Rhine Christmas Market CruiseNovember 21-December 2, 2008

Checking out European River Cruising

November 21/22: Madison to Chicago to London to Amsterdam

Okay, so I was incredibly psyched for this trip. Nothing in life at home was terrible but I have this tremendous need to get away this year. No work. No home stuff. No SCA. No phones. No internet. Yup, ya read that right. No’net and I don’t think I’ll even try. Even passed two cyber-cafes in Amster-dam today plus the ship has a public computer set up for just internet.) Yea, I noticed but I didn’t even twitch.

So, up early without an alarm and dressed in my traveling clothes that had been laid out since I had packed on the Sunday before (can you say anxious—thought you could). Putzed around the house until Dray came to take us to catch the bus to O’Hare which ended up running early by the time we got to the airport. Caught up to Paul and Cindy (Ed’s brother and his wife) at the British Airways check-in desk and we were on our way.

Trip from O’Hare to Heathrow was uneventful technically but it was very full and I was next to a woman with a 20 month-old son and her brother who were heading back to India for the holidays. Aki, the little boy, was adorable but restless and couldn’t sleep for much of the flight which made it hard for me to relax. Add to that an incredibly drunken Scotsman who was trying to amuse the kid for a bit and it was just obnoxious. Not sure how the drunk would react, I finally signaled to an attendant and got her to get rid of him for me. After all, it’s part of what they’re paid for, right?

But we were flying British Air and their entertainment on demand is an awesome idea. If I could have slept more, great, but since I couldn’t watching Faintheart and Wall-E helped save the trip. Add to that a friendly, helpful

From Amsterdam to Basel

November 21/22: Madison to Chicago to London to AmsterdamNovember 23: Amsterdam to NijmegenNovember 24: Krefeld/DüsseldorfNovember 25: Köln (Cologne)November 26: Traveling up the river past many castles & towns to MainzNovember 27: Travel to Speyer/Speyer and Thanksgiving DayNovember 28: Heidelberg (me); Speyer (Ed)November 29: Greffern/Baden-Baden/StrasbourgNovember 30: StrasbourgDecember 1: Breisach/Kaysererg/RiquewihrDecember 2: Basel/London/Chicago/Madison

•Photos from Amsterdam and the first day

•Photos from Nijmegen

•Photos from Düsseldorf

•Photos from Köln (Cologne)

•Photos from traveling up the river past many castles & towns to Mainz

•Photos from Speyer

•Photos from Heidelberg

•Photos from Greffern/Baden-Baden/Strasbourg

•Photos from Strasbourg

•Photos from Breisach/Kaysererg/Riquewihr

November 21/22: Madison to Chicago to London to Amsterdam (cont)

crew and decent food plus the complimentary socks, eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste and they make flying fun again. It’s too bad, though, that their pods in business class are so expen-sive to upgrade to because that would be the way to fly.

Slight delay getting from Heathrow to Amsterdam but we made it through passport control, picking up our baggage, meet-ing the guide to the bus, and got the bus to the ship all by 1300 hrs. There was a light lunch ready for us when we got on board. Wow—is the ship ever nice. Staff is very friendly and helpful, rooms are comfortable, the lounge is a good size, and there’s a library, gift shop, work-out room and a beautiful dining room. We took a quick look around on our way to lunch.

Lunch, as I said, was supposedly “light” probably because we were all traveling and getting to the ship at various times and also probably because you couldn’t tell how hungry people would be. “Light” was a choice of soup (Ed tried the chicken bouillon [nice rich stock to it] and I the puree of creamed veggies that tasted to be mostly made up of carrot, squash and onion. Mmmmmmmm Mmmmmm Good.) Then, we had a bountiful buffet of assorted sandwiches, salad bar, some hot things including pasta and as-sorted desserts along with fresh bread and fruit. Turned out this was pretty standard lunch fare aboard though most other days there was a choice of two things that could be ordered from the kitchen and if you were really boring you could always order a hamburger or hot dog. Ultimately, I knew that being good and sticking to a healthy plan was/is going to be very difficult. They joked later that evening that we will be lucky if we only gain a pound a day. Hope that there will be enough exercise for the vol-ume and richness of the food. At least one of the promises made by the tour company is to stick to the local cuisine wherever we are docked so that should be fun. After all, what fun is traveling if you cannot get out of your box about food?

The afternoon was then free for us to explore Amsterdam. I had kind of missed that detail and did no research on stuff to try to find and see in the city. So, we stopped at the program direc-tor’s desk to pick up a map and ask his advice. He suggested one of the many canal boat tours so off Paul, Cindy, Ed, and I went to find one.

