Wine and Spirits Travel

Whether or not we’ve ever written it down, we all have a bucket list. Those lists consist of places we hope to go. Many of us dream about these places, while others make it their life’s mission to travel to them. I’ve actually got two lists, though neither one is on paper. One is of places I wish to explore and the other is of places I just need to get to in order to see if the magic is really there.  The latter list includes places such as Paris, Rome, and London, all of which I’ve been to. There’s one place I hadn’t visited until I arrived on my Viking River Cruise . That place is Vienna. It was cool and foggy when my friend Tracy and I arrived in Vienna, Austria . The buses were waiting to take us on a tour of this city that played such a major part in the world war.  Vienna had come out the other side and become a spot of history and culture, with former homes of Mozart, Beethoven, and even Sigmund Freud throughout the city. The tour took us to some

Our third day on the Viking Embla was a much more relaxing day than the previous, though I wouldn’t trade my time in Salzburg for anything. The first stop of the day was in Melk and Tracy decided to go visit the Abbey, which I heard was filled with beautiful art (and wine made by the priests).  I chose to stay on the ship for a relaxing breakfast and to catch up on some work. Tracy was back in time for our Viking River Cruise Austrian buffet lunch. It included a selection of meats such as bratwurst, as well as local wine, beer, and apricot schnapps. During lunch we were serenaded by an Austrian accordionist. The ship sailed along the Danube River in the afternoon, arriving in Durnstein, Austria in the evening.   We had dinner before heading out to the town. I ordered the Greek appetizer plate which consisted of perfect portions of tasty baba ganouch and hummus, followed by a wonderful Porcini Ravioli, though the beef filet was a bit two rare for me.

When I received my itinerary for my Viking River Cruise , this was the day I had highlighted. It was the day I was entering Austria, the birthplace of my maternal grandmother, for the first time. It was also where I would be able to see where the story of the Sound of Music actually took place. It’s always been one of my favorite films. My friend Tracy and I were up early and headed to the dining room for breakfast. She had an omelet and I chose the blueberry pancakes with some yogurt. We enjoyed talking with some other passengers before we headed outside for our 8:15 tour. It was a bit cold and very foggy when we got off the boat, but we were assured that it would pass as the day went on. The Viking River Cruise buses were waiting for us outside the boat to take us through the city of Linz and into Salzburg. The guide told us about how Linz, Austria , the birthplace of Adolph Hitler, was very industrial and even though it had become cleaner, it was still always f

I’m not sure which my friend Tracy and I were more excited about, being on a Viking River Cruise along the Danube, or going to our first Christmas Market*, but it was clear from the start of our day in Passau, Germany, that it was going to be a magical one. We were up by 7:00 and had breakfast in the main dining room, enjoying the selection of fruit, cheese, pastries, omelets and yogurt. It was then time for our walking tour of Passau. The Viking Embla had been decorated for the holidays, but it didn’t begin to compare with what we would see in Passau. Tours are included on Viking River Cruises and while we had buses available to us at all ports, Passau was a place we could walk. We were divided into groups so that we could experience the sites and hear our guide along the river and through the cobblestone hills. She told us about the town’s flood the previous year and how this town fared during the war. Then we were off to a gingerbread demonstration at Sim

Christmas in July? Yes! I was running a bit behind and I decided to just save my Viking River Christmas Market Cruise report until July. After all it’s a perfect time to start thinking about booking one of your own while the prices are low! I’ll be honest… I was actually looking for an Asian cruise to write about when I was presented with the opportunity to do a European Christmas Market cruise instead. I’m not one to lie on a beach for days, but I try to stay away from cold weather trips. It’s just too much packing of sweaters and boots and gloves. I changed my mind, though, when I saw the itinerary for the Viking Embla. I had never even been to that part of Europe and I had never been on a river cruise. Sailing along the Danube through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary became something a very quickly was excited about. My friend Tracy and I had traveled before, spending a glorious week in Sicily . This time we would be meeting up in Munich to share the week l