THE VIKING TIR: From Germany to Austria

 The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4% on Friday, and broke its all-time high, rising 189 to 44,911.  The S&P 500 also got to a record high, increasing 0.6%.

Donald Trump is also on a roll.  Amazon has a wide assortment.

I go to the Orient a lot, and the dollar to yen exchange rate the past year has been great.  Up to 160 yen/dollar.  Today, still a good 150 yen to the U.S. $.

However, I'm in in Europe, and the $ to Euro rate is now close to parity. 

Well, not quite today, for you need to pay $1.05 to the Euro today.  But equality occurred in 2022 after a period of 20 years, and remains in this range.  So both Europe and Japan are good places to visit these days to get value for your dollar if you live in the USA.  Unfortunately, this good fortune does not work the other way around for those in Japan and Europe,

Okay, the Viking Tir was repaired, I think, and we are on our way to Melk, Austria.  A few photos.  Last night we had a goodbye German supper.

Appetizers.

My dinner.

Desserts.

That black piece is a Sachertorte.

Evening ended with Schnapps, which refers to any kind of strong, dry spirit.  Typically, they include fruit brandies, herbal liquers and so on.  Served in a tiny glass, you consume it all in one quick slug, and yell anything from prost to whatever.

After dinner, we found out that the company decided to open up its bar because of the accident.  Drinks that cost $18/half shot were now free.  We were entertained by our Program Director Steve, who we think might well be the most valuable staff player here on the Viking Tir, but also on any cruise we've so far had.  He was a former professional singer.

We did not buy a drinks package because wine and beer comes free with lunch and dinner.  The alcoholic drinks however, are very expensive.  Just a typical HALF jigger of scotch can cost you up to $17.  Here are two price lists.  These are half a jigger prices, and we were served full jiggers and doubles.

The staff was very generous.

At one point, we were accumulating drinks.

I finally settled on Glenmorangie, Highland Park and Macallan Whiskies, plus a Wachau Cognac.  What you see below would have cost me at least $100.  Triple the eventual cost, as this went on for a long time.  All free because we at this point were still on a stuck ship, with the prospect of spending the rest of the cruise being taken by buses to hotels,

Walked 766 steps two days ago and 340 steps today.

Lunch today was black bean soup, salad and spaghetti putanesca.

There is a story to the above.  Puttana in Italian means whore.  Rumor has it that this sauce, Puttanesca, ws created by prostitutes as a quick meal in between tricks.  I wrote about this 5 years ago.

Tomorrow, a tour of Melk Abbey and a hopeful arrival in Vienna, Austria.  At this point, not a sure thing.

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