The ship we are on, the River Harmony, was docked about a quarter mile from the Centraal Station (major railroad hub for The Netherlands) and the canal boat docks were just beyond that. The station was a great landmark, the place is huge, so it looked like getting lost wouldn’t be too much of a problem.

The canal tour was fun and informative. A recorded descrip-tion of what were seeing was done in Dutch, English and Ger-man and took about an hour. After that, we set off walking to

explore for the next hour and a half. Finding restaurants of just about every ethnicity imaginable to bakeries laden with tasty looking treats (we had to try something so the four of us split a chocolate-covered waffle-looking thing [obviously a thicker and more resilient dough than your average waffle] which was sub-stantial and kind of tasty [often, pastries can look so much better than they taste]). There were touristy souvenier shops and lots of “coffee shops” (that’s code for head shops—if it’s a real java joint they spell it kaffee). I loved the one called “The Grow Shop” which sold cannabis, hemp, etc. seeds to grow your own. The sweet smell of weed permeated much of the wet, late fall air. Get-ting to an intersection at one point and trying to decide which direction to go, I piped up with “let’s go that way, the street is narrower”.

We wandered for a while and finally found our way back to the ship. It had gotten quite a bit colder, windy and snowy (and darker). Good timing since it was 1730 hrs and the ship’s safety briefing was scheduled at 1745 hrs. Informative, important, and entertaining it did seem to drag on a bit since we were all pretty tired and sitting down kind of accentuated that. I think that the only thing that kept me from a total snooze was that I was chilled.

Dinner was served at 1900 hrs and was really yummy. I es-pecially loved the Dutch Mustard soup served with sour cream and croutons, a sour cream-based beet salad and the leek potato ragout that was served with my fish (pan-friend King Klip—a pleasant firm, white fish). There was also some herring and smoked trout served as an appetizer. There was a choice of entrée as there would be every night but I didn’t get to try anything else since Ed also ordered the fish. (Every night there was two or three entrees, one of them vegetarian, plus either baked chicken or salmon for the less adventurous or diet-conscious types. ) We did get different desserts (most lunches and dinners had a choice of two) and we did get different things so we could try them all. The poffertjes were small Dutch pancakes and the other choice was a Dutch cheese plate. Mmmmmmmm

I really wish I’d have been up to a bit more walking after din-ner. Even though it was chilly and wet it would have been fun to join the walking tour of the redlight district. Ed, Paul & Cindy went and from Ed’s description it was amusing to watch Robert, our Dutch native guide, try to explain “everything” to what he considered “uptight American tourists”. (Probably not exactly his thoughts but it’s the way Ed called it.

Me? I tried to write in this log for a bit but was totally zonked out by 2130 hrs. Granted it was 1430 hrs on Saturday by our home clock and I’d gotten about a 2-3 hour nap since awakening at 0700 on Friday which made it about 31.5 hours of being on the go. Eye mask and earplugs helped be to be dead to the world by the time Ed got back to our room about 2200.

November 23: Amsterdam to Nijmegen

The ship sailed about 2245 hrs up the Waal to the Rhine (at least according to the schedule) for the trip to Nijmegan (pronounced Ny-mechkin). I thought I felt us dock at 4am but I was told later that the ship was going through a lock at that point. (Some of the Californians amongst us said it was a 3.8.) It’s about 0500 hrs and I’m catching up on the writing here. I have about an hour until early breakfast (every morning they would have juice, fruit, and fresh, hot pastries, set up in the lounge from 0600-0700 hrs for the early risers and then regular breakfast in the dining room from 0700-0900 hrs. After that, I’ll explore the ship for a while before we go off to explore Nijmegan.

I watched the docking procedure while drinking hot tea and nibbled a warm cheese Danish and then walked up on the icy

deck to get my first impression of a new city. Then I read for a bit before going to second breakfast. They do breakfast nicely on the ship. Every morning it is the same thing to make it easier for everybody. An omelet station where you could also order eggs to order, a buffet with fresh fruit, yogurt, cereals, breakfast things, lots of different cheeses, etc. I tried to eat as light as possible but

still try a bunch of things. I ended up comfortably full the first morning. It got easier over the week to be better in the mornings since it was rare to be hungry after the day before.

Ed was supposed to go on the optional tour to the National Liberation Museum in Grosbeek but he wasn’t disappointed for long. Turned out there were six others as interested as he was so the program directors (Robert along with his German counterpart, Marcus) arranged for a van to take them there around 1300 so they were able to come along on the city walking tour with us.

GCT has this really great system where you check out a small radio receiver each day when they are going to do a walking tour and it is tuned into one of the two program director’s transmitters. This allows the 45 or so people in each group to hear everything (including the heavy breathing from physical exertion that hit the guide from time to time) without straining to hear or missing interesting information. You could even dawdle a bit taking pictures and still keep track of the rest of the group this way.

