Back Home

Posted on 07/01/2018 by Andrew Reynolds

And we’re back.

The last two weeks we’ve been cruising European rivers from Budapest to Amsterdam.  We’ve been through Hungary, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and a bit of Slovakia.  We were sailing on the Skadi, one of the Viking River Cruises’ long ships (they are long – 442 feet).  Our cruise started on the Danube, then to the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal which took us to the Main River and onto the Rhine.

Along the way we stopped in Vienna, Passau, Regensburg, Nuremberg, Cologne, Amsterdam and many more.  We also had tours of Salzburg and Munich which we took bus rides to from our ports.  In most ports we had a guided tour of the city, castle, monastery, old building, or other interesting things. 

We took tons of pictures, made notes, collected maps and books along with a few things from the gift shops.

And today we’re exhausted.  We kept very busy with tours and yesterday was a very long flight day as we flew from Amsterdam to Frankfurt to San Francisco.  Jet lag is starting to kick in as I’ve fallen asleep twice while trying to write this post.

This morning was very busy as Heather discovered our washing machine was leaking – a lot – and we had to take all the laundry to the local Laundromat to get 16 days of dirty clothes washed.  Then there was a little grocery shopping and picking up kitties from the Kitty Hotel (seriously, we board our cats at a place called, The Kitty Hotel).  The kitties are currently a bit upset about being left for 16 days and are taking every chance to let us know it.

I’ll be writing more about the trip in the coming weeks and will share more pictures as I catchup on sleep.  Before I go crash somewhere I’d like to share a couple of interesting ‘facts’ our waiter explained to us:

  1. You don’t get fat on a cruise – the tables expand while you eat, which explains why your chair gets stuck between the table and the wall while trying to leave the table after a meal.
  2. Food has no calories on the ship, however the calories will chase after you when you leave the ship.
  3. If you’re an American, they don’t put the tea bags in your pot of hot water.  You have to do that yourself.  However, if your British, the waiters will put the tea bag in for you.

Next week I’ll share more about our trip and more interesting things I learned.

Now, since the chefs and waiters didn’t come home with us, I am off to make our Sunday pizza.

Till next week,

Andrew

About Andrew Reynolds

Born in California Did the school thing studying electronics, computers, release engineering and literary criticism. I worked in the high tech world doing software release engineering and am now retired. Then I got prostate cancer. Now I am a blogger and work in my wood shop doing scroll saw work and marquetry.
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39 Responses to Back Home

  1. CJ Hartwell says:
    07/13/2018 at 8:08 pm

    Interesting thing, earlier today someone was telling my husband and I that if we should ever take a cruise, do a Viking River Cruise. They said hands down, it was the best cruise they’ve ever taken, and they’ve been on plenty.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. ParentingIsFunny says:
    07/08/2018 at 9:13 am

    Sounds great! I look forward to hearing more.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Debra says:
    07/07/2018 at 9:09 pm

    I’ll be eager to hear more about your wonderful trip! That’s an interesting small observation about the tea bags! I’m sure you made many interesting observations.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Shirley Buxton says:
    07/05/2018 at 4:50 pm

    Sounds glorious. Anticipating more! Thank you for frequently visiting my oft-neglected blog. Blessings always.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Shirley Buxton says:
    07/05/2018 at 4:49 pm

    Sounds glorious. Anticipating more!

    Like

  6. timkeen40 says:
    07/04/2018 at 4:26 pm

    Awesome trip. Thanks for sharing this with us.

    Tim

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Mama's Empty Nest says:
    07/03/2018 at 7:07 am

    Looking forward to hearing all about it. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Sunny says:
    07/02/2018 at 11:18 pm

    It’s seems fun,looking forward for more….

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Allan G. Smorra says:
    07/02/2018 at 8:35 am

    Welcome home, Andrew. It sounds like you guys had a wonderful trip.
    Ω

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Jacqui Murray says:
    07/02/2018 at 7:28 am

    I’ve considered this trip, Andrew. I look forward to reading your adventures. I can only imagine how annoyed the cats were! No matter how nice was the Kitty Hotel.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Baydreamer says:
    07/02/2018 at 6:54 am

    Welcome back, and I look forward to hearing more and seeing photos. Sounds wonderful and love the expanding tables. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Carrie Rubin says:
    07/02/2018 at 6:34 am

    Sounds wonderful! We had a little different route than you, but we had some crossover with the cities you saw. It’s a great way to experience Europe.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. pommepal says:
    07/02/2018 at 3:43 am

    Welcome back, looking forward to the photos. Sounds like an interesting cruise and you fitted so much in

    Liked by 1 person

  14. morristownmemos by Ronnie Hammer says:
    07/02/2018 at 3:34 am

    We’re thinking of a Viking tour to Portugal, so I want to hear about your reviews of the company. For example,do they add more butter and cream to their meals to help the tables get closer to the wall?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Andrew Reynolds says:
      07/02/2018 at 6:00 am

      The company is great. We didn’t have any issues with them and their service is outstanding. And yes, they use plenty of butter, cream, sugar, and all the good stuff. If this sits on the table too long, the tables eat it and expand. You need to eat fast so the table doesn’t get it.

      Like

  15. dorannrule says:
    07/01/2018 at 8:26 pm

    Oh I can’t wait to hear more about your adventure! Welcome home.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. aginggracefullymyass says:
    07/01/2018 at 7:24 pm

    Welcome home! I don’t know about you, but I think that was a fast 2 weeks. Seems like you just left! So I’m sure the washing machine issue will have something to do with your clothes shrinking a bit…

    Liked by 1 person

  17. JoHanna Massey says:
    07/01/2018 at 7:20 pm

    Always been curious about the Viking Line Cruises. Sounds like you had a most excellent time and look forward to your photos and observations. All my best to you.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Pied Type says:
    07/01/2018 at 6:52 pm

    The tables expand! Of course! That explains so much.

    Liked by 1 person

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