May 7 to June 9, 2012
In May we set out on another one of our combined tours (we hate to fly so far for just a couple weeks). First we joined Grand Circle's "Best of Eastern Europe" and then, after transferring from Budapest to Vienna at the end of that tour, we boarded Uniworld's River Countess to sail down the Danube from Vienna to Bucharest. Both tours were wonderful! It was so interesting to be in Eastern Europe where, for most of our lives, you could not travel because of the Communist regimes. It is also very interesting to learn about the way each of the different countries, we were in 10 of them, experienced WWII and the Communist repression afterward, and how each is dealing with the aftermath of that difficult period.
| May 7-8 | Estes Park to Berlin |
| May 8-11 | Germany: Berlin; Potsdam |
| May 12-14 | Poland: Warsaw; Czestochowa |
| May 15-18 | Poland: Krakow; Wawel Castle; Salt Mine; Auschwitz; Zacopane |
| May 19-21 | Czech Republic: Olomouc; Prague: Royal Palace; City Tour; Wallenstein Palace & Gardens; Charles Bridge; Sychrov Castle |
| May 22-24 | Hungary: Budapest: City Tours; Castle Hill; Central Market; Szentendre; Night Cruise; Hungarian Puszta |
| May 25-26 | Austria: Vienna: City Tour |
| Trip Map - Uniworld: Eastern European Explorer | |
| May 27 | Vienna: Schonbrunn Palace; Uniworld's River Countess |
| May 28 | Slovakia: Bratislavia |
| May 29-30 | Back in Budapest (see above) |
| May 31 | Croatia: Vukovar; Laslo; Osijek |
| June 1 | Serbia: Belgrade |
| June 2 | Serbia: Kostolac; Viminacium; On the Danube |
| June 3 | Serbia: Donji Milanovac; Iron Gates |
| June 4 | Bulgaria: Vidin: Belogradchik Fortress; Baba Vida Fortress |
| June 5 | Bulgaria: Varna |
| June 6 | Bulgaria: Rousse |
| June 7-8 | Romania: Bucharest: City Tour; Village Museum; Bran Castle |
| June 9 | Bucharest to Estes Park |
Mon. & Tues., 5/7 & 8/2012 - Estes Park to Newark to Berlin, Germany
We left home at 5:15 AM. The nice rain of last night was just changing to snow. Four to nine inches were predicted, so once again we just got away before bad weather.
We flew United to Newark, changed planes, and flew on to Berlin - 7 hours and 40 minutes! We arrived in Germany at about 8 AM, Tuesday. We showed our passports and collected our luggage without long lines or long walks or customs. But what was nicer, we had met another Grand Circle tourist in Newark so we knew another tour like ours was starting today. The Grand Circle Tour rep was kind enough to transport us to our hotel with the earlier group.
We left our luggage at the hotel and took off for a "city walking tour." Christian, the other tour director, was kind enough to also help us with directions for using the U-Bahn (city subway) and bus system (Rte 100) to save us walking the maybe 3 miles to the city historic center.Berlin
We were in Berlin for three days. The first two and a half days we were on our own to wander about the city and see lots of the sights. Our Grand Circle tour group spent about half a day seeing the sights, some of which we had already covered and others (because we were now on a bus) which were new. The pictures that follow are of the various things we saw and did.
The flag with the new train station in the background
German's EU license plate
The Reichstag - the German parliament building
View inside the dome of the Reichstag - light is transmitted to the meeting chamber below
Brandenburg Gate - from the West Berlin side
Brandenburg Gate - from the East Berlin side - the Gate was in the East until the Wall came down
The very striking Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. 20711 concrete slabs or stelae are arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field.
In wandering around we, of course, saw lots of interesting buildings.
Eventually we made our way to Checkpoint Charlie of Cold War fame.
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
Cold War era photograph of Checkpoint Charlie
Some art work at the site
