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2019 European Adventure

September - October 2019
It's off to Europe again to learn more about our wonderful world! Read more
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  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 11

    Sep 30 - Cochem

    September 30, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We are still docked in Koblenz. Our activity for this morning is a visit to the town of Cochem. We drove by bus along the Moselle River, through many pretty little villages. This is the main area for the production of Riesling wines. The river sits in a valley with steep hillsides on either side. Vineyards have been carved out of the forests and look like green patchwork quilts that cling to the hillsides. Reportedly, there is one vineyard on a 65° slope! All harvesting is done by hand - the grape pickers must have incredibly strong legs to cope with the terrain.

    We arrived in Cochem, a town that boasts both a beautiful setting and a fabulous castle. This little town of 5,500 people hosts three million visitors annually! Dorothee led us on a walking tour to see half-timbered houses, the lovely main market square, and some of the medieval defences including Balduin’s Gate. Then we travelled by mini-bus up to Reichsbug Castle that is perched high above the river. The castle was built about 1100 by a wealthy family. Then it was loaned to the archbishop of Trier. Louis XIV’s army captured it in 1689. A wealthy man who made his money in iron and steel bought the badly-decayed buildings in 1869 and restored it to be a summer chateaü for his wife (much younger than he) and their three children. Alas, she ran off to marry a man in Berlin with whom she had eight more children. Her former husband, brokenhearted, died at age 56, only two years after the 10-year rebuilding project was completed. As the song says, “Can’t buy me love…..” Today, the castle is owned by the town.

    See next post for our afternoon explorations....    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 11

    Sep 30 - Ehrenbreitstein Fortress

    September 30, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After lunch back at the ship, we had a couple of hours of free time so we decided to do more exploring. Across the Rhine River is the mighty Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. The medieval castle on this site was razed to the ground by the French in 1799. What is there now was begun in 1817, when the Prussian government made Koblenz into a garrison town. We took a cable car over the river to get to the fortress. This cable car was built for the 2011 National Garden Festival that brought millions of visitors to Koblenz. The UNESCO authorities were aghast that such a structure had been built smack dab in the middle of one of its world heritage sites and they threatened to rescind the area’s designation. After much negotiation, UNESCO backed down and the cable car and the designation can live in harmony - but only until 2026. We’ll see what happens after that.

    The fortress is a huge, maze-like collection of buildings, with a layout designed to discombobulate invaders, and now, visitors. It sits 120 metres above the Rhine and is the second-largest preserved fortress in all of Europe. The views over the river are breathtaking. We could actually see where the water from the Moselle meets the Rhine and creates an eddy of two different colours of water.

    Dinner tonight will be special. We received an invitation to dine in the fancy-schmancy on-board restaurant called Portobellos. (Everyone eventually gets an invitation, so we are NOT special.) As I recall from last time, this will be a 7-course dinner and will likely take almost three hours!! Such decadence.    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 12

    Oct 1 - Bernkastel

    October 1, 2019 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Dinner last night was lovely. We dined with Jane and Phil (fellow cyclists) from near Coventry in England, and Vanessa and John from near Sydney, Australia. Excellent British commonwealth representation, although we inevitably get asked from where in the US we hail. We had a five-course (not seven!) Italian meal, presented and served with meticulous attention to detail and service and copious amounts of wine. We laughed up a storm and got to know our fellow travellers a bit better. We all decided to skip Disco Night in the lounge, but saw lots of others breaking out their dancing duds.

    We set sail from Koblenz last night about 10:00 p.m. The fortress is lit up at night - it was lovely to see its shape disappear into the distance as the captain maneuvered the ship backwards up the Rhine, around the German Corner and onto the Moselle River. We will be sailing all day. The soft hills that we saw along the shoreline yesterday have become mountains, not the Alps or the Rockies kind, but more like the Laurentians. There are vineyards everywhere - it was a delightful view to enjoy during breakfast.

