Our last extended weekend trip was to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. We were invited to spend the long weekend by one of Paul's former work colleagues.
On our first morning we went for a long walk on the beach. Tranquility at its best. The South Carolina mainland is across this inlet.
Walking back to the house, we saw these small alligators basking in some sunshine. Even at about 4 ft. long, they look menacing.
On our second morning we planned to go for a bike ride. We discovered that something, maybe an alligator, took a bite out of Ann's bike tire. We found a local bike shop and got the tire replaced. Then we rode for several hours on the nice secluded bike paths around the island.
We enjoyed our bike ride so much that we decided to go for another bike ride on day 3. We headed off to see the horses at the stable. Notice how much bigger the Clydesdale is compared to the others.
From the stables we headed to see the Stoney-Baynard Ruins. In the first half of the 18th century, this was the center of the Braddock's Point Plantation. The main house was built between 1793 and 1810. There were also several outbuildings, some used for slave quarters. Sea Island cotton was the primary crop.
When Union troops invaded Hilton Head in 1861, the plantation owners fled inland, and the Federal government seized the property. Shortly after the war, the main house was destroyed by fire. In 1956, Sea Pines Plantation Company purchased the ruins along with nearly 5,300 acres on the south end of the island. Their founder knew the significance of preserving history, so in 1966, he established this 9-acre site as a permanent open space.
Paul is standing by the lone corner of the main house that still stands. The square holes were where the jousts were placed to lay the next highest floor.
We enjoyed our long weekend of relaxation on Hilton Head. But, all good things must come to an end so we headed back to reality in Gainesville, Florida. We still had a few things to get accomplished before the holiday season.
This concludes our blog for 2015. Thank you for being part of our adventures.
We awoke on Halloween day in Atlanta after flying almost 10 hours across the Atlantic Ocean with one more small journey, a drive to Athens, Georgia. The Lady Gator volleyball team is playing the Georgia Bulldogs on Sunday so we had a day to play in Athens.
We decided to visit a craft brewery whose beer we have become fond of. We paid less than $10 each and received a Terrapin pint glass and six tickets for a generous 8 oz. pour, a generous tasting session.
Terrapin Beer Company was founded in 2002. In addition to their great IPA, we were impressed with their logo. The logo and their beer labels are designed by the same company that designs artwork for the Grateful Dead.
Greg, our tour guide, was dressed for Halloween. He did a good job mixing in humor with the factual information about brewing beer. The fermentation tanks are behind Greg.
A large palate of cans sat near the canning line.
Greg is pointing to the canning line while describing the canning process. Notice he is holding a glass of beer in his left hand. All of us on the tour were encouraged to take a glass of beer along on the tour.
With company values such as these, it is easy to see why Terrapin brews great beer.
Later in the afternoon they had a small band playing in the tasting room. At this time there were about a 100 people both inside and outside the tasting room just relaxing on a cool fall day. Notice the guitar player dressed like a Viking warrior.
On Sunday afternoon, we cheered on the Lady Gators as they defeated the Georgia Bulldogs 3-0. The teams are huddling up just prior to the first serve of the match.
After the match we drove back to Gainesville in the rain, discussing the wonderful two week vacation we had just finished and how difficult it would be to get back to reality again on Monday.
Our final day of our European trip began with a bus tour past many famous landmarks up to the top of the hill to the Castle Prague. Notice the gold ornamentation on the gate.
We arrived just in time to see a changing of the guard. There are two guards at each entrance with the shifts being changed on the hour.
The view from the castle looking down to Prague.
A view in a different direction. Notice the large TV tower on the horizon.
The castle was a self-contained city, with courtyards, palaces, towers, churches, and gardens as well as housing and workplaces for all the servants.
St. Vitus' Cathedral was massive in size.
The ceiling appeared to be nearly 100 feet high.
From the Castle we wound our way down the hill as our guide pointed out many landmarks. There was a series of small shops in what was once sleeping quarters in the castle. Ann would have liked to bring home this wreath with the intricate ornamentation.
Some of the doorways were not very high, built for the height of people in the middle ages.
We walked downhill through vineyards growing on the hillside of the castle. Kings and emperors needed wine too.
Our guide took us to this small park with a lake filled with large goldfish - a very European view.
Across the Vltava River is the Old Town Square. Notice all the swans in the river. One of the most famous landmarks of Prague, the Charles Bridge (built in the 1400's), is in the background.
A view from the Charles Bridge.
Prague firemen erected this commemorative marker to show their devotion to the members of the New York Fire Department who lost their lives on 9-11.
We couldn't help but admire the architecture in the buildings lining Old Market Square. Look at the pastel colors on the different buildings. If you look closely you can see tourist guides on segways trying to drum up business.
The famous medieval astronomical clock on the side of Old Town Hall.
On our way to lunch we passed a small market. Look at the delicious meats being roasted on charcoal.
Paul took several hours to visit a local casino. He came back with more money than he started with. The casino card was cardboard and didn't hold up too well in Paul's pocket.
We enjoyed a leisurely dinner and an evening walk back to the Old Town Square.
Many of the buildings surrounding Old Town Square looked even more magnificent in the evening.
It is hard to believe our wonderful river cruise trip up the Danube and then to Prague by bus has come to an end. Tomorrow we will have a leisurely morning before taking a car to the Prague airport to catch our flight back to Atlanta. We talked at dinner earlier in the evening about what we liked most about the trip and could come to no conclusions. Each day seemed to add new highlights to our incredible journey.
