ural guy

Last night, the placement of the lights so the green roof pops, great job. While I was standing there, a couple turned the corner and this view drew a gasp, it is that stunning. You get nice little glimpses of the Cathedral throughout town.

Metz and Roman history, wow! Museum of La Cour d'Or, was founded in 1839, and during a 1930's expansion they found Roman baths. They incorporated that into the museum, to include graves they found as well. Creepy seeing 7 skeltons under very clean glass in the floor. Their collection is impressive, from old lead coffins (empty?), to altars, mosaic tiles...I just wandered in and was blown away. Free admission. Yes, I was able to see the Cathedral stained glass, what a magnificent structure. 300 years to build. and the train station. and a repurposed phone booth. A great walkable city, not too big, not too small.

When Vantage took us to Trier, we missed the museum, but visited both the Roman Amphitheater and also the Imperial Baths. The bath complex was huge and you wander through halls and various passages. No idea they were so large. I'm on the Moselle now, in Metz. A very nice city as well. Flowers are trees are starting to bloom. Lorraine region is nice countryside to explore.

Received a Viking mailer, the Grand Europe 14 night cruise, with airfare, June 24, is $4,000 USD p/p. That's what we paid for the same cruise with airfare on our first river cruise back in 2014. They were also doubling the returning cruiser credit. Now that all the Covid vouchers have been used, the demand will fall?

For anyone else impacted, depending on how long you're in Arnhem, there are a few other top notch places to visit, that you can get to via 20 minute local bus. Burger's Zoo: Lots of indoor exhibits, like a desert area that are under a dome, interesting and nice in bad weather. Outdoor animals have very large enclosures. https://www.burgerszoo.com/ Open Air Museum: They've transported windmills, houses, factories, school buildings and even a 100 year old trolley that makes stops throughout the park. One of the best I've ever been to. https://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/ Musispark: If you just want a nice walk, this park has numerous water features, a small museum at a mill, tons of friendly dogs with their people, having fun. Hartenstein Museum is very well done, in a former hotel, that later served as British HQ during part of the battle. I rented a bike from the train station, it is a nice ride, and you get to experience the few hills and woods of Netherlands. A short detour is to a chapel that the Poles and Brits defended to the end to protect the river crossing. Still numerous bullet pock marks. https://www.museum.nl/en/airborne-museum-at-hartenstein There are a few other Market Garden museums, including a small one adjacent Frost Bridge. You still see Pegasus Banners (British patch had a Pegasus, AIRBORNE!), and markers throughout the town, the Dutch still remember. Some war graves are still tended by the original person who adopted them right after the war, through a Dutch program. There was a write up in the papers a few years ago about this. I really like Arnhem as you can tell, been several times, sent oldest daughter/SIL there, they loved it, brought spouse after my initial recon, she loved it. Easy direct train from Schipol Airport, we'd stay in 10 room hotel 150 meter from train station. Our stop in December was canceled due to high water, Christmas Day. We were looking forward to the zoo, now youngest daughter will have to go back.

Thanks for posting this, great series, watched 4 episodes so far with spouse (retirement is nice). Very well put together, beautiful camera shots, and tells more stories than just the river itself. The young Sheppard watching over her flock (in between semesters of Chemistry), mineral composition and perfect slope angle for vineyards, a guy running a pedestrian ferry outside Colonge for over 30 years, all great stories.

Uber worked well for us in Netherlands a few months back. Just know when you have to be back on board. Our Viking cards that you swipe when you leave the boat has the ships number on it...in case anything changes. (I looked up this cruise, the Viking page has you visiting Arnhem, not Nijmegen? Arnhem, from the river to the museum is 27 kms, Nijmegan is further away at 40-45 km.) This site will start posting flowering conditions shortly. Are you flying in early? https://tulipsinholland.com/faq-tulips-and-keukenhof/weekly-tulips-and-flower-update/ Enjoy your cruise.

'Sir/Ma'am, that is a legal connection.' Me: OK, but sounds close for a busy Airport, immigration...would you chance it? 'Sir/Ma'am, this is a legal connection.' A frustrating game to play, for sure. Flying in the day (or five) early really lowers the stress and 'protects' the important part of the trip, your time on the river. ***Above I said an airline booking code is just 6 letters...wrong, it can also include numbers, so it's alpha/numeric. Sorry for any confusion.

I would trust the airline site, that's what your boarding pass is going to reflect. You can check yourself with the booking code (6 digit code, just letters) and head to that airlines web site. Should be a manage my flight tab you can select. We added our frequent flyer numbers and were able to move our seats/upgrade directly with airline. I'd think you could make the same adjustments without the loyalty numbers. Good luck.

Where did you go? I ask as the Maginot Line is really long. I have an upcoming trip, and I'm thinking of visiting Ouvrage Hackenberg Maginot Line Fortress, which is outside Metz. Interested in any other spots you may have seen. Thanks.

Australia 8- Thanks for posting, really enjoyed the pictures. I know very little about this side of globe, so your write up was interesting to me.

To follow your point, if you did swap in the "I really like the" without telling the passengers, 80% probably wouldn't know if you took down the signs. To me, there are just so many lesser visited castles, gardens, villages...through in a small wine garden along the river, and that's a great day. I was happy to see Oschenfurt added as a Rhine stop on a new cruise. I think it's just a pick up spot with an hour or so walking tour, but it helps spread out the love, and I enjoyed walking through it on our own. Six times to Ireland, still haven't been to Blarney castle. My kids can tell you about walking through sheep pastures to get to old castle ruins though. And that if you do the 'Bah Ram Uwe' call from the movie Babe, all the sheep will run over to you. True story.

