A Rhine River Getaway on a Viking Ship

It won’t be a historical Viking ship; I’m sure all of them that aren’t in Davey Jones’ Locker are rotted away. What we are doing is taking an 8-day cruise on a ship operated by Viking Cruise Lines from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Here’s what Viking has to say about the trip we’re taking. The web page talks about cruising from Amsterdam to Basel but we’re going in the opposite direction because we wanted to extend our trip by a few extra days in Amsterdam.

SPECIAL NOTE: These albums are works in progress. Photos will be added, deleted, and rearranged to update the albums. Some ports of call are missing and will be added soon.

I’ll be posting links to my Google Photos albums for each port of call. I’m skipping the narrative for each day. If you’d like to read my impressions of our spring 2022 cruise up the Danube River from Budapest , Hungary to Passau, Germany with a Prague, Czechia extension just scroll down the page.

Welcome aboard!

Here are a few pictures from travel days October 31 and November 1. On future updates to this post I’ll refer to separate Google Photos albums by “City/Cities - Date”.

Ready? Here we go:

Breisach, Germany/The Black Forest/Alsatian Wine Tasting - November 2

Strasbourg, France & Alsatian Wine Tasting - November 3

Speyer, Worms, & Rudesheim, Germany - November 4

Middle Rhine - Castles & Wine; Cruising to Koblenz, Germany - November 5

Arriving Amsterdam, The Netherlands - November 8, 2022

Prague, Czech Republic - April 6-8, 2022

We boarded a motor coach at 7:00 am on Wednesday, April 6, along with 5 or 6 other couples, some from our ship and some from another Viking ship that had made the same trip we had, more or less simultaneously. We had a Viking staffer on board to be our guide and to provide assistance as well as brief descriptions of the countryside we passed through on our 3 1/2 ride to Prague, Czech Republic.

It’s difficult to make any decent photos from a bus. My general impressions from the 2-lane road were snow in the hills, rolling farmland, small villages, and dense fog for part of the trip. We made a stop about halfway through the trip for coffee, refreshments and a bio-break. It was at a combo convenience store and gas station with nice booths to sit in while snacking. I discovered the only word I had in common with the Czech-speaking counter attendant was “donut”. So I had a donut, an apple yogurt, and a wafer with a caramel layer. All good and more than enough to keep me from starving before we arrived at our hotel.

And what a hotel it was! The Hilton Prague, a 5-star hotel with a large futuristic atrium, very smart elevators (scan your room key and the system fetches you a private car to ride to your floor.) Here’s what the hotel looked like from across the parking lot.

Our room was on the other side of the building with a great view of a hillside with a fort/castle/church (not sure which) and “the ugliest building in Prague”, a combo TV tower and tourist attraction. We went there later on our “Prague By Night”: twilight tour (thank you Daylight Savings Time!) Here’s our view from the window:

I was impressed to find that Viking had a spacious office right off the lobby next to the gift shop staffed by 3 or 4 mask-wearing people in red shirts. Viking staff got our room keys, told us where to meet up for excursions, made restaurant recommendations and reservations and were just super helpful in making our cruise extension a pleasure.

Before we got our room key we had to kill some time so Matt, our chief minder, took us on a short walking rour around the block and explained how to use the trolley and subway. We were a very short walk from a metro station. At the end of the short tour the rooms still weren’t ready so we decided to have lunch at the Gate Restaurant, one recommended for its Czech cuisine and an easy walk from the hotel. We found the place easily but it was very crowded and we had to sit at the bar since no table was available. The restaurant only had four dishes and fortunately the waitress spoke a little English so ordering was no problem. We had to have a beer since Czechs are known for their quality pilsners and prodigious beer-drinking proclivities. We ordered medium-sized beers and here’s what we got:

I’m glad we didn’t order a large! I had worked up a thirst on the bus ride and the walk around the block so I had to sample both the light and the dark. Both were tasty and went well with our food, which was also tasty.

After this very filling lunch we went back to the hotel, secured a room, and relaxed (a short nap for me). Next thing on the agenda was our “Prague by Night” excursion.

Check my Google photo album to see what we saw. This includes our sunset visit to “Miminka” (Babies—go figure) aka the ugliest building in Prague.