    After breakfast, I bundled up against the brisk breeze and light mist and went to the upper deck. Only half of it was open, so I walked about three miles on a short course to burn off some of last night’s delights. Spectacular scenery to keep me occupied. There are many, many bridges that the ship must pass under on these rivers. The wheelhouse is mounted on four giant pistons that move the wheelhouse up and down to allow, often with only inches to spare, for the ship to pass under. Quite a feat of engineering.

    Andreea is giving us a talk about Witchcraft this morning - some of the most famous European witch trials/convictions/executions occurred in this part of Germany. This afternoon, there is a tour of the Galley. We did this tour on our last cruise, so we are passing on the opportunity. It was fascinating to hear about the logistics of feeding 158 passengers and ~40 crew from a small kitchen. Discipline is paramount and once the waiters have given their orders, ONLY the chef is allowed to speak. Menu planning is an art unto itself, as supplies must be loaded at various ports and local specialities are featured as we pass through that area. Details - it’s all about the details.

    In another fit of lunacy or healthy living, not sure which, Doug and I have signed up to do a 25-km guide bike tour from Traben-Trarbach to Bernkastel. The ship will stop only long enough in T-T to let the cyclists off. We will rendezvous with the sane people and the ship in Bernkastel.

    We survived the bike ride which was led by Jorg, wearing the yellow jersey (like the leader in the Tour de France) and Gunther acting as sweeper/caboose. We started out on a dedicated bike path that followed the bank of the Moselle River. We passed through pretty villages and saw many wineries. We could have reached out and touched the grape vines. The Scenic Pearl chugged along the river beside us for a while. The Dutch and the Germans love trailers/RVs/campers/caravans. We saw hundreds of them parked along the river. We rode through light rain for quite a while, but the sun came out when we stopped about halfway at a little café with glorious views of the river and the steep wineries. Back in the saddle. We did another stop at an old monastery built in 1283. It still has a lovely little chapel, but its main draw now is its brewery. The rain kicked in again as we made the final assault on Bernkastel where we found the ship. It had to shimmy its way over to the bank and get steady before the gangplank could be lowered. I was in the shower two minutes later. Time for dinner now.

    Went to a violin concert at 9:15 p.m. held in the lounge. It was delightful - the violinist was a young lady who played a wide variety of pieces. Well done.

    It’s been an active day. Time to get this write up loaded to the website and then, as my father used to say, “assume the horizontal.” Sadly, still not enough internet strength to allow pictures to upload.

    Tomorrow’s destination - Luxembourg!    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 13

    Oct 2 - Luxembourg

    October 2, 2019 in Luxembourg ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Today dawned overcast and with ample evidence of rain overnight. Someone at breakfast said that he had gone to the upper deck with its carpeted surface. He declared it to be “squishy”.

    Promptly at 8:30 a.m., two buses left for Luxembourg - this would be the fourth country of this tour after the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The other options for today were to do a walking tour of Bernkastel, our docking town, or a trip to Trier. For those of you who don’t know - I worked for Dofasco in Hamilton for over 36 years. About 2006, Dofasco was bought out by Arcelor who was in turn bought by Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal Dofasco is now part of the largest steel company in the world. ArcelorMittal’s headquarters is in Luxembourg and I hoped to be able to see it, hence our choice of excursion.

    Our guide for the trip to Luxembourg and for a walking tour of the city of Luxembourg was Jens - hands down, the best guide we have had on this trip, and in the top few of all the guides we have ever had. The country of Luxembourg, founded in 963 A.D., covers 998 square miles (making it the 20th smallest country of the world) and has a population of about 615,000. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the European Union - as evidenced by its high salaries and astronomical rents and housing prices. Its main industries are banking/international finance, steel production and EU government and administration. Three European cities offer very favourable tax structures (Dublin, Amsterdam, Luxembourg) which have lured hundreds of companies such as Amazon to establish headquarters there. The main languages of Luxembourg are French, German and Luxembourgish, a sort of German/Dutch amalgam. Many Portuguese, Italian and Spanish immigrants came in the 1960s to provide much needed building and trades expertise. The unions today wield very strong power - all the construction (and there is plenty of it) in the country grinds to a halt for four weeks in the summer when all the workers go back to their heritage country for a visit. The other big groups in Luxembourg are bankers and lawyers - there are thousands of each.

