Archive for the Tag 'Europe'

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If the lousy exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Euro has you thinking twice about traveling to Europe, you may want to think again. And this time, think river cruising.  Read more... (326 words, 1 image, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

“Attention ladies and gentlemen. We are approaching a very low bridge, and we kindly ask that you vacate the Sun Deck until we have passed.”

Welcome to river cruising in Europe, where the experience is unlike any other you’ve ever encountered. Floating down the Moselle River toward Germany’s border with Luxembourg and France, Peter Deilmann River Cruises’ Heidelberg is passing under a bridge — a low bridge. The crew moves to remove not only all tables and deck chairs from the Sun Deck but also the side railings, and even the captain’s pilot house must be lowered so that it is flush with the upper deck.

With the bridge only 100 yards away, I squeeze my head through a canopy draped over the stairwell to the Sun Deck, completely flush except for the captain’s bald crown poking above the deck from the pilot house.

We make it under with only two inches to spare. “The captain has been with us a very long time,” jokes Wilhelm Bahrs, Heidelberg’s affable hotel manager. When I fail to get the joke, he rubs his head to indicate that the low bridges have scraped the captain’s noggin bare.   Read more... (732 words, 1 image, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)