Eight Observations About Our Amazing European River Cruise (Part One)

We had our 40th Anniversary trip planned for a year — a year of daydreaming about what it would be like. Our trip has come and gone in the blink of an eye. All of the anticipation is replaced by fond memories. Isn’t that true of most milestone events?

We’ve been home from our river cruise in Europe for a little over a week. We unpacked our suitcases and washed all our clothes. Our sleep is slowly getting back to normal. All that’s left is to reflect on the amazing experience.

Here are eight observations from our recent travels.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Our river cruise took us from Budapest, Hungary to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. We stopped at eleven other places along the way. Three of those stops, Vienna, Nuremberg, and Cologne were larger, more metropolitan cities. My husband and I enjoyed the small, quaint German towns with their crooked, cobblestoned streets more. We were, however, pleasantly surprised by Budapest. We enjoyed exploring both the Buda and Pest sides of the city the three days we were there. We even found the apartment where our son and daughter-in-law stayed in 2022.

Community Can Form Anywhere

A community can form quickly in small, shared spaces. There were only about 190 guests on our Viking longship. Besides our cabin, we spent time in the restaurant, the lounge area (which was like a big living room with couches, tables and chairs, and a piano), and the upper sun deck. There were no tables for two in the restaurant so you joined others for meals. You also visited the sites with groups from the cruise.

Friendships quickly formed in fifteen days of togetherness. We met fellow travelers from Australia, England, and all over the United States. We shared several meals with a couple from the Pacific Northwest and even won a game with them. One couple we met lives on the island we spend time on and we have friends in common. I’ve even become Facebook Friends with a friendly British couple we enjoyed being with.

Kindness and Civility Matter

Most everyone on the ship was friendly. No one stood out as being particularly obnoxious. There were some that we didn’t connect with but that’s okay. We don’t have to be buddies with everyone, but at least be nice.

One day, when we were cruising on the part of the river with all of the castles, we passed about ten other cruise ships (the river variety). The top decks were full of people enjoying the scenery. Whenever one ship passed another, the passengers would wave to each other — except for this one boat. No one waved. They just stared at us. As I said, not everyone is friendly and that’s okay.

Be Flexible With Your Expectations

When I looked at the travel brochure for the river cruise, the front cover showed one of the Viking longships cruising along the river through a green valley with a village dominated by a church steeple on one shore and a castle high on the hill above the other shore. We did see that often. But, we also saw industrial areas, bridges with cars and fast trains, typical small towns with fast food signs and locks, lots of locks. Not everything was picture-perfect like the brochure. But, why should it be? These rivers don’t exist for the purpose of travelers to enjoy. They are real places where people live and work.

As I thought about it, I realized that life is kind of like that. It’s not always pretty. It’s often very ordinary and at times even grimy. But most of the time we can find beauty and good in our lives with our friends, family, and people we meet along the way.