Thursday Sept. 20, 2018 Our stop today was in Koblenz but we actually didn't see Koblenz because we took the included tour to the Marksburg Castle. For every port we are in, Viking includes a free tour. You can join in, take an optional tour (that you pay for) or do your own thing. The ship docked near the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers to let us off and would meet us further down the river later in the morning. We were able to check out the massive equestrian statue of Prince William I before heading to the castle. The bus took us to the Marksburg Castle in Braubach. It is the only castle along the Rhine that wasn’t conquered. The four sets of fortification (and locking the toilet door at night) kept the enemies out. It is very impressive. We also learned that each person would drink 3-4 L of wine or beer per day because they didn’t trust water - alcohol was much safer. The views from the castle are spectacular! After the castle tour we wandered in to the cafeteria area and the guy working asked if we wanted to try the schnapps made on site. Sure -why not?! The samples arrived on fire. We also pet his awesome dog Emily (a Newfoundland). Back on the ship we had lunch and spent the rest of the sunny afternoon (+28) on the top deck enjoying the scenic cruising through the Middle Rhine - a UNESCO site. We passed many vineyards (80% white grapes), castles and towns. Peacefully gliding by incredible, fairy tale-like scenery is why you river cruise! We made it safely past the Lorelei - the rocky cliff that can lure sailors to their demise. Whew! Europe had a very hot summer and now autumn so the rivers are very low. In one area we went through today it was 15 cm. The average depth today was 30cm. That’s crazy! The evenings are pretty quiet on a river cruise. Dinner is always at 7 pm and after dinner you can sit in the lounge where there is some live music (singer and guitar player). This evening our program director, Stephen organized trivia which was fun.
Tonight we enter the Main River and start going through 42 locks.
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Cologne, Germany Wed., Sept. 19, 2018 Cologne (Koln) is an old city - established in 50 AD by the Romans and there is lots to see and do. Kolsch beer, cologne, chocolate and a massive Gothic cathedral. These are some of the things Cologne is known for. We sampled and saw them all! Our tour this morning started at the magnificent cathedral - a UNESCO site. The goal at the time (1248) was to build the largest cathedral in the world. The reason? The prince bishop took the bones of the magi (three wise men) in 1164 from Milan as a war prize and needed to build something spectacular to put them in. The reliquary took 30 years to build but the cathedral took 632 years. It opened in 1880. It wasn’t the biggest but it was the tallest building in the world at the time. Every Jan. 6 (Epiphany or Three Kings Day) they open the coffin so people can look at the bones. The church is full of stunning stain glass. It is thought that the light hitting the stain glass gives our spirits a glimpse in to heaven. Thankfully the cathedral wasn’t bombed in WWII - most of the city centre was flattened. The stain glass had been removed to protect it. Good thinking! The church is under constant restoration and there is a stone mason shop with 80 employees that work on the sandstone and stain glass. We learned about Kolsch beer and later tried some. Kolsch is like champagne or sherry...it is a region specific beverage and can only be made in Cologne. There are 25 brands in Cologne. It is served in small glasses to keep the carbonation fresh that will be refilled (at a cost) unless you put your coaster on top of the glass to indicate you are done. We toured by city hall (Rathaus in German) and saw numerous couples getting married. It was interesting seeing their tradition of cutting a heart out of a sheet and then the groom carries the bride through the heart hole. The Germans are a cheeky bunch and often use humour to make a statement in their sculptures. The guy below is mooning the Rathaus. Cologne had a reputation of being a stinky city - something to do with dumping sewage in the streets and people being afraid of water so bathed very infrequently. An Italian perfumer, John Farina, moved to Cologne and started extracting aromas from fruits mixed with alcohol and it became eau de Cologne. This made Cologne world famous. There were 50 makers in Cologne but now there are only two left - Farina and 4711. I bought some of both. After the tour we went off on our own and had THE most delicious soup (I had sauerkraut and others had potato) at Peter’s Brauhaus and tried Kolsch. I don’t like beer but I tried one. We also toured the chocolate museum. Interesting and yummy. Chocolate is plentiful (and delicious) in this part of Europe! It was a beautiful evening to walk around Cologne after dinner.
I really enjoyed our time in Cologne and I would like to come back and explore more one day. Our guide told us their Mardi Gras celebration is a renowned party but don't come if crowds aren't your thing. We arrived back in Edmonton on Monday evening (Oct. 1). We picked the perfect time to be away as Edmonton had more cold and snowy weather while we were away. We had excellent weather in Europe! And we returned to sunshine and bright blue skies in Edmonton. The perfect fall weather.
We are getting back in to the swing of things and trying to get over jet lag while kicking that typical cold that we always seem to catch at the end of a trip. Thanks re-circulated airplane air. We have been home less than a week and been busy catching up with things at work and home...and we made a road trip to Saskatoon to pick it up our new (to us) Airstream. Whew. I intended on blogging about our trip every day but the wifi on the ship did not agree with my plans. Over the next week or so I will post about the places we visited on our 15 day river cruise. Thanks for following along. |
AuthorEnjoying the journey! For another perspective on our travels visit James site Archives
November 2018
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