The highlight of the tour was a climb (by bus) way up a hill overlooking the city to the Monastery of the Brothers of St. Norbert. It’s a fairly recent addition to the city, constructed in the 11th century. It would be great to chat with some of the Brothers since they’re known for their sense of humor. To wit, one of the rooms in the monastery is called “Hell” and one of the beers in their micro craft brewery is “Anti- Depressant”. Our tour guide bought us a beer. Very surprising to find a high quality IPA in a tiny brewery and biergarten overlooking the city.

Next morning we were set for our “Panoramic Tour of Prague”. It turned out to be mostly a walking tour but concluded with a coach ride way up the hill to the magnificent Prague Castle. Another newcomer to the City, it was built in the 9th century and according to the Guinness Book of World Records is the largest castle in the world.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before the Castle we met our guide, George, outside the lower lobby entrance and paired up our Quietvox receivers for what was to be almost a 4-hour tour. Fortunately, George turned out to be the best guide of the trip. He had a great sense of humor and spiced up the tour with historical stories that brought the sights of the Old Town to life. He had just put on his shades so he could “look like an American”.

The walking tour took us to Old Town, Wenceslas Square, the Astronomical Clock, the Charles Bridge, a break at the Ostrich Hotel for a warm, comfortable seat in the restaurant and a cappuccino, a chance to buy some Trdlo ice cream (I passed), a visit to the John Lennon Wall, etc. We saw too many vintage buildings to detail here. Please take a look at some of them in the photo album.

Then we boarded the bus for the ascension to Prague Castle. It is an amazing and impressive complex of buildings. We were lucky to arrive at the entrance for the changing of the Guard. We ended our visit to the Castle with a short stop inside the Cathedral where a short female guard chased me down and reminded me to remove my stocking cap (women could wear head coverings but they weren’t required.) Then we boarded the bus for a return to the hotel.

We walked to another restaurant recommended by the Viking staff, La Republica, for classic Czech food in a warm atmosphere (along with more beer, of course). The food and service were really good, as was the beer! We took a trolley back from the restaurant. It was easy enough to hop on and off from a stop near the restaurant. We’d learned from the staff that people over 65, like us, ride the trolleys free. Just show your ID if asked by an inspector for your ticket. We were happy to ride; we’d had enough walking for the day!

But our day wasn’t over. We had booked a “Folklore and Farm” excursion to a small village and restaurant 30 minutes bus ride outside of Prague—an evening that included a dinner of traditional Czech dishes, wine or beer and entertainment from a group of talented singers and dancers in traditional costumes, backed by an outstanding trio of musicians on violin, hammered dulcimer, and upright bass. Here’s an excerpt of one of the tunes.

Next day was Friday and the only activity we had planned was a visit to a famous beer garden in a public park along the Voltava River. Alas, the weather didn’t cooperate. It was too windy with rain in the forecast. So we circulated around near the hotel and picked up some last-minute souvenirs.

The food at the hotel was great. A sumptuous breakfast buffet was included. For lunch we decided to get takeout from a restaurant called “Veggie Garden” I spotted from our room window along with some potato chips and a couple of canned beers from the local supermarket. Sandwiches were really good.

I was surprised how many vegetarian and vegan restaurants turned up in a Google Maps search near the hotel. I guess with all the beer drinking it doesn’t hurt to have some healthy eating options, too.

The rest of the day was taken up with packing. We had to have our packed bags outside in the hall by 3:30 am Saturday for a 4:00 am departure. Our flight from Prague to London Heathrow was to depart at 7:00 AM. We boarded on time for the long trans-Atlantic flight. We had upgraded our seats to Premium Economy and that made the trip more comfortable. Still, 8 hours and 4,000 miles.

We arrived in Charlotte and had a 2-hour wait after clearing customs for our connecting flight to Raleigh/Durham. We used it having a crabcake appetizer and a couple of IPAs in a seafood bistro near the gate.

We arrived on time at 5:30 pm, dog-tired, jet-lagged but extremely happy with our Danube Waltz epic adventure!

Passau, Germany - April 5, 2022

Every cruise comes to an end and our cruise ended in Passau, Germany, a city in Lower Bavaria. Passau is known as “The City of Three Rivers” because the Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. (Thank you, Wikipedia!) This monument stands in a park where the three rivers come together.

