Many Excellent Adventures

In November 2025 Robert attended a conference in San Francisco and I tagged along.

We started off leaving the city for Alameda to see our friends Ted, Laura and Amanda. After brunch in Alameda we traversed up a long and winding road to the Ridge winery. The view was breathtaking, the wine delicious, our server knowledgeable, and the company top notch.

Later on we took a culinary tour of Chinatown and North Beach. The highlight of that tour was a visit to a Chinese tea shop, Vital Tea Leaf. Our tea hostess poured a number of teas, asking what ailments we had, and produced the appropriate tea. We sampled the tea and all our ailments were relieved.

The next day we grooved on the Love Bus tour, hitting the major tourist sites in an early 70s VW bus (Deja vu for my family VW van from that era).

Transport

The transportation highlight for the trip was not just the VW van but the Waymo driverless cars flitting around the city. You hailed it using the app and the car actually came when it said it would, your initials whirling around its roof. The driver’s seat was empty and the steering wheel turned on its own. Two screens in the car showed us what the car saw. We felt safer than many times in a rideshare or taxi. The Waymo car obeyed traffic laws, stopped at stop signs and lights, didn’t have a scented “air freshener,” didn’t play loud obnoxious rightwing radio, didn’t yell at other cars out the window, and you didn’t have to tip.

Wine Country

After San Francisco we head north to Sonoma and stayed at the Ledson Hotel and winery tasting room. Connor and Alex took great care of us and all their other guests. In Sonoma we visited the Robert Young Estate winery (I especially liked the Sauvignon Blanc) and the main Ledson winery (they call it a “castle” which was true.)

Since the Canadians aren’t coming to the U.S., we decided to visit Quebec City and Montreal. We have been to Montreal but Quebec City would be a new experience.

Bonjour!

We spent several days in Quebec City, staying at the Auberge Saint-Antoine, which encompasses three sites in Quebec City’s Old Port. During the construction of the hotel a large-scale archeological dig discovered several new artifacts, some of which date to the 1600s and are on display at the hotel.

One night we had an incredible dinner at the former Chez Muffy, which has been renamed but was still wonderful. Also, the hotel had one of the best showers in hoteldom.

The old city is very European in design and atmosphere. It is also very vertical. Every day is leg day when walking, which helped us since the food was pretty good!

The highlight of our food tour was la Buche, offering cuisine québécoise and a sugar shack experience, culminating with maple syrup spread on ice to make a maple lollipop.

The menu for the last stop in the food tour included poutine (of course) and gin.

Montreal

After a few days we boarded the VIA train to Montreal, where Robert’s Lambda Alpha International organization was gathering.

We stayed by the Place d’Armes, the location of one of my favorite art pieces, “The English Pug and The French Poodle,” designed by local artist Marc André J. Fortier.

It consists of a well-dressed Englishman, holding his pug, sticking his nose up to Notre-Dame Basilica. Parallel to him is a woman in Chanel-style suit, holding a French poodle, snobbishly glaring at the Bank of Montreal’s head office.

We did have some free time to visit the Marche Jean-Talon, one of the most incredible farmer’s markets ever.

Another culinary treat was two dinners at Monarque, a lovely French restaurant. We had been there twice on our previous visit to Montreal and it was so good we decided to visit again – twice! Helpful hint – get a reservation at the bar; the bistro menu looks much better than the restaurant.

Au revoir Canada!

So, we reluctantly said goodbye to Canada and returned to the chaos of America to prepare for our next adventure – London.

The next day we were still docked in Linz so we ditched the tour and walked from the boat to explore Linz, which was a lovely small city with lots of shopping. That afternoon we played hooky from anything organized and chilled on the sky deck watching the scenery along the Danube roll by.

Our last two days we sailed to Budapest, took a tour, and disembarked from the boat. We then spent three days on our own in Budapest.

Budapest was both a lovely and tragic city.

We stayed in the Mystery Hotel, one of the most unique hotels ever. It was built by the Hungarian Freemasons in the 19th century.

One of the highlights of our stay in Budapest was a food tour. We shared the tour with the a couple, the Atkinsons, so along with my husband (another Atkinson) I was out numbered.

Since our boat was broken, it stayed docked and we were bussed to Vienna. It was a Sunday and everyone was at church and strolling the city center. Below are some examples of what we saw.

After a looooooong bus ride we finally made it back to the boat.

