Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Christmas Markets….Vienna, Bratislava & Zagreb

Saturday Afternoon in Bratislava

Our side trip to Bratislava was a last minute addition to our Christmas Market tour itinerary. After some online research we found that the train to Bratislava was a little over an hour from Vienna and the trains ran every hour. So off we went to Vienna's main, bustling train station, Wien Hauptbahnhof. Our round-trip fare was very reasonable about EU10.00 each and it was open seating. We arrived at the main station in Bratislava around 1:30pm and took a street Tram into the city center. Our train ticket also covered city Tram and bus service in Bratislava, so this was a great deal. Train travel and public transportation in general in Europe are very convenient and the trains are comfortable and usually on time.
Bratislava is a quaint, charming small city. It had snowed the night before, a light (maybe 1-2 inches) covering on the roof tops added to the Christmas atmosphere. We left the tram at the city center but we didn't know where to find the Christmas Market, so when in doubt, follow the crowd. The market was a couple of blocks from the city center at the city hall plaza complex. The Bratislava Christmas Market was small but very festive, mostly locals attending, although we did see a couple of walking tour groups from nearby Danube river cruise boats. It was a fun Christmas Market, we sampled some of the local food like the palacinka, a crepe like treat with a sweet hazelnut filling. The pozsonyi kifli, or crescent shaped pastries, were delicious. These tasted like shortbread but had a center filling of nuts and spices. And yes, we did try the local version of Gluhwein, called Cierny Medved, or "black bear" which is a black currant mulled wine. We stayed in Bratislava until after dark and were able to get the 7:30PM train back to Vienna. A fun day at a charming town and Christmas Market.

Enjoy a video recap of our "Saturday Afternoon in Bratislava"

Images from our visit.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Christmas Markets….Vienna, Bratislava & Zagreb

Our First Day in Vienna

It’s that time of year when we are off on another Christmas Market adventure. This was our 5th Christmas Market trip since 2013, four have been to Europe (Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia and Croatia) and one trip up to Quebec City last year.

Walking around these Christmas Markets, mingling with locals, smelling the different foods, having a hot cup of the mulled wine and just taking in the festive atmosphere is a perfect way to get into the Christmas spirt.

We left Boston on Wednesday Nov 28th and travelled to Vienna via Newark and Zurich, arriving on Thursday midday in Vienna. Our hotel, the Hotel Alpha Wien was a very nice, comfortable smaller hotel, perfectly located near the main Christmas Market at City Hall. Like many European hotels, the room was a bit small and the shower was really small. The hotel served our purposes and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Also, breakfast was included in our rate. We booked this hotel through Booking.com which we use quite a bit and have been happy with this online service.

Cozy sitting area at Hotel Alpha Wien lobby.

Vienna

Vienna, the Imperial City, is one of Europe’s beautiful cities. It has magnificent buildings and architecture, broad avenues and many parks and palaces. According to the Vienna tourist website there are a dozen separate Christmas Markets. In our first four days in Vienna (we came back for one day at the end of our trip) we were able to visit five of the larger markets.

On our first night, we pushed through the jetlag and walked the two blocks from the hotel to the main, biggest Christmas Market at Rathausplatz (city hall plaza). It was a very cold evening, but when we turned the corner and walked onto the plaza the view was spectacular. Every tree in the park was covered in lights, rows upon rows of vendor chalet stalls selling all kinds of Christmas items and crafts, and, of course the food. We made a bee line for the first Bratwurst stand we could find and got on obligatory Brat. Delicious! Also, to warm up, we had to imbibe in some Gluhwein.

Rathausplatz Christmas Market

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Scandinavian Cruise

Kathie and I along with Kathie's sister Marilyn and our good friend Rachel went on a Viking Ocean cruise through Scandinavia from September 12 -26, 2018 . We all flew from Boston through Frankfurt to Oslo Norway where we joined a pre-cruise optional land tour before joining our ship in Bergen Norway.