Note the profusion of red umbrellas on the pathway. That was my group, heading a little farther up the path then making a right into the narrow streets of Passau’s Old Town. I had a bit of an advantage over others in the group—I could hold my umbrella high while moving through the crowd and getting into position for pictures without suffering severe eye damage.

We’d had a number of tours in our stops along the Danube and both of us found them to be really good. The guides were knowledgeable, interesting, and spoke good English. That string of luck was broken in Passau because our guide had good intentions but he also had a super-thick German accent. Most of the time I found his comments to be unintelligible. Couple that with the fact that it was raining, cold, and windy and you have all the ingredients for a fairly miserable tour. Not to mention that the narrow streets went steeply up and down and were paved with rough cobblestones.

This tour was mercifully short and ended in a cathedral where the world’s largest pipe organ resides (12,000 pipes!) Unfortunately it wasn’t being played during our visit but it must be magnificent to hear when it’s cranked up. It has four sets of pipes spread around the cathedral. Here’s one set:

Our guide left us outside the cathedral with vague directions on how to get back to the ship. It wasn’t that big an issue to find our way back. We both felt that Passau had lots more to see than we were able to take in on this short and slightly miserable excursion.

Here are the other pictures I shot in Passau.

After lunch and another good German lager beer we worked on getting packed to leave the ship the next morning. Some were going directly to the airport on Viking buses. We and a few other couples were to be transported to the Hilton Prague hotel for a 3-day cruise extension. Cruise staff were super organized for our ship departure—by this time that was no big surprise.

During dinner they left color-coded luggage tags in our stateroom along with a printed schedule on when we were to have our bags out in the hallway for pickup. Our pickup time was 6:30 am so that wasn’t bad. The dining room even opened at 6 so we all could grab a little something to eat before we took off. And of course caffeine for those who wanted a cup or two.

Prior to dinner the previous night we had a “cultural enrichment” lecture presented by a young German professor. She had prepared a very good PowerPoint presentation and she presented her talk with great enthusiasm—bobbing, ducking, and weaving to emphasize key points. I won’t bore you with all the notes I jotted down. I did learn that the Danube starts in the Black Forest in the north of Spain then runs 3500 kilometers (2175 miles) to the Black Sea.

We had purchased a gratuity package prior to the trip but the officers of the ship let us know that if we had received extra special service from a crew member we could pick up envelopes into which we could put tips (Euros only, please.) Dail and I felt our maid, Camellia, had done a super job of cleaning and straightening our room twice a day so she got an envelope.

I developed a good relationship with the Night Manager, Tihomir, from Serbia. He and I were the only ones up when I went to make tea and fire up my laptop to check email, blog, and read the morning news. He was kind enough to walk upstairs and turn on the lights in the lounge so I could use my “office”.

He also did a lot of research in his spare time on duty into the origin of a symbol that Viking uses on its stationery and on a sliding glass door upstairs in the Aquavit Lounge. He was obviously a deep thinker just from the few brief conversations we had. So he got an envelope from me. Here’s a picture of the symbol on the door:

Next (and last) stop: Prague, Czech Republic.

Linz, Austria -- April 4, 2022

We cruised through the night after passing through the Wachau Valley. When I woke up we were tied up in Linz, Austria it was still dark. Looking out our veranda stateroom window I saw a lighted bridge and a building that kept changing colors. I later found out it was the Technology Museum (unfortunately closed on Monday as were all other museums in the town.) Here’s what I saw from the cabin and from the wider space just outside the reception area.

I had no way of knowing that morning but this day was to be sunniest of the cruise. Chilly and windy—yes, but sunny!

This was to be a walking tour so no need to look for the bus.. Just had to find our guide who was holding up a red paddle with our group number on it. Viking was super organized and would deliver a printed schedule of the next day’s activities along with printed tickets for our excursions that assigned us to a group.

Notice the guide is weaing a lanyard with an “A” on it. Each of had a personal “GuideVox” device that we’d touch to our guide’s card. That would reprogram the device to only pick up our guide’s tour narration and deliver it to an an earpiece so we could hear the narration of the day’s tour and not pick up audio from the other groups’ guides.