The city tour took us through most of what is left of the older

part of the city (Nijmegan is the oldest city in the Netherlands and about 95% of the city was destroyed in Operation Market Square in 1944). We walked through the old Jewish section and had an opportunity to see a monument to those who were lost as well as an 18th century synagogue (outside only). The old Market Square and St. Stephen’s Church definitely caught my attention because of the wonderful architecture, stone & ironwork, and heraldry. Ed and I eventually peeled off from the rest of the group there since I wanted to take more pictures in that area.

Before we did that, though, we got to check out a “coffee shop”. Our entire group squeezed into a relatively small shop while our guide, Robert, explained how the system worked. Legal to posses but illegal to sell or buy. A strange system. It was an interesting experience.

So, Ed and I wandered some more before heading back to the ship. In the wanderings we found the chapel and part of a wall of a castle built by Charlemagne c 1100. We even ran into a Dutch Classics professor who was taking some notes on the area for a class he’s putting together. The conversation we had with him

November 23: Amsterdam to Nijmegen (cont.)

until we had to get back to the ship was fascinating. History, life in the US, life in the Netherlands, etc. probably could have kept us going for a while but the cold and wind (as well as us needing a bathroom and it was after 1200 hrs [lunch scheduled at 1230 hrs and Ed heading to the Liberation Museum at 1300]) caused us reluctantly to say good-bye and get back to the ship.

Lunch was a wonderful Dutch buffet (check out the menu for the day) and Ed got called away before dessert. It didn’t matter much to him since neither of us was eating because we were particularly hungry but because everything sounded interesting and/or good.

While Ed was off gallivanting into WWII history, Paul, Cindy, and I took off down the road to the Velorama (Bicycle Museum). WOW! There were three floors of some of the most interesting contraptions that I’ve ever seen. There was just about every manner of non-motorized conveyance from about 1800 to somewhere around 1980. The docent spoke no English but there was a very dog-eared booklet in English that helped us get through.

From the Velorama Paul & Cindy took off up to the hill to check out the park and ruins that we had found before lunch and I was going to wander back to the ship. It was almost 1500 hrs and we were supposed to be sailing at 1600. I was passing what was some kind of museum next to the Velorama and noticed that they postcards for sale. Wanting a few from this city before leaving I decided to go in. Without a clue of the language it slowly dawned on me that I had stumbled upon something Medieval.

The Museum De Stratemakerstoren turned out to be the ruins of a late 16th century round fortification that had been lost under later constructions for a couple of centuries. It was a wonderful gem of a find for anyone interested in the period. There was no literature in English to take away (or buy) which is a shame but it was still a most opportune find. http://www.stratemakerstoren.nl/english_1766_1.html

Back to the ship with about 20 minutes to spare and I had tome to shower, write in this journal, and relax a bit before that evening’s port talk (a description of what we were going to do the next day), dinner, and the after-dinner entertainment.

What GCT does well:• Wonderful, polite, helpful and knowledgeable staff• Receivers and headsets for the tours

• Great food that matches the country that we’re in at the time

• Lots of hot drinks (coffee, tea, chocolate, cider) available anytime

• Live elevator music (actually, Wolfgang the Keyboardist is very good and has an extensive repertoire that is actually better than the lowest common denominator that the average passenger probably wants) playing in the lounge most evenings

• Nice fellow passengers, many of whom have done other tours with GCT so we can pick their brains about other travel options for the future.

• The ability to have a fair amount of time on our own whenever we want as long as we make it back to the ship for the sailing times.

The evening was pleasant. There was a long cocktail hour after the emergency drill (when we had to meet in the lounge wearing our life jackets). Nice people to chat with and just some pleasant downtime. This segued into an introduction of the entire ship’s crew (except for the night shift) which totaled about 30 from about 12 countries (mostly Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Hungary plus the department heads being German and Romanian mostly plus the guides who were Dutch & German with a Belgian shadowing them). Then we had the port talk to describe what our day in Düsseldorf would be like along with appetizers and champagne as part of the Captain’s welcome reception and dinner. The dinner was very special (as if the others weren’t just about as good) because of it. The Captain and the senior staff escorted the top members of the Inner Circle (those that had gone on at least three GCT trips though the top members probably had been on about 15-20 with the most I heard of was 35) and hosted them at the Captain’s Table. The dinner was six courses (see menu). Cindy was surprised with a big, noisy birthday hoopla complete with cake and sparklers. Seems the home office paid attention to it and contacted the ship’s staff (since Ed, Paul and I all knew we hadn’t betrayed her confidence).

