Magdeburg

Saturday 28 April

We arrived in Magdeburg at 4:30 and went ashore to walk around the town, first mentioned in 805.  Emperor Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor, lived for most of his reign in the town and was buried in the cathedral after his death. Magdeburg's version of German Town Law, known as Magdeburg Rights, spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe.  The city is also well known for the 1631 Sack of Magdeburg, which hardened Protestant resistance during the Thirty Year’s War.  In 2005 Magdeburg celebrated its 1200th anniversary.

Walking along a road parallel with the river we passed several ancient churches some which have been converted to community centres and arrived at the Magdeberg Cathedral which is in the process of major restoration works but we arrived just after closing time.

Walking back to the town square we passed a most unusual building, “The Green Citadel” an Art Deco building designed in 1928 which was so unusual amongst all the 300 year old buildings.  In the town square in front of the Town Hall is a gold statue commemorating a scientist from the 1600s.  

We arrived back at the ship just in time to change for the Captain’s cocktail party and dinner and after dinner we all met in the lounge for the prize giving for the various competitions.  Ann won a prize for the longest German word, actually a series of words without spaces between them and unlike other entrants, she was able to recite it and provide a translation, the others had just done a Google search and had no idea how to pronounce the words or what they meant.

The night finished with a presentation of photos taken during the trip and we all retired to our cabins to pack as we had to have our cases ready for collection at 7:30 in the morning.

Wittenberg, Dessau and Worlitz

Friday 27 April

This sleepy little town in rural eastern Germany doesn't look like the centre of a revolution.  But the events that played out here in the 16th Century shook the foundations of Christendom, it was here that that Martin Luther lived and preached and the Protestant Reformation began.           
 

The old town is long and narrow, and flat, laid out along two parallel streets, in the square, or Markt, statues of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon are erected.  Pretty pastel-coloured buildings, many from the 16th and 17th centuries, line the streets.

One of the first buildings we saw as we entered the old town is the large cloister that Martin Luther used as a home. The Luther family, wife and six children, and various students and visitors lived in the central part of the building. He was given the building by one of the aristocrats supporting his movement.

The house is now a museum, open daily, and maintains Luther's living room in the state it appeared when he lived there. This is where Luther sat with his family and friends in the evenings, discussing a wide range of subjects from the sublime to the earthy (yes, earthy, not earthly!)

Martin Luther was known for his rather blunt way of speaking as well as for his eloquence. Students were allowed to be present during these evening discussions; they took notes and later published thousands of his comments in a book called "Table Talk".

In 1520, Martin Luther's supporters piled up a stack of writings of Church doctrine and set them on fire. Luther threw in the Papal Bull, the document threatening him with excommunication unless he recanted his writings.  In 1830, an oak tree was planted on the spot where all this allegedly took place.

From Luther’s home we walked to St Mary’s Church, the “Mother Church of the Reformation” where Luther preached and was also married.

Walking on to the town square we had our first view of the Castle church and many old buildings and the town hall which line the square.

Castle Church is the famous church where, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door.  Luther gave many of his sermons in this church and now is buried just under the pulpit. The church was severely damaged twice during wars in the centuries following the Reformation, but it was rebuilt each time. The present doors were put up in the 19th century, the original wooden having been destroyed. The current doors are made of bronze and are engraved with all ninety-five theses.

It is called the Castle Church because it is part of a church-castle and the castle tower rises high above Wittenberg.

From the Castle church we returned to the boat which sailed for Dessau at 5:30.

Saturday 28 April

The boat arrived at Dessau last night around 8:45 and after breakfast we left for the town of Worlitz to visit the English Gardens of Worlitz.  These were the first English styled landscape gardens built in Europe, following the Duke’s visit to England and he used local labour to build the gardens and his summer palace and to save money and employ local tradesmen, many of the furnishings, paintings and artefacts are reproductions of overseas products.

The Duke declared that the gardens and palace were to be open to the local residents at all times and as a result his wife moved into another house nearby as she didn’t like waking up in the morning to find visitors in her bedroom.

