Chapter 7.............Hitting the Road Again
Published Monday, March 27th 2023 - Updated Monday, March 27th 2023
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
The pandemic sucked.
We bought our Cruise Planners franchise in January 2020 and went to Orlando for training in March. As we sat in a cavernous room at Disney World with hundreds of others, many of them coughing, it was announced that this thing called Covid was racing around the globe. “Wait!” We were supposed to be racing around the globe, not a disease or a virus or whatever it was!
That was the idea. We were both now retired and the idea of getting back to international travel was very exciting and made us glad we had the time and good health to take advantage of global travel while also helping others to enjoy seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time; cruising on a beautiful ocean liner, taking the grandkids to Ireland, or Italy or Israel, etc., etc., etc.
Fast forward to 2023 and the business is doing what we hoped it would do and we are pleased that we have been able to assist so many friends, family, and business associates to plan and take vacations that have created wonderful lifetime memories. But while we personally avoided Covid through the pandemic we did not avoid the fact that we are not 35 and the clock is racing forward, not backward. We have been humbled by the rapidity with which physical issues can emerge and the fragility of the body. At the start of this year, we decided it was time to execute our original plan to travel personally while helping others. I know we are not alone in this motivation to hit the road.
Tomorrow we leave early (very, very early, too early really) from Phoenix and fly to Budapest via Seattle and Paris for the river cruise on the Danube we had booked ourselves to take in March 2020, and had to cancel due to the pandemic. We will spend time before the cruise in Budapest and afterward we will spend time in Vienna and Prague. Our itinerary is posted on the blog pages of our website (www.planyourvacationswithus.com.com).
It feels like an eternity since I’ve been on a 10-hour flight and I am eager to experience whether anything is different besides having power plugs for my phone and iPad. The stories in the popular press and social media suggest that it will potentially be challenging.
I know this much…………packing has produced a very different list than the one I used back in the day. The pills have proliferated and require too much space in my backpack. The vaccination card is as precious as my passport, along with my Global Entry card. Power cords, devices, just-in-case items, etc. Oy vey. We are on the other side of the continuum of a couple in their 20s getting on a plane with a backpack and nothing else. And, we are taking the train from Vienna to Prague and have awful memories of schlepping luggage and heaving it up the steps on a previous trip in Italy.
BTW, this is Chapter 7 of my Travel Journals that I started way back in 2000.
Chapters 1-6 are also on the website at (https://www.planyourvacationswithus.com/BlogCategories/view/5636)
Thursday, March 16, 2023
While the experience on an airplane hasn’t changed; the biggest aha moment for me is a reminder of how valuable TSA Pre-Check is. I’d pay $500 a year to not stand in the line I saw this morning in Phoenix for those folks who do not have TSA Pre-Check. Our process from the curb to the other side of the screening was no more than 15 minutes including my fumbling around with the machine to print our baggage claim and then handing the baggage off at the counter before going upstairs to TSA.
Friday, March 17, 2023
We have been transported via Seattle to Paris to await our flight to Budapest. I think the total travel time so far is 18 hours.
Our flight to Paris from Seattle was perfectly timed to allow one to sleep and wake up fully rested and ready to go to the Louvre. Of course, we’re not going to the Louvre…..and we didn’t sleep more than a few cat naps.
It was a perfect set-up to watch “Lost in Translation” again on the flight. Have you seen it? Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansen have separately found themselves in Tokyo and of course, they are suffering from extreme jet lag and the pain of their own lives. Great movie. I always have empathy for their characters.
Here’s a good business to get out of, if you are in it- briefcases. No male is carrying one. Everyone, men, women, and children have a backpack.
The Air France flight to Budapest is sold out (but then again, everything is sold out) and the cacophony of different languages and blurring of social norms has begun. It is easy to anticipate the feeling of being a “Stranger in a Strange Land” (Leon Russell- look it up, great song). But I guess this is why we travel. To break out of our own bubble and broaden our sensitivity to others in the world and get a deeper appreciation of that culture in shaping the world as we know it today.
That said, we head to three countries that have quite a sordid history relating to our ancestors. While the Holocaust decimated the Jewish populations, political leadership, the military, and the general population were not exactly unhappy to see their neighbors taken away and their assets redistributed. So yes, it will be good to see the architectural highlights but like my previous trips to Germany, it will be hard to bifurcate my feelings about being in Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic, learning about the culture and enjoying (some of) the food but wondering about what everyone’s grandparents did in the war.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
On the way into Budapest from the airport the other day I asked the driver “what is the most important thing I need to know about the history of Hungary?” He said that the country doesn’t have a good history and that over the centuries it has chosen the wrong partners to fight with, like being on Germany’s side in WWII. Imagine telling your children that is the history of your country. I was immediately reminded that I always have the same thought when traveling anywhere overseas, we really do live in a country with a remarkable history and one that we all should be proud to call home.