After dinner, Ed crashed early but Paul, Cindy and I stayed up long enough for the not-so-newlywed game which was a silly entertainment that set up three couples to potentially embarrass each other. By the time I crashed around 2230 my eyes were closed before my head hit the pillow. I guess we are supposed to dock in Krefeld (about 30k from Düsseldorf ) around midnight. We will be bussed into Düsseldorf for the day (well, they will bus people back and forth for lunch but we will stay there all day and skip the ship’s lunch. Good can be had when we want in the city and why spend an hour and a half on the bus when we did not have to.

November 24: Krefeld/Düsseldorf

The ship docked in the industrial town of Krefeld wince all the docks in Düsseldorf were full. The bus ride to Düsseldorf was about 40 minutes and it let us off close to the Old Town and six different Christmas Markets.

Robert, our guide, led us on a strolling tour that took a bit over an hour. We found a couple of markets along the way but none opened up before 1100 hrs. The tour took us past some of the sites that I had read about like the Schloststrum (a castle tower c1380 that is all that remains of the castle that was there. Of course, it being a Monday, meant that all the museums were closed (included the Schloststrum) and it was very chilly and rainy for most of the morning. This meant that we didn’t get a chance to see much outside of the markets and the facades of buildings

After we left the rest of the group, Paul, Cindy, Ed and I stopped at a small café for something warm to drink and to let me get off my feet. I may be in the best shape I’ve been in a long time but walking on cobblestones and such still gets to my back, ankles, knees and hips. The tea was good and hot, served with a tasty cookie, and we watched the rain turn to snow which we all agreed was a turn for the better. It looks prettier and doesn’t soak in as much right away. It was also nice for the atmosphere of wandering through Christmas Markets. It was too bad, though, that the bar that was in the oldest building in the city (c. 1385) wasn’t open that early in the day.

St. Lambert’s Church was our next stop and though not as grand as some of the cathedrals that we would see over the next week it still had many things to see. I was disappointed that the stained glass had been replaced with some very modern glass which detracted from the overall feel for me.

The first Christmas Market that we stopped in was the best of the bunch. There was a glassblower, a woodsmith and a blacksmith all demonstrating their crafts as well as selling their wares. We finally had to drag Ed away from the blacksmith or he would have been there all day.

The Glühwein (hot, spiced wine, usually red) that we got here was served in a commemorative snowman mug. We tried something called puffers which were very greasy potato pancakes served with apple sauce—tasty but very, very greasy. Once they started to cool down we joked we could put a wick in them and light them to find our way in the dark.

Over the next several hours we found four more of the six markets. Most of them were poor in comparison to the first one we had found. Nowhere else had craftsmen working their crafts and man were like mall kiosks with import items. Many had cakes, gingerbread, sausages, candy and many other treats. We ended up splitting a thuringer wurst that was about a foot long on a three inch round bun. We had some white Glühwein at a point when I needed to sit down again and I think I liked the white better. We even found a café that looked like it had a fantastic bakery and chocolate shop when I really needed a bathroom. It was warm and we could all have a sit down and we only had something to drink

November 24: Krefeld/Düsseldorf (cont)

and enjoyed the atmosphere.There was this immense department store that we passed

on our way back to where we were to meet the bus that had window after window of moving Steiff animals (bears, rabbits, elephants, birds, fish, etc) that were animated and set up in various scenes. It reminded me of some of the holiday scenes in department stores when I was a kid.

Made it to the meeting point for the bus with about fifteen minutes to spare and we were back on board the ship by 1800 hrs when it was time to set sail again. Hot shower, port talk, and another nice dinner and now I am going to try to nap. We are supposed to dock in Cologne (Köln) around 2300 and I would really like to see the cathedral all lit up when we get in.

Was up in time to go up to the wheelhouse (no longer aptly named since there is no ship’s wheel any longer—all computers—but the pilot, a very nice young Croatian, pointed out that calling it a “joyhouse” might not be appropriate) to hang out in the warmth while waiting to get to Köln. We had about 30-45 minutes to speak with him and one of the ship’s sailors (Romanian) and ask about their background and the river and such things. We got out of their way when it was time to start the docking procedure. By that time we could see the cathedral in all it’s glory and finally wandered off to bed around midnight.

November 25: Köln (Cologne)

The day started out normal enough though I actually slept until about 0830 hrs (might have been the vicodin I took to help me to get to sleep—as I said, I’m in better shape than I can remember but it still is not perfect. Everything was screaming a bit in pain when I went to bed and I found out later that Cindy was wearing a pedometer yesterday and it seems we did about six miles.)

I tried to eat lighter—the breakfasts as I described earlier are

buffets—and this morning I skipped everything but some oatmeal, sliced meat, cheese, milk and a bit of fruit. It was a habit that I hoped to get in to.