The Linz tour was a 1 1/2 hour stroll first along the riverfront park and public area then cutting over a main highway and into the city’s Old Town. We stopped by a house Where Mozart lived and worked for a while. Then he took us to a main square and pointed out a trolley car that we could take if we wanted to go up the mountain above the town for a scenic view.

He described in detail how we could get to bakeries selling the town’s famed “Linzer torte” and also local coffee shops like the Cafe Traxlmayr where we could relax over a coffee and a serving of the pastry. At the tour’s conclusion Dail and I went to the histric cafe and were impressed by the quality of the coffee and the decor. It was a little unsettling in that historic atmosphere to see a blue 5-foot robot vacuum make its way between the two dining rooms.

Here’s what the small dining room looked like from our table. The robot came scooting out from behind the screen—it was multi-purpose and could carry small trays as well as vacuum. It was such a surprise to see it I failed to get a picture.

More fun at the coffee shop: we both ordered cappuccinos and Linzer torte, of course. When I added a teaspoon of sugar to my cup the smily face looked like it was wearing a face mask!

After coffee we easily found our way back to the ship for lunch. Later in the afternoon we decided to enjoy the upper deck where we discovered a putt putt golf setup as well as a shuffleboard game. Though beautiful and sunny it was still breezy. Dail wanted to reach her daily goal of 8,000 steps so we took a few laps on the walking track as well as trying out the golf and shuffleboard—unencumbered by knowledge of the rules of the game.

Here’s a link to my Linz Google photo album where you can see beautiful blue skies and the scenery of this attractive Austrian town. The Tourist Information Office has aerial views of the city as a floor covering—a great way to get a birds-eye view!.

After dinner two American opera singers entertained us in the lounge with Austrian operettas and (of course) tunes from “The Sound of Music”. They were really good!

Gottweig Abbey/Krems/Wachau Valley (Austria) - April 3, 2022

This was the BUSIEST day of the cruise! Thus this well be the longest post of the trip. From a start in a busy hilltop 11th century abbey to an Austrian-themed dinner this day was packed!

First stop—the year 1083 AD…

Before breakfast we saw one of the few sunrises over the Danube. Most days had been cloudy, windy, chilly—in a word: yucky! Then we had our usual outstanding breakfast and things kept getting brighter.

Gottweig Abbey was founded in the eleventh century as a Benedictine monastery. It’s perched high above the small, lower Austrian town of Krems. Our first order of business after breakfast was to climb aboard a motor coach and wend our way up a twisty road up a steep hill into a snow-dusted forest.

We disembarked and went into a small auditorium where we viewed a Viking-produced 10-minute introductory video. I found it interesting that the priests of the Abbey don’t spend all their days in cloistered meditation but instead minister to the needs of surrounding parishes, teach music, and work in the Abbey’s extensive vineyards and apricot orchards.

After the video we met our guide who walked us around the main court of the Abbey. We had to be watchful for snow and ice on the pavement due to a frigid previous evening. Our guide was young and energetic and managed to hit the highlights of the Abbey’s sights and history in an hour. We then were released for a tasting of the three wines produced at the Abbey and of course, a visit to the gift shop.

Viking pays an annual stipend to Gottweig to have space set aside for the small video viewing room and a room with a small bar for the wine tasting. Considering the good works the priests of the Abbey do in the community it seems a good investment. Plus providing a historical scenic site with panoramic views around the small town of Krems.

Here’s a link to my Google Photo album. It’s in chronological order from the time we docked at Krems during breakfast, to the Austria-themed dinner that night.

When our tour, tasting, and shopping spree were over our bus dropped us off in the small university town of Krems. We were on our own for an hour and a half. Most of the shops were closed due to it being Sunday but we managed to find a funky coffee shop on the main street that was open. Dail had a coffee and I had a beer (touring ancient Abbeys can spark a thirst even if the weather’s a little chilly and windy.) The bus picked us up and we were back at the ship in time for lunch and to embark on our afternoon cruise through the Wachau Valley from Krems to Linz, Austria.

