Not the Excursion We Had Signed Up For

 Tuesday, September 22

Today we didn’t get the excursion that we planned for. Don had been fighting a cold for the last couple of days and it hit him hard last night. The Viking crew was very helpful and later convinced us that he should visit the hospital in Bamberg the next day to “get a shot of vitamins” instead of going on a beer tour. He said I could go on the tour without him but let’s think about that…an American man who isn’t feeling well and who has trouble understanding anyone with an accent, by himself at a German hospital…what could go wrong? Nein! I went with him. 

The program director hailed us a cab and gave instructions to the driver who didn’t speak any English. I thought we both would have more injuries before we got there but we ended up getting there in one piece. Did I mention that where we have been in Germany so far, none of the public signs have English on them. In Italy, many signs have English subtitles and I can kind of figure out words because they are somewhat similiar but this is not so in Germany. “Emergency Room” in German is “Notaufnah me”. Needless to say, my Translator app came in very handy, especially when I was dealing with the payment office. The women in there did not speak English.

Fortunatley, Don’s nurse was very fluent in English and the doctor was pretty good. The ER visit, blood work, x-ray, ultrasound and IV fluids totaled 700 euro. It would probably be at least double that in the states. We think that the Viking Program Director called ahead and emphasized that Don needed on the fast track since we got to the hospital at 2:30pm and needed back at the ship by 5:45pm. Don kept reminding the nurse of that as well. (He may or may not have turned up the drip on his IV.) They perked him up with fluids and all the tests came out good. We were in the cab by 5:20pm and slid into the meeting point exactly at 5:45pm! 

The Klinikum am Bruderwald is a very nice teaching hospital in Bamberg but I don’t think Viking should add it to the excursion list..I guess we need to come back to see Bamberg properly and taste the smoky beer which is this area’s specialty.

P.S. For the record, Don wanted me to add that he didn’t have any problems with understanding the German accents.