Nothing could have thrilled us more than the suggestion of a trip to Europe after over two years “country-bound” in Australia. Joe’s London (now Melbourne) mates from 50 years prior were taking a river cruise and it sounded like we were invited to join them. While ocean cruising had never been high on our list, we were quite taken with the thought of a river cruise. Australian-based APT sails a few European rivers but the one we were planning was…
Three flights and 30+ hours later we are wandering the streets of Amsterdam bleary-eyed, killing time till check-in at the Hotel Eden. We are here for a week so after we got settled we were off to dinner at Lucius, a casual seafood restaurant with an aquarium set into a wall and luscious food we loved. Following a 30 minute train ride to Leiden, we discover the annual Rembrandt Festival is in full swing. The small city celebrates the artist’s…
On our third day aboard we had entered Germany and we were given the okay to join an evening walking tour of the small city of Koblenz, especially beautiful in the twilight. The city is over 2,000 years old and sits at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers. We docked overnight so we might have an early departure through the 65 km Rhine gorge which has the greatest concentration of castles and castle ruins in the world. Small…
A day trip to Cesky Krumlov in southern Czech Republic was missed by our ill friend Al and it was so disappointing for him and us that he couldn’t come. The drive was beautiful through rolling, verdant countryside. Despite another day that kept us seeking shade, this jewel of a town takes your breath away on the approach from the castle. Bisected by the river Vltava, we crossed it at 3 different points. It had been nearly 10 years since…
Our previous visit to Budapest was during Christmas Markets in December 2018 and a light snow fell on a couple occasions. Now, in July 2022, it was high summer and the heat wave we endured the second week of our cruise prevailed. Our two days with Brit David included a tour of the beautifully restored Hungarian State Opera House, complete with an 8-minute “Opera Buffa” or comic operetta (sample below). Night lighting on the Opera House was a splendid vision…