In the Wachau Valley we began to see rolling hills and a few trees along the river starting to put out new green leaves. It was still cold an breezy up top but I managed to get a few pictures. Then it was downstairs to the Aquavit Lounge where Executive Chef Mihai Olteanu demonstrated how to make an apple strudel. I didn’t video the demonstration but here’s a representative sample. Maybe you can pick up a few strudel tips:

We each got a piece of strudel that had been cooked previously, along with a generous dollop of whipped cream. Yummy! Mihai knows his stuff. The food was tasty for every meal and there were plenty of options, including vegetarian options. The kitchen and wait staff showed their creativity at dinner with an Austrian-themed dinner.

As we cruised through the afternoon and into the evening we had to go through several locks as the river changed elevation. The locks were large to accommodate freight-laden barges. Two Viking cruise ships could go through one at the same time.

We cruised that afternoon, evening and through the night. When we woke up we were docked in Linz, Austria.

Vienna - April 2, 2022

We have a recurrent theme on the cruise: sail, dock, tour; then wash, rinse, repeat. And do it under gray skies with cold temperatures and frigid winds. Not that I’m complaining. We can’t blame Viking for the weather.

Who hasn’t heard of Vienna, the great cultural city where you can while away hours in a historical coffee shop in the company of artists, musicians and maybe a Bohemian or two? We loaded the bus for our morning bus/walk panoramic tour. I took an umbrella because rain was in the forecast. Viking supplied golf-type bright red umbrellas that came in handy.

Viking’s preference for walking tours is to visit the “Old Town” areas. I’m in complete accord with that because the sights are better. Historical palaces and squares, statues, narrow cobblestone streets—all good. But when the weather is raw the natural human tendency is to move along at a brisk pace so that you can get out of the elements and get warm again.

The guides have been really good. During the tours they hold up a sign with a red circle and your group number so you don’t go astray. All while keeping up a monologue over the Quietvox audio receiver that gets matched up with a tag worn by the guide. You then put an earpiece in your left ear and voila! You hear the narration easily over street noise while keeping an ear open for vehicles coming along the cobblestone streets.

Here’s my Google Photo album of Vienna. The large church is St. Stephen’s. Its tall steeple is a good landmark while wandering around the shopping district looking for souvenirs on our free time once the tour is over. The guide was good in telling us where to meet her and at what time so we could navigate the twisty streets back to the ship.

See if you can identify the photo of the cathedral’s interior where I’ve managed to make a beautifully designed and crafted domed arch look like an ornate football. Fun!

Covid-19

The good news is that neither Dail nor I have it as of yesterday’s test results. Neither does anyone else on the ship. The bad news is that the coronavirus came aboard as an uninvited guest. Four passengers who tested positive on Thursday were removed from the ship to a hotel in Vienna.

This was after they adamantly refused to exit by walking the plank.

It’s not a joking matter, of course. I’ve been very impressed by Viking’s Covid protocols that keep us safe. When we came aboard at 3:00 pm on March 30 as soon as we checked in we went to our stateroom and gave saliva samples. Not to put too fine a point on it we spit carefully into a small plastic test tube then screwed on a tight-fitting blue cap. This is our morning routine when we wake. Here’s what the sample kit looks like. Once completed, we drop it in a slot in the dark, highly-polished wood reception desk.

Shipboard protocol is to wear a mask when moving around the ship, only removing it when seated to eat or drink. Almost everyone on board complies willingly. Pre-cruise we all had to submit proof of vaccination through an app called EZFly. We carry copies of our CDC vax card with us at all times when we are ashore.

All passengers and crew observe social distancing when aboard, too. The only place we’ve had to show our credentials was at the historic coffee shop Cafe Sacher in Vienna, Austria.

We had to wait in Queue on the sidewalk outside the cafe. The Two women on the other side of the glass have gained entrance to the sanctum sanctorum and are waiting for the hostess to check their vax credentials before being seated. Of course, it was snowing and windy on the streets of Vienna/Wien that afternoon.

So there you have it—a small detour from descriptions of the cities we’ve visited. We docked at Linz, Austria around 3 am this morning (Monday, April 4). I’m behind on my posts but my excuse is varying internet speeds. It’s not possible to work online when the WiFi is poky.

Auf wiedersehen!