    The drive to Luxembough was lovely - beautiful hills covered in grapevines, trees and bushes adopting their autumn colours of gold and red, the Moselle River wending its way lazily through the valley and pretty villages along the way. And lots of campers/caravans/trailers.

    The City of Luxembourg is one of the four officials capitals of the the European Union. The others are Brussels, Frankfurt and Strasbourg. It is the seat of the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial authority in the EU. The City of Luxembourg with its old quarters and fortifications was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 due to the exceptional preservation of the vast fortifications and the old city.

    During our access into the city, we drove through the banking sector and the judicial centre. Both are full of interesting buildings, most built in the last 30 years.

    After our walk around the City of Luxembourg, Doug and I voted it "the prettiest city that we have visited", beating out strong contenders such as Paris, Rome, Vienna, Venice and Amsterdam. Its setting down in a deep valley and abundant green spaces, coupled with its old world architecture helped it to win our vote. The city suffered bad damage back in the 1500s when all the wet gundpowder that was being dried out got hit by lightning, but fortunately escaped damage during WWII. Jens took us to the Cenotaph, Cathedral of Notre Dame (also known as Church of Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted), Luxembourg Fortress, the Grand Duke’s Palace, the old Medieval section of town, the main market place and to a lookout point dubbed, “the most beautiful balcony in Europe.” How true - the views of the city were spectacular.

    The threat of rain had disappeared and the sun had come out by this time. We had about an hour of free time, so with map in hand, Doug and I set off to find the ArcelorMittal headquarters - success!!! See the pics when I finally get them to upload. The is the new headquarters - the old headquarters were in a fabulous old building down the street. Doug and I have put Luxembourg on our “must come back again” list of cities. It’s a pretty, unhurried, walkable city full of history and culture. We highly recommend it. Not sure what the hotel room prices are like though…..    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 13

    Oct 2 - Luxembourg American Cemetery

    October 2, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Our next stop of the day was the Luxembourg American Cemetery Memorial. It has 5,076 headstones and a wall of remembrance honouring 371 missing soldiers. It is a beautiful setting, lovingly maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The most famous person buried in the cemetery is General George Patton. He tragically died in December of 1945 of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident while returning from a hunting trip. His grave is viewed by hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

    Jens took us home via the scenic route. We stopped at a fabulous look out point which gave us sweeping views of the Moselle Valley, vineyards, a pretty village and the mountains in the distance. There was even a replica Roman ship puttering along in the river. What a mesmerizing view on a sunny afternoon.

    Soon after the Luxembourg delegation returned, we set sail. Next port of call - Rūdesheim.    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 14

    Oct 3 - Cruising the Rhine

    October 3, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    This morning and the early afternoon are all about just looking. We sailed all night back up the Moselle to Koblenz and back onto the Rhine River. The Middle Rhine Valley was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Here, the river forces itself into a narrow, winding valley where the scenery is spectacular with its ancient fortresses, many castles, tiny villages with half-timbered houses, jagged cliffs, old growth forests and hillside vineyards. We’re traveled this stretch three times now and it’s just as enchanting as it was the first time.

    After breakfast, we donned several layers and I added my trusty scarf, toque and gloves, and went to the top deck. We weren’t navigating under any low bridges so the back deck which sits three feet higher than the front deck was open. I walked three miles, around and around, but with ever-changing delightful scenery. Doug chatted with new friends.

    Kilometre 555 marks the location of the 430-ft. high cliff, known as at the Lorelei - it is one of the most famous sights of the Rhine Valley. The river narrows to just over 100 metres, and the treacherous currents and underground rocks have often caused ships to founder. Legend has us imagine the existence of a beautiful maiden sitting on the rock, combing her long hair and singing a sweet song that lures distracted sailors to their destruction. The modern bronze “Lorelei” statue near St. Goarshausen is from 1983.

