coach, complete with a tour guide who
commented occasionally about things in the countryside, was modern
and comfortable. Half-way to Prague, our big bus stopped at a service
centre where we could purchase drinks, snacks and use washroom
facilities.
The highway between Nuremberg and
Prague is an expressway and flanked by rolling hills, farmland and,
from time to time, signs which told us about candidates in an
upcoming Czech Republic election.
By mid-afternoon, we arrived at the
Marriott Hotel and were met by Zuzana, another excellent Avalon
representative. Our rooms were not ready at that point and we were
directed to leave our luggage in safe storage in a room, where Roman
looked after things.
With a bit of time on our hands,
Nancy and I went off to stretch our legs on nearby streets and we
ended up browsing at a nearby mall called the Palladium. The
architecture in Prague is stunningly beautiful and interesting. There
was an open-air market in an area just down the street from the
Marriott and we enjoyed browsing and shopping there. Then, to an
adjacent Billa store, a food market, where we bought some snacks.
Our room number 205 at the
Marriott was splendid. It was large, well-appointed and its windows
gave us a view of an inner courtyard. We readied for that evening's
dinner, once again with Rick and Cindy from Dundas, for which we had
made reservations at Ginger and Fred restaurant.
We got a taxi to the riverside
“Dancing Building” in which Ginger and Fred is located on the
seventh floor. From food to service, everything was superb. This
dinner was not included in the Avalon itinerary and we went to Ginger
and Fred because we heard it was good. It was more than good. It was
excellent. It was not cheap to dine at this restaurant. But we
spoiled ourselves, again, making more wonderful memories.
The morning after our arrival in
Prague, we were up and ready early at the hotel lobby for our
Avalon-arranged guided tour. We met Stefano, an Avalon
representative, then headed for our bus which would take us on our
tour. Dana was our tour guide and did an excellent job of taking us
throughout Prague and to the historic castle hill and old town. Once
again, we used headsets to listen to our guide.
We returned to the Marriott and had
the afternoon to ourselves. Nancy and I found the Hop-on, Hop-off bus
ticket booth nearby, purchased tickets and enjoyed another guided
tour in Prague. Our guide was Monica. We switched at stop number 15
for the Hop-on, Hop-off river cruise. We enjoyed this river cruise
from the comfort of a large lounge. We sat sipping our drinks as the
shoreline passed by and an announcer told us about Prague. We
finished the cruise at what was our starting point. It took us about
15 minutes to walk to Republik Square, where we wandered away to see
the astronomical clock.
There were crowds everywhere. Lots
of people enjoying themselves and, hopefully, not having their
pockets picked. We found a Starbucks, bought coffee and snacks and
chatted with visitors from Spain.
Our Avalon adventure continued that
evening when we were taken by bus to the U Marcanu restaurant
somewhere on the outskirts of Prague. There, we were among visitors
who packed U Marcanu and enjoyed the optional Folklore Dinner. It was
well worth the price! There was dancing. There was music. There was
beer. There was wine. The dinner was both tasty and fun.
Our bus and guide Ivanka took us
back to the Marriott and we prepared for departure the next day.
Leaving the Marriott on our last day
in the Czech Republic, everything was highly-organized (as usual) by
Avalon Waterways. We enjoyed a buffet breakfast. Our luggage was
picked up at 10 a.m., from in front of our hotel room. We met a
friendly mini-bus driver at the Avalon desk for transfer to the
airport at 10.30 a.m.
From Paris to Prague, we met
interesting people who were on holidays. Some we met, such as Giada
Serafin, were working. An Avalon employee, she was finding out about
a river cruise first-hand. She was on our bus to the airport and we
wished her well.
The Prague airport is modern and we
flew from there with KLM to Amsterdam where we changed to another KLM
flight to Toronto. The KLM service was excellent rounding out our
Avalon Waterways adventure to give full credence to a saying by
Cesare Pavese. His saying is printed on the back of an Avalon
Waterways' cruise memories folder which I have kept along with my
notes, maps and daily newsletters.
Cesare Pavese's saying states: “We
do not remember days; we remember moments.”
Thanks to Avalon Waterways we have
many wonderful moments to remember.
Would we go on another Avalon
Waterways' river cruise?
Absolutely!
Note: George Czerny is the writing name of George Czerny-Holownia who lives with his wife Nancy in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, on the southern shore of Georgian Bay. Their voyage aboard the Avalon Waterways "Luminary" was their first river cruise holiday.
