We have been home a week; I’ve poured over the pictures and have taken time to reflect on our Great Rivers of Europe trip. Because we visited so many locations, it is still difficult for me remember what we saw when and where. Of course, some are favorites; and I remember them well. On this trip, I especially enjoyed the smaller towns of Bamberg and Rothenburg, unblemished by WWII, with many of their medieval buildings still intact. The larger cities of Vienna, Amsterdam and Cologne were too big to tackle during our one day visits. We saw the highlights, but only scratched the surface of those cities. We were blessed with warm sunny days almost every day of our trip, making the sights very photogenic, especially the castles and fortresses on the Rhine; but the highlight of this trip was our land extension to Belgium. What a luxury to spend three days in the same location! I loved the architecture of the old, well preserved buildings, the history, and the walkability of Bruges.
As we sailed northwest from Vienna to Amsterdam, our captain navigated through 66 locks. We crossed the north/south continental divide while on the 106 mile Rhine-Main-Danube Canal between Kelheim and Bamberg. The crew on board was fabulous: so attentive and friendly. When a friend asked what was one of the surprises, I had to talk about the food. Each meal was so delicious, and the presentation was beautiful. Our cabin was large enough to accommodate us and all our belongings quite comfortably. All four program directors for this Grand Circle adventure were great. Thank you, Bob, for guiding us on the river portion of our trip, and Petra for being our fearless leader for the Belgium extension. We met lovely fellow travelers on our journey and hope to maintain correspondence with those whom we spent a great deal of time.
Below is an 18 minute slideshow of our trip set to music. I tried something new with the music and used 4 recordings from our trip: Um-pa-pa music from our dinner in Regensburg, Bonnie’s birthday music on the ship, Klezmer music also from Regensburg, and “Last Post” at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. Enjoy as you have time and interest.
Love your eye! Think music with photos brilliant! And who is French singer in Bruges? Thought Charles Asnavor at first, but then thought no. Lovely too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting blog, it reminds me of Arno River , it crosses Florence, and passes below the PonteVecchio, the Ponte alle Grazie and the Santa Trinita bridge.
ReplyDeleteIf you like please leave comment and Follow the blog in. I tried to write a blog about it, hope you also like it in http://stenote.blogspot.com/2018/01/florence-along-arno-river.html.