Trip of Horrors

Well, if you are wondering what happened to me, I didn't fall overboard into the Danube. The lady next to me on one of the flights called the flight the 'trip of horrors' and it wasn't quite that bad, not quite. But as one of my new friends from Serbia said, the only good thing about that nightmare flight is that no one is dead. So true! I will save that story for another entry, I am going to just do a short update now. But what a story it was!

Viking Pride, the boat I've been on, has free wifi, something I had looked forward to as I kept my blog/journal. Well, the wifi rarely works and if it does you are lucky to even get to read an email, much less write and send one and aol doesn't work at all!! So I've been internetless for over a week and it was a week worth writing about! When I would say something about it not working the remote reception girl just kept saying it is free wifi! I'm not sure free wifi that doesn't work is something to advertise, but they do! This will be my one and only trip on the Viking river boats.

Today we are in Regensburg and it is the last day of this cruise. We will be in Passau in the morning and then I will have a 2 hour bus ride into Munich where I will spend one night at the airport hotel and then hope that my flight is able to leave for Washington Dulles airport. Another stressful journey might be ahead.

Back to my current setting...sometimes when the river boats dock there aren't enough docks for us so they 'park' right next to each other and you have to walk off of yours into the next one and then out their door to the outside. Interesting arrangement. Well we are next to a beautiful boat that has internet that works so the very nice receptionist here is letting me use the free wifi and I am sitting in their very fancy lounge typing away. What a luxury internet can be!

This boat has it problems too. It is supposed to go all the way to Amsterdam but because of the ice in the river and the narrow locks it has to get through it cannot proceed as planned. So they are going back to Budapest the same way they came and every passenger has to rebook return flights from there! rather than seeing the rest of the river they will see what they have already seen. Another boat from a different company in this same dilemma took off the passengers and put them on a bus towards their destination and then somehow one of the other boats from that company is going to meet them from the Rhine River and take them the rest of the way. Everyone is talking about this being the worst winter in many years, how true that is from what we are experiencing.

So Regensburg, well that seem so anticlimatic to the rest of the trip. And it is actually. However this is the coldest and snowiest place we have been yet and it is beautiful! Most of the tours the boat gives you are walking tours and about 3 days ago my knee and the little toe I smashed got so bad that walking any distance was no longer feasible. In Linz one of the tour guides took me for a quick trip around when she finished the tour. It was delightful and I saw places and things that the groups didn't walk to. So I decided that was the way for me to do things. Yesterday in Passau I had a taxi with an English speaking guide for an hour and saw beautiful places and enjoyed the hour with him. He was quite personable, even if he did smell as though he was drinking each time I got out of the car to see something. He told me he had been at work since 4AM when the pubs closed because people were so drunk they didn't drive or walk home. Maybe that is why the cab smelled so badly? Oh well, he was in a great mood. And we saw wonderful things. I was disappointed with the driver I got today, but that is just how it is I guess. I did see some interesting places and enjoyed the old town tour. Then after lunch I took a taxi to a shopping center and really enjoyed the setting, seeing all the families and listening to the German being spoken everywhere. I don't know why people say everyone speaks English, I did not find that to be true at all here! Oh well, somehow I managed to survive. So far from the terror I felt just a few years ago when I started traveling.

In Austria and Germany and probably other countries around this area, they have Santa visit on December 6th. Then December 24th is the big celebration day when the baby Jesus comes and brings all the gifts. Christmas day is spent with friends and family and many people celebrate at the pubs that day, according to the taxi driver yesterday. I have been enjoying the decorations everywhere. The Christmas markets were all charming! They were all so different and I enjoyed the variety. I learned a very important lesson, anything you want to buy or eat, do it because each is so different you rarely see the same items or food twice! And there were some incredible foods that I had and hope to have again some day. If I do come back in winter I will definitely come back before Christmas so I can experience more markets, to me it is sad to be here and not have them to shop at anymore. They are beautiful and truly enchanting! The food is beyond explanation! Just visit them hungry! Although there were some that had very little food, but Gluwein is found everywhere, along with souvenir mugs. I don't like the hot spiced wine myself, but I must be the only one in the world who doesn't like it!

And so after a long, trecherous journey I arrived at the river boat to float and visit Christmas markets and see litte villages and cities of Austria and Germany. This has been a truly unique opportunity! And now I will hope and pray that my flight home is adventureless, safe and easy!

Happy holidays to all from Germany!