Any travel agent can issue a ticket or book a cruise . . .
We create Travel Experiences . . . that extra effort is our hallmark!

AMSTERDAM: Fred & Joyce spent several days in Amsterdam before their cruise. Here is a photo of Joyce standing on the Leidsestraat bridge over the Prinsengracht (Prinsen canal). This was two blocks from our hotel.  We were impressed with all the boat traffic.

KINDERJIK, NEAR ROTTERDAM: This was a preserved area that had working windmills. We were able to go into a windmill and see how it worked.  At this location the windmills were used to pump water into the river to create land that could be farmed.

DELFSHAVEN AT ROTTERDAM: We took the tram from the train station to get here.  The pilgrims left Holland for America from this canal. Their church can be identified by its steeple.

CRUISE BEGINS! AMSTERDAM: This was taken from the Poetry riverboat the first night we were aboard.  The view is Het Ij, the major body of water in Amsterdam. The gigantic train station is just out of the left of the picture. The Rhine/Amsterdam canal is behind the photographer and to the left.

RHINE RIVER: This is what it is like reading the paper and drinking coffee on the Sun Deck while the world drifts by.

DELFT: If we ever go back to Holland for an extended stay we plan to stay in Delft.  It was the prettiest town we have visited in all of Europe. This location was the intersection of two canals. The steps go into the kitchen of a restaurant. We assume delivery of food and supplies is by boat.

AMSTERDAM/RHINE CANAL: We were in stitches over this "road sign" along the canal.  Notice the bicycle path along the canal. We swore you could ride a bicycle along all the canals and rivers between Amsterdam and Budapest.

RHINE, COBLETZ TO RUDESHEIM: The Rhine between Coblentz and Rudesheim has a castle about every mile or so.  This one was in pretty good shape.  Note the burned out cathedral at the right.

HARDERWIJK:  We took a round trip train ride to northern Holland stopping at several small towns along the way. This was a beautiful location along what used to be the Zuiderzee. A "stoptrein" (local) came through these rural stations every 20 minutes!

COLOGNE: This is the largest gothic cathedral in Germany. The photo was taken from the Sun Deck of our boat as it was leaving the dock. The low gray building on the left is the music hall.

MAIN RIVER:  The Main river (pronounced mine) was much narrower than the Rhine but was loaded with bucolic German countryside scenes. We really liked
 this pretty, rural church.

MS POETRY: Our boat is docked at Miltenberg.  The pilot house and the Sun Deck canopy were down because we had just traveled under a low bridge.  The historic town center was a 5-minute walk from the boat.

NURNBERG:  A quiet scene along the Pegnitz river in the historic section of town.  We were there on Sunday so not much was open. We did stop at several Nazi sites but none of them photographed too well.

SALZBURG: We took a day trip on a bus from Passau, Germany, to Saltzburg, Austria.  This is a small portion of the Mirabellgarten.  The town features Sound of Music locations and memorabilia.

DURSTEIN: These are ruins of a castle above Durstein, Austria. This is where Richard the Lion Heart was held captive until ransomed by England. During one of the Crusades Richard offended the Austrians. He then make the mistake of trying to get back to England by traveling up the Danube.

MILTENBERG:  Miltenberg had a really quaint downtown area with nice shops. The architecture is typical of what we saw throughout Bavaria.  A pastry shop on this street sold a frosted sugar cookie called a "White American".

MAIN-DANUBE LOCKS: The apex of the Main-Danube canal had three locks with 81' lifts.  The captain let the passengers go on the Sun Deck after we had entered the first lock at Leerstetten. Fred is celebrating the
 event with a Manhattan.

MELK:  The boat is moored along the Danube in Melk, Austria. The river has not yet begun to widen as it will closer to Vienna and Budapest. This photo clearly shows the pilot house and Sun Deck Canopy. Once we reached the Danube the bridges were far enough above the water that the Sun Deck was open all day.

BRATISLAVA: There wasn't much to see in town, but they were having a contest involving painted cattle.  Fred decided to get into the fun by posing with one wrapped up in a red cape. The whole thing didn't seem too unusual since Lafayette (Indiana) has had such contests involving pigs and frogs.

BAMBERG: Bamberg marks the beginning of the Main-Danube Canal. Of all the small towns we visited I liked this one the best. The Linker river runs into the Main at Bamberg.  Fred is on a bridge crossing the Linker at the site of the town hall. In the background is one of the beautifully decorated buildings all around this location.

MAIN-DANUBE CANAL: I just had to include this photo of two cyclists passing the boat!  The scenery is typical that along the entire length of the canal. Everyone on the boat was convinced you could bicycle from Amsterdam to Budapest using these paths.

BUDAPEST: I just had to end with everyone's favorite scene in Budapest. This is the Parliament Building on the Pest side of the Danube. We were atop a hill on the opposite side in an area called the Castle District. The temperature was 102 degrees so we were actually looking forward to getting back to the air conditioned boat.