We were on the Moselle early November, and the vineyards leaves were yellow, the sun on the slopes painted a beautiful picture. We stopped in Cochem for Reichsburg Castle, twice in Bernkastel-Keus, once in Trier, and a 'free day' in Schweich, where most took an optional tour to Luxemburg and I biked back to Trier. Bernkastel, we had a walking tour there during one day, and stayed tied up overnight so we could enjoy Carnival celebrations. The next day we took a tour of a vineyard where we had lunch. Family owned place, different wine with each course, great time. Ad Koblenz for a sixth tour. Optional spa day in Traben-Trarbach (20+ minutes drive from Bernkastel), or visit Eltz Castle (35 minute drive from Koblenz). And while we're plotting, on a 105m ship so we can go further upstream, AND the smaller ship has a second dining venue that you can complete dinner in under 45 minutes. We were hitting 2 hours in Viking's Aqauvit Lounge, that's too long for me. The day of our Trier tour it was raining and cold. This pic is from the day I biked back. I staged this for a work buddy who use to be stationed nearby, said it was his favorite city in Germany.

Here's hoping that the Spirit of the Moselle does a full week sailing on the Moselle, RT from Koblenz. There are so many pretty little villages, castles, Trier, and vineyards for day tours. Out of our 5 cruises, the few days we spent on the Moselle are our favorite. And the more varied docking spots and tours are always good news. We've sailed mostly late in the season, I can't imagine Summer in some of these places, the crowds, yikes. So many boats, so many people.

Our one experience with Viking Air is that we could upgrade directly with United heading over, but not with American/British Air on our return.

For people who are booking their own flights, keep checking back with google flights, or whoever you use, even if you've set up alerts for price changes. I do still book with the airline, not 3rd party. Latest experience, we have a RT cruise out of Budapest leaving in late September. I was comparing Syracuse (2 connections) to NYC and Montreal departures. It's my wife's retirement trip, so was looking Economy Plus and Business. Prices were all over the place, abrupt $2-3K USD changes per ticket from morning to evening. Tried different IP log in spots, cleared cookies, no help. Finally grabbed an Air France Business flight over, KLM Business back, $2200 p/p, one connection, out of Montreal. Trade off is a late arrival and 4 hour Paris layover, but lounge access will be nice. Those tickets are usually in $5-6k range, and jumped back to that the next day. Still expensive, but spouse's eyes lite up at mention of lay flat seats. Showed her Youtube Air France reviews for Valentines.

Look into Premium Economy, a nice spot between layflat in Business and regular economy. In premium, seats are wider, the food is a bit better, and alcoholic drinks are usually included. Regular economy may have a 3-4-3 seat layout, and Premium and 2-4-2 layout. A recent flight, Montreal to Barcelona, went something like $800 for economy, $2100 for premium, and $5k for business.

NM-Sheila- Lots of good info above. Two things I didn't see mentioned, clothes and booze. I see you're from New Mexico, on your cruise you can experience some damp cold you're not use to. There are threads out there about wearing layers and the importance of good socks/footwear. Pack for the worst and hope for the best. Booze- you can bring back wine or a favorite beer back on board, there is a small fridge in the room. I typically buy a bottle of Bailey's to go with coffee, it's about 50% less than in states. There are two machines adjacent the lounge where you can get a coffee or cappuccino. The dining room has drip coffee during serving hours. We were on this cruise over Christmas, you'll have a great time. *Magnets: buy a fridge magnet at every stop, put them in order north to south (or south to north) as you acquire them. Roughly 40-50 E by the end of trip. Big return over time.

Sigh, this is what I miss about Vantage's demise most of all. They had e-bikes and regular bikes to use, no additional charge. The times I went off riding on my own were some of my favorite days. I miss my motorcycles while away from home, an e-bike is a nice fix and really extends your exploring range.

Interested to hear the responses on tours. I would like the chance to kayak, bike, walking tour of street art...something different than 'ABC' (another bloody church/cathedral/castle). Which if you've been to Europe a few times, you've probably seen quite a few of.

JP- Riviera is a UK line that recently opened a North American office. We booked an October 14N cruise with them, Budapest-Danube Delta-Budapest. Fingers crossed, it looks like a nice ship and route. Marian- Being able to unpack once, and yet wake up in a different place everyday is the best part of river cruising. Whoever you decide to sail with, have a great trip.

Hah, this was my 19 and 22 year old daughter, they still need to burn off energy. We were on an AMS-BUD cruise with them, several times there were playgrounds with zipline features. We had a fun playing on one of them, the girls told some of the crew members about it (we were docked late that night). The next morning at breakfast a server came over to say thanks, they had so much FUN!

I love being uptop at night or early morning, watching the world glide by. I'm not walking laps, just enjoying a hot drink (pics are from a winter cruise).

If you wind up in WInterhaven (we were there due to high water), you can walk (a little over an hour to Dom), Uber, or about a 10 minute walk from the industrial gate is a tram stop. Tram 18 will drop you right next to Dom. Tram was really easy to figure out. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

I just learned the term when it was posted here about 10 days ago.