R&R on the Rhine - Zurich to Memphis

R&R on the Rhine - Memphis to Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Viking Bestla
R&R on the Rhine - Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Kinderdijk
R&R on the Rhine - Cologne
R&R on the Rhine - Marksburg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Upper Rhine Valley
R&R on the Rhine - Rüdesheim
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg and Speyer
R&R on the Rhine - Strasbourg
R&R on the Rhine - Black Forest
R&R on the Rhine - Colmar
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 1
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 2
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich to Memphis

It was time to head back Stateside and after a not-so-good night of sleep (due to combination of room temperature and bedding) I decided that I'd rather pay a bit (OK, a lot) more money and have Uber take us to the airport than to try to take the tram/train which included a changing of lines, all while lugging around our suitcases.  Fortunately there was a driver in the area and we called for him as we left the room and by the time we'd checked out he had arrived.

It was nice not to have to worry about him taking the long way to increase the bill or having to worry about a tip.  That's all included with the Uber app!  Definitely a nice thing to have.

We checked in for our flights and went off in search of breakfast.  Fortunately there were quite a few options and we found something with plenty of variety at a reasonable (for an airport) price.  We sat around enjoying our tea until shortly before it was time for my flight and then headed to my gate.  Fortunately C speaks enough German to help guide me through the PA and gate announcements.  We said our farewells and I was off to the little regional jet that would take me to Munich.

Once in Munich I was able to enjoy the business class lounge.  It wasn't anything fancy but there were free beverages and a little bit of food but since they'd served breakfast on the flight over (in addition to what I'd already eaten) I wasn't particularly hungry anyway.  Mostly I just enjoyed the relative quiet for a bit over an hour until it was time to board our flight back to the US.

I was assigned a bulkhead seat in the business class section for this leg of the flight.  Even though the seats were angle-flat instead of fully lie-flat, it was plenty good for a daytime flight.  Since I rarely go to the movies I got to catch up on some things like learning about Princesses Anna and Elsa and Olaf the snowman of Frozen.  The food was pretty good and the service was very efficient.  I had no issues communicating with the FAs and I think I dozed off a bit at the end of the flight as the long days were finally catching up with me.

Once reaching Charlotte I finally got to put my Global Entry to use.  So nice!  I loved being able to just use the kiosk to print out a piece of paper and then head straight to immigration.  I was through security & Customs way before my luggage came out!  Then it was up to the main concourse where, unfortunately, I had to go through the regular security line since Lufthansa can't print out the TSA PreCheck on their ticket stock.

I had dinner in a sports bar where I was able to watch the hockey playoffs before catching my regional jet flight home.  I was very glad to have a window seat because at that point I'd been awake for about 20 hours after not sleeping well and I was very tired.

But it was a delightful trip and I definitely want to take another river cruise.  Viking has so many routes I'd like to check out both in Europe and in China.  I'm all booked for next year's big vacation but who knows, maybe in 2016 or 2017 we'll make it happen!

R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 2

R&R on the Rhine - Memphis to Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Viking Bestla
R&R on the Rhine - Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Kinderdijk
R&R on the Rhine - Cologne
R&R on the Rhine - Marksburg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Upper Rhine Valley
R&R on the Rhine - Rüdesheim
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg and Speyer
R&R on the Rhine - Strasbourg
R&R on the Rhine - Black Forest
R&R on the Rhine - Colmar
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 1
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 2
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich to Memphis

Prior to our trip we'd signed up for a half-day city tour of Zürich.  The tour left from a large parking lot just beside the train station.  Knowing our dining options in the hotel were going to be expensive (and since we're not Diamond members, breakfast was not included) we set out on foot, hoping to find a breakfast spot between our hotel and the train station.

Maybe we just didn't take the correct streets but we really didn't see any place to eat before reaching the train station.  We wandered inside, hoping to find a place there and there were plenty of coffee shops but we didn't see a place that really served (what we think of as) breakfast.

We headed toward the parking lot where we'd meet our bus and there was a Starbucks.  Neither of us are coffee drinkers but we went inside anyway and came away with enough fruits, pastries, granola/yogurts and hot chocolates to satisfy our hunger.

We met up with our tour group and it turned out there were only 8-10 of us on this giant motor coach.  At least that gave us plenty of room to spread out!  Our first stop was the Parkanlage Zuerihorn, the lovely large park we'd spent time in yesterday.  C and I, having already seen the park, did a little more wandering but were the first ones back at the bus.  But again, just being out in the warm sunshine was a treat!

We visited the Fraumünster Church which is known for its lovely stained glass windows. Five of these windows were designed by artist Marc Chagall and were installed in 1970.  Unfortunately, no photos were allowed. The church is built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women that was founded in 853.  Today this is one of the four main churches of Zürich.



Fraumünster Church

We took the Dolderbahn up one of the hills that provided us with a lovely view of the city and lake.  This is a rack railway, similar to the Incline Railway in Chattanooga, TN, though not nearly as steep.  It's part of the public transportation system and there were regular people using it to get to and from their houses on our ride.

