Well, I had my reservations before the trip as to whether I would like a European river cruise. Based on what I read before we left, I was convinced that it would be an unbearable experience. It wasn’t. Quite the contrary – I enjoyed the cruise. The Viking Grand European Tour was not as bad as I thought!! Every cruise and cruise line that we have been on had great food, great service, cabin staff who knew our names and bent over backwards to give us great service. The Viking Bragi was the same! I walked off of the ship wishing I could have stayed a little longer. Kim and I may do another river cruise with Viking when we are older. Right now, I would like to be a little more independent.

As scared as I was that we would be walking at a snail’s pace on the tours, we were paired with others who could move at our speed (mostly). I never felt that we were held up by anyone. (Now, I stop a lot and take many, many pictures, so the slower pace fit me fine!)

OK, I am not a fan of the lollypop tours (following a tour guide who is holding up a sign (lollypop) for the people to follow during the tour). We had a listening device so we could hear the guide. Both Kim and I were not a fan of using it!! During each walking tour, we almost never went into the buildings or parks that we toured around. After each walking tour, we would go back and visit the buildings/parks to see them. In Budapest and Vienna, we did not take the included tours and did our own thing. I kind of enjoyed being more independent!!! I will say that for each walking tour we did, we learned something about the city or town. So it is hard to say the included tours were not good. They mostly depended on the tour guide.

One of the things I was seeing was the sheer number of tourists that Viking (and other lines) were dumping into these ports. In some places, we would be bumping into several other tour groups during the walking tours!!! In fact, some areas were clogged with tourists!!!! My question is: “are these cruise lines ruining the towns/cities they visit?” I am sure the shop owners are happy, but what about the citizens??!?!?

Watching our fellow cruise-mates gave us a window to our future!!!! Each time I talked about retiring in the future or Kim saying that she just retired, brought the same response: “You are going to love retirement!” It sound like they have already done it!!! All I can say is that going up and down staircases in a few years is going to be a (slow) adventure!!

Our windmill AirBnB was modest, but comfortable! I enjoyed the experience, but we really should have spent more time there. In the end, it felt like we were just there to say we were in a windmill. Next time, we should plan an afternoon to enjoy the surroundings.

Man, I love the Canon M5, but it has some limitations. I wish the camera would auto focus much faster. It was easy to carry around. It is very lite (I love the size!!). I love the concept of the Canon M-Series, but it needs some work. A new M5 Mk II is supposed to come out this fall. I will evaluate it to see if I want to replace my current M5. Canon has the new full-frame mirrorless cameras out, specifically the Canon RP. It may become my new travel camera if the M5 Mk II isn’t much better that the one I have!!!! The downside to the RP is that the lenses will be heavier that the EF-M lenses!!!!

Wow, I have to say that I was surprised on how much Jewish history was presented in Austria and Germany walking tours. In each town/city, we were shown the Stumbling Blocks (small bronze plaques in the sidewalk showing where a Jewish family lived before they were taken and the block lists their fate) in front of their last residence. Instead of saying they died at a camp, it listed them as murdered at a camp! The Jewish history lesson was best described by our guide in Wertheim. I still find it hard to fathom how so much hate could be directed at a group of people that it culminates in the mass murders of millions of people. I would think that all people would be able to look at the Holocaust and see that that kind of hatred is not warranted. BUT, I see the news (here in the US) and watch some of the reactions to migrants and religious groups; it makes me wonder if they learned anything from the past hate!!!! It makes Kim and I sad!!!