After walking around the gardens and palace we visited the nearby Church of St Peter’s before returning to the boat for lunch on the sun deck, where we were greeted by the crew holding “Welcome Back” signs.  Shortly after returning, the boat sailed for Magdeburg our last stop before leaving for the last time for Berlin.

Meissen and Torgau

 Thursday 26 April

The boat left Dresden just before breakfast and arrived in Meissen, just before 8:30, where we boarded coaches to visit the Meissen Porcelain works.

With a history dating back more than a thousand years, Meissen has long been known as the "cradle" of Saxony.  This is clearly seen in its buildings - records of stone which record the different epochs of not only Saxon history but also the history of the Holy Roman Empire with Germany at its centre.

The buildings of Albrechtsburg Castle and Meissen Cathedral on the hill above the town dominate the skyline. Long ago, in the Middle Ages, the Wettin Princes became the margraves of Meissen, thus marking the beginning of Saxon history. Albrechtsburg Castle is regarded as being the first castle to be used a royal residence in the German speaking world; built between 1472 and 1525.

However Meissen is probably more famous for being the home of the discovery of the process of making porcelain in Europe, prior to this it was imported from China and Japan.  To protect the secret, the ruler of the day set up the first manufacturing works in the Castle but later built a new works in the valley to provide better access to water and wood.

Our visit to the present day works took us through rooms were we were shown a man using a potter’s wheel, a women preparing miniature body parts, hand etc. in the process of assembling a small statue of a woman with a flowing gown.  We were then shown techniques of “below glaze” and “above glaze” painting before visiting the museum with examples of Meissen works over hundreds of years.  A highlight was an operating organ with pipes made from porcelain.

Leaving the works we strolled through town lanes past many old building before arriving at the castle and cathedral and walking down to the town square which is dominated by the Town Hall and the Frauenkirche, this church was the first to have a Carillion made from porcelain installed in its tower.  Returning to the boat we sailed for Torgou as we had lunch.

Torgau is well known as the place where during WW II the USA forces coming from the west and the Russian forces from the east met on 25 April 1945.  The first time the town was mentioned by a document, was in 973and by 1267 it developed into a considerable town.

In 1544 Luther established the castle chapel as the first protestant new building of a church and around 1811Torgau had been extended to a giant star-shaped fortress by Napoleon.

Other features of the town include a castle at the bank of the river Elbe, living brown bears down in the castle moat, the oldest toy shop of Germany, precious china of the brand Villeroy & Boch, knights in armour and about 500 historical monuments from the Renaissance, late Gothic and Baroque period.  As well as Luther, Napoleon, Friedrich II of Prussia and Czar Peter I. all spent time in Torgau.

We docked around 5:00 and left shortly after for a walking tour, first going to the memorial commemorating the link up af the American and Russian forces.  Yesterday was the 67^th anniversary of this event and the forecourt was filled with dozens of commemorative wreaths from many nations.

Walking up the hill to Hartenfels Castle we entered by the Round Tower Gate which overlooks the river.  Inside the courtyard was the entrance to the first Chapel consecrated by Martin Luther and where he performed his first baptism.

From the castle we walked around the lanes past the house where Katharina Luther died and on to the town square with its large fountain from there were strolled back to the boat.  After dinner we were given a talk by a local resident about her experiences living under communist rule.

Bad Schandau and on to Dresden

 Tuesday 24 April

The boat sailed at 7:00 am for Dresden, with a stop planned along the way.  A quiet relaxing morning passing through wooded areas and small villages.  Around lunch time we crossed the border into Germany this part is known as Saxon Switzerland and celebrated with a “Welcome to Germany” lunch, sausage, cheese, pork and other German specialties all washed down with German Beer while the resident musician played traditional German music.

After lunch we moored at Bad Schandau, a small spa town, visited by thousands of tourists during the year and boarded coaches to travel to the Bastia (Bastion) rock formation which rise about 300 metres above the Elbe River, where in the 14/1500s a small settlement was built and equipped with a catapult to throw 40 kg rocks at boats on the river to stop them and allow the locals to rob them.  A walkway around the rocks with small signs explaining various parts of the settlement left us wondering how, in those early times, people were able to transport materials and build accommodation.  We had similar thoughts when crossing a 150 year old stone bridge built amongst the rocks.