Brrrrr-atislava

It was a 17-hour cruise from Budapest to Bratislava. We left at 8:30 pm Thursday night and arrived in the capitol of Slovakia at 1 pm Friday. The weather was overcast and the winds were stiff. Temperature at mid-day was 40 degrees Fahrenheit. After lunch we embarked on the “Panoramic Bratislava” excursion. The tour was similar in modality: luxury coach to take us through one of the city’s nicest neighborhoods up to Bratislava Castle. Then walk around with a guide talking into our left ears describing what we’re seeing and giving interesting historical observations.

Food on board is excellent and meals are served punctually according a schedule, published daily online in our onboard Viking app and delivered to our stateroom in a hard copy every night giving us the scoop on the next day’s activities. Service is first class all the way.

Back at the Castle… it perches above the city with commanding views of the Danube and 3 countries. Since it’s high in the air with no trees around there was nothing to protect us from the cold breezes except our clothing and gloves. We were glad to get back on the bus after a bio-break at the free WC in one of the basements.

Next stop was Old Town—narrow streets, beautifully restored houses, churches, and restaurants. We were on foot again but the buildings served as windbreaks and we were pleased to be out of the wind. We made a visit to a very well-stocked souvenir shop after the guide turned us loose with directions for the short walk back to the ship. I asked her for a place to buy a heavier-duty watch cap (aka sock cap in Minnesota) and she obligingly gave us directions to a shopping mall not far from the Ingvi.

Here are the photos I managed to snap with my frigid fingers. I had a pair of heavy-duty fingerless gloves but they only slightly mitigated the cold and wind .

We returned to the ship around 5, then had an excellent dinner. Both of us were worn out from our walk and from battling the elements so we turned in early. We embarked for Vienna at 11 pm. Looking forward to the sights, the coffee house and some apple strudel!

Panic in Budapest

The planned itinerary for this morning was an excursion called Panoramic Budapest. We were told to show up this morning at 8:30 after breakfast to meet our guide. It turned out to be that the small crew of passengers aboard the Ingvi needed three full size motor coaches to divide up into three relatively small groups of avid tourists.

We had a lot of territory to cover and it was raining, not pouring but a steady drizzle. So checking out the sites of Budapest from a dry and comfortable deluxe motor coach was just fine with me. The first part of the tour was fighting rush hour traffic on the Pest side of the Danube to see various buildings and small squares. We learned about the history of Hungary and how it was founded by people who were led from Asia by seven historic heroes. Coincidentally, there are seven bridges across the Danube. Our ship was docked by the Green bridge and we used the White bridge to cross over into the older part of Budapest which used to simply be called Buda. Geographically, Pest is west of the river and Buda is east.

We found rush-hour traffic in Pest because the main downtown of Budapest is on the east bank. In Buda our bus rapidly started to ascend toward the Prague Castle. Our destination was the church of St. Matthias. We disembarked a couple of blocks away, learned that in order to use the bathroom we had to have either Hungarian, forints or Euros. At this point we had neither. But it wasn't a problem since we had just left on the bus tour after breakfast.

All of us were given a device for hearing the guide’s narration easily when we were out of the bus walking around. The bus dropped us off and we walked along a downtown street where the guide pointed out an ATM. I immediately got a 200 euros from the machine since the euro is the currency accepted in most of the countries we will visit.

We continue to the church of Saint Matthias. The guide purchased tickets for everyone in the group and then we entered the sanctuary and sat in a designated set of pews to listen to his explanation of different points regarding the church. Here are a few shots of the church and other high points of the tour.

Wifi is going to be sporadic now that we are underway. We set sail from Budapest last night (Thursday, March 31). So posting lots of pictures will be problematic. Here is one picture from the required safety drill Wednesday evening before dinner.

Journey to Budapest

Our trip started yesterday at 4:15 when we left Raleigh en route to Charlotte. Then we boarded a Boeing 777 for an overnight trip to London. We were traveling high on the hog in premium economy with American airlines and that meant meant larger seats and more legroom. Everything was great until we tried to sleep and then the plane kept hitting pockets of turbulence.

No worries though. We arrived safe and sound, made our connection to Budapest, and arrived here at 1:00 p.m. Budapest time which is 6 hours faster than Eastern daylight Time.

A short van ride provided by Viking Cruise lines got us to the Danube and our ship.

