Our time on the Viking Herja has ended. The rest of the passengers did one last walk this morning and then will board a bus to take them to Zurich. We had a private ride in a fancy Mercedes town car to the same hotel. Until our quarantine ends we can parallel the rest of the group, but must pay for our own expenses. Cindy must have had a premonition because she paid for trip insurance. These costs should be covered. We can join those who extended their stay for the four extra days in Switzerland missing the first day (the glacier train). We will then have three days.
Switzerland is interesting in that there are now no mask requirements. We are free to roam about unmasked on our own even though I am probably still communicative. Viking Tours has a stricter policy. Since we were fully vaccinated and both had a negative test the day before we left and I still got sick. I support the Vikings policy. We might walk about a bit tomorrow and see if we can find an outside location to have coffee and a meal, but I am still too tired today. We could have taken a flight home, but I can relax and read here as well as back in Minneapolis. I am not ready to face the long flight home for a few more days.
A few words about the ship (now that I am an expert). The ship really has two parts - a three story hotel on its side and a front section with dining area, kitchen, lounge, storage area, and front deck. The flat top has a very small walking track and plenty of nice chairs and tables.
The boat is narrow and because it is so long the length gives it a strange appearance. As soon as you go through the first lock you understand the width issue. I have no ideas how the Captain gets the boat through the lock. The clearance was less than a foot (see Cindy touching side of the lock while we went through). All of the boats carrying materials other than people on the river look very similar - long and narrow. There are lots of boats. There are also lots of trains (our hotel now happens to be next to a set of tracks that probably has a train pass through at least every five minutes). The passenger trains have that sleek look and everything looks much newer than you would see in the U.S. Europe obviously has worked out its transportation system in a different way. Perhaps the density plays a major role in the commitment to alternatives to autos and trucks.
Before we left I had visions of sitting on our little deck watching the boats and the houses and farms on the bans go by. We paid extra money for a room with these small decks rather than big windows. This was perhaps the one mistake our lack of experience at least relevant to this specific trip caused us to make. Most times the boat moved at night so there was little to actually see from the deck. When the boat did move during the day (e.g., the stretch with all of the castles), it turned out being more fun to watch from the upper deck. There was narration, food and beverages, and other folks with fancy cameras to compare notes.
Someone who reads my comments asked me for a recommendation regarding Viking Cruises. I will write something when I get home and feel a little more like sitting at the keyboard. I have the highest regard for the Vikings crew and system. Very professional and high quality. They were also very helpful in helping us arrange for our unique situation. We have to cover the additional costs, but they made the arrangements. I do think it important to understand what you will see. I wrote a rather capricious post earlier in this series titled Cathedrals and Castles. You may or may not find value in a stead diet of these visual experiences and the related narrations to but what interests you. We paid for one of the additional tours (Cindy visited a winery that took her into the fields) and that would have been more unique. I was starting to get ill and did not ago along. There is lots of history here dating back to the domination of the region by the Romans. Just understanding the length of history here in comparison to our U.S. perspective does make you think about cultural differences that may not hace crossed your mind. You either appreciate this perspective or you don’t.
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