The synagogue in Budapest is the second largest in Europe. It is very ornate in spite of the congregation being orthodox. Still, over the centuries it made accommodations for the non-Jewish community, with whom they were trying to fit in. We did a tour of the building and listened to a brief overview by a tour guide. 800,000 Jews lived in Hungary before the war and 600,000 were killed in the Holocaust. Today, there are 100,000 Jews and 50+ synagogues.
Today we walked so much that my shin splints returned.
But we did make it to the Parliament building and in front, right on the Danube, are hundreds of shoes encased in metal. Why? The Hungarians shot and killed thousands right there and had them take off their shoes before they shot them and fell into the river. We overheard a tour guide point out the beautiful apartment building just off the Danube and adjacent to Parliament; where none of the residents took any action to stop these murders. I hope the local school system requires a field trip here for every child and delivers the correct message.
A former boss used to always remind me that in every 3rd world country, there is a first-world neighborhood. Hungary is NOT a 3rd world country so a variation on that expression would be, in every 1st world country there is a 5th Avenue or a Beverly Hills. That is true here in Budapest and the shops and restaurants are quite nice.
I remember a dinner conversation I once had in Beijing where a government official taunted me about China’s ascendency by saying that one day everybody will eat with chopsticks. No problem, I said, when that happens everyone will be speaking English. I don’t see chopsticks but I do hear lots and lots of English by Hungarians in blue jeans.
Tomorrow we board the Jasper and sail on the Danube for 5 days.
Sunday, March 19, 2023
We are leaving the Hotel Palazzo Zichy for the ship. The 3rd paragraph of this plaque in the lobby made me think of one of my favorite scenes from Dr. Zhivago. Doctor Zhivago (1965) - Scene 8/16: Returning Home
We have boarded the Jasper. It is lovely. Very modern, very long. Our cabin is very nice.
Sunday, March 20, 2023
Scenic Cruises is the cruise line we are on for our river cruise. They are an Australian company and its fleet of ships is designed to appeal to an upscale baby boomer market. We wanted to experience their brand so we can feel confident to recommend them to our clients. The Jasper, with about 85 cabins and a max of 180 passengers, is one of their fleet and they are doing a great job. All Inclusive really means all-inclusive. The food has been terrific. Our cabin is modern and well-appointed and every cabin has a butler. He really is there to make sure that your needs are met.
They also have a yacht option, the Scenic Eclipse, that is even more luxurious and we are eager to have some of our clients have that experience.
We sailed overnight to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, and had a nice and easy walking tour of the city. Happy to say that I got to Walgreens to get Tylenol 650’s before we left. A bit of relief now for lower back and knee pain.
Tuesday is Vienna. Here comes the strudel!
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
This is my second visit to Vienna, Jacqui’s first. Scenic has done a great job to underscore and validate its tagline “Luxury Cruises and Tours”. They’ve arranged three different options for people to choose from in each city the ship has stopped in. We chose the morning tour of the Schoenbrunn Palace and we had a lesson on the history of the country. In the afternoon Scenic arranged for the busses to take anyone back to Vienna for the afternoon and pick them up later in the day. We did that and went to St. Stephens cathedral and I told Jacqui the story of how the new roof on the 14th-century building was the result of the USAF bombing Vienna in WWII.
Tonight was the primary reason I wanted Jacqui to come to Vienna. Scenic arranged to take all the passengers to a performance of Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss hits by the Vienna Imperial Symphony Orchestra. I have the same feeling when I saw a concert here 10 years ago. It is towering magnificence. It is soul-stirring. It is wonderful to hear great music in such a beautiful setting as the Palais Lichtenstein. Bravo to Scenic!
A day like today is the reason I love to travel.
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Awakened to be in Durnstein, Austria. We took a nice walk in the very small town with a 5-star hotel overlooking the Danube.
We also went to the Melk Abbey, a Benedictine monastery. We didn’t see a single monk. 23 of them reside there. I had this image in my mind that a Mel Brooks production would break out, but no. Just lots and lots of very old books in a spectacular library on beautiful grounds.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Spent the better part of the day at the Jewish Museum in Vienna. Let’s put it this way, the Austrians in general, and the Viennese in particular, were not good neighbors over hundreds of years. The museum is relatively new and has innovative ways to communicate its message.
