Just Around the River Bend: Flying Longhorns Tour Germany

By Brittany Lamas in Travel on November 12, 2013 at 10:09 am | No Comments

You can take a Longhorn out of Texas, but you can’t take the burnt orange-wearing, Hook ’em Horns-raising, Texas Fight-cheering out of a Longhorn.

In October, a group of 31 Flying Longhorns set sail for an eight-day riverboat trip through Germany along the Mosel, Rhine, and Main rivers. But On Saturday, Oct. 12, the group’s collective mind was back in Texas as they huddled together around one traveler’s smartphone to get live updates on the Texas-OU game.

“We all wanted to watch it so bad, but there was really no way given our location,” says Texas Exes staff member Kristy Kimball, BA  ’06, Life Member. “Every time her phone would go off we would sort of hold our breath and cheer,” Kimball remembers, “and at the end when we found out UT won, it was great.” After the final score was announced, the travelers burst out singing “The Eyes of Texas” in the ship’s dining room.

The trip began in Frankfurt, where the travelers boarded the M.S. Amadeus Diamond, the state-of-the-art riverboat they traveled on to nine German cities using the country’s major waterways. Excursions included walking though the old-world towns and visiting castles, fortresses, and wineries.

“It was more of the history [of the wineries], and a lot of scenic walking tours over the medieval cobble stone streets,” says Kimball. “It was very rural and there were lots of fall colors throughout.”

On board, the Longhorn group mixed with other university alumni groups, including ones from Notre Dame, Berkeley, OU, and A&M. On Sunday, all the groups joined together for German brunch, called Frühschoppen, and enjoyed pretzels, bratwurst, and polka music.

“I believe it’s after their church service they get together for this brunch of sorts,” Kimball says of the Bavarian tradition. “It definitely felt like we were in Germany and it was very festive and fun.”

Photo by Kristy Kimball

Tags: flying longhorns, germany, travel