The 12 Days Of Viking Christmas: Remember Where You Are

Posted onAuthorChris Owen

The 12 Days of Viking Christmas is not exactly like the theme of the traditional holiday song, The Twelve Days Of Christmas. The song was first published in England in 1780 and starts on Christmas Day. Still, the old song has a note or two that apply here, especially when talking about the iconic destinations travelers will visit along the way while they discover Europe’s Christmas Markets on a Viking River Cruise.

If their itinerary stops in Austria, Christmas Marketers will stop in Vienna for a half-day morning tour of the city then choose between free time in Vienna on their own or an optional tour in the afternoon.  This is typical of many stops along the river on a Viking River cruise and one of the best parts of the experience. With a focus mainly off of the ship, river cruise travelers get quality time with experienced local guides or time on their own.

Vienna Christmas 2013 - 74

Another option, an evening concert off the ship, will feature the compositions of Mozart and Strauss performed by a Viennese orchestra…which brings us back to the song, The Twelve Days Of Christmas.  Music, as we will see, is a big part of the history and culture of the places visited along the river on a Viking River Cruise.

Right about here is a good place to throw in a bit of advice that is so very simple but often gets forgotten when we are preoccupied with the details of travel:  Remember Where You Are

Right now, there are travelers on Viking Longships who are over the halfway point and heading toward the end of their itinerary.  Still, meaningful travel experiences are around every corner.  This is, after all, Europe.  In a few days, those travelers will be home and not able to walk off the ship and into the center of a town a thousand years old where history they read about in school, saw in films or on TV happened.

Vienna Christmas Market - 27

A timeless way of expression, music is found in every culture, past and present, varying greatly between times and places.  Those sailing with Viking River Cruises will hear some of the finest organ music, folk songs, concerts and more along the way both off and on their Viking longship.  It’s an undeniable take away from a European river cruise and one especially predominant during the holiday season.

 

Vienna, Austria - 57
Back to that Vienna Mozart/Strauss concert.   Where in the world would you have the potential to find a more authentic, true-to-the-composer experience than this?

You Are In Vienna (known as the city of music)
You  have an overall feeling for the history and culture of the area (the included morning tour took care of that)
You experienced Austria off the ship both day and night (Vienna is an overnight stop)
You enjoyed Vienna-focused events, music and cuisine on our Viking longship
You have basically few other cares in the world at the moment (Viking takes care of that)

Pausing to think about this, could Viking have possibly set up an evening Mozart/Strauss concert to be any more of a meaningful experience?  You just need to pause from time to time, while traveling, to remember where we are.

 

 

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