FUN-travel: Warnemünde to Bremen, Germany
August 6, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Warnemünde to Bremen, Germany
Day 31 – Thursday, July 31 – Warnemünde to Bremen, Germany – full sun w/light wispy clouds – high 70’s
What I LIKE
- 8:40 – Hertz is just across street – little bit of a line
- 9:10 – luggage loaded & GPS works
- 9:55 – finally figure out radio & get Ipod music
- More unbelievable weather! Sunshine & mid 70’s – clouds come & go
- 12:30 – nice drive & arrive Walter Hotel in Bremen
- Free parking on street across from hotel
- #1 rated on TA
- OOPSIE! – forgot to check for AC & elevator
- Room has French doors to patio & 2 windows
- – open all and get good air flow
- Wifi works at hotel!
- – really more like B & B
- Unbelievable! Skyped & computered for 5 hrs!
- 5:30 – explore city by foot
- – only 15 min walk to main square on river
- What a sweet jewel of a city!
- – old & quaint w/beautiful facades w/statues & gold adornments
- – green top spired churches
- Ask for wine shop – finally find it after walking past it 2 times
- Weinkontor St. Petrus off main square down narrow little alley on way to Radisson Blu
- – ask for fruit forward wine – suggests
- – Tarapaca 2010 Maipo Chile red blend = $12 Euro – take to go
FUN-food: Malbec Wine Bar & Tapas – sweet little spot on Langenstrassa just off main square –
sparkle water – tapas = 4 small square plates inside 1 big square plate – ordered what other customer had – have no idea what it is – but tastes good! – 2012 Septima Malbec = $45 Euro – Waiter Ollie is the best!
- 9:15 – walk back to hotel
- 10:30 – take sleeping pill
What I DON’T LIKE
- Have to haggle w/Hertz over extra charges – takes 10 mins
- – all the added insurance over $250 Euros
- – we have to pay $350 Euro for drop charge in Amsterdam
- (still cheaper than taking the train)
- 9:20 – GPS stuck on recalculating
- Have no idea how to get radio off the preset buttons
- Email doesn’t send & receive
- Only english on TV is bad movie & BBC (been watching that for last 11 days)
FUN-fact – My other travel motto is, “Its 5 o’clock somewhere and I want to be somewhere by 5 o’clock. The original plan was to drive to Cologne today and then on to Weimer to see Buchenwald and then to Bremen. I feel like I have seen enough concentration camps in the last year and having only a short 3 hour drive is so much more enjoyable! We changed the plan to one night in Bremen and 2 nights in Cologne.
FUN-travel: Berlin to Warnemünde – Princess Baltic Cruise Day 1
July 26, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Berlin to Warnemünde – Princess Baltic Cruise Day 1
Day 20 – Sunday, July 20 – Berlin to Warnemünde – Princess Baltic Cruise Day 1 – blue skies – 80’s
What I LIKE
- 8:00 – wake up to more Via
- 11:45 – check out
- Don’t pay any internet charges
- 12:00 – ordered taxi big enough to handle bags
- 12:20 – arrive Tegel Airport
- 12:30 – unload bags
- 12:40 – locate Princess Cruise contact
- 12:45 – head to Hertz to haggle price
- – have to argue/plead/put more grief into it!
- 1:00 – finally get them to take $160 off!
- 1:05 – lunch @ Starbucks – 2 iced lattes & 2 sandwiches – 1 club 1 chicken cheese pretzel = $17 Euro
- 2:00 – Princess rep meet up
- 2:05 – load bags
- 2:20 – depart
- 4:10 – bus stops for break
- 5:15 – arrive port Warnemünde
- Very organized quick check in
- – Royal Princess is new ship – June 2103
- – ship had itinerary & time that fit our schedule
- 7:30 – safety drill
- 8:15 – dinner @ anytime dining room
- – no assigned seating or time
FUN-food – Caesar salads (too much dressing for me) – red, white & kidney bean cassoulet, Thai grilled shrimp w/rice – OMG! Better than anything we ate on the Uniworld River Cruise – Paso Robles, Ancient Peaks 2011 Merlot – VG! Have to pay additional charge of $5 because it is “priced higher than package.”
Berlin Wall
- 8:45 – buy our wine & cappuccino “packages”
- Jigger our waiter from Philippines VG too!
- Midnight night night
VG = Very Good
What I DON’T LIKE
- Foot cramps during night
- No wifi @ airport Starbucks – Really!
- Scenery on road pretty boring
- Huge ship! Prefer smaller
- Lose 1 hr – clock change
FUN-fact – Princess charges for everything. But to ease the pain of that they sell “packages” that have been discounted. For Example: You get a punch card for 15 specialty coffees or gelatos for $29 and save 25%. All packages are subject to a 15% tip. The wine package allows you to buy 7, 10 or 12 bottles and save an average of 20 to 30%.