ural guy

Absolutely. No idea where the Horn of Africa was. Uncle Sam sent me to Somalia. Now can find it on a map/globe, whatever . Ditto Haiti and Panama. River Cruising: I can place European countries on a map, 94% success. A much nicer way to learn Geography.

https://www.army.mil/article/261759/fort_drum_honors_italian_pow_with_wreath_laying_ceremony_on_national_unity_day

Only thing with Brugge is I think September is still swamped with day tourist.

We stayed in Ghent and enjoyed our time there, easy train from Brussels. I would recommend not jumping around too much. Typing this in between packing up for our ‘jump’ day. You always seem to lose more time than you’d think going from city to city, hotel to hotel. 2 nights somewhere is really 1.5 days to liok around. Wherever you end up, if they have the chocolate on a stick for hot chocolate back home, stock up! They are amazing.

rcaruso- Passau is a favorite of ours, if you have time, there is a Roman Museum located where they have excavated part of their old settlement. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Notamermaid- I checked Regensburg, and the forecast shows rain Wednesday to Friday. Is that what your forecast shows, and would it be enough to keep everyone sailing without worrying for a bit? Thanks

The beer spa was a nice thing to do, you are in basically a wood jacuzzi with hops and barley, with a beer tap right there, accessible from jacuzzi. Skin does feel nice, but that could be from massage I lined up afterwards. I’m getting credits with the Mrs now for when I inevitably mess up later. Karlovy is a beautiful town to wander through, with a huge pedestrian zone and gorgeous architecture; would love to see the flowers in Spring. I love this mural, so much going on. Above the city, you can take a funicular up to Diane Tower for great views. They also have a small petting zoo and butterfly house, which we really enjoyed. Along with the simple pleasure of good Gulasch soup, with the thick bread and a side of boiled parsley potatoes for the hike down. Wonderful day, bus to Prague in am and we turn ourselves over to Vantage. Ma and I set a high bar for fun this first 6 days, hope they can maintain that

Thanks, my Christmas market memories are from long ago. Have to update my brain, we board on Saturday, and should catch some nice ones.

Layers. If you can work your lightweight jacket so you can have a fleece under it, and maybe a vest over, is what i go with. With the temperature fluctuations from morning to afternoon, on a bus to walking for an hour then into a museum, it’s nice to be able to take layers off as needed. Heavy coat, on /off, zipped up or down. Limited options. And i love my lightweight wool scarf. Best Scotland souvenir ever.

I work on a US Army base that had POW facilities, and also has POW cemetery. 1 Italian and 6 Germans are currently buried there. 1 Italian and 1 German were repatriated to their home countries. 4 November a wreath was placed at the Italian’s headstone, provided by their embassy, and placed by a Colonel with Italian Heritage. Last Saturday, the German-American club placed a wreath on their graves. Taps was played (that countries version). I can vouch for the care and respect these men are given: ‘Joes’ just like us GI’s, sent to do something not of their choice. And every year when those pictures are in the paper, I always forward to my old boss. He approved me installing a faux wrought iron fence behind the 7 remaining graves, to kinda highlight them. Maybe finessed some paperwork to have it flow through system unchallenged. Sometimes doing the right thing is just a bit outside of the dotted lines.

In Czech Republic now, Pilsen had their St Martin’s market set up in main square. First stall, Yankee Candle on display. Did not expect that. Some very nice wool items also. Second surprise, we’re use to Gluhwein, but this one vendor had at least 10 warmers going with some different mulled drinks. Unfortunately, we couldn’t work out the names. Bought some nice cherry liquor later, with a picture of cherries for us linguistically challenged. In Karlovy Vary now, we have our Beer Spa at 1300. You soak in a tub with the hops and some other beer ingredients, supposed to leave skin smooth and supple. All while drinking local beer, along with beer bread. It has good reviews and seems like a silly thing to do before cruise. A few pictures: The one is Castle Loket, 20 minute bus from Karlovy, well worth the visit. The colonnades cover the springs in Karlovy.

No, my oldest has done it, she's found some pretty neat spots.