Shortly after returning to the boat we left for Dresden, where we arrived during dinner and we will remain here for two nights.

Dresden

Wednesday 25 April

The area of Dresden was first settled around 7500 BC but around the late 12^th century a Slavic settlement called Drezd’any (people of the riverside forest) was established.  In 1206 Dietrich, Margave of Meissen chose Dresden as his interim residence.  After 1270 it became the capital of the Margravate and from 1485 the seat of the Dukes of Saxony and from 1547 the Electors as well.

Following the bombing of Dresden by Allied Forces in 1945 and its 40 years as part of GDR, the damage was not repaired and it wasn’t until after the 1990 reunification of Germany the work commenced to restore the city.  It is expected by 2014the last stage of restoration of the King’s Palace will be completed and Dresden will have been restored to its original glory.

Today we were offered the choice of a walking tour of the old city, a coach tour with little walking and a combination of both.  As we spent three days here four years ago and had covered the old and new cities on foot, we decided to take the combination tour so as to see the outlying part of Dresden, including areas which survived the bombing and then returning to the city to revisit the old restored buildings.

Looking at photos of the war time damage it is amazing how well the buildings have been restored and when compared to photos of the originals it is hard to believe they aren’t the original building both inside and out.

We commenced our walk at the Zwinger a large square building built around a large courtyard and garden, this was never used as a royal residence it was designed and built as a place to hold parties.  The galleries now house a variety of exhibits, including Old Masters, Armoury and Meissen porcelain.

From the Zwinger we walked past the Semper Opera House, the R.C. Cathedral and to the Royal Palace and entered the Green Vault museum to view the display of royal treasures, including gold and precious stone articles, clocks, ivory and carved rock crystal.  The value of the display would probably help return Australia’s budget to the black.  One highlight was a 41 carat green diamond, the only one of its kind, surrounded by hundreds of diamond and was given to the king as a hat decoration.  When the diamond was purchased in the 1600s it cost almost double what was spent to build a large church in the town.

Returning to the boat for lunch, after which we walked back into the old town and visited the Lutheran Frauenkirche, Church of Our Lady, which was totally destroyed in WWII but assisted by donations from all around the world, has been rebuilt.  The church is a round shape with a large dome, reminiscent of St Paul’s Cathedral, and has been faithfully restored and the inside of the dome is beautifully decorated as is the rest of the Church interior.

 

From the Lady Church we walked to the R. C. Cathedral and enjoyed a performance of an orchestra, singers  and a choir, much cheaper than an opera performance which is just across the square.  After which we walked back to the boat for a talk and demonstration of wood carving, before enjoying dinner.

After dinner we were entertained by a trio from the Opera, violin, cello and flute, an enjoyable way to end the evening.

Prague to Litomerice

Saturday 21 April

Today we left our apartment and moved to the Hilton Hotel for the start of our Elbe River Cruise.  A short trip on the Metro brought us to Florenc station and a Google map I had printed out before leaving home provided instruction how to walk to the hotel with many twists and turns.  However we couldn’t find the street to start our walk and asking some girls outside the station we were informed if we walked through the small shopping plaza opposite we would find the hotel outside the rear entrance.

 

Checking in we were advised that our room wouldn’t be ready for several hours so we crossed over a bridge to a nearby island and walked around watching people fishing, playing tennis and a group of elderly men on a tennis court playing what appeared to be a version of volley ball but using their feet and head instead of their hands.

Before dinner, we had a short walk with one of the cruise guides to the old Powder Gate passing the old Municipal building, now used as a concert hall.

