July 21
We checked out of the Prague Hilton and boarded the bus for the drive to Vienna, Austria. We made a couple of rest stops and a stop for lunch.
Typical big bus ride when you stop at a gas station with 2 or 3 stalls and the wait is long. It was a beautiful drive past farmlands and villages.
We were to have 1.5 hours for lunch at our next stop. (Don't remember the name of the pretty little village) We get off the bus and she said 45 minutes. Not many places took credit cards, and we didn't have time for a sit-down restaurant. Since they stop there all the time, we should have been told to have cash or include lunch in the price, so we all weren't running around trying to figure out where to go. So, we grabbed a couple of ready-made; not quite sandwich looking things that looked like they should have been heated. Then we went for gelato - none took credit cards. Then we went to the public pay bathroom that did take credit cards, but the machine didn’t work. One lady tried coins and the just came right back out. A local man came over thinking we weren’t doing it correctly and he tried it for us. Still didn’t work.
We went back to the place where we ate and got 3 pastry things to split. Not that great. Place was too small to have a public restroom. Had we known the money situation we would have picked up things at the mini mart at the gas station at the previous stop. Our guide was horrible. Every other word was ummmm. Greg said "she needs an umm shock collar". The ever-changing amount of time we had for lunch was ridiculous. It had been 1 hour, an hour and 15 and an hour and a half and finally 45 minutes when she left us on our own. I suspect the number of stupid questions being asked by fellow cruisers ate up the time. Questions like "just how much is the bathroom, so we know if we are being ripped off" It was a machine that had no idea who was using it. We stood there 15 minutes with her being barraged with questions before she "turned us loose".
To board we had to walk through several ships to get to ours. They line them up and you walk through the reception area of each one to get to yours. So, when other ships were parked next to us our view was another ship. Plus, we experienced later in the trip that they often shifted which position the ship was in. You could leave with it being the outside boat to one that was in the inside or middle boat. Interesting. Only early in the trip was that experienced since as we headed South, we were the only ship in port.
Tom & Cathy had taken the Venice pre-extension, and we looked forward to catching up with them onboard.
For some reason our luggage never came after dinner, so we called asking if we should be concerned that we hadn't received our luggage Yet. Cathy said theirs followed them to their cabin. First, they sent someone to our room in case we just didn’t see it. In this space you would trip over it. Once it was determined we weren’t blind, they looked for it and it was delivered.
We explored the upper deck, and Greg had asked where the nearest ATM was to get local cash but when he returned, he said since it was Sunday everything was closed. The ATMs were all in mini marts. I'd think the front desk would have known that before sending him off on a wild goose chase?!?
So, in the afternoon when we had spare time to unpack, we had no luggage, so we ended up unpacking until 11:30. Our run of little sleep continues.
While Prague is known as the City of One Hundred Spires, Vienna is known as the “City of Waltzes,” Strauss and Mozart composed many of their finest pieces here. It also is known for the Sacher Torte. We look forward to exploring Vienna.
Viking includes a tour in every port and also have additional tours you can book if you want to.
So, tomorrow we have their included Panoramic Vienna, and we booked the Schönbrunn Palace for the afternoon and the Mozart & Strauss Concert for the evening.
Prague to Vienna https://photos.app.goo.gl/KBoxo7dB8rDRZSX28
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