Queen- Thanks! 'Essential River Cruising', not luxury, that's an interesting distinction, and we're fine with the lower end. When people talk about Viking not being a luxury line, it all comes from prospective. That was our first river cruise back in 2014, and coming from tent camping for many years, yeah it was luxury to us! I like simple.

Queen- Yes, thanks, I'd appreciate your passing the question on. I did find the info through a consolidator, not a direct google link that I could find, either. Yep, wife and I were discussing price difference, and guessing that difference in consumer law plays into the price difference, among other things. Our Viking cruise we had a nice share of Brits and Scots, not so on Vantage as they mostly do the direct booking thing here in the states. One of their disadvantages, imho.

Thanks for posting this, APT Travelmarvel, I have never heard of them. They have an interesting Budapest to Budapest cruise, 14 nights, taking in the lower Danube. I have emailed them this question, but if anyone knows, please chime in: The airfare is included from UK, is there a price break if you don't use it? Can Americans even book these cruises, the Pound price looks reasonable to very good, and I like that the ship has the separate dining venues. After showing this to my wife, and the sail date working for us (31 October), I'm waiting for the bad news....we did sail this route on Vantage, but quite a few new stops on this route, for a more indepth look at places that are still a bit harder to get to than Nuremberg.

Here's what I can find for some starting dates, for those of us sailing on Danube the next few weeks. Best info I could find, please verify on your own, and sorry if it's wrong 🙂: Regensburg Christmas Market: Nov 21 – Dec 23, 2022 Romantic Christmas Market at Schloss Thurn und Taxis: Nov 18 – Dec 23, 2022 Lucrezia Markt: Nov 25 – Dec 23, 2022 Passau: The Christmas Market takes place from Nov. 31 - Dec. 23, 2022. https://tourism.passau.de/leisure-sports/events/event-highlights/christmas-market-at-the-cathedral/#:~:text=The Christmas Market takes place,23%2C 2022. Linz: There are several, all starting 19 November. https://www.linztourismus.at/en/leisure/discover-linz/events/christmas/markets/ Vienna: November 11th: Stephansplatz; Altes AKH; Spittelberg; Am Hof; Genussmarkt bei der Oper November 16th: Weihnachtsdorf on Maria-Theresien-Platz November 18th: Belvedere; Karlsplatz, Freyung November 19th: Christkindlmarkt am Rathausplatz (the big one); Wintermarkt am Riesenradplatz; Schönbrunn Christmas market All locations normally stay open until at least December 23rd. Expect several markets to continue through the Christmas public holiday period. One or two may stay open until late December or early January, possibly in the form of a New Year market. https://www.visitingvienna.com/sights/christmasmarkets/when-open/ Bratislava: Bratislava Christmas Market dates: 22nd November to 22nd December 2022.Location: Hlavné Námestie (Main Square), Hviezdoslav Square and Františkánske Square. Budapest: I'm not posting anything here, as it isn't an easy cut and paste answer. If someone knows more than this, please chime in. The main market, Vorosmarty Square, wasn't able to sign a contract with a vendor in enough time to get it set up as in years past. Another market's vendor, maybe St Stephen's, is going to fill that space (typically there are several markets throughout city). The gist of what I got from a Hungary paper translator is that there will be markets, maybe just not as big as in past. I've been able to visit Europe a couple of times in early November, and I can vouch for the effort it takes to put up all the little shops and lights. It seemed like wherever we would go, half the square is closed and the cranes/flatbeds/mobile fencing/temporary ice rinks are all going up. I'm in Construction, so I love to watch the activity. Always a bit of sadness, as you know you'll be missing it. Like our Prague precruise, after 3 nights we board the bus to Regensburg on Saturday 20 November. The day the Prague markets open. Oh well, we'll see many more. Happy sailing to all.

Geotex- Thanks for posting, sailing in 2 weeks. Hope your husband has a mild case. Regarding your not catching it despite close proximity, scientist determined that a gene mutation has provided those who have it with great Covid protection. Don't pretend to understand the details, but it has been replicated with blood samples of those who have this mutation being placed in petri dishes with the virus, and the good guys win the battle quickly. Hopefully science magic can take this intel and do even better things with vaccines? Cruising: I expect a similar situation, although Vantage skews older than Viking, so we'll see what % masks. We had our second Covid booster and flu shot 2 weeks ago, we'll mask on plane and buses, and see about the rest. We went to Portugal in April, our first overseas trip in Covid time. Big stress thinking about the negative test required to fly in both directions. The happy-happy-relief-thankful feeling when the Mrs received the negative test results while wandering around Lisbon were incredible. I never want to have to go through that again, but understand why it was in place.