The map from Viking's online itinerary shows our planned cruise, but due to bad weather in the North Sea, the Gothengurg and Aalborg stops were canceled.

Map

Our ship the Viking Sky is a beautiful ship and our stateroom was roomy and very comfortable.

Click on any of the following to view our photo journal for each port of call.

Oregon Family Vacation

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Chicago, Chicago

Friday, August 31, 2018

France River Cruise

The second part of our March-April 2018 France trip included a Viking River cruise. After a couple of days touring the Chateaus of the Loire Valley, we joined the Viking Forseti in Bordeaux for an 8-day cruise on the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers, the heart of Nouvelle-Aquitaine wine region. Yes, we had plenty of amazing wines from some of the best vineyards of Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Medoc and others.

Chateaux, Rivers and Wine Cruise by Viking

Images from our trip (click on "Read More" for slide show)

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

France – World War 1 Battle of Moreuil Wood Centennial

On our France trip in March-April 2018 we attended the Centennial Commemorations for the Battle of Moreuil Wood in honor of my grandfather, David Lee Wetmore, who fought in this battle. This battle is purported to be the last cavalry charge of modern warfare. A reenactment of the charge was performed by members of the Lord Strathcona Regiment of the Canadian Army, which is still an active armored regiment.
We also visited other WW1 sites in northern France and Belgium.

Battle History

During the massive March-April 2018 German offensive there was chaos all along the front in Northern France. French, British, Canadian, Australian and other Allied units were being pushed back towards Paris. In a wooded area on a ridge above the town of Moreuil France German units took positions that overlooked a main rail line from Amiens to Paris and threatened to cut off this vital link. Units of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade (CCB) were assembling nearby after a long fighting withdrawal in the face of the powerful German advance. It was decided to push the Germans out of Moreuil Wood.
The Canadian horse cavalry regiments including Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD), Lord Strathcona Horse (LSH) and Fort Gary Horse (FGH) charged across open fields under heavy machinegun and artillery fire towards the German positions in the thick woods. The RCD, including “A” Squadron (my grandfather’s squad) galloped into the north part of the wood and had to dismount and engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat. LSH “C” Squadron led by Lt. Flowerdew made a daring charge around the NE side of the wood. Flowerdew was cut down during the charge and mortally wounded. He was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. Flowerdews’ sergeant, Tom Mackay, continued the charge while suffering numerous gunshot wounds.

Background

A number of years ago I was contacted on-line by Bob Mackay, a Canadian author, regarding my grandfather's WW1 short stories had I published on a blog. Bob wrote a historical novel about WW1 Canadian cavalry titled "Soldier of the Horse". Bob's father was a sergeant in the Lord Strathcona Horse Regiment and fought in the battle of Moreuil Wood. I started researching my grandfather's WW1 actions and found that he was also in the same battle, but in a different regiment, the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

Bob introduced me via email to Jean-Paul Brunel, a French farmer from Moreuil France. Jean-Paul worked the land where the original battle was fought. In the 1986 Jean-Paul found the remains of a Lord Strathcona Horse trooper, John Willoughby, who was listed as dead, but who's body was never recovered. After a number of years of research Willoughby descendants were located in Edmonton and the remains were returned to Edmunton for full military burial. Jean-Paul traveled to Edmonton to meet the Willoughby family and he was embraced by the Strathcona Regiment. Since then Jean-Paul has been the inspiration and driving force bringing together the local French authorities, business communities and veteran groups as well as Canadian and British military and veterans groups in the planning and eventual execution of the Moreuil Wood Centennial Commemoration activities of March 30 & 31, 2018.

On our visit to Normandy in 2013 we stopped at Moreuil to meet Jean-Paul for the first time. He brought us up to the battle site and showed us his collection of WW1 artifacts. It was great to see him again at the Centennial and he was obviously proud and visibly emotional at the culmination of all his efforts.