Imperial Europe ~ Jan 2011 ~ Aussie Miss

Here is my tour tale at last, it is a very long tour tale but I hope not too long.

IMPERIAL EUROPE TOUR 2nd Jan – 11th Jan, 2011. 

Departure Saturday 1/1/11 to Day 1 – Sunday 2/1/11

After weeks of worrying over the arctic weather in Europe, we left Adelaide at 3.30pm, Saturday 1st January, flying Malaysia Airlines. The first 7 hour flight went reasonably quickly; in Kuala Lumpur we had a wait of a few hours until the dreaded 13 hour flight to Paris began! We arrived into CDG at 7am, without any fuss, not even an arrival card to fill in, and took the shuttle train to Terminal 2 to catch the 1 ½ hr Air France flight to Munich. Catching this flight was quite an experience as we were taken in a shuttle bus to the aircraft and had to climb uncovered stairs in the rain to board the plane. In Adelaide, and against my better judgement, I had allowed my bags to be checked all the way through to Munich, meaning they would automatically be transferred onto the Air France flight. WRONG!! My heart sunk when we were left standing at the baggage carousel waiting in hope that our bags would appear, long after everyone else has collected theirs. Fortunately there was an Air France lost luggage desk nearby (it seemed to be popular) and I immediately went to fill in the necessary forms in the hope of seeing my luggage again soon. 

I had been very excited as we came into land at Munich to see snow covering the ground and missing bags were not going to ruin my excitement of seeing Europe in the winter. We were in time to get the 1.30pm transfer and we met our very kind TD Ulrich (we called him Uli), over the next 10 days, he would make us laugh, give us interesting history lessons about the Hapsburgs and ensure that we all had a wonderful time. Our bus driver was from Hungary and he was an exceptional driver (as all the drivers for Trafalgar have been). We were taken to the Hilton City hotel, an excellent 4 star hotel, which had the usual Evelyn & Crabtree toiletries! Our room was really nice and overlooked a snow covered courtyard at the rear of the hotel. At 3pm we were taken to the Marienplatz, where the Christmas tree was still up. It was beginning to get dark at 3pm.

We did not see the Glockenspiel perform and it runs less often in winter, but this was ok as I had seen it on a previous tour. We had time to walk around snapping photos 

Then we returned to the hotel and make our own arrangements for dinner (we ate a delicious meal at a restaurant 5 minutes walk from the hotel) before the group meeting at 6.30.There were supposed to be 30 on the tour, but one lady had problems on departure and so did not join us. The 29 consisted of: 6 Americans, 2 Canadians, 4 Brazilians from Sao Paulo (one could not speak English), 1 New Zealander and 16 from Australia. Amazingly there were 3 Mothers and sons, and the sons were all about the same age! The rest of the Aussies were school teachers in their mid 20’s and most of them were German teachers! I had luckily decided to pack our lightweight winter jackets in our carryon luggage and so at least we had these to wear on the walk around Munich, I was worried that the bags would not be found until we had left Munich and I really needed my winter clothing, including my boots for the next day. After a phone call to Air France, they informed me my luggage had been found and was going to be delivered to the hotel that evening, YEAH! This had been a very long, and in the end a really wonderful day Smile

Day 2 – Monday 3/1/11 - Munich – Regensburg- Prague 

Forecast High -2, low -5Wake up call at 7am, Depart at 8.15amThe bed was comfortable but I woke up early at about 4.30am and could not get back to sleep. We were in good time to have breakfast, which offered an excellent selection.It began to snow as we departed the hotel for our orientation drive, (you can imagine my excitement!!) seeing the Olympic Village and the BMW headquarters before we drove to Regensburg. Once out of Munich, the drive took us through snow covered fields of white as far as the eye could see, it was very beautiful. We also saw villages and their prominent church spires, covered in snow, looking like something out of a fairytale. We arrived in Regensburg in time for lunch and while we were here it began to snow quite heavily, which I loved.

Regensburg was one of the highlights of the tour and we loved walking the pretty streets, and we had a nice lunch in a cafe where we sat and watched the snow falling.

Here is a photo for Pennyone (it has a cyclist Wink)

The snow continued to fall as we drove towards Prague, and I loved seeing the countryside and especially the pine trees covered in snow. We crossed the border into the Czech Republic and our TD told us not to bother to change our cash into Czech money as we would be able to use Euro but we would get change in Czech koruna, also their currency was worthless once we left the Czech Republic. On the drive to Prague the TD explained the optionals and we were given a form to fill in and in Prague we paid for our chosen optionals. There was no snow falling when we arrived in Prague and we drove to the Holiday Inn Congress Centre, which was a fair distance from the city centre. I thought it was an ok hotel, but the worst of the tour, however it did have free internet in the rooms. We had dinner at the hotel, which was a pork steak and noodles and desert, and it was ok. Then most of us went on the optional night walking tour with John, the local guide, (he was our guide for all the tours) It was a very cold, but clear evening and we walked around the Old Town Square and across Charles Bridge and this photo was taken on the other side of the bridge where they still had Christmas decorations on display.

We finished the very enjoyable evening in a nice restaurant, reserved just for us, here we had a drink accompanied by music. Then it was back to the hotel and to bed for some much needed sleep. 

Day 3 – Tuesday 4/1/11 – Prague Sightseeing and at leisure

We awoke to a light covering of fresh snow on the ground when we looked outside our hotel window. We went down to breakfast at 7.30am and then departed at 8.15 for the included sightseeing tour with our guide from last night. Firstly we were taken to St. Vitus Cathedral, which is set inside the 1,000 year old Prague Castle and we went inside the Church, which was pretty.

We had beautiful blue skies BUT it was about -5 degrees, and for the first time in my life I knew what COLD was!! We then drove back to the Old Town Square and saw the Astronomical Clock chime at 11am. They were packing up the stalls from the Christmas Markets and I could imagine how beautiful they would have been. Please note that blue skies do not mean a warm day, it was still about -4 C Cool

Then most of us did the optional excursion – Splendid Interiors – we visited the baroque St. Nicholas Church and the beautiful Theatre of the Estates where Mozart first performed Don Giovanni. Then we did the second optional excursion – Vltava Cruise & lunch. John was again our guide for this optional, as he had been for all our tours in Prague and he gave us a talk about Prague after our meal. I really enjoyed this optional, it was warm inside the boat, the lunch was tasty 

The view of Prague from the boat was very picturesque. 

The cruise finished at 3.15pm and we decided to make use of the first offered transfer back to the hotel (as most people did). At 6.45 we had our included dinner in a restaurant in Petrin Hill and which has their version of the Eiffel Tower!! I can’t remember what we had, but I know it was nice J At 8.30 we left the restaurant and back at the hotel there was time to write a few emails and then off to sleep about 10pm. This had been a really great day.I had high expectations of Prague as I had been told by many people it is their favourite city because it is so beautiful. Prague was not damaged during the war and therefore the buildings are all original and there is not just one city centre, but several. The most famous is the Old Town Square with the astronomical clock and the second is Wenceslas Square, which is not a square but a boulevard and it is called the “Paris Street” after the Champs Elysees. The city is also quite run down in many areas and extensive road works are being done to build the longest tunnel complex to reduce traffic in the city, which makes the city messy. It is a nice city and there are many lovely buildings but I think it would be prettier in the summer when the parks are green and flowering. Prague is now the 5th most visited city in Europe and even in winter there were quite a few tourists. It was not my favourite city, which was definitely Budapest. 

Day 4 – Wednesday 5/1/11 – Prague-Bratislava-Budapest

Wake up call 6.15 – Depart at 8.15Clear skies and cold this morning as we left Prague. The trees and countryside were covered in a clean white blanket of snow and the drive today was again beautiful. Being a “fan” of Napoleon Bonaparte I was very excited when we drove past the site of his famous victory at the battle of Austerlitz in Moravia in the Czech Republic. We crossed the border into Slovakia in the late morning and arrived in Bratislava around midday. Bratislava is a very lovely small city on the banks of the Danube and on the day where were there it was very cold and practically deserted. We did not feel very hungry, so we settled for the most delicious hot chocolate I have ever had and a pastry at a Scottish Restaurant called McDonalds (so called by our TD!!) We then walked around, took photos and bought a few souvenirs. You can see the famous Bratislava Castle in the background of this photo.

This is a photo of one of the main shopping streets.

I really loved our visit here and I think Bratislava is a very pretty city. We left Bratislava at 2pm and our drive continued to be picture perfect of snow as far as the eye could see. We arrived in Budapest at about 4pm and checked into the hotel, the Ramada Plaza at 4.30 and had 1 ½ hours to get ready for our optional Danube dinner cruise. The food on the cruise was a buffet with a good selection dishes

After dinner we went onto the top deck to brave the cold and take photos of this very beautiful city illuminated at night and I especially loved the Chain Bridge.

The Ramada Plaza was the nicest hotel of the tour. The rooms were lovely, the bed comfortable, the internet free and it had wonderful thermal pools and spa. I needed a good sleep tonight as it had been another full day. 

Day 5 – Thursday 6/1/11 – Budapest Sightseeing and at leisure

Breakfast at 7am and we left the hotel for our morning sightseeing tour with our local guide. We began the tour with a stop in beautiful Hero’s Square and then we drove down what is referred to as the Champs Elysees to Old Buda and the Fishermen’s Bastion where we had our group photo taken and then we had free time. It was -6 this morning and it was SO cold. I was warm in my body and my feet but my hands and face where unbelievably cold but I still thought the Fishermen’s Bastion was very beautiful.

It was very foggy this morning because there was no sun to blow away the clouds and the view of the Parliament building was not really clear, but still amazing.

I was so frozen that I decided to take the transfer back to the hotel after this sightseeing tour and thaw out! There was an afternoon tour to the medieval town of Szentendre for lunch and a visit to the Parliament, but Parliament was closed for tours as the day we were there the EU presidency was being handed to Hungary in Budapest, so a visit to the Opera House was offered instead. I decided not to do this optional and those who did it did not think it was worth the 72 Euros. We decided to have lunch at the hotel and it was the best and cheapest meal we had on our tour. In fact prices in Hungary were very reasonable and again I did not change any Euros into Hungarian Forint but Euros was accepted. 

Just a note here about the currency in Hungary, it is likely to be a long time, if ever, that they adopt the Euro as it will financially cripple their economy to do so. In the Czech Republic they keep pushing back the year they will change to the Euro and now it is 2016. The Slovak Republic, in between the two countries uses the Euro but actually want to go back to their own currency. After lunch we decided to have a relaxing afternoon swimming and enjoying the thermal pools before we went to the highlight dinner in a family run winery. I also did some shopping and purchased a new Italian coat at the hotel as it was on sale and I wore it to dinner that night. Dinner was ok, but we had roast pork and I ended up with all the crackling and no meat!! It was back to the hotel by 9.30 and an early night as we had to be up early for the optional excursion – Budapest’s Secret Treasures – in the morning.

Day 6 – Friday 7/1/11 – Budapest – Gyor – Vienna 

We had a very nice breakfast and then those doing the optional tour left at 8.30am to firstly visit St. Stephens Basilica, which was beautiful inside.

After our visit here (with the same excellent tour guide we had previous had) we drove to Vajdahunyad Castle, which is located in the city park. The walk through the snow covered park was very beautiful.

In the park they usually have a huge winter ice skating rink, but this winter it is being renovated. I thought the Castle was the most unusual and beautiful Castle I have seen and we had time to take photos. One good thing about winter is that I do not have crowds of people in my photos Smile

Today we had blue skies and it was cold, but much warmer at -1 degrees! We then went inside the very pretty chapel of this fairy-tale like castle and enjoyed a short organ concert.

To finish this optional we walked across the park to the world famous Gundel restaurant where we had coffee and the speciality of the house – their delicious pancakes with hot chocolate chocolate syrup, very yummy indeed Smile

After eating my pancake I should have jogged around the park to lose weight, but instead we joined those who had not done the optional on the bus and left for our drive to Vienna with a lunch stop in Gyor. I love Budapest, it is a very beautiful city, and the main street, called their Champs Elysees is very pretty, with lovely buildings lining the street. They are restoring the Margaret Bridge to how it was when it was built in 1872-76. This bridge leads across to Margaret Island, which is a pedestrianised and recreational island in the middle of the Danube River. I was sad to say goodbye to Budapest, but I was very happy with all the things I had seen and done here. 

We left Budapest at 12 pm and after a drive of 1 ½ hours (there was no snow to be seen from the bus windows) we arrived in Gyor for a toilet stop and late lunch. I made use of the toilets in the department store (they cost 50c) but neither I or my son felt feel hungry enough for lunch, so I bought some fresh fruit and we walked around this pretty city.

I also really liked their shop signs and this one in particular –

After leaving here, it was then just another 1 ½ hour’s drive to Vienna.Vienna looked pretty on our drive through the city to our Hilton Hotel on the Danube River and there was still enough daylight to admire our lovely river view from our huge room. That night the optional – Dinner and Vienna Palace Concert – was offered but as I had done this optional on a previous tour and it is very expensive (at 93 Euros a person) I decided not to do this optional. But I can highly recommend this optional as I really enjoyed the concert. Instead we had dinner at the hotel, Wiener schnitzel and apple strudel, of course Smile It was a bit expensive but delicious. We were joined during the meal by one of the other tour members, a single woman from Adelaide and it was a nice evening. There was a kettle in this hotel (as there was in all but one of the hotels, this being in Salzburg) and I had a cuppa and we watched cross country skiing on the Eurosports channel and had an early night.

Day 7 – Saturday 8/1/11 - Vienna Sightseeing and at leisure.

We awoke to very thick fog and a warm temperature of about 1C. We had a delicious buffet breakfast and then those doing the optional – Vienna’s Fabulous Past – left at 7.30 for the visit to the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace, the former imperial summer palace of The Hapsburg monarchs. On this tour and all day we had an excellent local male guide. I loved Schonbrunn when I visited here in the summer of 2007 and I was really looking forward to seeing it again and my son seeing it too. I was very disappointed that the fog was so thick you could hardly see the front of the Palace. We were told that fog is common because of the river when the temperature rises above minus degrees. We had a guided tour and the Palace and although one half of the grand ballroom was being restored, it was still very beautiful. My son loved Schonbrunn and two ladies who had been to Versailles a week before said this palace was much prettier. The gardens are at their best in the summer and for this reason alone I would visit Vienna in the spring or summer. I took this photo of the gardens shrouded in fog and it looks rather surreal and a little eerie.

At the conclusion of our visit we joined those who had chosen not to do the tour on the bus for our walking tour of the city which included St. Stephens Cathedral and a walk through the pedestrianised main shopping street which still had Christmas decorations hanging across the street. As you can see from my photo the fog was still present and this turned into light rain later in the afternoon. 

We walked through the city to the Hofburg Winter Palace, again shrouded in fog, but empty of crowds!

Here we boarded the bus again for our drive around the city on the Ringstrasse, seeing the State Opera House, Town Hall and Parliament Building, which are all very beautiful. At the conclusion of our sightseeing drive we returned to near the Hofburg Palace and the optional tour continued with a visit to the Crypts and Vaults of the Imperial family, which was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed this optional, which cost 40 Euro. At the finish of this optional we had free time for lunch and at 2.30 the only transfer back to the hotel was offered. We joined the other single woman from Adelaide and had a nice lunch (she could speak basic German which was a great help) then for desert we went to the famous Cafe Sacher, which was so popular, even in winter we had to wait in line for several minutes to get a table and the wait was well worth it !

My son took advantage of the transfer back to the hotel as the weather was miserable and he did not want to go shopping (of course). The two of us spent a couple of hours, wandering in an out of the shops, but finding nothing suitable to buy. We visited inside the beautiful gothic St. Stephens Cathedral, which is currently being cleaned stone by stone, so it will be a very long process. By this time it had started raining so we took the subway back to the hotel and where we got off the metro there is a great shopping centre which is a 10 minute walk from the hotel. After we got back to the hotel my son and I walked back to the shopping centre to buy some nibblies for the bus. We had decided not to do the optional – Dinner with traditional musical entertainment in a local restaurant and ordered room service, and thoroughly enjoyed our meal, which was 30 euros for 2 main courses. I uploaded my photos and we had an early night and a good sleep. There were a number of people on the tour who had very bad colds and I was taking my Vitamin C’s everyday and trying to get a good sleep when I could. 

Day 8 – Sunday 9/1/11 – Vienna – Salzburg 

At 8am everyone was on the bus ready to leave for Salzburg and we all clapped as there had been mornings when not everyone was on the bus on time and we had been late departing. The fog was still very heavy this morning and it was hard to get a last glimpse of Vienna as we drove out of the city. I had really loved my second visit here. Our drive followed the Danube and consequently the fog persisted for most of the 4 hour drive. We stopped after 2 hours for a morning coffee and toilet stop and it was cold with a temperature of about 0 degrees. The TD informed us that we would be doing the optional to Berchtesgaden and the Sound of Music that afternoon instead of the following day for two reasons. Firstly he assured us that the weather in the Bavarian Alps was clear and the sun shining and secondly the shops were closed in Salzburg on Sunday. Everyone was doing this optional (which was the best value of all the optionals at 34 Euro) and we all hoped the TD was right about the weather! The fog began to clear as we approached Salzburg and we were able to have a good view of the church at Mondsee, from the Sound of Music fame. 

We arrived at our hotel in Salzburg at about 1pm and had half an hour before we were back on the bus for our drive to Berchtesgaden (in Germany) for a late lunch. I can only say that this optional exceeded my expectations 100 fold and the weather was absolutely perfect. My son and I decided against lunch, which took up the entire time we had in this beautiful town, and went on a photo taking spree. Here are some of the photos

I loved this village which had the snow covered mountains as a beautiful backdrop. We had an hour here and then left on our scenic drive into the Bavarian mountains so magnificent on a cloudless afternoon. We stopped firstly at Hitler’s Redoubt and our local guide explained about this site, we had time to buy souvenirs (and have a snowball fight).

We then drove higher into the mountains where we had a close view of Hitler’s Retreat, but could not go this far up the mountain in the winter. We stopped to take photos and I still could not believe the weather was so clear and perfect.

We sadly left here and began our drive down the mountain with magnificent views continuing on our descent. Fortunately Daniel and I were on the “right’ side of the bus for this optional and the beauty of the scenery will live with me forever. We soon crossed the border back into Austria and once back in Salzburg we did the Sound of Music tour where we saw the gazebo and front of the house from the movie. Then we returned to the hotel and had a short time to get ready for dinner at the hotel, which was a 3 course meal and very nice. There was free internet in the lobby, but not in the rooms, so we both came down after dinner and sent off some emails. I had a good sleep that night. 

Day 9 – Monday 10/1/11 – Salzburg – Munich

We had to be on the bus by 7.50am to enable us to be driven to the city as after 8am the city centre is closed to traffic. It was a cold foggy day and we were all so glad our TD had changed yesterday’s optional as we would not have been able to see a thing in the mountains today. With the same local guide, a nice Austrian lady, we began our walking tour with Mozart’s birthplace and then a visit inside Salzburg Cathedral, which was really beautiful. Then we walked through the cemetery and here there was still snow and I thought the cemetery was more beautiful than during the summer. 

Elsewhere in the city the snow had melted and Salzburg was quite damp and very foggy. After our walking tour we had about 3 1/2 hours of free time, which was quite long, but this was because we would have been doing the optional tour at this time. Firstly we warmed ourselves up with a hot chocolate at McDonalds (not as delicious as the one we had in Bratislava) and then walked around the pretty streets.

Then we crossed the river to see the Mirabelle Gardens, which of course were not the same without the pretty summer annuals in bloom. 

But I did get excited to see the steps and gate used in the Sound of Music, which I had not seen on my previous tour. 

Here I started singing Do-re-mi, as you have to when you are as big a fan as I am of the movie, but much to my son’s disgust and he promptly disowned me!! We filled in time, even going into some shops to get warm, as it was a very cold day, and met at 12.30 for a coffee and choice of cake, paid by Trafalgar. As you can see from my photo it was a very difficult choice Cool

We left Salzburg for the 1 ½ hour drive to Munich and on arrival we checked into the very luxurious Grand Westin Hotel. Then we drove into the Marienplatz for an hour of last minute shopping and our included farewell dinner in a typical Bavarian restaurant, a 5 minute walk from the glockenspiel clock tower. I must confess I am not at all a fan of red cabbage and the farewell meal was not my favourite, but I did like the vegetable soup.This was the final night of the tour and we all said our goodbyes. This had been an excellent tour because of the itinerary and the snow and scenery was magical. It was made even better because of the TD, the best I had ever had. I enjoyed having the company of my son and it was nice to reminisce at the end of each day with someone. That night I went to sleep in a very comfortable bed, looking forward to our tour to Neuschwanstein the next day.

Day 10 – Tuesday 11/1/11 – Tour ends/Neuschwanstein tour

It had been very foggy overnight but the morning was clear and after the best buffet breakfast of the tour we were collected for our Viator tour to Linderhof, Oberammergau and Neuschwanstein. We had over 50 people on the tour, which left Munich at 8.30am and it was a short drive to our first stop of Linderhof Palace. There were blue skies when we reached this small secluded Palace, the favourite of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who was a great admirer of King Louis XIV and built this to emulate Versailles; it even has a hall of mirrors. We had a very good guided tour of the palace, which I thought was beautiful and it was almost fully furnished.

It is in a very secluded and beautiful setting surrounded by woods and mountains, which looks stunning in winter.

It was a short drive to Oberammergau, which I had visited in the summer, but it is more beautiful in winter.

We had 40 minutes here and then began our 1 hour drive to Neuschwanstein where we would have lunch before our visit of the castle. Unfortunately before long we were surrounded by fog and sadly we did not have a view of the castle in the Mountains which is simply spectacular. We had a nice lunch and then began our 40 minute walk up the mountain to the castle, and what a spectacular walk it was, there will never be anything to match it. The last time I was here I was taken up to the castle in a shuttle bus, and although the horse and buggy was able to take us up, the walk was the best fun and allowed lots of photo opportunities.

And the Castle is the most splendid, amazing building I have ever seen, and after seeing it in the summer I think it is more beautiful in winter.

We returned to Munich at 6.30 and were taken back to the hotel, the only ones on the tour to have our personal shuttle service, because we were staying at such a Grand hotel!! We did not have much for dinner that night as we were luckily still full from our late lunch and we went to bed early as we had to be up at 4.30 to catch a taxi for our 7.30am flight to Paris.

Day 12 – Wednesday 12/1/11 – Munich – Paris

We left at 7.30 and arrived in wet, cold Paris at 9am. We took the RER to our hotel near the Gard du Nord, not a great area of Paris but chosen because of its proximity to the train station. We arrived at our hotel at 11am and left out bags at the hotel and set out to see as much of Paris as we could in a few hours. We had lunch at a cafe on the Rue de Rivoli near the Louvre and decided to visit the Musee de l’Armee and we ended up spending hours here leaving about 5 pm.

We took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and had dinner in a buffet restaurant nearby and at 6pm we climbed to the top to see the city at night and the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We had an early night and a good sleep, ready for our flight home to Adelaide at 12pm.

This tour exceeded my expectations and Europe in winter, covered in snow is so very beautiful and I am very glad I did this tour.