Travelling internationally during a pandemic

 

My bike with ship behind me. Bikes stored on upper deck.

I am writing this from a hostel in Frankfurt, Germany. It’s my last day of a two week trip to Europe that has been a bumpy ride. I am wondering if the cause of the bumps was COVID, climate change, or my encroaching senility. 

I am a fairly experienced international traveller. By last count, I believe I am up to around 59 countries in every continent (except Antarctica) where I have spent some time in over the past 40 years. I am a member of the Delta Million Miler club. I use my smartphone when possible - and even have one dedicated to international travel. 

 

Much of our route followed very nice bike paths right on the banks of the Danube.

But I am wondering if I should not have again postponed this trip that I had planned for over a year and had rescheduled once already. The boat/bike ride through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary went as planned more or less (see below). It looks at this point that I should be able to fly home tomorrow. 

 

Only spot of mud we encountered - but it was a doozy! The photo does not show the end of it.

Travelling is never without some stress, of course, but technology had helped me reduce that stress. But on this trip it added to my worries…

• My international SIM card stopped working a few days into the trip. Among the first things I do when arriving in a different country is to buy a data SIM card for my unlocked iPhone. That way, I can use things like GoogleMaps even when there is no wifi or have poor internet access in hotels. The Lycramobile card worked great for the first few days of my stay here in Germany and Austria. On crossing the border into Slovakia, it stopped. Period. When I took the phone to a small shop in Passau at the end of the cruise, I was told the phone was defective, not the SIM. I am by far less adventurous without the reassurance of GoogleMaps. 

 

My buddy in Bratislava, reminding me to never again confuse Slovakia with Slovenia.

• My virtual Eurorail pass was a complete disaster. I bought a 10 day Eurorail pass for my phone before leaving the US. At $300, I thought it was pretty expensive. It worked, however, from the Frankfurt airport to the main Frankfurt station. From then on, nothing. The pass would simply not link to the “trips” I had identified. The ticket agents couldn’t help, but at least they printed my schedules, wrote a note of explanation of the faulty app, and stamped the document with an official looking stamp. Each time I showed one of these documents to conductors, they gave me a pass. Still a pain in the butt. Oh, I had to use my US phone to get access to the pass - it could not be installed on multiple devices even after deleting it from the first one. My email to support only resulted in emails back saying the help desk was overwhelmed. I wonder why.*

• SE-Tours downloadable maps wouldn’t download. Downloadable maps are great in case there is no wifi. After multiple tries, I gave up. The activities director aboard ship admitted they didn’t work. So I used the paper maps supplied by the cruise.

 

It was a whole crew effort to get the bikes off the ship, especially when the banks were high.

The other bumps included

• The boat/bike trip was thrown off schedule by high water and mechanical problems with the ship. I hiked from the train station to the ship landing zone (my SIM card was still working at the time.) After 3 sweaty miles carrying my luggage as a backpack, I arrived at the landing. (My Philmont backpack training came in handy!) There were two other cruise ships there - just not mine. After about an hour, a solitary figure with a clipboard showed up. He was from the ship and explained that due to heavy rain in Vienna, a lock (we went through 13 locks total) was not operable, so instead of boarding at Passau, we were bused to Linz, where we boarded a few hours behind schedule. (Hey, free drinks to compensate.)

 

My charming dinner companions on the ship. They all spoke English, thank goodness.

The boat stayed on schedule until we started heading back up stream from Budapest. We fell farther and farther behind schedule. Finally, at a lock just before Vienna, authorities discovered our ship was leaking oil. So about three miles short of Vienna, we docked along a grassy bank. Originally we were to skip Vienna to make up time getting back. Instead, we stayed there, were able to bike the city, and then we were bussed four hours back to Passau. At least they took us right to the train station - where the next two trains were full so I had to wait 3 ½ hours for one that had a seat.

I heard a number of reasons for the delays - heavy currents, crowded locks, and even an incompetent captain with an inexperienced crew. Maybe it was a bit of each…

View on early morning from the ship's upper deck.

• Delta airlines let me know half through the trip that a COVID test showing a negative result no more than 3 days old was now required for reentry to the US - even for us fully vaccinated souls. I had worried something like this might happen so I planned a couple extra days at the beginning and ending of the cruise. I had to go to the airport to get the test (getting on the wrong train once), where I had to pay $80 for a “quick test” after standing in innumerable lines. At least the test came back negative. But a hassle.

 

We visited Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, and Eczomer this week. (They are all kind of running together.)

• While the hostel where I am staying in Frankfurt is very nice (clean, cheap, nice lounge, cheap wine, free breakfast, 24-hour coffee, private en suite room, secure, close to the train station), it is really in the skid row part of town. Homeless men and women are everywhere. Shards of glass from broken liquor bottles cover the sidewalks. Bars of shady repute line the streets. I was harassed by one guy wanting money, shouting in German as I started one of my walks one day. I ignored him and after a few blocks he finally gave up. Kind of scary/annoying. Oh, and there is a big construction project across the street - the noise of which disturbs my naps!

There were, of course, wonderful things about this adventure as well.

• The SE-Tours ship (Princess Katerina), its crew, the food, and rental bikes were all very good. My room was nice sized for a cruise ship and on the main deck, not stuffed below like I usually get. We had very good, reasonably-sized meals with salad, soup, entree, and dessert options each evening. My table companions, two Germans and a Swiss, spoke English and we had some interesting conversations. The crew was very nice. I was the only non-German speaker, I believe, so the poor tour director had to go over all the itineraries and announcements twice. But she was very nice about it. The biking equipment was in good shape. Ship’s wifi worked most of the time.

 

No guided tours, walking or biking, of Vienna, but Stephen served as my tour guide. Pretty good map reader and only other single person on board, I believe.

• The bike rides, guided tours, and maps were good. I love to bike in new places and this tour was great for that. We had four rural days, going through forests and small villages, and city biking days in Budapest and Vienna. (I did a walking/bus tour of Bratislava.) The weather was hot, but no rain during the day.

I had originally reserved a standard bike (seven speed, step through), but the second day I asked for an ebike which they found for me. And, boy, was it fun! I kept it in the lowest of three assist levels, but it made hills and fast riding a breeze. I don’t think I am ready to make my home bike an ebike for a few years, but for this trip, it was perfect.

• My COVID test was negative. I felt good the whole trip physically. No sore knees or anything else. I read about half a dozen books. I added two new countries to the list of places I’ve visited. It looks like I might even get home on time. I got my home newspapers read every day and solved all the Jumbles. No huge unexpected costs. Lovely walks in Frankfurt. I am upgraded to Economy + for the long flight home tomorrow.

I saved this doc eight ways from Sunday to show at the Delta check in.

• I did not have to be duct taped to my airline seat on any flight.

Should I have postponed this trip? Probably. Were the problems greater than the enjoyment? Maybe at the time, but overall this was a good experience. I learned a few things like I always do. 

But maybe I should just stick to guided tours of Minnesota in future, as senility encroaches…

*Met a young guy at the hostel who said he had the same issues with his phone and SIM card and with the Eurorail app. Maybe my problems aren’t as age related as I assumed.

*Posting this from home. Long, but uneventful flight. COVID test was accepted without questions. Upgrade to Comfort+. Screaming child in next seat on ATL-MSP flight. Great to be home!

*Link to more photos

Swans were ubiquitous along the Danube.