Reflections on River Cruising

I have just returned from a magnificent evening concert at Palais Liechtenstein in Vienna, which is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss were all celebrated because of their close ties to the City of Vienna. The Imperial Orchestra, an outstanding soprano and baritone, and two ballet dancers from the Vienna Ballet Company, performed in a stunning hall within the Palace. Such a setting would have been part of the life of those three composers.

As I sat there I began to think about what this river cruise has brought us, that is not possible on an ocean liner. First and foremost, it has allowed us to explore the inner heart of each country and experience its culture - how the locals celebrate life, their art and music, their joy of life, their humour, the fun they have, the food they eat. 

We have had so much fun doing that - our medieval banquet in the castle on the hill, a wonderful Oktoberfest luncheon with music, dancing and great comedy, pre-dinner drinks and nibbles last night in an Austrian beer garden - again with singing and dancing led by two great musicians, a magnificent dinner up on a mountain overlooking Salzburg, complete with music including songs from ‘The Sound of Music’ - up in an idyllic setting like that used for the film when Maria sang ‘The Hills are Alive’. We have discovered that Bavarians and Austrians have a fantastic sense of humour and fun, and a great time together. Theirs is a far more social, community approach to drinking. 

Second, it is a much more intimate experience, in that there are less than 200 guests instead of around 3000 guests. And in our particular case, a sense of togetherness has been built by our brilliant tour director, who is Bavarian. He is with us each day, knows everyone, and organises everything, from our tours and social events to helping individuals with one matter or another - the personal touch. And he has a wonderful sense of humour. I shall never forget his lesson on how to speak basic German! It was a hoot! 

Third, you are travelling close to magnificent countryside and townships. There is always something to see - vegetables growing in market gardens, people fishing, great forests . . . After a while, you do get tired of seeing just water when you sail across an ocean. You are rarely close to land. 

Our cruise ends in just a couple of days, and I will be very sorry when that happens. I still have quite a few days to catch up on in my posts, but tonight I just had to celebrate a superb night. On my travels I have really missed hearing orchestras playing classical music, trained opera singers singing classical pieces from opera, and ballet.