Danube Waltz River Cruise

I started this post in January of 2020. Then along came Covid and the cruise was cancelled two years in a row. Now we are re-booked and flying out of Raleigh March 29 for the Viking “Danube Waltz” River Cruise.

Peace Corps Connect 2018

Traditionally, the North Carolina Peace Corps Association (NCPCA) sends a delegate to the annual confab of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), called Peace Corps Connect. We are an affiliate group of the NPCA. NCPCA pays a modest stipend to cover the cost of the conference. Other travel expenses are handled by the delegate who volunteers to attend. This year it was yours truly, the President of NCPCA

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This year's conference was held at the Shawnee Inn Thursday, August 23 to Saturday, August 25, 2018 at the beautiful Shawnee Inn on the banks of the Delaware River in the Pocono Mountains of northern Pennsylvania.

The front entrance of the Inn. Most used the side entrance across from the parking lot.

Thursday - Registration & Reception

I drove up on Monday and stayed 3 nights with a volunteer I knew in Kenya and her husband. Thursday AM I left and headed north from Coatesville, PA to Nazareth, since 1833 the home of the C.F. Martin guitar factory. I took a guided tour that was fascinating. The company employs 500 people on shifts. Robots and lasers do the rough work of cutting out shapes then the rest is done by hand as it's been done for decades.

Just to be clear, this was not part of PC Connect!

At the Shawnee Inn...

I registered when I arrived about 1:45 and picked up my conference program.

I had scheduled a meeting with Ella Dowell (Jordan 2011-15), Community Technology Systems Coordinator for the National Peace Corps Association, for 2:00 PM. The purpose of the meeting was to get an update on SilkStart and to discuss pricing for NCPCA should we choose to change our status from free with limited benefits to "Affiliate Pro" with considerable benefits. It was a productive meeting.

At 3 I drove back to East Stroudsburg to my AirBnB lodging. It was more in line with a retiree's budget than rooms at The Inn.

This bungalow was beautifully renovated and was in a quiet neighborhood in East Stroudsburg.

At 5:30 I drove back to the conference site where where there was a reception. We enjoyed generous hors d'oeuvres and an open beer and wine bar sponsored by Water Charity.  NCPCA gave $1,000 to one of their projects in The Gambia organized by a Chapel Hill Peace Corps volunteer .

I re-connected with a pair of RPCVs from the First Coast RPCV group in Florida, David and Bernadette Miron. They've both been super active in the group and David transitioned their old Google website to the SilkStart platform!

The entertainment for the evening was supposed to be Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame) but he called in sick. The substitute entertainment was a decent 3-piece bluegrass band. But it had been a long day for me just getting to the conference so I headed back to my lodging and called it a night.

The reception was held in a large pavilion on the banks of the Delaware River, beautifully reflecting the blue sky over the Pocono Mountains.

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Friday, September 24 - The Conference Begins...

The conference started with a plenary session from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The annual General Membership Meeting was first up. The main order of business was to approve the minutes from last year's meeting. Done.
    We heard a Treasurer's Report that was optimistic in terms of this fiscal year revenues and expenses. There's still a carryover deficit that's being slowly whittled down.
    NPCA president Glenn Blumhorst gave a brief update on the activities of NPCA and told the group besides continuing to reduce an operating deficit they are working on finding new office space in Washington, DC. 

Glenn Blumhorst, President & CEO of                                          NPCA

    Charlie Dent, (R-PA) was introduced and addressed his experience in the U.S. House from 2005-2018. The RPCV who invited him lauded him as a great friend of Peace Corps through the years. Unfortunately he's retiring. Charlie told the gathering the best way to lobby members of Congress is to see them (or their staff) in person. He also related how he had enjoyed visiting PCVs in the field on trips he made abroad.

   Mandy Manning, an RPCV and the 2018 National Teacher of the Year, gave a brief and inspiring talk relating how her time in PC showed her she was meant to be a teacher. She stayed around for the entire conference and was an active participant in a number of breakout sessions.

    Under Women of Peace Corps Legacy, Roma Guy and Diana Jones received the Deborah Harding Women of Achievement Award from Deborah Harding and made brief remarks. Their story was featured in a series on Amazon that's available for purchase chronicling the U.S. gay civil rights movement, "When We Rise".
    