    I retired inside after 3 hours because my phone battery was almost done - have used only my phone for photos on this trip. Doug had bailed earlier because he was cold. We continued to enjoy the fabulous views from the comfort of the lounge. Then I lost him - again. Found him in the gym working out. He may have been the first person to use that miniature gym on this cruise.

    About 2:00 p.m., the ship arrived in Rúdesheim, a town of 10,500 residents that plays host to over three million tourists per year. We are double-bunked again. We watched with amazement as the captain and his crew nudged the ship to within mere inches of the other ship without so much as the slightest bump. The crew ably hand loaded provisions onto the ship and garbage off the ship.

    More about the day in the next footprint.    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 14

    Oct 3 - Rudesheim

    October 3, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    We left about 3:00 p.m. on a little tram car train to go the Seigfried’s Mechanisches Musikkabinett for a tour led by the effervescent Rita. This is a museum containing the world’s best collection of self-playing musical instruments - from tiny music boxes to street organ grinders to a huge “Mighty Wurlitzer” pumping out carnival calliope-type music at full volume. We have been to this museum before, but it’s easy to visit again. There is no other museum like it.

    We took the nearby cable car that skims over the vineyards and goes to the Niederwald Monument. Made of 32 tons of bronze, this 35-ft tall symbolic figure of “Germania” was completed in 1883 to commemorate the unification of 25 small states into the country of Germany in 1871. The sweeping views from the hill top gave us yet another look at the beautiful Rhine River.

    We came back down on the cable car (had to stand in line in light rain for 15 minutes) then checked out the great Christmas store and then Drosselgasse - one of Germany's best know streets. This street is only about 10 feet wide and is packed with wine-bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. From lunchtime onwards, it’s full of traditional music and songs that follow contain only one theme - "wine, women and song”.

    We walked back to the ship rather than wait for the tram. Had dinner with Jane and Phil again - lots more laughs. Tonight’s after dinner entertainment, in keeping with the party theme in Rüdesheim, was a traditional Germany folk music band - think oom-ph-pah - done with an accordion, a clarinet and and a trumpet. The band played for about an hour, and 5 minutes after they were off the ship, we set sail. Next destination - Mannheim.    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 15

    Oct 4 - Speyer

    October 4, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We sailed all night and arrived in Mannheim around breakfast time. This will be a technical stop - just long enough for the day trippers to board the buses. The ship will then sail to Germersheim - the buses will drop us off there and we will sail onto Kehl.

    Today’s options were to go to Heidelberg which we have visited before and will be seeing next weekend or to go to Speyer to the Technical Museum there. We chose Speyer. Originally, we would have been going to Hockenheim to the Formula 1 racing track. Doug is a huge F1 fan and was looking forward to that, however, the track was closed today for a special event. Speyer was a good substitute.

    Our guide was Nathalie. She told us some interesting things about Mannheim which is located at the junction of the Rhine and Neckar Rivers. The city is home to major corporations including Daimler, John Deere, Caterpillar, ABB, Fuchs Petrolub, IBM, Roche, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Phoenix Group, Siemens, and several other well-known companies.

    Mannheim is know for several important inventions. Karl Drais built the first bicycle here in 1817. It was here in 1886 that Karl Benz invented the automobile. His wife, Bertha Benz, took the first road trip in a car. She drove 104 kms with her two young sons to visit relatives in Pforzeim, so ladies, we’ve been driving longer than men have! Julius Hatry built the world’ first rocket plane here in 1929.

    The Technical Museum in Speyer is Doug’s idea of a great museum. It is chocked full of motorcycles, cars, trucks, fire engines, planes, helicopters, locomotives, boats and even a submarine that we were able to walk through. There were mechanical organs to add some culture to the place. We gawked and enjoyed the exhibits for a couple hours, and even braved the light rain outside to climb up into planes.