This concludes our blog for 2015. Thank you for being part of our adventures.
When we awoke on day 9, our ship was already docked in Nuremberg. After breakfast we boarded German buses to take us into town and up the hill to the Castle Nuremberg where our walking tour started. Nuremberg is known for its red roof tops. Until WWII, Nuremberg was one the the finest medieval cities in Germany. But, 90%
of Nuremberg was destroyed in WWII. Fortunately, enough was spared
or rebuilt to give us a vivid impression of how it once looked.
These buildings show the half timber style architecture used in this beautiful city. Many European cities have these large outdoor cafes.
On our way to the top of the hill, we passed this building that was built for a barracks for the Nazi Gestapo during WWII.
We also passed the Nuremberg Palace of Justice where the 1945 Nuremberg Trails were held.
Our
walking tour started on top of the hill by the entrance to the Imperial Castle
Nuremberg, built between the 11th and 13th centuries by German emporers. The road to the entrance was built in a curve
to make it more difficult for an invading army to use battering rams to
knock down the gate.
This is one of the four corner towers that still stand today.
We were treated to views of the city from up here.
This is another corner tower where you can see down into what was once the moat. If you look at the brown extension near the top of the tower, imagine this was their version of indoor plumbing. The toilet was built in this overhang and the waste would drop down into the moat.
This small structure inside the castle was were the castle administrator lived. The Imperial Castle was only inhabited by the emperor during imperial visits. The window boxes filled with blooming flowers lent some European charm.
It seems every town in Europe has at least one famous church. This is the Church of Our Lady on the east side of the central Market Square. The 14th-century facade survived the January 1945 WWII bombing and, like much of Old Town, was meticulously reconstructed after the war, with the original stones plucked from the rubble. In the weeks leading to Christmas, this is where the Christmas market is held that is famous for its gingerbread.
After our scheduled tour was over, we wandered around the city center and crossed the Pegnitz River from Old Town to New Town. This was the view from the bridge. We marveled at our clean this city was.
We enjoyed a nice lunch at a famous sausage house near Market Square. We also drank our last authentic German beer on this trip. Look closely at the corner of the menu closest to Paul. The Flag of Great Britain indicated this copy of the menu is in English, which we appreciated.
After our morning walking tour of this beautiful city, we boarded buses for our 4-hour ride to Prague in the Czech Republic. At our rest stop just across the Czech border, we saw this small class C motorhome getting gas. The only RV's we saw were this smaller size. Knowing many European roads are somewhat narrow compared to roads in the United States, it is understandable as to the size of this RV.
We arrived at our hotel, The Imperial, and headed out to dinner. We sampled some wonderful Czech beer and a nice meal of local foods which included a turkey snitchel salad and a combo sausage plate.
After a day of touring and a long bus ride, we headed in for an early night. Tomorrow will be our last full day of this fabulous vacation.
The Danube River is Europe's second longest river (1771 miles) after the Volga. It flows from the Germany's Black Forest to the Black Sea in Turkey. The Romans envisioned linking rivers from the North Sea to the Black Sea. Later, in
793 AD, Charlemagne used an army of men to attempt to link the Main and
Danube rivers but was not successful. It wasn't until 1992 when the Main-Danube Canal was completed, providing a constantly navigable connection from the Rhine Delta to the Danube Delta in eastern Romania. We sailed along a portion of this 106 mile long waterway while traveling from Regensburg to Nuremberg.
Before we left Regensburg,we were treated to some fun Bavarian music by a four piece German band in the Piano Lounge.
Prior to Regensberg, our ship had passed through 14 locks, most of which were big
enough for four ships our size. This final part of our journey includes
passing through 9 more locks, all only big enough for 1 ship with a very tight fit. You can readily see how narrow this lock is.
Look how high the walls of the lock are. Our ship needed to be raised to get up to the level of the canal on the other side of the lock before it could move on.
W stood on the Sun Deck to watch the lock operation. There is less than a foot between the side of our ship and either side of the lock. You can see the water in the lock is almost as high as the water on the other side of the gate. No sunshine today but also no rain.
On this portion of the journey, our ship has crossed the European Continental Divide at only 1,332 feet above sea level and the highest point on Earth that is currently reached by commercial watercraft from the sea. From this point forward, in each lock our ship needed to be lowered to proceed.
Look how much lower the canal is on the other side of this lock. This is one of three locks where our ship needed to be lowered 82 feet. We were impressed with this engineering feat as well as the skill of our captain as he gently maneuvered our ship into these narrow locks.
Today was our last lunch on board ship. To celebrate, the pastry chef made this cake to help us remember of our journey along the Danube.
We thoroughly enjoyed the Captain's Farewell Dinner this evening. Our dessert was a Baked Alaska with a green sugar swirl on top. Yes, even the white chocolate sign was edible.
After dessert, we were served a beautiful plate of petit fours to share. The cuisine on the ship was excellent!
It was hard to believe our river cruise was coming to an end. We have thoroughly enjoyed our journey along the Danube. Tomorrow, our ship will be docked in Nuremburg by the time we wake up for breakfast. When we leave the ship, we will board buses for our tour of Nuremburg while our luggage will be transported to Prague on a truck.