We had dinner at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant that Jacqui found online. When we got back to the hotel I had to go find the scene from “When Harry Met Sally” where Marie (Carrie Fisher) makes a comment about food being too pretentious and says, “food in the ’80s for people is like theatre was for people in the 60’s”. To which Bruno Kirby replies, “I wrote that!”. Life imitates art once again!
Friday, March 24, 2023
Racing at 6:00 AM hour to get to the train station for our trip to Prague. Ugh. I’m reminded that I am supposedly retired and don’t have to see the early morning hours of the day unless I want to.
Vienna train station is wonderfully efficient and clean.
I am reminded that we are the last generation that began traveling without digital services and devices. While en route to Prague, I made a WhatsApp video call to our client in Singapore. It seems so Buck Rogers to me but it is great.
Speaking of travel in the new digital world we are reminding our clients of the need for six items to bring with them when traveling.
1- A Valcen shoulder bag (not a backpack). Pickpockets are still prevalent in Europe. I am using it for cash, my passport, my phone paraphernalia, and my wallet.
https://valcen.com/products/personal-pocket-bag
2- A membership with Bolt, the Euro equivalent of Uber. Better because you can easily choose the size of the vehicle you want.
Www.bolt.eu
3- An external phone charger. You will burn through a fully charged iPhone by the end of a long day.
4- Download WhatsApp to use for long-distance video calls and texting.
5- A portable universal electric converter and charger for European voltage. We bought a Bestek.
6- Air Tags for your luggage and hand-carry items- By Apple or TILE. The comfort of knowing where your stuff is close to priceless.
Heading to Prague by train from Vienna. It’s been a bucket list goal for no particular reason other than images of the architecture I have had in my head since childhood. We have 36 hours there before heading home. Time to wander and scratch the itch.
We are entering the Czech Republic and the voices around us have gotten louder and more guttural. The two bulky guys sitting to our right on the train just pulled out two shot glasses and a bottle with something in it that looks like gasoline. LOL. They’re laughing more now. As they say, it’s past noon somewhere in the world.
Some thoughts about packing for a European vacation. We failed, again……we always fail the packing test. We read all the suggestions and still failed. We will not fail when we go to Italy this September. I swear. I will not need to check a bag in September; unless I want to. But then again, it will not be the tail-end of winter and layers can be eliminated.
And to quote Tony Montana in Scarface when he drunkenly exits the restaurant in a critical scene when he is all dressed up; he says, “this is the last time you’re gonna see a bad guy dressed up like this” Well, this is the last time I drag a sports jacket, slacks, and collared shirt to Europe.
LOL. The two guys just switched to beer. Oy vey.
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Here it is, the end of March, winter is holding on and Prague is incredibly crowded. What must happen in July/August?
The highlight of the two days in Prague was the walking tour of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. Not so much because of the place, its history, its gold, its grandeur but because the tour guide was deeply knowledgeable and was just cynical enough to make the time very enjoyable. I think I’ve now been to each and every European castle and to each and every cathedral. Really.
Seriously, we went to the Austrian castle, Schoenbrunn, last week and between the two we were able to absorb a much deeper understanding of history. Including the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI and how these Central European countries were split up and put back together again by the allies regardless of their cultural, political, and military history. Countries like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia could not even stay together for 100 years which led to many of the challenges of the 20th and 21st century.
Two tidbits that literally changed our world that I will take away from this trip were that Marie Antoinette was the daughter of Queen Marie Therese of the Austria-Hungarian empire and she basically sent her daughter to France to marry Louis XVI for diplomatic reasons and Marie ended up contributing in her own unique way to the French Revolution. A second tidbit, for all the hatred of Jews, the rulers wanted them when they needed them. Most of us in the US don’t even know about the “Ottoman” (e.g. Muslim) invasion of Europe in 1520 and how they were repelled in Vienna. 150 years later they tried again and it was a Jewish benefactor to the King that allowed the Europeans to push them back once again.
Sunday, March 26, 2023
In five months we will cross the pond once again to experience a package we created for our clients. It looked so good, we decided to do it ourselves. Milan, Turin, Bologna, Parma, Emilia Reggiano, Florence, and Rome.
The goal of the trip is to not see any churches or historical buildings (except maybe in Florence) but to go on a series of tours that feature the production and distribution on farms, vineyards, and factories of the food and wine that originates in these northern Italian cities.
Can’t wait.
But for now, I look forward to the US Customs agent stamping my passport and saying, “welcome home”.
Oh yeah, if you are going overseas you MUST get Global Entry. It is worth every penny and every ounce of aggravation necessary to get it but it is worth it when you arrive in the arrival hall filled with humans and you get through customs in less than 2 minutes.
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