After enjoying the views, we re-boarded our motor coach for the ride back down.  How our driver managed those very narrow streets with our huge bus I'll never know, but he did a great job!  We did stop to look at the former house of fellow Tennessean Tina Turner, who is now a Swiss citizen.  Ah, homes of the stars - almost reminded me of Nashville for a moment!

A glockenspiel we saw sitting outside one of the churches

Our tour guide told us about a festival that would be held a few days after we left.  The event is called Sechseläuten and it celebrates the end of winter.  It's usually held on the 3rd Monday of April and the highlight is the burning of winter in effigy.  This is done by building a giant pyre, on top of which sits Böögg, a giant snowman filled with explosives.  But in the days before he's burned, there's a scaffolding around the pyre and people pay money to climb up and take their picture with Böögg.  We decided to remain below but it was interesting to see!


Böögg the snowman

We spent the rest of the afternoon, our last day of vacation, wandering through town and just soaking up the atmosphere.  It's a lovely, very walkable city and we really enjoyed our time here but obligations called and it was time to go home.

Canals through town and the art installation Hafenkran (harbor crane)

R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 1

R&R on the Rhine - Memphis to Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Viking Bestla
R&R on the Rhine - Amsterdam
R&R on the Rhine - Kinderdijk
R&R on the Rhine - Cologne
R&R on the Rhine - Marksburg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Upper Rhine Valley
R&R on the Rhine - Rüdesheim
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg Castle
R&R on the Rhine - Heidelberg and Speyer
R&R on the Rhine - Strasbourg
R&R on the Rhine - Black Forest
R&R on the Rhine - Colmar
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 1
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich Day 2
R&R on the Rhine - Zurich to Memphis

After sending most of my friends off to the airport, my cruise roommate C and I hopped a taxi to the train station.  There we bought tickets to Zurich and only had to wait about 15-20 minutes for the next train.  We hauled our luggage aboard and soon enough we were on our way.

I must say it was a very pleasant experience.  I finally cracked open the book I'd brought and got some reading done.  We also enjoyed just looking at the scenery on our hour-long trip.  After seeing that other on board had brought lunch we kinda wished we'd done that too but we weren't starving yet so it wasn't an issue.

We arrived at the main train station in Zurich (the Hauptbahnof - don't you just love that word?!) and wandered up to the main concourse.  I'd previously corresponded with the concierge at our hotel and was told that the local tram would stop just a couple of blocks away from our hotel, so our next challenge was to find tram tickets.  Eventually we found the tourist information center and the lovely people there helped us out with the correct tram and with our ticket.  Once we found the correct track it wasn't long at all before the tram came by.  It was a bit of a challenge to hoist our large suitcases up into the tram but we managed.

Our stop was about the third or fourth from the train station - not far by foot but further than we wanted to drag luggage.  We walked a couple of blocks down the side street and thought the hotel should have been easily visible. As it turned out, we WERE right in front of our hotel, the Park Hyatt, but the signage was so subtle we didn't see it from right across the street!

VERY subtle signage!

Making our way inside we were promptly greeted and checked in and then escorted to our room.  The staff member showed us the workings of the blackout curtains and the thermostat and we thought we had it down but had to ask questions about it later.  Our main complaint was that we couldn't get the temperature cool enough at night.  Nothing like sweating under the covers to keep you awake!

Overall the room was lovely and huge.  We had two beds that were larger than standard twins but smaller than doubles so that was nice after the small bunks on the ship.  Once again we only had a duvet, no top sheet.  This wouldn't have been so bad if we could have gotten the room cooler at night but as it was we kept throwing covers off and pulling them back on all night.

The bathroom was quite large and had sliding panels that opened it up to the sleeping area.  We're good friends, C and I, but some things should remain behind closed doors!  Fortunately we were able to keep the panels closed and our friendship intact.  The room did include robes and slippers.  If you're a larger person, you may need a larger robe but I'm told the front desk can provide those.

Then it was time to explore Zurich!  We began just walking and ended up at Parkanlage Zuerihorn, which is a beautiful park beside Lake Zurich.  I loved the large greenspace and seeing the various boats in the marina.  There was also a dancing fountain to keep the view interesting.  Across the lake we could see houses, hotels and businesses all with lovely views of the lake.  We enjoyed just sitting and enjoying the sunshine for awhile before getting up to explore a bit more.  Mostly we just enjoyed wandering around and being tourists.

Pakanlage Zuerihorn

We ended up having dinner at Café Kränzlin and it was very good.  They even had the chocolate melting cake we didn't get on the boat!  Of course I had to send a photo of it to my friends who were still on the way back to the US.  About the time we were having dessert they were going through Customs in Detroit before their final flight home.  It was fun to needle them with the picture!

After dinner we found our way back to the hotel without the need for the tram and enjoyed the rest of the evening in very comfortable, if very warm, beds.