notamermaid

Caramel Macchiato exists?! I am willing to except this as a life-saving measure, but in non-desparate situations I will remain the woman that stands at the bar/counter feverishly looking for the plain word coffee on the blackboard and paying cash. notamermaid

Probably one of the worst things to happen to Britain these last twenty years - the arrival of Americano. I remember the first time it happened to us in a coffee place, it went something like this "I would like a coffee, please. Waitress: " An Americano?" Baffled silence followed, then a back and forth, till the problem was sorted... You will only ever get me into a Starbucks again if it is the only watering place in the desert. notamermaid

Must admit that Kevin Bacon the musician had been completely under my radar. Only know a couple of his films. Pudding?! Not for me either. The version of Berliner cut in half and cream put in, i.e. sandwiched, is pleasant. Found the Amerikaner, a black and white recipe: https://www.thespruceeats.com/amerikaner-cake-like-cookies-frosted-bottom-1446545 My local baker (that has closed down) only made white ones. They are very sweet and filling. notamermaid

What I am wondering is: why jelly? All the ones I have eaten lately had jam in them. Or at least the thick jelly made from fruits. Which I would not call jelly, but it may be officially jelly. Anyway, love the fun. Did you know that there used to be bakery stuff called "Amerikaner"? Have not had one in years. notamermaid

While most of the river cruise ships of CroisiEurope and the German companies have a break from cruising until well into March, it looks as if Viking starts the season in earnest a week earlier. I see a Swiss Alps to Paris itinerary leaving from 10 March if I have calculated the departure date correctly. So let us have a look well ahead into March in a very tentative way as regards river levels. The Rhine is so low that "my favourite fear mongerer" Bloomberg may well have written another article about it... But it is actually not good for barge traffic. Unusually so at this time of year, especially as not much precipitation has been retained as snow. It is too warm. Kaub is at 121cm, which is below what it should be for shipping companies but poses no problem for river cruise ships. Looking ahead, we see the level rise and then drop to a level that is, well, not good. So far in advance, we look at this in probability terms. So on 6 March the level at Kaub will almost certainly be under 110cm and very likely be under 97cm (!). Am I worried? No. But a bit surprised and will look at this again earlier than I thought I would this early in the year, notamermaid

According to the list of river cruise ships in German, Vodohod still has most of the ships in Russia. The Viking ships were built before the collapse of the Soviet Union and renamed. I do not know why but they were all built much wider than European ships that were almost all limited to 11,40m as that is the maximum size for the locks. On the Danube downstream you can sail with the wider ships but the age of the Russian fleet and the high presence of Viking with their modern fleet on the other rivers, I would say makes a transport to the Danube economically unwise/pointless. notamermaid

The internet says that is around Wells. Interesting, thanks, will note that down. Have not been to Somerset and the area much. Never been further West than Exeter and crossing the Severn bridge (Wales to Bristol, then London). notamermaid

I was in England one year over Carnival and was taught how to make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. I make pancakes occasionally. So what happens when someone from another continent encounters Carnival? Can it work, can they join in? Of course! And this Australian man was invited to do it fully and properly: https://www.dw.com/en/an-australian-visits-colognes-carnival/video-64742923 notamermaid

Oh, yes, him. Perhaps someone should have taught him to say "Ich will einen Berliner" * - and then immediately resign from post as translator. There should be a meme of that wrong phrase - is there? notamermaid *I want a Berliner (German doughnut)

I am afraid, most treats are only available at Carnival. But Berliner and Apfelberliner can be found outside of Carnival, albeit the latter not for a long time. notamermaid

It is Ash Wednesday, Carnival has been "buried", today it was eating fish, as is tradition. Herring, that is. Not for me though, not my taste. I was able to get Mutzen, both the leaves and the almond shaped ones. I tried the Mutzen again but next year I will only get the leaves. Eating them side by side on a plate showed me that my preferences of years past are still the same. If you would like to read about Carnival - which is not over yet actually, in Switzerland it is later than in Germany - have a look here: https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/fasching-and-karneval/ Before we move on to other topics, here is one of my favourite odd things of Rhenish Carnival, the "Schwellköpp" in Mainz: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Mainzer_Schwellkopf_Fastnacht2.jpg These are larger than life size heads (the Mainz dialect word literally means swollen heads) of Mainz personalities, ordinary folk very often, and are made of papier-maché. If you want to look deeper into Carnival traditions when on holiday, you can go to one of the Carnival museums. This is the website of the one in Mainz (German only): https://mainzer-fastnachtsmuseum.de/html/museum.html notamermaid

