Daisi

I never realised your Father's Day was ahead of ours as well. We celebrate in June, but this weekend is what is commonly called our May 2-4 (our cases of beer come in packs of 24, called a 2-4) to celebrate Victoria Day. @Canal archive (and any others from the UK), do you just get a bank holiday this weekend, as I don't think you celebrate Victoria's Birthday do you? Enjoy what you can of your weekend @notamermaid, we had a very cool week, but looks like it's going to warm up to 20 so should be nice.....now if only we can get rid of some pesky mosquitos!

If you ever get a chance and are back on this side of the pond, make sure you get tickets to the Musical Ride. We've seen it several times and still enjoy watching.

We were there 5 years ago May 10, and we found it quite hot for wandering around. They had an ice cream cart out that we may have visited a couple of times. 🙂 Weather this year has been cooler, which is good for the gardens as the flowers last longer, but varies yearly.

Sounds as if you are having a great time, enjoy your relaxation.

I know the feeling Jazz, we are ok, the creek is getting high, but it would have to rise 6' almost vertically to get anywhere close to our door. My sister lives along the river up near Ottawa, and is moving stuff to the parents garage (we offered, but they are a bit closer). Luckily we have a self draining basement, so that's one thing we don't have to worry about, but will have to arrange for someone to get to the parents if their sump pump goes. Good luck, it's supposed to ease up today I think.

A full day at Keukenhoff, I'd love that! We got there about 1:30, and had to leave again around 5:00. Could have spent a lot more time, however DH says if we are over again and it's on, we would go back, so guess that's a good thing. Really hope you have a good day for it. Love hearing how Avalon looks after it's guests.

HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, more commonly used when referring to houses. YMMV is Your Mileage May Vary, I guess they mean others may have a different experience?

Sounds as if you got lucky at the airport...first post on another group I belong to was a picture of masses of people lined up waiting to get through security at Schiphol....and then finally getting there only to find out that there were only 3 officers on duty. Mind you, it was the day after King's Day, so maybe there were a few calling in unable to cope? 🙂 Glad to hear you are having great weather, hope it lasts for you.

Have a great trip, we just got our seats booked for our cruise in Sept, so getting excited here. I hear the app is great, and when you get the whisper things for the tours, they also work as hot spots for internet and are great.

Yarmouth NS.... Canada. 🙂

Lol, after having to wait so long after being retired to claim "senior benefits", I'm grabbing all I can get! Unfortunately, I still have to wait several years to get the main ones, but if it means more money for travel, I'm all for it. 🙂

@CastleCritic Just checked the weather in Budapest for the 23rd to 29th, looks like great touring temps - ranging from daily highs of 20 - 16, but nightly lows will be a bit cooler down into the single digits. Not sure where you are coming from, but you may want to pack something to layer so you can start out for cooler mornings and take off for warmer lunchtimes! Have a great cruise, hope you come back and post a review, would be great to hear more on the eastern end of the Danube.

I would love this, fly to London or Paris, then train to where ever the cruise starts! We loved our days on the trains in Germany & the Netherlands, even sneaking in a train trip on our upcoming cruise in Sept (instead of taking a bus to and from the airport). Our transport system here isn't as good or as affordable as in Europe, but now we are seniors, at least we get a bit off. 🙂 Guess that's one benefit of getting older.

It's trying to snow here, not to successful but not nice after a weekend of 30C temps! Just a normal spring I guess. Thanks again for all your help.

Thanks, that's what I thought, and I told them that you were more a Rhine specialist....but I'll let her know. Thanks again, and have a great day! Meeting with our TA to book our flights today...we may actually get back on the rivers again! (Can you tell I'm excited? 🙂 )

@notamermaid, just asking for a friend, as I sail in Sept. They have heard that locks are down, but I told them that it was only maintenance and they should be all working now. Is that right? Sorry, but you are the only one I know with this info. 🙂 Thanks.

Kristelle, the only "silly" questions are the ones you don't ask. You say you are used to organised tours, so the structure of a river cruise should be no problem for you. The bonus is, your hotel comes with you as you travel, so no having to rush in the morning to make sure you haven't forgotten anything! There can be problems with water levels, but that is where the next piece of advice I quoted from Gourmet Gal says...go with the flow and look on everything as an adventure and you should be fine. Enjoy, and have fun planning your trip, that's 1/2 the fun!

@pontac, yes, I realise that, but that was one perk that I think was only for those in the UK. My main problem with Scenic is almost every time I try to go through their website to look at a potential cruise, it doesn't work...very frustrating, and while I realise that the experience onboard is 100% different than the experience you get from the local offices/website, it's the "first impression", and kills most interest in touring with them. I use a TA, and if I can't get through the website, I wouldn't expect her to have to spend the time either.

I don't mind how Avalon has gone paperless - I saved all the menu's, daily sheets and books from our cruise, but then have to digitalize them if I wish to post something, so it will be much easier having that already done for Sept. Also, much easier to tease people (parents) with the menu's we will be having every night. They are probably saving a lot of money in publishing, and that I don't mind. If it helps keep the costs down for us, it's truly a triple win - for the consumer, the company and the environment. As to the "door to door" delivery, that was only provided for the UK, so most won't miss that. 🙂

Once the creeks and rivers crest here, we do "rapid runs" down them with the canoes. Right now, flood levels are still on (and some ice), but hopefully soon. Used to have fun at school - make our own rafts and see which team could survive intact to the end....bonus points if all came out fairly dry as well. 🙂

Sorry, guess my video doesn't work....

@Canal archive, they are both something to see. We will often take a weekend and drive up to Peterborough and a bit north to see the lift lock. There is another one just a bit north at Kirkfield, but it's not as high, only 15 metres. Here is a video of how it works, it's more like your Falkirk Wheel. @1of4 my nephew did that for a couple of years, he worked at the Canoe museum while at Trent. 🙂 IMG_1417.MOV

Also on the same canal is this one. In the fall, they fill the lock with canoes for a charity.

We have this one on one of our canals. We've been up a couple of times, it's interesting watching the boats go through. Not sure I'd enjoy being in the front position though. 🙂

Very interesting... even won an architecture award in 2016! https://www.architectmagazine.com/awards/al-design-awards/2016-al-design-awards-sayn-iron-works-foundry_o