River Adagio

2012 in Review: Biggest Surprise (Belgrade!)

by Chris on December 30, 2012

My biggest surprise in 2012? Wishing that I could spend more time in Belgrade, Serbia – and that I’d love to return
Cafe on Knez Mihajlova, Belgrade, Serbia

In the age of instant info, it can be hard to be truly surprised when you visit a city for the first time. Chances are, someone has already blogged, tweeted or Facebooked their favorite spots – and that’s just within your social networks. Never mind all the tips and tricks and photos that appear on [...]

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November 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper: The Romanian Parliament

by Chris on November 1, 2012

Free desktop wallpaper for November 2012: The Romanian Parliament building, one of the world’s largest buildings created by dictator Nicholae Ceausescu.
November 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper: The Romanian Parliament

This is the November 2012 offering for our desktop calendar series - always free and available for iPad too!  Get your November 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper! We took this photo of the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest on the final stop of our Eastern European tour on Grand Circle’s River Adagio. Built by Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in [...]

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Photo Friday: Alexandra Bookcafe, Budapest

by Chris on October 26, 2012

Photo Friday: The gold friezes and frescoes inside the Alexandra Bookcafe, just one of Budapest’s charming cafes/coffee shops.
Bookcafe Kavezo, Budapest

This is the latest in a series of travel photos inspired by #FriFotos on Twitter. The theme of this week’s Photo Friday is GOLD. Before we boarded the River Adagio, Don and I spent a few days in Budapest on our own. It was great to have the time to walk around and do what we wanted [...]

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Multi-Generation Travel: 7 Things I Learned from River Cruise Passengers

by Chris on October 22, 2012

Life lessons I learned on my Grand Circle river cruise, where the average age of the passengers was 70.
Fellow passengers on River Adagio

On my most recent assignment, I took a river cruise down the Danube on the River Adagio, a ship run by Grand Circle Travel. Founded by the same woman who created the AARP, the line caters to retirees and mature travelers. My husband Don and I were the youngest passengers on board, by several decades [...]

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Discovering Eastern Europe: Communist Art & Architecture in Vidin, Bulgaria

by Chris on October 18, 2012

A look at Vidin, Bulgaria, a town full of Communist art and communist architecture.
Monument of the Resistance, Vidin, Bulgaria

At first glance, the countries of Eastern Europe that lie along the Lower Danube might seem like an unusual choice for a vacation. But while the line that Don and I traveled on wasn’t exactly age appropriate, we ended up having a great time and learning quite a bit. I’ll be doing a series of [...]

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Photo Friday: River Ships on the Danube

by Chris on October 12, 2012

Photo Friday: Two river ships, the River Adagio from Grand Circle Travel and the River Countess from Uniworld, docked near each other on the lower Danube River.
River ships on the Lower Danube

This is the latest in a series of travel photos inspired by #FriFotos on Twitter. The theme of this week’s Photo Friday is TWO (in honor of the hashtag’s second anniversary). At the beginning of this month, I spent 12 days on the River Adagio, a river ship operated by Grand Circle Travel that plies the Lower [...]

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