Life's a Stitch

Southampton to Amsterdam

September 15 - never say never, I always say. We swore we would NEVER cruise again with NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) after our disastrous sailing in 2019, when we received an "upgrade" to an unacceptable cabin, which was eventually changed, and worse yet, had C's prescription meds stolen from their hiding place in our cabin. The final blow was the customer service we received after reporting the theft, being told to keep it quiet or the captain could throw us off the ship at the next port. Ultimately they did nothing for us, hence our vow. Forewarned is forearmed, readers. That being said, everyone has their price. And this time the price was right, a 92% discount on a 15 night Northern European cruise, including drink package, tips, internet and shipboard credit, some of which was refundable in cash. When I fessed up to the kids that we had broken our promise, they assured us that we were getting the better end 0f the deal on this cruise and that we should enjoy it to the max. 

So off we went, Ubering to the port with guesthousemate, Rosemary, a solo traveller from California. We boarded NCL's Getaway, in the easiest process ever, as our loyalty points allowed us to do so several hours early.

C started his max level enjoyment.

With the bike trip behind us, we appreciated the downtime of the sea day plus the decision not to disembark at Hamburg as we had just spent two weeks in Germany and had previously visited Hamburg. I participated in a behind the scenes tour, which I've done in the past, but always find fascinating. This one included the back of the theatre, the kitchens

and my favourite, the laundry, where this machine dries and folds the sheets. These guys work hard as the laundry runs 24/7.

One of the benefits of this itinerary was the ability to geocache in six new countries and the first was the best, as it could be accomplished from the ship. As we entered the locks that would take us into Amsterdam, I checked my phone for available caches. Sure enough, there was one on the side of the lock that required a photo with the ferry terminal in the background. Voila:

Once docked, it was a reasonable walk into the centre of Amsterdam, where we booked a canal tour with Rosemary. It was explained that the covered boats had tours that are prerecorded and delivered through earbuds, and only the smaller, open air boats had a live guide. I commented  on the increasingly greying skies, but we agreed a real guide would be a better experience. It was an excellent tour with an interesting and engaging guide, however the clouds caught up with us. Our clever captain/tour guide provided us with umbrellas parked under a bridge for the worst of it.

The storm passed quickly, leaving some interesting clouds. 

Tonight the ship heads to Zebrugge, Belgium.

 

A day in Vienna and beyond

When we first arrived at the "central" rail station in Vienna from Klosteneuberg we discovered we were nowhere near the "new" station close to our hotel and the train to the airport. Note to self - not all websites contain current information. So we bit the bullet and Ubered. We’re finding as we get older and less willing to walk miles pulling our luggage, we need to create an Uber line in the travel budget. So worth it.

Fortunately we saw the hop on hop off sign right by the hotel and knew we could complete the second route, including the walking tour, in the one day we had left. Again, the weather was beautiful, ideal to take in the sites of this elegant city. It did have the somewhat packed feel of similar tourist destinations like Barcelona and Venice. We appreciated the history, especially during the guided walking tour, but agreed that our ideal destinations are smaller cities.

That night it poured, a torrential thunder storm. We were grateful we were off the bikes.

We took an early morning train to the airport and off we flew on Hungary's Wizz Airlines. Interesting name. It looked like some passengers dressed to coordinate with the plane.

We were greeted in London Gatwick Airport by Maggie, whom we met on last year’s South America trip, to hand deliver my painting of Machu Picchu. It was a wonderful reunion. That painting travelled through six countries, surviving five flights, nine train rides and time in hotel storage. 

 

 

Next was the train to Southampton, which we’ve taken previously. We arrived on the proper platform ten minutes early and boarded the train. It felt good not to have the extremely too close connections that we experienced in Germany. The train left five minutes early. Hmmm, that should have been a clue. Next one was when I didn’t see the castle on our right that we saw the first time. Finally we hear we were at the final destination: Brighton, and all should leave the train. Oh no, wrong train. 

We had two choices: return to Gatwick or take the milk run to Southampton, 90 minutes later. Rather than wrestle the baggage we chose the latter, which added a bit of time. I have to say the railway staff were quite accommodating, all smiling, on the edge of laughing when I explained our predicament. 

Ok we should have Ubered, but we slogged the bags 20 minutes with a barely reasonable uphill segment to our Victorian Air B&B in the Shirley area. It was clean and adequate for a pre and post cruise one night stay. BUT do not go to the nearby Italian restaurant, Puccinis, the worst meal of the trip. Possibly the worst meal of many trips.