Sunday 22 April

We had to check out of our rooms by 8:00 am, I thought this was a holiday, and left by coach shortly after to visit Prague Castle.  We were glad we had visited the castle on a previous visit because we were not taken into the castle, just through the outside courtyards.  Disappointing for people who hadn’t been to Prague before.  Being a Sunday, St Vitus Cathedral was closed, so we only saw part of the outside, including a tableau of straw animals, part of the Easter decorations.  We were then taken by bus to walking distance from the Charles Bridge and walked across the bridge to the Old Town Square and Astronomical clock.  As it was less than 12C with a very cold wind, we decided to walk back to the hotel and sit in the lobby until our coach left at 3:30 to travel to the boat at Litomerice. 

The cruise was supposed to start from the town of Melnik and we found out later in the evening that one of the locks on the river was broken so we had to start from the second town on our itinerary.  I suppose it could have been worse if our boat, the Viking Schurmann was upstream from the lock, then the cruise wouldn’t have been able to proceed.

After dinner we were entertained by a group performing Czech music, folk songs and dance, the musicians included a dulcimer, double bass, violin and clarinet/flute alternating.

Monday 23 April

We awoke to a calm sunny morning and after breakfast went up to the sun deck to be greeted with patches of frost, it was only 5C.  Later in the morning we had a brief talk on the history of the Czech Republic from very early time, through the Nazi and Russian occupation to the present time.

After lunch we walked into the town of Litomerice which is at the junction of the Elbe and Eger rivers.  This is one of the oldest Czech towns and was established in the 10^th century and after the 30 years Protestant/Catholic war in the 1600s, the town had to accept Catholicism and the Czech population shrunk and the town became largely Germanized.

Later the town became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which was dissolved after WWI and many areas along the border tried to join German Austria but the Czechoslavic troops prevented this happening.  After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Hitler annexed this area and the Czech population had to move again.

The town buildings represent many styles, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and even some Art Deco.  The symbol of the city is a chalice, commemorating the Protestant movement when the people were able to receive the wine sacrament for the first time and the “watchout” tower over the Town Hall is in the shape of a chalice.

Leaving the town square we walked to a tiny brewery, production of 600 litres a week and sampled their three beers together with local food, the walk back to the boat was a little slower than the walk up to the town, a pretty and historic town and well worth the visit.

Prague

Friday 20 April

Unlike our last visit to Prague which coincided with the May Day long weekend, there were not the large numbers of Tourists packing the streets, so walking around was quite pleasant.  In fact in Wenceslas Square Ann was able to make a new friend.

Our first stop was at the Astronomical Clock and after its 11:00 am performance we paid to go up to the top of the clock tower where we had a view all over Prague, in fact we spent so much time admiring the views that we were able to watch the noon performance..

Today, Friday, must be wedding day as there was a constant procession of wedding parties into the Old Town Hall, arriving and leaving on everything from stretch limos. to  walking through the Square.

Leaving the Square we walked to the Charles Bridge, built in 1357 and enjoyed a leisurely stroll across it, unlike last visit when it took an hour and a half fighting the crowds, to cross.  We were also able to view the statue to St. John of Nepomuk, a priest thrown to his death in 1393 for refusing to reveal the Queen’s confession to King Wenceslas IV.  His tomb is in the St Vitus Cathedral, two tonnes of baroque silver watched over by hovering cherubs.

After crossing the bridge we wandered around several lanes to view the John Lennon Wall, a graffiti covered wall, originally painted with Beatle song’s phrases and sayings, peace signs and other symbols associated with John Lennon.  However, many visitors have added more scribblings and the original concept has been lost.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the narrow winding lanes looking at all the wonderful architecture.

We're Off - Two Days early - to Bangkok

Monday 16 April

We’re at Melbourne Airport waiting for our 11:30 pm flight to Bangkok.  We weren’t supposed to be leaving for our European trip until Wednesday but last Thursday afternoon I had a look at the SAS website to see if they had reintroduced a direct flight from Copenhagen to Prague and perhaps we could alter our flight.  No such luck but I noticed the departure for our Thai Airlines code share flight on Wednesday had been brought forward.

After some phone calls, in which I expressed my displeasure at Flight Centre not notifying us of the early departure on Wednesday, they sent us new eTickets.  That is when the stress levels started to soar, Flight Centre had change our booking on the Melbourne - Bangkok leg of our trip from Business Class to Economy and after several hours and faxing and emailing them many documents, they accepted that they had made a mistake.

