As we mentioned in our last post, we are taking a few weeks to do some exploring in Europe. As this is our journal, the posts may be a bit lengthy. Due to a very busy schedule, we are not posting photos on the blog but plan to review the hundreds on our phones and add to the posts when we return home.
After an over night flight we arrived in Amsterdam five days ago. We have recovered from jet lag and are enjoying a cruise to Budapest. To date we have visited the UNESCO Heritage windmills in Kinderdijk, Netherlands where the The Cat in the Cradle legend began, Cologne the 4th largest city in Germany that was 90% destroyed in WWII and Koblenz, Germany, another UNESCO city with a sobering Holocaust history. Currently we are cruising through 35 locks on the Main River toward Austria.
As much as we are enjoying the sites, it is the people we are meeting that makes this an incredible trip. The Viking crew is taking very good care of us and we are making new friends from around the world.
The local tour guides have made the Holocaust and WWII feel real. Although they were not yet born, they have heard the stories and read the accounts from their grandparents. Fifty one year old Ralph in Cologne expressed sincere gratitude for the Allied Forces that freed them from fascism. He wants his 6 and 9 year old daughters to never forget and plans to take them to Auschwitz when they are 16 so they can feel the emotions.
Thomas led our tour in Koblenz. He emphasized the unification of Germany in 1990, stating they learned a valuable lesson of hatred and is pleased they are now friends with France.
We still have a lot of friends yet to meet as there are about 200 folks on board. Sixteen are from Canada, 38 from Australia and the rest are mostly from the U.S. The crew come from various countries including Romania, Philipines, Great Britain, and the Czech Republic to name a few.
More later but for now we are off to the lounge for an informational meeting.
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