Bob and I
did a Danube River cruise from Budapest to Nuremburg. They have ones
that go from Budapest to Amsterdam or the other way around. We went from
Budapest to Bratislava, Vienna, Salzburg, the Wassau Valley
Bavaria....it was great. The second cruise we took was a Christmas
markets cruise from Nuremburg to Amsterdam. We spent three days in
Munich first. It was terrific too, except that the water was too high
from lots of rain and the ship was not allowed to sail. It didn't even
get to Nuremburg. We became honorary citizens of Wurzberg Germany and
were bussed to all the other cities and towns. The longest bus rides
were from Wurzberg to Cologne and the next day from Cologne to
Amsterdam. In Amsterdam we got on a canal boat and actuaLly sailed
though the maze of canals! Voila! A ship that really moved! However, New
Years Eve was spectacular! Europe really does it up with fireworks like
you've never seen before. We stood on the top deck where you could see
fireworks 360* while the ships crew also set off fireworks from the
dock. It was so much fun.
One of our next forays will be a
tour for Berlin, Auschwitz, Warsaw, and other Eastern European places.
Bob taught AP European History for over thirty years and delights in
seeing some of the places he taught about, such as the Uffitzi museum
and statue of David in Florence, Avignon in France, the Tower of London,
the Berlin Wall ( he has seen it. I have not), etc. But, we have seen a
lot. Love traveling and learning and meeting other people and
discovering we all have more in common than we have differences.
We
start our National Parks tour in Yellowstone although we have already
been there. From there we head into the Tetons and to Utah, Zion, Bryce
and work our way into Colorado and the Grand Canyon where we will take a
Colorado River trip at night after a cowboy BBQ, and we end up in Las
Vegas for one night. Can't wait. It's two weeks. We want to take road
trip to Asheville, NC and the Smokies. We have been to Acadia, and the
one in Colorado northwest of Denver, although the name escapes me now.
I've been to the Tetons twice. The first time was in 1996 when my
brother, who lived in Idaho Falls, dropped dead and we couldn't bury him
til Memorial Day weekend was over. So my nephew took us exploring.
In Nov. it's two weeks in Hawaii with stops at either end in San Diego! Spending the children's inheritance!!!!
We
are very happy. We should have gotten together in New Paltz when we had
the chance, but we let it go by. Ah well. At least we have now. Been
married five years already and in our house eight years! My, time does
fly.
~Kathy O'Connell Nelson
Sorority roommates 50 years ago on Theta's porch
(Lillian Wright Patton, Flo Anton Snider, Jean Valentine Ward, Barbara
Wright Passmore) and then again- same place but 50 years later...