Next problem, there weren’t any Business Class seat available but if we agreed to leave on Monday, we could obtain Business Class seats and Flight Centre would pay for three night’s accommodation in Bangkok, until we could leave on our scheduled flight to Copenhagen. 

This we agreed to but that meant all the jobs around the house planned for Monday and Tuesday had to be lumped together with the Friday, Saturday and Sunday jobs, plus I had a Sun Youth Travel 60^th Anniversary Reunion on Sunday and we had a Tennis Ladies Lunch on Monday.  I finished packing about 45 minutes before leaving for the airport.

Sitting in the Business Class lounge waiting to be called on-board I was called to the telephone to be advised that one of our seats had malfunctioned and could we pick up new boarding passes for our re-allocated seats.  At least we had seats that reclined and one of us didn’t have to sit up all the way to Bangkok.

We pushed out from the terminal five minutes early and decided we didn’t need to eat, so as soon as we could, we dropped our seats and settled down to sleep and although it wasn’t an uninterrupted sleep we were woken at 4:00 am Bangkok time for light breakfast and landed half an hour before our scheduled arrival time.

Tuesday 17 April

After collecting our luggage we found a limousine waiting to take us to our hotel and after checking in went to the dining room for some juice and cereal and then headed to the swimming pool.

Later in the morning we walked, avoiding the taxi and tuk-tuk touts, to the Baiyoke Sky hotel, the tallest building in Thailand, first calling in to Maccas for an icecream, less than half the price we pay in Melbourne and a bigger serve.

Arriving at the building we first went to the 77^th floor, the observation floor and later to the 84^th floor which has a rotating deck providing 360 degree views of Bangkok. 

Returning to the hotel we watched some American Major League Baseball on the TV before returning to the swimming pool, this followed by a light dinner now finds us struggling to stay awake as we are still attuned to Melbourne time, three hours ahead of Bangkok.  Just like going to Perth during daylight saving.

Wednesday 18 April

After a good night’s sleep and leisurely breakfast, we walked around the lanes near the hotel past dozens of tiny street side stalls selling all manner of items, including fresh fruit and vegetable and also cooked food from little wheeled stalls, we wondered how so many stalls selling similar items could make a living.

After walking past so much apparent poverty we came upon the Phatam Wat and were taken back by the beauty and splendour amongst so many poor and run down properties.  Though from previous trips to Thailand it is obvious the Thai people go without so they can support their local temple.

In the afternoon we travelled about an hour out of Bangkok to the Rose Garden and attended the Thai Cultural Display, featuring traditional Thai dancing, demonstrations of martial arts and Thai village life, a highlight of this display was the demonstration of bamboo dancing.  Following the cultural display we watched a short  show of working elephants.

The drive to and from the Rose Garden passed the Royal Palace and the roads around the palace were decorated with many arches and display featuring the King in many of his official uniforms and recreation pursuits.

The phone just rang, it was reception to advise that our driver has arrived to take us to the airport to catch our Copenhagen/Prague flight, he is two hours early, so I suppose I must finish up and think about packing!

When we arrived at the airport the Copenhagen check in counter wasn't open so we had an hour to wait which we spent looking at the various orchid displays in the airport.

Thursday 19 April

SAS has the reputation as being one of the most "On Time" airlines in the world and last night was no exception, leaving the terminal five minutes before the scheduled departure time and arriving in Copenhagen half an hour early.  This of course wasn't any benefit to us as it added another thirty minutes to our four and a half hour waiting time before our connecting flight to Gothenburg and then we had another hour and a half wait until our flight to Prague.

Landing at Prague, we were delighted to retrieve our luggage which we checked in at Bangkok and it was still with us after three flights.  In the reception lobby the driver of our Mercedes, which we had booked with our accommodation, was waiting to drive us to our apartment in Wenceslas Square, about 200 metres from the statue of King Wenceslas.  Our trip time from our Bangkok hotel to the apartment was 26 hours of which nearly 12 hours was spent sitting at airports, what a waste of a day!