    Then we took a quick walk to Speyer Cathedral, more properly known as the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St. Stephen. Begun in 1030, the cathedral is built of red sandstone. It has gone through rebuilding several times and is now a mix of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles. In 1981, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites as "a major monument of Romanesque art in the German Empire”. Oddly, it has very little stained glass - my personal favourite in churches.

    We got back to the ship about 1:30 p.m. It sailed shortly afterwards. Today’s lunch had a Bavarian theme - traditional Bavarian food, pretzels, lots of beer, oom-pah music playing and the waiters were all wearing German hats. Tonight is the Farewell Gala dinner. On the menu are lobster, Chateaubriand beef tenderloin and Baked Alaska!! This ship is a floating food trap!!

    Before we get to that dinner feast, Andreea will give us the instructions for disembarkation on Monday morning. (We will all be at a classical music concert tomorrow night.) We are staying with the cruise, albeit by bus, to explore Switzerland for a couple of days. Most others that we have spoken to are heading home on Monday. It’s a real feat of logistics to get everyone where they need to be after one of these cruises.

    Tomorrow's destination - Strasbourg, France - fifth country of this tour.    Read more

  • Traveler2019 European Adventure
    Day 16

    Oct 5 - Strasbourg

    October 5, 2019 in France ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Today found us in Strasbourg in the Alsace area of France. Situated near the German border, the area blends German and French influences. Strasbourg is one of the de facto three main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels and Luxembourg), and as such, is the seat of several European institutions such as the Council of Europe and the European Ombudsman. It is the second-largest port on the Rhine River, after Duisburg in Germany. Strasbourg’s historic city centre, the Grand Île (Grand Island) became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, the first time such an honour had been placed on an entire city centre.

    At breakfast, Doug enjoyed watching the nearby gantry crane loading shipping containers onto a boat. In an delightful moment of incongruity, two beautiful white swans swam past our ship - such a contrast to the very industrial nature of the river side.

    Our guide for today was Saber, an Egyptian who came here to study Egyptology at Strasbourg University. The weather is cool and drizzly - again. Apparently at this time last year, Europe was in the throes of a heat wave.

    Strasbourg celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1988 - it began as a Roman settlement. It was a French city, then a German city, back to being a French city, back to being a German city, and since late 1944, has been a French city. Street names are posted in both French and German, often with no similarity of translation. The city is noted for its sandstone Gothic cathedral with its fabulous astronomical clock, and for its medieval cityscape of black and white timber-framed buildings. The city has many bridges, including the medieval and four-towered Ponte Couverts. One area is called the Petite France district or Gerberviertel ("tanners' district") alongside the River Ill and in the streets and squares surrounding the cathedral. The name Petite France comes from the rampant spread of syphilis in this former Red Light District that was blamed on the French. The name has stuck, but not the reputation of the area. It is now among the most coveted areas for apartments.

    Johannes Gutenberg is revered here - in 1439 he invented the movable-type printing press, which started a printing revolution that lasted until the internet took over in the late 20th century. His influence on information and ideas is truly remarkable. Amongst other things. the printing press was a factor in the establishment of a community of scientists who could easily communicate their discoveries through the establishment of widely disseminated scholarly journals, helping to bring on the scientific revolution. Over the 200 years after the Gutenberg’s invention, the wider availability of printed materials led to a dramatic rise in the adult literacy rate throughout Europe. Social structures were never again the same.

    The cathedral is a stunning building - the exterior is a riot of statues telling allegorical tales, laughing gargoyles and carved flowers. The magnificent stained glass windows were saved from Nazi destruction when they were removed and hidden in a cave. The movie, “The Monument Men” tells the story of their discovery.

    We had some free time, so we wandered the many narrow streets, doing window-shopping. The city is full of little boutiques, selling high-end clothing, jewelry, watches and antiques. There are cafés everywhere, interspersed with cheese and wine stores and little bakeries. The only thing we wanted (and could afford) were some cookies. While we waited at noon for our rendezvous with Saber, the bells on the cathedral pealed for 15 minutes. What a delightful concert! Saber led us back to where the buses have to wait - there are very few vehicles allowed into the old city centre.    Read more

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