Travels through Europe, Part 2

After several stops in small German towns, we landed at Nuremberg. I’m not exactly sure how big Nuremberg is, but I do know that we were put on coaches with our guides. This was apparently a first for Viking, putting the guides on the buses with us. I think it was great - we learned about all sorts of buildings and areas that we otherwise would have simply driven past without knowing what we were seeing. These included a housing area built after WWII that had garden space in order to help people feed themselves at that time - enough space to include small livestock too. What started as something built out of necessity has become something quite in demand - our guide said if he signed up on the wait list his children might have a chance at getting in. We also passed lots of government buildings, many of them built by the Nazis, which have been repurposed as either regular offices or, in one excellent instance, made into the home of the immigration agency.

The buses also allowed us to be able to see the large stadium Hitler wanted built, which remains unfinished, though part of it is now a museum. This building was meant to look like the Roman Coliseum, only it was built with brick and faced with stone to look like it was made of stone. We also saw part of the parade grounds where the Nazis held their big rallies.

The bus dropped us off in the medieval center of Nuremberg. I don’t remember exactly why this part of town remains exactly as it was in the Middle Ages, but somehow it was spared being developed and the original town wall remains, plus the castle and other parts inside. We were given a tour of some of this then we walked down to the center of this part of town so we could try the sausages of Nuremberg (small, finger-sized - well, my fingers - sausages served on bread with good mustard) or just do some shopping. We saw a beautiful fountain, which was our landmark to catch the return bus back to the boat for lunch; always Viking makes sure you are back for your lunch!

Every evening on the boat we would get a newsletter that included the next day’s itinerary, plus some information about the town we would be seeing next. In the one for Nuremberg there was information about their gingerbread and I decided I wanted to try it. It’s not like what I would normally think of as gingerbread - traditionally they use nuts and not flour, making it a good choice for me as I try to avoid gluten when possible. We found a cute shop and purchased one of these - one because they are about 5” in diameter! I opted for one covered in dark chocolate with almonds scattered on top. I was still coming back to my normal stomach, so I asked the woman at the counter to cut it into four pieces for me - and Van and I shared one of these. Absolutely delicious! Not overly ginger-y and soft and yummy. I also wanted to pick up some yarn and a crochet hook and I found a yarn shop two streets away, so we went up there so I could get those. Finally, we stopped at a little restaurant and had the sausage and a lovely wheat beer. Again, thanks to my stomach, I had just a bite of Van’s and a couple sips of the beer, but it was excellent. In the end, we decided this was our favorite sausage of the trip, but we didn’t know that then.

The afternoon found us on another expedition, this time to see the tunnels underneath the city where the Nurembergers stored their art when the Allies bombed Nuremberg. This was quite something - people lived here and we saw their bathroom and bunk beds and the humongous generator that kept the lights on. The art was stored in special containers and we were able to step inside one of these as well. We saw a short film about the whole thing too, which helped contextualize it all.

From Nuremberg we then saw Passau, a town just on the border of Austria and Germany. We took a tour of the town itself, saw another church, and then had some time to roam around on our own. We were able to find some gifts here as well as some nice wines to bring back to the boat. We also signed up for an e-bike ride from Passau to another small town on the Austrian side, where we had a glass of elder flower flavored water and a beer, then biked back to the boat. This was quite fun and beautiful, but also quite cold.

The next day we were in Melk, Austria. We visited the Melk Abbey which is home to one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but it was stunning. We also had a tour of parts of the abbey, including part of the library. The Abbey is also home to a school and that made the whole place feel very alive. That evening I had signed us up for an evening tour of Gottwieg Abbey that included dinner and a blessing from one of the monks. It turned out to just be six of us on this tour, which made it very intimate. The other four were from Spokane, WA, but did not know each other prior to this trip. The tour was nice, not very long, then we got to see the gift shop (of course) and then we had dinner. The dinner was excellent - I had opted for chicken and Van the trout-salmon. That is not a typo - this area has a fish called a trout-salmon. It has pink flesh and is quite good. We also had nice cheeses, several nice wines and a delicious apricot dessert. Apricots are big in this area. We learned that when phylloxera came to this wine region and wiped out the grapes here the locals turned to their apricots and started making all sorts of things - the usual jams and such, but also fermented apricot brandy, which is quite good. We then met with the monk, a man who actually had been to both California and Washington in his life before he became a monk. He gave us a travelers’ blessing and then we were on our way.

Vienna was the next big stop. We actually had two days here; I signed us up for two tours for the first day, leaving the second day open to do what we wanted. The first tour took us to the First District, where the palace is located, along with all the usual tourist infrastructure. We got some history, ended up at a church (where else?) and at the “only” Christmas market already open in Vienna. The market was fun - we walked around and looked at things for sale. Every fifth stall or so it seemed like you could get a glass of something warm to drink, though we didn’t. It was fun but the items felt mass-produced, not by the artisans themselves as we had been told. We did sit at a cafe and have some coffee - the coffee culture is a big thing in Austria. But mostly we were unimpressed because it was like being set down in Union Square in San Francisco.

The second tour was much more fun. We got to tour the stables where the stallions of the Spanish Riding School are housed when in town. We were not allowed to touch the horses, but we could get fairly close and talk to them; we were also not allowed to take photos inside, but in the courtyard we could, also in the tack room. The horses are beautiful, of course, and all so quiet and quietly charming. For a horse lover, it was really something else. We finished the tour with a special stop at the Cafe Central, in a private room, where each place was set with a slice of the famous Sachertorte, a rich chocolate cake with chocolate icing. We also could get coffee to order to go with the cake.

On our second day in Vienna we decided to try some shopping. I had asked for a less touristy area to shop and was directed to the Mariahilfer Strasse; this was similar to the first area we had seen, though with less high end shops. While we enjoyed looking in a few shops, the only purchases were a case of wine at a nice shop that Van took advantage of finding. We had gone with two of our friends and they decided to head back to the boat, so they took the cab and our wine while we were dropped off back in the center of town again. I wanted to check out the gift shop attached to the Spanish Riding School, so that’s where we headed. From there, we just started to walk and we found all sorts of interesting shops and streets. We went in to a little cafe to rest and have a quick cup. Then we found an interesting store that sold everything from home goods to good quality clothing. In here we found a coat for me - that had been on Van’s wish list. And, just as we left there and turned a corner we found another Christmas market. Now, this is what I had in mind when I think of Christmas markets - lots of stalls being run by the artisans themselves. There were still plenty of stalls with hot drinks, but we also found a delicious stew in a bread bowl and good beer to go with it. I was able to pick up some nice gifts here as well. We felt we had actually seen an authentic part of the culture.

Our last day we were in Budapest. We barely touched this city, it is so large. We took the usual tour, which included seeing a parade ground that the Soviets used and the usual church. The best part was the actual guides themselves telling us what it was like to live under Soviet rule and the things that their families had done to subvert this. We also got to spend a couple of hours in one of the city’s renowned thermal baths, which was nice and relaxing. That was it though, as the following day we had to catch our flight and come home.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. We won’t do another like it any time soon because we both like to spend more time in each place and get a little more immersed in the culture. But we do know where we want to go back to and what we want to see in more detail (I’m looking at you, Nuremberg and Vienna).