A Few “Lesser Known and Obscure” Facts I Learned While "River Cruising" Budapest to Amsterdam (+England)

Bottom line: Though the best laid plans often go astray, the travel remains a worthwhile learning adventure.

Panoramic view from the Fisherman's

Bastion in Buda looking towards

Pest at nightfall. (Note the well-lit

Hungarian Parliament building across

the Danube.)

Janet, my wife, and I still enjoyed our recent trip to Europe, including England, primarily through central Europe despite Danube flood levels. Janet and I spent time in Budapest before we boarded our river cruise ship. The itinerary called for a river cruise up the Danube from Budapest on the Viking Bragi, transition to and sail along the Main (pronounced Mine), then the Rhine to Amsterdam. However, heavy rain in the upper Danube region prevented cruising upstream beyond Bratislava, where our ship moored alongside eight other river cruise ships in safe anchorage. From that stationary point, we were bused to cities on the itinerary upstream along the Danube, spent two nights in Bad Griesbach at the Hotel Maximilian, then transitioned to a sister ship, Viking Skadi, for the downstream leg along the Main and Rhine rivers. Despite the Danube's condition, we visited every city on the itinerary! After spending two additional days in Amsterdam, we flew to England, where we drove to Highley to visit a friend.

1) Budapest (Hungary) is two cities. Buda meaning water (for the hot springs) and Pest, pronounced Pesht, meaning flat.

2) Learning Hungarian for an English speaker proves quite difficult, we were told. The language has forty-four letters with 14 vowels. Just pronouncing Hungarian names provided ample challenge for me.

3) As usual I enjoyed viewing the fine art in the museums, pinching myself at times, though growing overwhelmed by the sheer volume of art work. Talk about the immensity and complexity of history!

"The Great London Fire" (1666)

by Lieve Pietersz Verschuier in

Budapest's Museum of Fine Arts!

3) My memory of Bratislava (Slovakia) is over-shadowed by our mooring situation, crossing and re-crossing eight river cruise ships, and the bus drives in and out of the cargo facility past shipping containers.

Disembarking the Bragi for a bus ride.

(Thankfully, the water level here never

got higher and had disappeared when

we returned later that day.)

4) We attended a classic music concert in Vienna (Austria). What could be more apropos? Johann Strauss I (the Elder), a native Viennese had three sons. He and his sons wrote music and conducted! One grandson, Johann Strauss III, also became a famous musician. Together, they wrote over one-thousand pieces. (No photos allowed of the performance.)

5) In Melk (Austria), we toured the abbey. Originally a royal palace, it was presented to Benedictine monks in the 11th century. Ninety pounds of gold has been used on the church statuary, etc. We didn't get inside the church, however.

Melk Abbey church entrance.

5) We discovered Passau (Germany) flooding has been frequent, at least on a historical scale.

Passau flood levels marks. (And this

building stands some feet, maybe ten,

above the current Danube River level!)

6) We witnessed the art work of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Passau. Everywhere I looked, I saw exquisite craftsmanship as evidenced by extravagant artwork.

St. Stephen's Cathedral ceiling.

7) Regensburg (Switzerland) hosts the oldest sausage kitchen (likely in the world), it's building erected in 1135 CE.

Regensburg's Historische

Wurstkuche.

8) Nuremberg (Germany), aka Nurnberg, known for the post WWII Nazis war crime trials, sports Kaiserburg Castle, dating to the Middle Ages.

Kaiser Castle visitor's ramp,

which I suspect didn't exist

in the Middle Ages.

9) Here's the Kaiser Castle entrance during the Middle Ages. Imagine storming that door with you're back exposed to arrows!

Kaiserburg entrance during

the Middle Ages.

10) Bamberg (Germany) is the home of rauchbier (smoked beer), made by drying malt over an open flame in a smoke kiln, which imparts a smoky character to the malt. (A more distinctive flavor than that of Guinness in comparison.)

I savor a rauchbier

with pretzel. (Yum!)

11) One of the more extravagant structures I've visited is the Wurzburg (Germany) Bishop's Residence, a baroque palace, built around 1730 CE. Opulent would be an understatement. Built for ONE person, the bishop at that time, to impress people of his power.

Ceiling of the "Grand Staircase

Entrance." (Impressed? I was.

Note the corner plaster statuary

which blends into the fresco.)

The Mirror Cabinet ceiling.

Panorama of "The Mirror Cabinet"

at floor level. (Cabinet? Somebody's

definition has changed!)

12) Occasionally, a builder/owner cheats a little to gain floor space, though I suppose it was legal to do! Such was this case in Wertheim (Germany).

A house in Wertheim, Germany.

13) We sailed past twenty-one castles along the middle Rhine, according to a map I'd received.

Mouse Tower, built on an island as a

shipping signal station. (Legend says

it's name derives from mice eating a

bishop imprisoned there.)

14) We toured the Marksburg Castle in Kolblenz (Germany). The dining room door opens to a privy and locks from the dining room side only. Left open during privy use, the door was closed and locked at night to prevent intruders entering through the hole.

The castle's dining room

with attached privy.

15) Cologne (Germany), Koln in German, was all but destroyed by bombing during WWII. The cathedral remained mostly untouched, however.

Cologne Cathedral. (Note the

dark coloration, which can't be

cleaned as limestone is too soft.)

16) About ninety-five per cent of the windmills in Kinderdijk (Netherlands) pump water, don't grind grain. Netherlands has an extensive water management/control system.

Kinderdijk Windmills. (Note:

they're idle at the moment.)

17) Families live in the windmills in order to run and maintain them, much like lighthouse operators.

Windmill multi-purpose living room.