One of the high points of the week would be next when we were treated to a fantastic lecture by an historian about the Cologne Cathedral or Dom as it’s called locally. If all of my college professors had been like Eugenia I might have gone to call more often. ;-)

From there, we started a walking tour with our groups that took us along the river, past the performing Arts Centre and the Train Station, through the Old Town (which had building dating back to the 16th century, past the incredible gothic-style City Hall, a beautiful Romanesque church (St. Stephen’s) and ended at the Dom.

Bidding farewell to the guides and the rest of the group, Paul, Cindy, Ed and I went to a very fancy café for something hot to drink and a sit down. (By “very fancy” I mean that it cost 21€ for three pots of tea and a cappuccino—that’s about $28 USD.) But it was warm, the drinks hot and we could see the Dom square from our table. There was also this awesome bathroom downstairs that had to be seen to be believed (there are a few pictures if you check out the ones from Cologne). When I first went down I saw the attendant through the glass door and thought it was pretty weird. The doors were clear glass. I went in, turned the lock, and the door polarized making it opaque.

Walking over to the Dom one could not do so without a sense of awe. It is as incredible as all of the accounts of it and grandly amazing. We were about a third of the way through the main level (having chosen to skip the 509 steps up to the tower) when Ed

jokingly asked if I was going to take pictures of all 1100 columns. “Nope but there is a good change I’ll take pics of every piece of stained glass”, I replied.

Unfortunately, this is the point when our day took a turn for the worst (and the low point of the week). Sticking my hand in my pocket I discovered only my timepiece and no wallet. I patted myself down and checked every pocket—three times—before having to admit that it was really gone. Even though we concluded it was probably a pickpocket we decided to retrace our steps to the café checking both the dining room and toilet but to no avail. Lots of expletives and a few tears by me later, we found our way to a police station at the train station to fill out a report. Lost was my credit card, debit card, driver’s license, all my US cash (about $70—why in the world was I even carrying it) and about 50€. We had meant to split the cards with Ed taking the credit and me the debit but never followed through. Stupid!!

Paul and Cindy went on without us and we found our way back to the ship (Ed running down the hill after putting me in a bicycle rickshaw) to try to call our credit union. It was 0800 hrs back home but we kept getting a busy signal. Finally, we just decided to make the best of it all, wandered back up the hill, took out what we could

November 25: Köln (Cologne) (cont)

with our debit card at an ARM and set off for what fun we could find.

It was almost 1530 when we found our way to the Römisch-

GermanischesMuseum—a collection of over three million archeological finds all centered around a mosaic floor that was found in an excavation near the Dom. Just incredible. This was/is a fantastic collection of artifacts, statuary, jewelry, glass and pottery. One and a half hours was NOT enough time. This was the only museum we were able to get to after losing almost three hours dealing with the loss of my wallet but it was so worth it. We did not miss out on the Christmas Markets, though.

On a much grander scale than Düsseldorf, the three we found were more what both of us were expecting. The sights, sounds and smells were intoxicating. Lots of people filled the spaces that were empty earlier in the day now that the work day was over. We had not had lunch and chose to skip dinner on the ship in favour of eating our way through the markets. I think, by the time we ere full, we had shared a cheese-covered brezel (pretzel), two cups of Glühwein, a piece of toasted bread smothered in a garlic-cheese spread topped with cheese and fresh tomatoes, a hamburger like one I had never tasted (pork mostly and well spiced), a large portion of fried potatoes cooked with ham, sausage, peppers, onion and served with a sweet/sour cabbage, pickles and mustard, and finally, Ed’s first real candied apple.

We wandered back through the Old Town, everything much more magical in the dark, and the low point of the day losing my wallet was almost forgotten. Almost. By the time we found our way back to the ship we were tired and I was very sore but at least we felt like we salvaged much of the day. We had missed dinner onboard but were well stuffed and we finally got through to the credit union to cancel the cards. Luckily, it looked like the only charges were the two ATM withdrawals Ed made so the loss will be only the cash and my driver’s license. We are so lucky to be traveling with family since Paul & Cindy have offered to carry us financially for the remainder of the trip and we can pay them back when we get home. Everybody on board was very sympathetic and one of our guides, Robert, even offered to loan us some if we needed it. That was definitely above and beyond what I expect for service.

They brought a children’s choir from a town called Pulheim

(about 30k from Cologne) and we had a very entertaining hour or so. I was able to catch three songs on video before I ran out of memory. The kids had a nine piece band of guitars, keyboard and percussion and about twenty in the chorus (the band was all boys save one and the chorus was all girls save one). They earned a standing ovation from us and it was all very enjoyable—songs of the season in both German and English. Their conductor was so enthusiastic it was a joy to watch him.

