Trip Summary
Set sail on an unforgettable 14-night river cruise through the cultural and scenic heart of Europe. Unpack once aboard your exclusively chartered, first-class river ship and step ashore in five captivating countries—Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. Sail the storied Rhine, Main and Danube rivers through the breathtaking Upper Middle Rhine and Wachau valleys and witness the legendary Loreley Rock. Encounter 10 UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the soaring Kölner Dom and stroll through enchanting medieval towns and cities, including Passau, Regensburg, Miltenberg and Cologne. Marvel at the baroque Melk Abbey, Regensburg’s Thurn und Taxis royal residence and St. Stephen’s Cathedral’s 18,000-pipe organ. Tailor your journey with a choice of thoughtfully designed, included excursions in Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Dürnstein, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Würzburg, Koblenz and Amsterdam – including walking and cycling tours, wine tastings and palace visits. Relish magical moments like a Viennese waltz performance, a cruise on Amsterdam’s iconic canals and an evening Budapest cruise. This program features expert lecturers and local guides, all meals, including wine and beer at lunch and dinner and no single supplement!
Event Itinerary
Day 1: Depart gateway city
Day 2: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Day 3: Amsterdam
Day 4: Cologne, Germany
Day 5: Koblenz
Day 6: Miltenberg
Day 7: Würzburg
Day 8: Bamberg
Day 9: Nuremberg
Day 10: Regensburg
Day 11: Passau
Day 12: Melk, Austria | Dürnstein
Day 13: Vienna
Day 14: Bratislava, Slovakia
Day 15: Budapest, Hungary
Day 16: Depart for gateway city
Meet Your Faculty Expert
Irene Kacandes
Educated at Harvard University, Aristotle University (Thessaloniki) and the Freie Universität (Berlin), Irene Kacandes is The Dartmouth Professor of German Studies and Comparative Literature, Emerita. She taught in the fields of German Studies, Comparative Literature, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Jewish Studies. Author or editor of nine books, her most recent publications include Let’s Talk About Death (2015) and Eastern Europe Unmapped (2017). Her reflection on her paternal family’s fate in Occupied Greece, Daddy’s War (2009, 2012), proposed a new genre, the paramemoir, for the study of personal material. Recently released is the edited volume On Being Adjacent to Historical Violence (2022). Kacandes has held a number of top positions in international professional organizations, including the presidency of the German Studies Association and of the International Society for the Study of Narrative. She runs a book series on “Interdisciplinary German Cultural Studies” at De Gruyter Brill Publishers in Berlin, Germany.
Her newest venture is a conversation series with top scholars for the general public on hot button issues. Sponsored by 1014: Space for Ideas, New York, New York, and the De Gruyter Foundation of Berlin, Germany, “Humanities for Humans,” launched in October 2022 with the topic “Racism and Fascism: A Love Story.” She has edited a forthcoming book with essays by some of the scholars who spoke in the series.
Kacandes also conceived and curates “Doing Something,” a Facebook group with aims to encourage reports about the positive steps ordinary human beings are taking to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.
She lived in Lebanon, NH for thirty years, just recently moving back to her hometown of White Plains, NY. She and her husband also spend time in his hometown of La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland. They both hold dual citizenship, Swiss and American. Her hobbies include tennis, swimming, gardening, and cooking.