18) Everyone slept in a sitting position to prevent Satan mistaking them to be dead and take them.

Windmill bedchamber. (Note: there's

little opportunity for an adult to

stretch out prone to sleep.)

19) An early form of industrial footwear, wooden clogs were used to prevent injury to the feet while operating the windmill. Wood was easy to carve, offered good protection from crushing injuries, and, if the clogs wore out, they could be burned as fuel for heat!

20) Amsterdam (Netherlands) is twenty-one feet below sea level! Or so we were told. Canals crisscross the city, much like Venice (Italy). A local told us, "If you like rain, don't visit Amsterdam."

An Amsterdam canal on a rainy day.

21) While in Amsterdam, Janet and I toured the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum. Once more, I felt overwhelmed at the volume of artwork, the history and talent, far too much to absorb and appreciate in a short time. (Note: no photos allowed in the Anne Frank House.)

Vermeer's "The Milkmaid."

Van Gogh's "Blue Lillies."

22) To take fuller advantage of our time in Europe, we flew to London (England), then drove to Highley to visit a friend, David. The three of us visited The Engine House Museum and Education Center in Highley. (Eat your heart out, Sheldon Cooper!)

Janet and David pose next to one

of many locomotives in residence.

23) Janet and I couldn't pass up a London museum visit, of course.

Monet's "The Thames below

Westminster"at the National Gallery.

Thus, endth our trip!

Walk in beauty, fellow earthling.

Another One of My Babies (Memoirs) is Born

Bottom line: Publishing a book is as difficult as writing one ... marketing it even worse.

I'm holding the original paperback proof

copy (galley) of my second published

memoir "Barbwire, Brothels and Bombs

in the Night: Surviving Vietnam".

My second published memoir, you ask? Yes, and since memories are only "a slice of life,"an author can have more than one!

As was, and still is, true of my first book, there is a load of marketing to be done in order to provide my book the best opportunity to thrive. If you considered writing a book to be one-third of the work, publishing it would be one-third of the work and marketing would be two-thirds of the work! Competition for attention and reader's time are the big hurdles. According to the website Zippia.com, four million books were published in 2022 alone.

My memoirs official launch celebration will occur Thursday, June 8 at 4PM PT via Zoom. Though free, registration is required to attend. You can do that quickly and easily here: https://tinyurl.com/bdd6w6bk.

Rachel S. Thurston, branding coach and marketing consultant (among a number of other talents) at State of Sparkle will interview me, and I'll read excerpts. A Q&A will follow.

As was also true regarding my first book, I'm deeply touched by the wonderful book blurbs I received. Here's an excerpt from Elizabeth Ridley, author, Searching for Celia: "... marks an important and incisive addition to the literature and legacy of the war in Vietnam. In his searing (but ultimately inspiring) memoir, Hogan, who was drafted at age 20, mines his own experience as an Intelligence Analyst to shine a bright light on the dark currents of toxic masculinity, generational trauma, addiction and PTSD that combined to make the conflict in Vietnam America’s most unpopular war, a war from which many never came home, and many more have yet to recover."  

Your support in spreading the news about my book, and any other efforts to increase public awareness, would be greatly appreciated.

Walk in beauty.

(Photo Credit: Paul McCaffrey)

And One of My Babies is Born

Bottom line: Publishing a book is as difficult as writing one . . . marketing it is even worse.

My first published memoir

"Once Upon a Kentucky Farm:

Hope and Healing from Family

Abuse, Alcoholism and Dysfunction."

First published memoir, you ask? Yes, I have one more, maybe two more, but they will come later, fingers crossed.

Right now, most of my efforts are focused on "weening my first full-length literary offspring," which may take a good six months. By that I mean, there is a load of marketing to be done in order to provide my book the best opportunity to thrive. To say that writing, publishing and marketing my literary baby has been a personal challenge would be an understatement. As a writer, I'm busy as ever since my retirement as a therapist.

It took me about five years to complete writing this book, which served to some extent as a cathartic healing process along my recovery journey, and with help of my late Uncle James along the way, who provided some corrections of details.

Then came the professional editing, by that I mean paying a pro to "work it over." I consider that a worthwhile process, as my editor for this manuscript, Dale Griffiths Stamos, suggested I alternate the chapters of home and farm, which heightened the differences of intensity of those two environments.

Next came the on-going, and never ending, process of growing a social media platform, a valuable leg of current day marketing. I appreciated Rachel S. Thurston's assistance in guiding me through my website development, which continues regarding my book launch.

Once I'd completed my website, I saw no reason to continue procrastinating on publication, and contracted with Authority Publishing to do the "dirty work" required to get my manuscript into book form. I'd grown leery of the agent acquisition process, and concluded time's a-wastin'. It has seemed a lengthy process, though only about five months for Chela, my coordinator at Authority Publishing, with some work on my part, to get all the little ducklings in a row. Now in hindsight, however, it feels the process has zipped by. But then, maybe my experience with COVID skewed my perspective!

I have to share how deeply touched I've been by the wonderful book blurbs I received. Those blurbs are included in the book, but I'll share a portion of one written by award-winning author of A Few Minor Adjustments, Cherie Kephart: “Deeply personal and written with heart . . . shines a light on the many levels of trauma . . . radiates a deep understanding of the importance of moving beyond our painful circumstances. . . .”

I have to say I've learned a lot in shepherding my manuscript to publication, though I'm sure I'll learn much more as I tackle new and different ways to "inform the world about my literary baby."

BTW, as one of my "connections," you're assistance is requested, such as, reading my book, then writing a good review on my Amazon Book page, writing and posting on social media, and passing "the word" to your family and friends. Whatever you can do will be greatly appreciated.

Walk in beauty.