On our two previous Vantage trips we had the FB; the upgrade isn't so steep with them that we can afford it. On the 10+ day cruises, it is nice to have the big view out the full glass, and a private spot to relax. It was only on Viking we did aquarium. My wife had to stand on bed to see out. I do know that Viking aquarium is 150sq ft, and Vantage aquarium/FB is 165 sq ft, and that 15 extra sq ft really made a big difference. The room design, with wall lockers on a different wall then Viking, seemed to work out better. Having said that, I'd never turn down any deal to cruise, Aquarium or better. The unpacking once is so sweet. Flight in 19 days, 6 days to roam Czech Republic on our own, then Prague.

Woot-woot, sailing in 3 weeks on Danube with Vantage, booked aquarium class using Covid credits, and used the rest of the credit for a 3 night pre-cruise in Prague. Just noticed we were upgraded to middle deck, with a French Balcony. They have us a President's Club, so received this perk. I thought we wouldn't find out until we boarded the ship, so this is a nice surprise.

Gnome, correct, we were lucky with weather. We stayed in Belgium until the end of November, with our two youngest 20 something daughters flying out to meet us in Brugge. They lost 2 days due to snow that shut down NYC airports, two days of amazing hot chocolate they missed. Ghent tried to make up for it. We toured around Ypres and got the more typical grey, misty, chilled to the bone by end of day weather. Made us appreciate the earlier stretch that much more. I would love to do a tour by e-bike. The bike trails along the rivers are in amazing shape, great signage. Then it is easy to jump on a regional train if you hit rain or want to explore elsewhere. The train cars have a bike symbol right on them. Daughter is awaiting her next assignment, and Stuttgart is on the short list of options. Fingers crossed, she spent her first seven months in Germany, has visited a few times, and after 4 years in Alaska, GE will be warmer by far!

Gnome12- Glad you enjoyed yourself. Probably because I'm spoiled by motorcycles, I loved the E-bikes on our Vantage trip. On a free day, I biked around 50 kms and revisted Trier; another time I skipped the Koblenz walking tour and headed 'upstream' for about 35kms. On a regular bike I might make it 1/4 that far. Enjoy being able to break free from all the other cruisers and have some alone time, and my wife can enjoy her break from me. He are some pics from Bernkastel, mid November of 2018. Vineyard above town. Town square. Door to wine cellar, changes color with sunset. Along the river. And Cochem castle. To us, use to pretty harsh winter, November was a great time to cruise. Even when it did get cold, warmer than home, and a lot fewer other tourists out. We didn't see any other river ships the 4 days we were on the Moselle.

I try and take pictures of the various manhole covers that have town names, symbols, dragons...I like it when a bland object (a 30" round piece of steel) has something on it that shows a bit of pride, moreso than 'Sanitary Sewer'. Older ones in the US have place of manufacture, and you get a glimpse of how productive certain areas were 70-80 years ago. Neenah, Pennsylvania: I have little idea where you are located, but your steel is all over the Northeast. Miss G- Appears that the river bug has gotten to you. Great writeup, your descriptions really convey how much fun you're having. Yeah team, this sounds so close to normalcy, just great!

Miss G- Hope you enjoy your cruise. Good eye on detail...if you enjoy quality shingle work, you'll have a great trip. Travel is about the small things to me, and Europe has so much 'nifty' architecture. Always look up!, the tour guide says for a reason, so many neat decorative touches.

Hope you have good weather. I took a quick look at the Quo Vadis, and see nothing but great reviews. Please let us know how it goes...I borrowed a Viking biked one time and pedaled past a bike/barge excursion. I thought that looked like such a neat way to travel. Your home for a bit, and so others can see.

Part of our cruise is paid for with 2018 low water credits...hope you have a great time.