We hung out in the lobby for about an hour talking with a few others before crashing about 2200. I felt the day ended well and really do feel fortunate it was not worse. The next low point of the whole week happened just before we crashed, though. I have a 40gb hard drive that I upload pictures to so I only need a 1gb card in each camera. Unfortunately, it decided to fail on me at this point (after I had uploaded the pics from Amsterdam, Nijmegan, and Düsseldorf, of course, the day before). Looks like we’ll have to buy me a couple of more memory cards for the rest of the trip. (Note: These would be the only two low points for the entire trip.)

November 26: Traveling up the river/Mainz

Today promises to be one that is more travel up the river than time spent in a town. After all, this is the section of the river that is mostly scenery, small towns, and castles. We should have passed what is left of the bridge at Ramagen about 0300 (turned out that Paul and four others were up to see the pylons that were left of it) but Ed decided not to wake up to do so.

I found myself wide awake at 0400 and have spent the last hour and a half catching up with the log while enjoying some solitude and hot beverages. Others should be stirring soon and the solitude will end and the middle day of the trip will truly begin.

The morning, through lunch, was spent traveling through the most beautiful part of the Rhine—the gorge. It was windy and narrow but there were castles and vineyard around every bend. Though chilly on deck, it was worth it to be able to take pictures without glass in the way. It was gray and cloudy, though, and some of the pictures probably will not turn out as well as I wish they would. Despite some Glühwein and some hot tea I finally had to come inside for some warmth. The sun was coming out and I found a comfy couch with a sunbeam directly hitting it and napped for a bit.

Lunch was pleasant since there was still scenery going by. We pulled into Mainz and the ship found its mooring place as we finished the meal.

It did not take long until we were ready to get to our walking tour of Mainz. This time we had a local guide, Gisella, who knew her route and city very well. She took us through a fancy shopping mall to get to the old town (where we would go back to later to shop at Saturn—a kind of cross between our Radio Shack and Best Buy—to get me some new memory cards). We skirt around the Cathedral (Mainzer Dom) to check out the picturesque Augustiner-Street which is known as the “stroller’s mile” and the Kirschgarten (a series of half timber houses with shops in them). Then back to the Dom which is a nice red sandstone cathedral. Not as big and impressive as Cologne or Strasbourg but very nice.

From there we followed Gisella to the Gutenberg Museum (which is supposed to have a nice collection devoted to early printing) where she gave us a good demonstration of how a Gutenberg press worked (the casting of the dies was the most interesting part to us). Ed and I decided to cut out as soon as the demo was done and skip the rest of the museum and headed to the Museum of Ancient Shipbuilding before it closed at 1700 hrs.

An hour was enough for this museum which had many pieces of ships which were dredged up from the river bottom. The shipwrecks were located about 7.5 metres below the current street level, apparently in a shut-down section of the

November 26: Traveling up the river/Mainz (cont)

harbour. Based on their typical shape, these were military ships that were abandoned following the catastrophic defeat of the Roman Rhine army by invading Teutons in 407 AD. Not only were there the remains of the five ships they found but many reproductions of various ships. Despite the fact that all of the descriptions were in German, it was very interesting and we enjoyed our hour there very much.

We walked back after the museum closed past the open air market (fruits, cheese, and breads), past the Christmas Market that was not open yet (it was getting set up today and supposed to open tomorrow) and back through the Kirschgarten again. It was even neater as night began to fall. We picked up the new memory cards for my cameras and headed back to the ship with time to spare before the port talk for the night.

Dinner this night was the best so far. It’s hard to ever be hungry on this cruise and each course tonight would have been enough but each was better than the last.

After dinner, the entertainment was karaoke which is something I have spent most of my adult life trying to avoid. However, I figured it would keep me from falling asleep too early (I did NOT want to get up at 0400 again). It was also

a chance to write here in the log and write a bunch of postcards. The ship does not sail until 0400 so whatever will keep me going. The karaoke was kind of amusing but definitely not worth devoting any serious time or attention to. Off to Speyer next.

November 27: Travel to Speyer/Speyer/Thanksgiving Day

Quiet morning—all very laid back. Up at 0730 and went up to the dining room for a light breakfast—a bit of cheese, fruit, and oatmeal). A discussion in the lounge about German/Dutch/American Christmas traditions for an hour or so kept us occupied. There will be an early lunch today since we are due to dock in Speyer around 1300 hrs.

Lunch was much too good today especially considering that this is the day that we are going to get to do a home visit for coffee and cake. More on that soon. Anyway, lunch was very good and we had to be careful not to eat too much. We docked while we were eating and it was fun to watch other ships of the GCT fleet pass us. One pulled out just before we docked, one was in port and a third passed us by, turned around and docked (since they have to dock facing upriver). Since Speyer is a stop where we spend a day and a half and is the midpoint of the trip it made sense that so many of their ships would meet here at the same time.

