Festive Sailing With Viking River Cruises- Part Negy

Posted onAuthorChris Owen

On our Romantic Danube itinerary with Viking River Cruises, a lot of time was focused on Germany, beginning in Nuremberg and visiting a number of interesting places on the way to Austria before ending in Hungary.  Parts one, two and three of this series were appropriately numbered Eins, Zwei and Drei, reflecting the German overtones that dominated much of the experience. Ending our sailing and this series in Hungary, we have part four (“negy” in Hungarian) with a focus on Budapest where we were able to take a look back at one of the main reasons we came along on this trip; the people.

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We talk a lot here about how people so often make a big difference in our travels.  Those we travel with or meet along the way can have a huge impact on our experience.  I remember traveling to Livorno by cruise ship then on to Pisa for a glimpse of the famous Leaning Tower.  This is a place I remember from 4th grade, probably because of the leaning thing.  Interestingly, random visitors at the site became a big part of the memory as they jockeyed to capture the moment on film of them appearing to prop up the iconic structure.  To some travelers, those people were annoying and got in the way of their National Geographic-quality photography efforts.   To me, people are often the best part.

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The other day I read an article about a technique used by those who really don’t want any distracting humans in their photos.  Taking a bunch of shots of the same iconic landmark over an amazingly short period of time, they can effectively edit out all the people, leaving only the big cool thing they came to see. There is even an app for that too.  The Scalado Remove App ($.99) makes it all a bit less personal promising to “remove unwanted objects from images” and there you have it;  people have been reduced to annoying objects that can be removed easily.  Oh if only life worked that way.

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Think of all the icky bosses, teachers, bullies, criminals or other unsavory people that we just don’t happen to like who could be deleted from our lives.  On the other hand, those we met along the course of our lives were travelers too, will have their own story to tell and we might be in it.  As our Christmas markets-themed sailing with Viking River Cruises came to an end, I was reminded of just how amazing a travel experience can be if we place a high value on the people we meet along the way.

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During our pre-cruise build up to this event, we encouraged readers to follow along on the voyage with our posts here, on Facebook, Instagram and other places.  Unlike our sailing with Viking for the Portraits of Southern France itinerary last summer, this one was a press trip with a number of social media people along for the ride.  Following along on the voyage, it was hard to miss the #VikingSocial element in what we did at each stop along the way.  One of the most engaging bunches of people I have ever traveled with, they were there to experience all Viking River Cruises and the Christmas markets of Europe had to offer.  And they did.

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Better yet, they shared the experience with their friend and followers as we progressed. They published interesting information, from as many angles as there were writers, to give different perspectives, resonating with a broad base of readers. In other words, the people made the difference, once again.  If you did not check these people out pre-event, take a look now and see some of the people who made a difference in our experience:

  • Ann Tran (@anntran_), Social media consultant,travel social marketing strategist. Forbes Top10 #SM Influencer. http://ann-tran.com/ Contributor at http://www.entrepreneur.com/author/ann-tran
  • Kay Dougherty (@BlBrtravel), Witty travel blogger – a blonde – traveling the world with her sensible sister – the brunette – hence BlBrTravel!
  • Charissa Fay (@charissafay), Travel and lifestyle photographer based in New York City.
  • Jon Mark (@cruisefever), Cruise news, tips, and reviews to help you make the most of your cruise vacation.
  • John Roberts (@InTheLoopTravel) Life moves fast. Travel happy, travel often. InTheLoopTravel.com
  • Evelyn Hannon (@journeywoman), CEO of Journeywoman, largest online travel resource for women+free tip newsletter going to 70,000 women in 240 countries.
  • Rick Griffin (@midliferoadtrip) (@rickgriffin), Co-host of the Midlife Road Trip Show – I love travel, food, wine, music and funny stuff. Life is a journey…bring a camera!
  • Sandi McKenna (@midliferoadtrip) (@sandimckenna), Co-Host MidLife Road Trip A Show about Travel, Food, Funny Side of Life. Professional Traveler, Digital correspondent, Brand Ambassador. #ExpediaViewfinder
  • Nancy Brown (@nancydbrown), Travel writer/blogger/equestrian
  • Cailin O’Neil (@travelyourself), Travel Yourself exposes the good and bad of travel and shares real life experiences through travel videos
  • Viv Chapleo and Jill Hoelting (@wavejourney), Co-Founders of http://WAVEJourney.com – A travel e-zine + free newsletter reaching women around the world.

Many thanks to all of the above for their part in making our Viking River Cruises Romantic Danube itinerary a smashing success.  More importantly, thank you for reading all about this truly unique travel experience and following us along the way.

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Pre-Cruise Information

Facebook photo albums-

@Exposure Photo Story Books

 Posted Live from Viking Delling-

Post Cruise Reflections-

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