We're Not In Kansas AnymoreAug 21, 2011
|
|
Low Headroom On The Main-Danube Canal
| August 21, 2011 Our program schedule for the day listed a “Special Briefing” with the Captain, Hotel Manager and Program Director and we were told the night before it shouldn’t be skipped. As the Hungarian Captain’s English is limited, he gave a brief introduction and Program Director Kurt handled his prepared statement. The bottom line was that the Viking Danube had a damaged propeller and urgently needed repair that could be completed on an emergency basis at our Thursday stop in Cologne at a local dry dock. In essence it would mean we would be leaving the Viking Danube in Cologne two days early and be accommodated in hotels and travel by buses. We were assured that they would minimize our inconvenience and that all the alternative arrangements would be to Viking’s high standards. For our trouble they proposed a €100 rebate, a proportional reduction on our all-you-can-drink package (big deal…we were already into the free part, I figured) and a 25% reduction on laundry charges on Monday. There was a lot of confusion among the more elderly/less seasoned travellers and the beginning of grumbling among many others…we weren’t in Kansas anymore. We had reached the end on the Main-Danube Canal in Bamberg and after lunch many of the passengers, including Robert and Cheryl, boarded the bus for a tour of beautiful Bamberg, another of the many UNESCO World Heritage Sites on our trip. We decided to take a “down” day and Brenda booked a visit to the fitness room, which she found to be sadly in need of a refit, much like the rest of the ship. I took to the 3 R’s: reading, writing and relaxing while the ship cruised on to the town of Hassfurt where the bused passengers would rejoin us. It was fate that we should remain on board as we sailed through a very intense thunderstorm with heavy, driving rain…many of the shore passengers got caught in it and were soaked. At dinner that evening, we joined four ladies, two southern belles, Patsy and Annelle, and two from B.C. It turned out that the lady from Surrey was Ania Wickstrom’s sister, Viesie (“Veesha”), who lives very near us in Surrey and her friend Denise from Chilliwack (Ania’s husband, Lyall was the coach on our Blues coed softball team and we have socialized with them for years). During the dinner conversation Brenda mentioned that I was “The Luckiest Guy In The World” and Annelle said, “Don’t you mean you are blessed?” followed by “John, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal saviour to live with through all eternity?”…oops, always stay away from religion and politics when travelling! The evening concluded with a music quiz that we five felt destined to win until they threw in some recent Jennifer Lopez club dance song and sewered us. Our group of five had endeared ourselves to the onboard keyboardist/vocalist George (from Bulgaria) when we often had been the first to applaud earlier in the cruise. This night, George took several of our requests and Brenda and I hit the dance floor to work up a sweat before a final visit to the upper deck to cool off for bedtime. |
Advertisement 
|
