But first, an assessment by the  New York Times  this morning of what just happened in Germany: Germany’s next chancellor is likely to be Friedrich Merz, a former corporate lawyer who has promised to crack down on migration, cut taxes and regulation and adopt a hawkish policy toward Russia. Merz leads a center-right alliance  (the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, or CDU)  that finished first in yesterday’s election, with 29 percent of the vote. A far-right party, Alternative for Germany ( the party that Elon Musk supported) , that promises even tougher immigration policies — but is friendly toward Russia — finished second, with 21 percent of the vote.   The center-left Social Democrats, who led the government for the past four years, tumbled to third place, with 16 percent of the vote. It was their worst showing in a national election since at least 1890. The percentage of the current population born in another country is now 20%, which was only 12.5%...

  The  Dow Jones Industrial Averag e 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. $. I'm 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..  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 ...

  Life continues on the Viking Tir.  Going through locks at lunch Just as we got up, my Blue Bar Pigeon said hi. We docked in Wurtberg, and this was the view from our veranda. Haven't found the name of these buildings, but the one below through the day. We are in Bamberg. Had a steak dinner. This was DJ disco night, but I was so exhausted, went to bed early.  Lunch in Bamberg. I was planning to take nap after lunch, so had two wines and beer.  Appetizers. Can you believe lunch was tuna tatake?  However, the takuan-looking pieces below were mango. Took the mangoes out, and added hot green tea to make it a tolerable chazuke.  Dessert. Pre-dinner gin and snacks. Caesar Salad and French Onion Soup, followed by Roast Pork with crispy skin. 1512 steps for two days, November 26 and 27. As I indicated to you yesterday, I was on a Tauck river tour nine years ago, starting in Budapest and ending in Amsterdam.   The following is from my posting as we were ap...