Today’s plan is to have a home-hosted visit which is a specialty for this company. We walked about five minutes to a bus that would take us to various stops around the area. No more than eight or so per stop. Ours was the first stop where we were met by a woman named Brigitte who walked eight of us to her home about a block away.

The house had five apartments in it and was the home she had been born in as well as her father before her. Her father and mother had passed away just last year, both in their 90’s. Now, She had one apartment, her youngest daughter had one, her oldest son another, and the fourth belonged to a friend who was Brigitte’s age who had also been born in the house. The fifth apartment that had been her parents’ before they passed away was still vacant.

We had a pleasant hour and a half visit, getting to see her

garden and apartment as we learned more of her life. She served coffee, tea, apfelkucken, stolen and some kind of fruitcake as well as a nice glass of Reisling since it is the specialty of the region. We had a chance to exchange addresses and the time passed much too quickly.

Back on the bus, we went off to pick up the other three groups and the back to Speyer. Turned out that the house that Paul and Cindy went to was on a farm and owned by a gentleman who did medieval recreation. Small world some days. Some people chose to go back to the ship right away while others including Ed, Paul, Cindy and I chose to get off by the old city gate and walk back. We wandered up the main shopping street and through a Christmas Market. I chose to go for a cup of hot chocolate

with a shot of Jägermeister in it instead of Glühwein. Mmmmmmmm. I loved the flavour combination but Ed preferred his Glühwein.

It was after 1700 so it was too late to go into the Cathedral or any of the museums so we wandered around for a bit, found the Judenhof (the Jewish quadrant), and the historical museum. Too bad that nothing was open. Ed is going to get the whole day tomorrow to explore the city but Paul, Cindy and I have chosen to take the optional trip to Heidelberg instead.

It was about a twenty walk back to the ship. Speyer has a lot of park/green space between the city and the river. My hips were hurting pretty bad by the time we were back on board but such is a life.

November 27: Travel to Speyer/Speyer/Thanksgiving Day (cont)

Being Thanksgiving back home, we were treated to a Thanksgiving dinner (though Ed and I both chose the fish option instead). They did their version of apple pie, too, but both Ed and I chose the mini cheese fondue which was awesome.

We had been promised a huge surprise for tonight’s entertainment which turned out to be a wonderful mime/pantomime act by Robert who, it turns out, had been trained in Paris at the Mime School there by Marcel Marceau (as well as others). The performance started with him putting on his make-up while Marcus interviewed him so we could learn about Robert’s early life and training.

The performance was as good as the best I have ever seen. He did two pantomime pieces and one mime (Pantomime is the art of creating the illusion of reality by dealing with imaginary objects or situations. Mime, on the other hand, is the art of acting silently through various kinds of theatrical movement.) I will bet that we were the only ship on the river with a trained mime as a guide. I wish I had known that such a thing was going to happen so that I could have had my tripod and an extra video card (or even a video recorder) but I will not soon forget that performance.

November 28: Heidelberg (me); Speyer (Ed)

Today was Ed’s and my day to split up and go different directions. After breakfast, those of us interested in checking out Heidelberg boarded a bus for our forty minute drive while the rest stayed in Speyer. Since Ed had had the opportunity within the past ten years or so to visit Heidelberg he chose not to go on this optional tour.

He spent the day exploring Speyer including the Technik Museum which hosts a 747, a Russian space shuttle, a U9 submarine and much more. He also explored the City Museum and the Cathedral which he said had catacombs that were over a thousand years old.

For those of us in Heidelberg we got a very nice walking tour by a local guide, Dana, which included the old town, two churches, the student prison and the festival hall in the old university building. This time the group was broken into three groups for the local guides. After that, we had about an hour and a half to explore the Christmas Markets and city on our own before convening at a local restaurant for lunch.

The three guides came together to perform a bit of the Student Prince at the restaurant before we were served a most wonderful meal. I cannot remember what it was called but it was a nicely spiced meat stuffed into tubes of dough/pasta and served with a light salad. We even had apple strudel for dessert.

Marcus had been the one who got to lead us to Heidelberg and after lunch he took us to the Christmas Market and treated us to some Glühwein. From there we walked back to the bus for the ride up the hill to the Schloss (Palace).