Yes, that is a selling point. It used to be more relevant when other companies did not do this, i.e. others have picked up the idea. As seen in Canal archive's post about her Scenic experience. May I refine? Always among the first to stop sailing. There are a few ships that appear to be "on a par". I think it is important to note that Viking have stated in the past that they think they give you the best experience by not cancelling cruises and making sure you see all the ports. Which essentially means that in the end you can actually hardly claim you had a less than optimal experience and missed something. They do not cancel a cruise generally speaking, meaning a situation will have to be very dire for them to say they are not sailing in low water. Details to this will vary and - by the way - European consumer rights lead to contracts with the operator/booking agent being different from the US. You can see this by comparing the US and the UK Viking websites. Again, you can have the most amazing experience on Viking but I would say that it is good to "shop around". As this was originally about the months of the year, I would like to come back to that. On a 110m ship I would have no hesitation to sail in any month of the year. Perhaps avoid early March as it is just a bit cold and flooding may be a problem (less fun getting stuck in cold weather than in mild weather). notamermaid

I agree with Coral and hope have been able to expand a little with my comments made above. notamermaid

Yes. There is little record historically of low water but you can experience flooding. However, that is normally shorter in duration. Overall, if you have the choice you may prefer to go in May or June. Also because you have more daylight in June, as suggested. Remember, low water is mostly a thing in Bavaria (but can happen along many stretches of the Danube when it is really low), so any cruise that avoids that stretch in Bavaria is more likely to be not impacted. Amsterdam to Budapest is a much "trickier" cruise than Vilshofen to Budapest for example. I highly recommend looking at the roll call for the Viking Grand European 2022, where people have shared their experiences - not all of them good. Other cruise lines' roll calls are not as extensive but can be helpful, too. For fairness to prospective cruisers, I would like to mention that I do not like the payment policies of Viking so with potential problems in mind for 135m ships, I would never sail with them. Being in Europe I have many choices of other cruise lines. Having said that, so do you in the Americas to a great extent (I myself would be happy to sail on an English or German language cruise) and I thank @Coral for mentioning those. I would add Tauck to her suggestions. You are very likely to have a great experience on Viking, just like thousands of passengers before you, or any other line. Have fun planning. notamermaid

Thank you for referring to the thread. We will cover how the river behaves throughout the year. Welcome to the river cruising forum. We have often talked about the levels, also a bit about statistics, but the topic will not leave us for some years to come (on the Rhine and Danube) so here we go: for your specific cruise, a long one, we have two problem areas. Those are the Rhine Gorge, from Rüdesheim to Koblenz, and mostly the Bavarian Danube, from Straubing to Vilshofen. In past years both rivers had been sort of okay in July and August but in 2022 both began to struggle in mid July. Generally speaking, the Danube begins with problems before the Rhine. For the "Grand European", usually Amsterdam to Budapest or vice versa, a passenger needs to be aware of the low water problems and how the companies deal with this. You may also encounter a heatwave. So in 2022 such a long journey could have been a less than optimal experience for someone who does not like bus trips or standing for a long time exposed to the sun. The roll calls can be very informative... Sorry, that was a long answer to expand on your question. Basically, July should be okay, but may not be, August is tricky on the Danube, less so on the Rhine, September tricky for both potentially. Problems may run into October. Last year, October was actually better than August, that was unusual. Hope this helps. notamermaid

Success! I am one happy girl. Managed to find a bakery that had Mutzenblätter, reserved two bags over the phone. It was getting tight for closure of the bakery so I set off quickly, only to run into a Carnival event and a road barrier. Had to turn round, loosing precious time. Then got stuck behind a slow van. Made it to the shop with one minute to spare. Was the second last customer to leave the bakery (it was still busy) and returned to the car with a big carrier bag in hand - just could not resist buying more goodies while I was there. 🙂 By the way, another WWII bomb was defused a couple of days ago, this one was in Kaiserslautern, a 250kg specimen found while digging in a small street in a suburb. Apparently it was a bit of a difficult one this time, but everything went well in the end. notamermaid