    Up next was the presentation of the Harris Wofford Global Citizen award to Kul Chandra Gautam. He grew up in a country served by the Peace Corps and was influenced greatly by his contacts with a PCV. Among his many accomplishments he served as Assistant Secretary General to the United Nations.
    The plenary ended at 11:30 and we had until 1:00 to meet the vendors at an Exhibitor Showcase.

I found the following vendors to be the most interesting and relevant to NCPCA:
        Peace Corps Response
            
        Museum of the Peace Corps Experience
            (a Silkstart community platform website)
        RPCVs for Environmental Action; currently operating as a Google group; email kateschachter@yahoo.com if you'd like to be added to the group.
        RPCVs of Wisconsin-Madison (We buy our PC calendars from them.)
             (a Silkstart community platform website)
        RTI International (Meghan Meekins!) - recruiting for employees
            
        RESULTS (the power to end poverty) - Ken Patterson, Director of Global Grassroots Advocacy, was working a table at PC Connect. He works out of Asheville and can easily conduct training for us on advocacy here in the Triangle if we have members who are interested at limited or no cost.
            
        Peace Corps Community for Refugees - We already have a few volunteers from our group who are part of this affiliate group: Eileen Hancox, Ruth Sappie, Peggy Schaeffer, and Amy Blackwell.
             (a Silkstart community platform website)

   We had a plated keynote lunch at 1:00 pm. The ballroom chairs were so uncomfortable that I don't remember who the speaker was.
    From 2 to 5 we had "Community Content Workshops". I attended a positive psychology workshop on "The Power of Story" as a source of well-being and one on "Media Training for Global Advocacy".
    There was another reception and dinner for Kul Chandra Gautam by the river. I skipped both. There's only so much sitting, meeting, and socializing one can tolerate in a day!

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Saturday, August 25, 2018

9 am - Community Content workshop - Tailoring your PC story to different audiences

    This was a participatory workshop where we broke into teams. First we brainstormed on sheets of poster paper and listed what we thought would be appropriate story-telling techniques for different age groups. Each team was then given a country, artifacts from the country, a target audience age group, a PCV scenario, and background materials on the country. The assignment--develop a 3-minute "story" using the persona of the PCV and deliver the story to the group. I was elected to role-play the part of the RPCV from Moldova.

Lunch at The Arlington Diner (Breakfast & Dinner, too!)

    What I had for breakfast at the Arlington Diner near my AirBnB lodging (see below) made me want to return there for lunch. There was no lunch scheduled so I skipped a plenary session where the Peace Corps Director presented the Ruppe award to the Cincinnati RPCV group. I didn't know she would be in and out so quickly and would not attend the afternoon session.

A great neighborhood restaurant. Breakfast was so good I went back for lunch and dinner!

Meanwhile, Back at the Inn...
    
12:30 - 1 PM - More visits with the Exhibitors

1-5 pm - Affiliate Group Network Annual Meeting   The Affiliate Group Network meeting was moderated by the outgoing Affiliate Group leader from the Board. There was no college credit for the meeting so I wasn't taking notes and her name escapes me. She did a fine job moving the meeting along through 4 painful hours of sitting in the main ballroom torture seats.
    First order of business was to hear staff reports. Anne Baker, NPCA Vice President, made general remarks, then Ella Dowell gave a presentation on SilkStart to the group. Following those presentations we broke up into working groups where we had short presentations from the folks who'd been doing the Community Content Workshops.
    Topics included PC Response, Oral History Project, Advocacy, and brainstorming ideas for what NPCA can do for the affiliate groups and, taking NPCA's perspective, what things does the organization have a right to expect from the affiliates. The old "walk a mile in their shoes" concept. Many interesting ideas emerged and we exchanged lots of good information.

As the conference wound down there was a rumor of a ukulele jam. That didn't materialize so I adjourned to the adjacent Shawnee Craft Brewery to fortify myself for returning to my lodging to pack up my stuff for the 10-hour drive back to Cary on Sunday!

A Mosaic IPA from the adjacent Shawnee Craft Brewery. Very good!

Thanks to the Steering Committee of the North Carolina Peace Corps Association  for making it possible for me to go to Peace Corps Connect 2018!