Hi, it’s Christina –
Greetings from somewhere
between Austria & Germany. I tried until eleven o’clock last night to post
the blog highlighting the events of day 7, but between computer issues and satellite
issues, I wasn’t so lucky. I did manage to get it posted around 6:30 this
morning before the satellite went down again.
I am hoping when we get
into Passau the signal will be strong again. As for tomorrow, I’m not sure how
long my layovers are going to be at each of the airports or if I will have an
internet connection, so the post for today’s city, the meet the crew and the journey
home post you might not be getting until Tuesday. Notice I didn’t say Monday… I
plan on being in a coma then.
I know I said I was done
posting pictures of us going through locks, but if you would allow me just one
more, this time the wall behind us was not solid, so you can see the height
difference in the river. We climb roughly 12 meters – almost 39 feet. We also
had an added guest on this lift, a swan swam in with the ship when we entered
the lock, so he rose with us. Boy is that going to be a disoriented bird. LOL - Well, it looks like I deleted the picture somehow because I can't find it. Sorry.
Yesterday we, or should I
say I, bypassed Linz for a nine hour excursion back to the Czech Republic to
visit Český Krumlov. Upon our return, mom did venture in to Linz, but I had a
blog post to finish and my feet were barking, so I stayed on the ship.
I wish I could tell you
what the history was of Český Krumlov, but I have absolutely no idea. Our guide
Oli, was very nice, but not very informative. Luckily Renada, the program
director, was in our small group,
so
she heard first hand. So, if you happen to go on this Viking Cruise, and you
happen to choose to visit Český Krumlov, stick with Sylva, she was born in Český
Krumlov, and knows her stuff. Perhaps if I had stayed with her, I would have
enjoyed my visit more. Instead, I spent a lot of time sitting around waiting
for 3:00 to roll around.
Sylva was our guide on the
bus, and she was wonderful. (Our group was a little too large for one guide, so
they called in Oli at the last minute to split off ten of
us.)
On the trip over, Sylva did explain a bit about Český Krumlov, the politics,
how it fared during WWI, but she was leaving the details of the palace to Oli.
On the bus ride, Sylva
also mentioned a local mushroom soup, Kulajda, which sounded wonderful. It has
wild mushrooms, dill, and potatoes, with a poached egg in the middle, and a
touch of cream. It sounded wonderful – well except for the egg which sounded a
little strange – so for lunch, I decided to try it. It was wonderful. Paired
with two bottles of the best tasting iced tea (Aquila - it tastes like you are biting into a fresh peach), and my whole bill was
6,60 €.
After lunch I strolled
around the city a little more. Bought an ice cream for 20 Krn ($0.08) and then
waited to go back to the bus. Oli was gone by this time, so Sylva got the whole
group. She told us they had already started setting up for the next day festivities,
and we’d be able to catch a glimpse if we wanted because they were set up by
our buses. 
You see, 71 years ago, the
American forces liberated the Czech Republic, freeing them from the German
invaders, and they were grateful. So, every May 7th is their sort-of
independence day. There are American flags everywhere. There are parades with
US military vehicles, and reenactors. It was cool seeing the old Army stuff,
but the best was the motorcycle.
Funny story before I close
for the day. When we pulled into Linz, we were greeted with a comical sign.
Most places we’ve stopped, there was a sign saying “welcome to ______”, so the
Linz sign should have said “Willkommen!” but instead it said “Auf Wiedersehen!
Good Bye!”. It was a “get your $h[} and get out” moment. LOL. I pointed it out
to Dennis, and he said he’d never noticed it before, and we had a good laugh.
Okay, I seriously doubt
there will be another post until I get home. The transport to take us to the
airport is coming at 3:20 tomorrow morning, so right after dinner tonight I
have to pack and then I’m going to bed so I can get at least a few hours of
sleep.
Now, I am going to arrange
the photos for this blog post, keep my fingers crossed that the satellite connection
stays strong enough for me to post it, get it posted, and then I am off to
explore Passau on my own.
Until next time, have a
WONDERFUL day & happy writing.
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