Travels through Europe, part 1

On November 1 Van and I took a Viking river cruise, their “Grand European Tour.” We decided we needed to get away for a bit after the stress of losing mom plus the corresponding responsibilities accompanying that. We booked the trip about a month out, which apparently in Viking time, is quite short notice. The price included our airfare and we definitely noticed the impact of our “late” booking here - the original tickets had us sitting in different parts of the plane. We were able to rectify this with the airline using miles, so that ended up being OK.

We landed in Amsterdam and from the moment you land you are taken care of by Viking. You are met, given a place to sit and wait as they collect other passengers and eventually loaded onto a coach to take you to the boat. Our coach driver doubled as a tour guide as he drove us from the airport to the waterfront, spicing up his banter with humor, so we learned a little and had a laugh too. Once on the boat you are checked in, then shown to the lounge where you wait, drink in hand, while your cabin is made ready. It was during this time we met two of the three people we ended up hanging out with for the rest of the trip - Cheloye and Beatrice. Cheloye was traveling solo, something that I had overheard at the airport, so I invited her to sit with us while we waited. Beatrice, traveling with husband Gary, needed help with her phone and spotted us and came over asking for said help. Both of these people made our trip great.

After we were shown to our cabin, we decided to take a walk to the bike shop we’d spotted on our way in. We rented bikes and took a ride around Amsterdam. Our goal was a pair of dress slacks for Van for dinner, but mostly we just wanted to explore while we had time. We found the slacks, took them back to the boat, then rode out to the Rijksmuseum, which was already booked for the day, unfortunately, but we were able to walk around the gardens.

That evening we joined everyone in the lounge for drinks and the evening briefing. This would be our routine for the trip - drinks starting at 5:00pm, briefing at 6:45pm and dinner at 7:00pm. One thing to note, while Europe uses the 24 hour clock, Viking uses the 12 hour clock - probably because most of their guests are American and this makes things easier for the guests. After dinner there was more hanging out in the lounge before heading to be in order to get up early the next day for our bicycle tour of the windmills.

It usually takes me three days to get over jet lag and this trip was no exception, though I felt pretty good on day two and able to take on the bike ride we had planned. This was a lot of fun. There are walking/biking paths all along the dikes where the windmills are located, in a place called Kinderdijk. There was a strong wind that challenged us, but the land is flat and the scenery beautiful. We were able to tour one windmill and see how it was operated. These used to be passed through families but now can be bought and run by anyone.

Day three was Koln, or Cologne. This is the city my paternal grandmother was from and I was looking forward to seeing it. I knew that it would be different from when she was there - it was heavily bombed in WWII - but I was still looking forward to it. Unfortunately, this was day 1 of my stomach problems, so I ended up seeing the bathrooms of Cologne. We had also booked a fancy lunch in the city, but I was unable to eat much of anything.

The next three days I pretty much spent in my cabin. The scenery outside of our window was incredible - just beautiful. Towns lined the Rhine, beautiful homes, lots of walkers and bicyclists. I watched it all go by while I tried to get better. On the fourth day I finally saw a doctor; he prescribed some electrolytes and that was apparently what I needed and after that day I started to feel better and be able to join in the fun again.

The next several days we spent in small towns in Germany. In each town we would get off the boat, get a tour of the town and it’s cathedral or church, get an hour to shop or eat and then get back on the boat. We were fed three meals a day on the boat and they always made sure we could get back for lunch if that’s what we wanted - though in some cases we had to be back and moving on down the river by the time we had lunch. We had one day of “scenic sailing” while on the Rhine - we went through the famous large curve that you always see in the ads - and we sailed right past the resort where we had stayed a few years back, which was fun to see again. We were able to go on the top deck of the boat at this time, where there’s a walking track that, if you go around 12 times, gives you a mile. I walked five miles one day, busily chatting with other guests doing the same. I had hoped to spend more time up there, but between my sickness and the low bridges, I didn’t get up there many more times. The top was closed for about five days for these low bridges. Everything on top comes down, including the pilot house, which drops inside the ship.

We voyaged along the Rhine and then the Main. We ended up on the Danube eventually. To do this we went through 68 locks. Many of these we went through at night, though not all. It was fun to stand at the front of the boat and watch it rise (on the Rhine and Main) and then the gates would open and we would move on ahead. On the Danube and part of the Main we would sink - sometimes 30’. That was a bit more eerie than rising for some reason.

Overall, we ate well and had a good time. I will talk about Nuremberg and Vienna and the end of the trip in my next installment. We are happy to be home and now have our appetites whetted for where we may want to go back on another trip.