{"id":7338,"date":"2015-01-10T12:51:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-10T19:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/?p=7338"},"modified":"2015-03-03T07:44:20","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T14:44:20","slug":"christmas-cruising-with-viking-river-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/2015\/01\/christmas-cruising-with-viking-river-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Cruising with Viking River in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Do something different for your next Christmas; experience the charming European Christmas markets with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VikingRiver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Viking River Cruises<\/strong><\/a>. You will enjoy history, food, scenery, architecture and attentive service and your renewed Christmas spirit will flourish.<\/p>\n<p>Stroll the historic <a href=\"http:\/\/blondebrunettetravel.com\/vikingrivercruisesnuremberg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Nuremberg<\/strong><\/a> Christmas market and others at each stop along the way. Delight in the smaller gem-like German cities along the Danube in the Wachau Valley. Experience the majesty of Melk Abbey and the aristocratic feel of Vienna in Austria. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ppz2WY1E8Jw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>And finally, glide into sparkling, renewed Budapest<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7339\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7339\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7339 size-full colorbox-7338 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope.jpeg\" alt=\"ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope-300x225.jpeg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 600px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 600\/450;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7339 size-full colorbox-7338\" src=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope.jpeg\" alt=\"ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEurope-300x225.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7339\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Kay Dougherty @BlBrTravel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I confess to being a winter wimp. But the <a href=\"http:\/\/blondebrunettetravel.com\/viking-river-cruise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Christmas markets<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0warmed me with the welcoming, cheerful spirit of the visitors and locals alike (and maybe the mulled wine helped a bit). I actually found myself hoping for a (brief) dusting of snow just to make it all even more picturesque.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7342 colorbox-7338 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine.jpeg\" alt=\"ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine\" width=\"450\" height=\"713\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine-189x300.jpeg 189w, https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine-442x700.jpeg 442w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 450px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 450\/713;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7342 colorbox-7338\" src=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine.jpeg\" alt=\"ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine\" width=\"450\" height=\"713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine-189x300.jpeg 189w, https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/ChristmasCruisingwithVikingRiverInEuropeMulledWine-442x700.jpeg 442w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Oh, those mulled wines? I\u2019ll share a secret with you and you need to trust me on this: add an extra shot of amaretto. I guarantee you\u2019ll be glad you did or your amaretto back.<\/p>\n<p>If mulled wine isn\u2019t your thing you can conduct your own taste test of eggnogs. There\u2019s no end of cherished recipes all claiming superiority over the other.<\/p>\n<p>And then there\u2019s the bratwurst. What can I say? I ate four sandwiches within an hour. You know how they say &#8220;you can&#8217;t eat just one&#8221;? Despite the hazard to my waistline it was well worth it. And everyone knows calories generate heat so it was also part of my strategy for staying warm and embracing the experience.<\/p>\n<p>This past month, I shared my treasured moments across many social channels through my photos.\u00a0This video is my virtual recap of my excursions through Christmas markets, along the Danube and making new friends on a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vikingcruises.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Viking River<\/strong> <\/a>Cruise.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been back in D.C. for a month and I miss Europe already. \u00a0I\u2019m looking forward to where my path will take me in 2015, as more adventures surely await. Wishing you all the very best in your explorations this coming year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do something different for your next Christmas; experience the charming European Christmas markets with Viking River Cruises. You will enjoy history, food, scenery, architecture and attentive service and your renewed&#8230;<span class=\"posted-on\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Posted on<\/span>  <a href=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/2015\/01\/christmas-cruising-with-viking-river-in-europe\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2015-01-10T12:51:21-07:00\">January 10, 2015<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2015-03-03T07:44:20-07:00\">March 3, 2015<\/time><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[847,844,850,851,879,849],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Christmas Cruising with Viking River in Europe - Ann-Tran<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ann-tran.com\/2015\/01\/christmas-cruising-with-viking-river-in-europe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas Cruising with Viking River in Europe - Ann-Tran\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do something different for your next Christmas; experience the charming European Christmas markets with Viking River Cruises. 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