Viva Cruises has announced that Shiri Gordon from a business partner of the company in Tel Aviv will be the godmother. The press release(s) for the Viva Two: https://www.viva-*****/en/press Viva Cruises is going to be present at the ITB in Berlin as well. Wonder what news may come from the ITB this year? The cruise sector is supposed to be well represented again this year, having returned to near normal operations, i.e. like in 2019. notamermaid

Yes, sorry, the link does not work it seems. Good idea, thanks. This is what I can find: https://www.bonn.de/microsite/en/highlights/events-calendar/carnival.php While the capital of Germany is Berlin, Bonn has retained several international institutions. That means many anglophone (and other nation's) expats still live and work in Bonn. Hence the fact that the English website goes far beyond standard tourism and business topics. By the way, the "language" in Bonn is Bönnsch, a Rhenish dialect similar to Cologne's, but more pleasing to the ear I find. Right, I am off to do some shopping and try and find Mutzen(leaves). Had a Berliner yesterday (not the person but the doughnut), really nice. I preferred the dark jam in it to the lighter jam that others contain. notamermaid

No I have not had anything to drink yet, but I missed out the word soldier in this sentence. Sorry. notamermaid

I admit, this weird time takes a bit of getting used to, also the beginning of Carnival is like that. Was on a trip to Essen quite a few years ago on 11 November. By the time I got to Cologne, the train I was on was almost "unusable" for normal folk. Changed in Cologne and, my, what chaos. One of my favourite images of Carnival (in a different year) is coming down the escalator in Bonn and in the tunnel towards the underground a "Prussian" early 19th century walking passed me. Talking of Bonn. I am quite fond of the city, I know it is not for everyone and not as big or busy, full of old walls, as Cologne, but has an interesting old church and Baroque town hall. If I had the choice of a river cruise port being either Cologne or Bonn for four hours, I would go for Bonn. For a whole day I would choose Cologne. I have been to the Eifel again, near Laacher See, the volcanic lake. So I spent a good extra hour in a large village and had a nice surprise. More on that later. notamermaid

Fasching! Let us stay a bit longer in Munich and have a look at a tradition that will take place on Shrove Tuesday. It is the Dance of the Market Women: https://www.iamexpat.de/lifestyle/expat-events-festivals/dance-market-women Fasching (Carnival) starts on 11 November but street carnival with parades and other activities really gets going today, which is Weiberfastnacht or "fat Thursday". Apparently the biggest parade in Bavaria takes place in Würzburg on Sunday. notamermaid

Alaaf and helau to you! Or any other "rallying cry", I mean greeting, you may encounter or use at this time of year. Today is Weiberfastnacht here, my office is closed, time to get cheeky and annoying, girls! Or just joyous. Or legless if you feel the need to... It is the day for the ladies traditionally, so all men watch out! 😁 They say the tradition started in Bonn, in the district of Beuel, with the washer women. https://www.bonn.de/microsite/en/events-calendar/events/main-calendar/eigene/womens-carnival-day.php Not in Bonn, but closer to home, I hope to be able to watch a storming of the town hall. It is time for the folk to capture the mayor and fools to take over the administration of the place for a few days. Now I will bite my tongue, you know, who are the actual fools, those in the street or those sitting on office chairs... 🤡🥸🥳 notamermaid P.S.: Still think Germans are efficient, humourless, etc.? Come at Carnival to the Rhineland and prepare to be amazed.

Oh schade. Well, I am sure you and hubby have got some great things planned, cruising ocean or river this year. Wish I could go to Budapest - Expo or not. Perhaps I will manage a day trip to Cologne or Düsseldorf for a christening. notamermaid

Held in Budapest from 15 to 18 March. If you are interested: https://www.astarivercruiseexpo.org/index.cfm @steamboats will you be going? notamermaid

According to the folk on Binnenschifferforum.de the Ravel has left the Rhine via Rotterdam and is on board the heavy load carrier "Yacht Servant". That vessel will carry her to her new river the Rhone (and the Saone) where she will operate as Riverside Ravel. notamermaid