Tomorrow we board the ship!

The bike trip - Passau to Vienna Day 9 The end - 388k (232miles)

Sept 12th - Klosterneuberg to Vienna 14.76 (8.76 miles)

It was time to ride the bikes to our final destination. This was definitely urban cycling, some underneath a major roadway. Vienna, is a pristine city on the surface, but down by the river it is a blanket of graffiti, some quite beautiful.

Crazy enough, we hit the only stretch of unpaved slippery gravel of the trip. Then we walked our bikes for the last few blocks as there was no bike lane. We were ready to end this part of our adventure.

 

The bike shop was close by and run by a man, coincidentally also an artist, who used to live in Vancouver. We finished the trip with 388k (232 miles) on the odometer. The average wasn't too bad, 55.42k (33.25miles) per day, but we had several days with up to twice the distance averaged with the final short days.

After an interesting conversation we went to his recommended restaurant for a celebratory wine and cheese lunch, followed by one full route on the hop on hop off bus. We passed a church with a statue of St. James, the patron saint of the Camino de Santiago, the one with the scallop shell on his hat. Uh-oh are we being called back to being pilgrims?

 

We took the train back to Klosterneuberg and chatted with a local couple. They asked if we were camping and were surprised when I said we were staying in a hotel. We must have looked as if we spent the last eight days outdoors. I guess we did.

 

We walked to dinner at a nearby sports complex and shared a HUGE amazing rib meal. Meanwhile mosquitoes made a meal of us. 

 

Afterthoughts:

C and I have walked long distances three times on the Camino de Santiago and both agree we prefer it to cycling. When you walk you can get into a meditative rhythm, soak in the scenery or chat with another pilgrim. On a bike you have to concentrate on your riding and safety 100% of the time. The path is narrow and heavily travelled. You have to be careful to hug your side as local riders don’t have bells and I never heard anyone call out “on your left” as we do here. 

 

The trip was good but painful. I think I would bring my own bike seat next time, one that I’m used to. Even with added seat pads, the issue was the pressure not the softness. I felt like I birthed a ten pound baby. 

 

We lucked out with the weather although we carried rain gear. Thank goodness we didn’t have to use it.

 

It was a very expensive trip between the bike rentals, shipping of two suitcases to our ultimate destination and the high cost of accommodation and meals in Europe. For us, travelwise, there are more efficient ways to spend money for a good experience. We were asked recently, with all our travels, how we decide on destinations. The honest answer was we look for the deals. It has to be an exceptional value.

 

Bottom line: a bike ride along the Danube - not as romantic as it sounds. 

What’s next? A full day and a night in Vienna, then a flight to Southampton, England, where we will start a 16 night Northern European cruise, booked via a last minute sale. We had four European spots on our list for future travel, but airfares are so high we managed to accomplish three on this trip: visiting friends, biking down the Danube and a cruise that included the British Isles. We still have a longterm European goal to achieve - a trek down the Haervegen trail in Denmark and related visits in the Copenhagen area. 

The bike trip - Passau to Vienna Day 8

Sept 11th - Zwentendorf to Klosterneuberg 44.83 (26.89 miles)

We said goodbye to our hosts, packed up our bikes and we headed off along the river, getting closer to the big city of Vienna.

Our cycling days are getting shorter, but the biking is a bit more complicated as we get closer to more populated areas. Urban cycling means traffic and convoluted city bike routes. We spent quite a bit of time today consulting the GPS.

It was Monday and many restaurants were closed, so we were happy to see one riverside patio with customers.  They were serving their limited Monday menu: cake, grilled cheese sandwiches or hotdogs. C indulged in a generously sized piece of poppy seed cake. It’s a taste I haven’t acquired. We were visited by one of the Danube's "ugly ducklings," a y0ung swan.

We made the decision to stay two nights in the last town before Vienna, Klosterneuberg, as there was an event in Vienna that had driven up hotel prices. Tomorrow we’ll ride our bikes into the city and turn them in at the rental place that will transport them back to Passau, and we’ll take the train back to our comfortably air conditioned hotel with an "interesting" view of the patio of the apartment next door. I wondered how these people felt about having dinner on their balcony with new hotel neighbours every night or two.

Tomorrow is the big day, the end of the bike portion of our trip. I admit I'm not as disappointed about this as I was on the last nights of our walks on the Camino.