A Full-time Life

Wittenberg

Going back in time to June 20, our first night on the Viking Astrid, our (now) floating Hotel.

 

View from our room on the Astrid, docked near Wittenberg on the Elbe River during a perioid of low water.  Normally, the river's level would reach the middle point of the post on the right.     (See this post).    

 

Low water blues?

The picture above  was taken quite late in the evening (for me anyway).   It was the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.  On the ship, it was German night and we'd enjoyed a good, but heavy,  welcome aboard dinner.    After the road trip from Meissen, unpacking and  organizing our new room, the big meal, the evening's entertainment and the staff's review of tomorrow's activities  some  quiet time on our stateroom deck was welcome.  We enjoyed the last of the daylight.  The river view was lovely, even if we weren't moving along on it.

 

The next morning tour bus  transported us into the city of Wittenberg where we had some time on our own to stroll  through the historic city.  We then met our guide for a  tour of the Museum in the Martin Luther House.  The famous theologian lived here in the early 1500s; it is where he founded the Protestant Reformation.

Wittenberg Castle Church Door where Luther may have hung his 95 Theses document.  Historians have  differing views.

Other than the most basic of facts about the Reformation, we didn't know a lot about Martin Luther.  And I had never really thought about wanting to learn more about his life since we didn't grow up in that faith.  But I paid  attention and took a lot of pictures because of relatives and friends who  did.   And it was far more interesting than I had thought it would be.   

 

Among  his other writings, Luther translated the Holy Bible  into German while living in this house in Wittenberg.

Lectern in the part of the home that was used for Church services.  

 

The pictures above are of  Luther and his wife Kathe (about whom I had never heard).  Their union was important in the Reformation because it set a precedent for marriage and family life in the clergy.   

 

Like all good tour guides, ours had a way of bringing history to life with knowledge, respect and a dash of humor.   She told us that Kathe was the practical woman behind the reformation, keeping the family afloat so her husband  could carry on  his work without thinking about the problems of everyday life.    She said "I think Luther's quote under their portraits above means that he appreciated her."    (It translates as: "I would not want to exchange my Kathe for France nor for Venice to boot." )  

This mosaic panel in the rectory depicts the ten commandments 

After our tour  we enjoyed a pleasant lunch on our own in a local restaurant before returning to the ship.    We were always happy with the quality of the meals on Viking, but it is also fun to eat where the locals eat.  We enjoyed both the food and the people watching. 

We learned something new, we ate good food, we got just enough of a walk in nice weather --all good parts of travel (and of life, really).  It was a good day.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  TUESDAY TREASURES;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;    THANKFUL THURSDAY ; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

River Elbe Cruise Part 2 (after Prague)

In blogland (as opposed to real life here in Oregon) we are time-traveling back to June. 

After our days spent on our own in the Czech Republic,  the Viking River Cruise we had scheduled began with a  night's stay in the Prague Hilton Hotel and an evening tour in Prague (this post).   The next morning, we embarked by Viking bus  to Bad Schandau in the Saxon area of Germany.  Our ship was docked there on the River Elbe. 

We crossed the border into Germany less than an hour and a half after our bus departed from the hotel.      

Bastei National Park  -- above the Elbe in Germany's Sandstone Mountains.

 Before we reached our ship, we had about three hours to spend on an excursion stop at Bastei National Park.    We found good walking paths and some lovely viewpoints of the river valley from the top of the trail and admired the craggy rock formations  formed by water erosion over a million years ago.   

 

Bad Schandeau -- across from where our room was on the Beyla

In the afternoon, we boarded the River Ship Beyla.  The picture above was the view across the Elbe from our stateroom -- I never did find out exactly what this building was, but it certainly made us feel as if we lived temporarily in a very interesting neighborhood.   While we slept that night, our ship traveled along the Elbe to dock near Dresden where we awoke the next morning.

Not my photo -- from Viking Website

We spent all of that day walking around Dresden and I am sad to say I have no pictures to show because my camera ran out of battery while we were there (I'm pretty sure the pictures I took before I realized I was out of juice were the best ones I've ever taken).  I can't even find a picture  in the public domain which looks anything like what we saw. 

It was here in Dresden where the tragic events of WWII were most evident.    This beautiful city was nearly  totally destroyed during WWII -- over 25,000 people were killed in one day of allied bombing raids.  Almost beyond comprehension.  The museum complex and Halls at the Center of the City (where we spent most of our time) are still being restored.  This is partly because following  the war, when East Germany was absorbed into the USSR, those in charge definitely did not think  architecture and history were worth remembering or restoring.  In other parts of Dresden and all of the other cities we saw in the former east Germany, there are blocks of Soviet era housing and office complexes still standing.  I'll just say they are not photo-worthy.   

Zwinger Museum area Dresden (Not my photo, from Wikipedia)

 Here in the heart of Dresden, there was construction equipment working as we walked but also much of the re-created Baroque architecture, statues and so forth are completed so it is possible to imagine what it used to be.   

(Viking Photo, Elbe River ship)

Sadly, during the ship debriefing the night before, we had learned that the water  level on the Elbe was so low that  water travel between Dresden and Wittenberg (which was to be our next port of call) had been cancelled by River authorities, so our ship would not be able to proceed.  Viking has plans in place for this eventuality  however.   There is an identical Viking river ship which takes the exact same route only from the  other end of the cruise.  So at the point where water traffic was stopped, there would be a passenger exchange.   Both ships are configured exactly alike.  The night before, we packed the little bit we'd already unpacked on our one night aboard and put our suitcases in the hall.  Had a lovely meal in the ship's dining room, charged the camera, slept well and embarked after breakfast the next morning on a road trip instead of on the water.

 Our tour stop that day was in the town of Meissen.

 

Meissen Porcelain Factory

On arrival, we were met by tour guides for the Meissen Porcelain Factory and Museum where we had demonstrations of the steps  that go into the fine craftsmanship of these beautiful pieces.    

 

In the Museum, we admired  some of the more exclusive custom creations.   I had to tear myself away from admiring the birds. The picture shows only a portion of  this installation.   

View from our state room on the Astrild

When we arrived at our port in Wittenberg we found our luggage waiting on board the River Ship Astrild in what was exactly the same stateroom and location we'd had on  the other ship -- it was a little surreal but all well handled by Viking.  For the rest of our time on this "cruise,"  our stateroom and the entire ship really became a floating hotel as it remained in this dock and we traveled by bus and motor coach to the remaining destinations.

  

It's possible to see from these last two pictures how low the Elbe was -- the water is supposed to be at least up to the green and white pole you can see on this point of land.    It was disappointing not to enjoy cruising on this beautiful river, but we understood  that a boat could not possibly travel on this low water.  Also of course while understanding that it was not under Viking's control, it was fairly obvious to us that the company knew about the problem with the water level well in advance of our arrival for our river cruise.  We were still were able to enjoy all of the amenities of the ship. Viking does do an excellent job of that.  We were able to visit all of the ports of call and take the daily excursions, but did not get the river trip we were anticipating.

It is important, I think, to be flexible anytime in traveling, whether on our own or with others -- it's not always possible to plan for every eventuality. 

We know we are fortunate to be able to do what we do and I don't take any of that for granted. 

 

Sharing these first three tour stops with the following link-ups.  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS