Just as well we are getting our foreign travel under our belt while we are young enough to handle the pace - 6 countries in 15 days! We were always on the go that’s for sure, but thankfully the Globus/Cosmos driver and hotel staff delivered suitcases to and from our door which made life a lot easier. There were 45 of us on the trip which is a big group, but our Tour Director Orsi (from Transylvania) did an awesome job keeping us informed and on time, as well as catering to individual personalities. She gets 10 out of 10 from me. I will give you a snapshot of the tour...
Our tour started in Frankfurt. Jen, Peter, Murray and I arrived a few days before the tour to settle down after the excitement of our African safaris. That gave us time to catch the bus into the city and enjoy the environs.
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| Bradenburg Gate |
Our two nights in Germany’s capital Berlin were very enlightening - the local tour guide lived here when the iron curtain came down and we heard first-hand stories of life on both sides, and how euphoric the atmosphere was the night the wall came down. We visited Brandenburg Gate - a dividing line between East and West Germany. The Gate was closed from August 1961 and not re-opened until December 1989.
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| Old Town Warsaw |
Warsaw in Poland aka Phoenix City (as it was rebuilt and rose from the ashes of WW2) was our home for 2 days. The next day included an entertaining visit to the Jasna Gora monastery with its Black Madonna - the monastery opened in 1382 and is a Polish shrine where pilgrims have visited for hundreds of years. In 2011, it was estimated that 3.2 million pilgrims from 80 countries around the world visited the shrine (Wiki).
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| Auschwitz |
A very sobering visit to Auschwitz Concentration Camp was next. Our tour was very comprehensive and left us all very silent. Only about 200,000 out of 1.3 million people survived the various death camps. Jews were especially targeted, as were gypsies, the frail, sick, elderly and the disabled.
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| Hard to see but this is Chapel in Salt Mine- huge chandeliers |
Our walking tour of Kraków (Poland) was interesting. Murray’s dad was born in Poland, so he took a special interest in the history of the Polish cities during the war. Kraków seemed to be the starting point for many cosmetic companies...in particular we saw where Helen Rubenstein lived. Her American husband eventually left her for another woman - none other than Elizabeth Arden - another famous cosmetician! Maksymilian Faktorowicz was also Polish - he named his company Max Factor.
No visit to Kraków is complete without a visit to the famous Wieliczka Salt Mines, once one of the world’s oldest salt mines in operation. It opened in the 13th Century, and produced table salt until 2007. We took an elevator down to one area, but ended up walking a total of 400 steps and went to a depth of 135 metres. We saw numerous passages all carved into the rock salt, and an amazing chapel decorated with carved salt sculptures- an amazing one of The Last Supper. Mass is still held there every Sunday, and weddings are also performed there. Being so dark underground, my photos don’t do justice to what we saw. We learnt that salt was known as ‘white Gold’, and the word salary comes from the word salt or ‘sal’, as many people were paid their wages in salt!
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| Jen and I at castle in Buda, looking over to Pest |
I think Budapest got the top vote on the bus for the loveliest city. I think that was mainly helped by a stunning sunset Cruise of the Danube River on the day we arrived. We boarded our boat as the sun set, and as the night sky darkened, the lights of the city illuminated the magnificent buildings and created a fairytale scene. So magical! Our local tour guide explained the history of Buda (hilly area with the Castle) and across the Danube is the flat area of Pest. The underground metro here built in 1894 is the second oldest in the world (London Underground being the oldest). I would have loved to have tried the hot baths in the city, but we did not have enough time as the Great Market Hall (construction started in 1894) beckoned us instead.
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| Budapest from the Danube |
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| Vienna Orchestra Chandeliers |
In Vienna we attended a theatre where Johann Strauss played in concert with his 2 brothers. The orchestra performed on the same stage, and we were entertained by several Viennese waltzes danced to by professional dancers. The stunning chandeliers and champagne on the balcony at half time added to the atmosphere. We also spent a pleasant hour wandering around Schonbrunn Palace - it houses the oldest zoo in the world, and the biggest zoo in Europe. It has also been voted as the best maintained zoo in the world. Pity we didn’t get to see it!
We also got to see an area of the Spanish Riding School, and saw one of the famous Lipizzaner stallions
Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic has a beautiful old town square. Sadly the famous astronomical clock which was built in 1402 was under restoration, so we had to make do with a video image of how it looks!
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| Charles Bridge Built 1357 |
We walked on the Charles Bridge that was built in 1357. Wow, the history of the cities on this tour has been mind boggling. We also visited the Prague Castle which is the largest castle complex in the world.
Throughout the trip, strawberries were front and centre in the markets, and in this display, there were some red currants on the top - a bit too sour for my taste, but they sure look pretty!
On the way back to Frankfurt we drove along a section of highway known as the Romantic Route. In medieval times it was a trade route, but now it is a beautiful scenic route passing through picturesque towns and villages. We stopped at two of the villages, Nordlingen and Rothenburg. Very quaint and very enjoyable.
Our tour came to an end near Frankfurt. We all attended a group dinner in our hotel, and said our goodbyes to each other. It was fantastic to see so many countries that we had never seen before and to be fortunate enough to have great weather. A memorable trip.
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| Group Photo |
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