Our tour of the “City of Three Rivers” was led by a delightful college student, who explained the constant flooding of the city, town/gown relations and why there is a beer fountain in the city.

Our guide explained that beer flows from this fountain for special occasions only, tapping into the beer in the cellars below.

Our guide also recounted a thaw in town/gown relations when the students rallied to clean up the town after one of its many floods.

Of course, there’s a big cathedral, St. Stephen’s, which is pretty baroque.

I would love to spend more time in Pasau when I come back to the area.

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

The next day the boat docked in Linz (a charming city) where we got on the bus to tour Salzburg, Austria. If you are a fan of The Sound of Music you will have loved, loved, loved our tour.

Sound of Music aside, we found Salzburg to be a beautiful city.

After visiting the cathedral, we finally found a crafts and fabric store. Unfortunately, we needed to join the tour group to get on the bas back to the boat. There was some lovely fabric there, so you can imagine my disappointment.

April 2025 found us traveling to a place we’ve never been before – Central Europe. We spent three days in Prague, eight days on a river cruise, and three days in Budapest. It was an almost perfect vacation, a combination of learning, eating good food, meeting new people, and even some relaxing by watching the river go by from the boat’s sundeck.

I heartily recommend Central Europe. There are mountains, rivers, towns and cities, history, and lots of cathedrals.

We spent three nights in Prague as part of an “add-on” from AmaWaterways. We stayed at the Hilton downtown, which was a typical convention hotel with a good location.

We started off with a ‘Golden City of a Hundred Spires’ tour. We were bussed to Prague Castle and continued downhill through the historic city center, the Charles Bridge and the Old Town Square astronomical clock. That afternoon Robert indulged in a Czech Beer Tasting.

That evening we went to a restaurant with typical Czech specialties and regional wine and beer. The highlight of the eventing was a the musical entertainment of traditional Czech music, an interactive folklore show and lots of dancing. Was it kind of touristy? Yes, but the band was having so much fun and so did we.

The next day was one of the highlights of the trip – a visit with a friend, a former special librarian who moved to the Czech Republic. We went to an incredible restaurant, the Imperial Cafe, near our hotel, and it was so nice to catch up on her new life abroad.

Since it was Easter season the Easter market was is full swing.

The next morning we got up bright and early and boarded to bus to Germany and a too quick tour of the old town of Regensburg. We also had lunch of sausages at Germany’s oldest sausage kitchen, on the riverbanks of the Danube. I would have loved to spend more time there but we had to get on the bus to Vilshofen to board the AmaSonata and begin the river cruise part of our trip.

Our final travel day in Norway we traveled like the locals – two busses and two trains to the Oslo airport. Armed with sandwiches, we boarded the bus in Alesund. After riding for awile, we stopped, and another bus pulled up. The driver told us to get on the other bus, which meant getting our bags from the hold and transferring to the next bus. From Andalsnes we transferred to a train and then another train, which let us out at the Oslo airport. (Thanks to UpNorway for coordinating all this!) Although this day was heavy with travelling, the beautiful scenery made the time go by quickly.

After an overnight stay at an airport hotel, we finally made our way to the gate to fly home. Our flight was delayed, we got into CDG late, and hurriedly rushed through immigration. We arrived at our gate as the gate agents were announcing that gate was closing. A security guard was yelling at two men and would not let us, or anyone else, approach the gate until he had finished yelling at the men. We finally got on the plane and breathed a sigh of relief as we settled into our seats for the flight home.

Final thoughts

• If you ever have a chance to visit Norway, do it! It is an incredibly gorgeous country. The fjords and historic cities delight.
• The food was good. It favors seafood (no surprise here). If you are looking for spice, Norway is not for you though.
• Norway is very child friendly. In Oslo, the library has a stroller parking lot and playground for the kids and the ferry and national museum both have a room for kids. Since parental leave is so generous you will see young men and women out with their children all the time.
• The air was so clean. Downtown Oslo was also quiet since there are not many cars on the street since they rely on public transportation.
• Almost all Norwegians speak English.
• Talking with our guides about the country, they expressed wonderment over people experiencing homelessness and high medical bills.
• Preserving a pristine environment is important to Norwegians. In Bergen our guide pointed out a boutique that sold used clothing and said that the government encourages citizens to buy less clothes and second hand.
• Go ahead, try the reindeer hotdog!