Even though it’s called a “Castle” it was always more of a residence than a fortress. It covers many periods but my personal interest, of course, was the oldest section. Marcus led us on a tour that included the largest wine barrel in the world (big enough to have a dance floor on top and it can hold 221,726 litres [approx. 55,000 gallons] of wine) and lasted about an hour. Then we had about twenty minutes of free time before heading back to the bus. Unfortunately, that was not enough time for me to go explore the Apothecary Museum so I just wandered around outside checking

out the kewl architecture. Marcus spent most of the forty minute trip back trying to fill us

in on parts of German culture and life, but I suspect most of us were pretty tired by then to retain much of what he told us.

We made it back to the ship around 1730 and we set sail around 1800. Ed was already back by then and he filled me in on his day and me on mine while we showered and changed. After dinner tonight is the crew show and tomorrow we will spend

the morning in Baden-Baden and then set sail for Strasbourg. It’s hard to believe, in some ways, that it has already been a week. I am very sore at the end of each day and definitely tuckered out but each new day finds me up and raring to go. May it be as such tomorrow.

November 29: Greffern/Baden-Baden/Strasbourg

The Crew Show last night was a hoot. Many members of the wait staff and galley crew along with a few from the front desk did a variety show hosted by the hotel manager, Gerhardt (whose signature word on all announcements is “Soooooooooooooooooooo…” and the audience was soon imitating it). Four or five acts interspersed by “commercials” for tequila (a series of three skits about how to drink tequila with the audience shouting OLE when tequila was mentioned and TEQUILLA when ole was said, by the restaurant manager and one of the bartenders. Some skits were better than others but all were very funny.

I tried to eat lightly this morning especially since much of the day was in transit. We boarded a bus at 0900 hrs for a ride through the Black Forest (which is much like the Black Hills back home for much of the same reasons—dense trees that are so dark that they reflect black). It was a beautiful drive up through the snow-covered trees—up and up and up. There were many switchbacks and curves. The bus was warm and with so many twists and turns I got a bit nauseous but in less than an hour we descended the mountain into Baden-Baden—described as a town so nice they had to name it twice—known for it’s mineral baths and spas.

We had a nice walking tour with a local guide that included a taste of the local mineral water at the old pump house, a walk through the lobby of the casino (all casinos in Germany are state owned/run0, and a bit of the history of the town.

We had about forty-five minutes on our own so Ed and I took a good hike up about sizty steps to find a medieval church and the Roman baths (neither were open, though)

and it was a beautiful day for a walk. The bus ride back was much faster since we took the mile

and a half tunnel that was built about twenty-five to thirty years ago. The ship set sail shortly after we returned and lunch was served almost immediately. Again, we ate pretty lightly and had the fun experience of going through one of the larger locks while still at lunch. It’s interesting when the wall of a lock is only inches from your window and there is

very little light coming through.The afternoon was sailing to Strasbourg and included more

locks, a cuckoo clock lecture (and sales pitch) and a tour of the ship’s galley.

The cuckoo clock lecture: Some of the clocks (most of them, actually) are the very elaborate Black Forest-style that most people would recognize as a traditional cuckoo clock. However, when I came into the lounge to look at them the first one I saw I fell in love with. I said this to Ed and he chuckled and told the salesman that he was talking to that he had just made a sale. Obviously Ed felt as strongly as I did about it. It is a reproduction of one of the earliest clocks made in the region (c 1640) and very, very simple. It’ll come to us as a kit and should be great fun to put together together.

The galley tour: This was great fun. The galley is about the size of our living room/dining room put together and the bakeshop about the size of our kitchen. Six cooks work as a team, plus two dish washers, to put out three meals a day for up to 140 passengers and about 30 crew members.

We sat around the rest of the afternoon reading and by the time we had finished another marvelous meal I was getting as squirrelly as Shelly when she has not had a walk for a few hours. I knew I would hold Ed back but we both needed the walk and even though Paul was willing to join him he decided to stay back with Cindy to watch the Liars’ Club entertainment on the ship.

November 30: Strasbourg

Waking up with swans at eye level was interesting. Being on the lowest level of the ship puts the bottom of our window right at the waterline. We had breakfast at the usual time followed by the information about our disembarkation (paying off the accounts, tips, transfers to the airport, etc.).

Around 0930 we went out on a canal boat tour for about an hour and a half. It was raining as we stepped off the ship but luckily it stopped before there were things worth taking pictures of. The tour was interesting with a nice recorded commentary.

Paul, Cindy, Ed, and I decided not to go back to the ship for lunch so we had a lot of free time after Robert took us on

a short walk to the Cathedral. There was a service going on (it was Sunday, after all) so we couldn’t appreciate all of the details but it was still very impressive. It was especially nice to hear the choir and soloist in a space with very good acoustics.

From there we wandered through the Christmas Market and over to the Palais Rohan (a very fine example of Baroque architecture that was built in the first half of the 18th century and now houses three museums. We chose the Archeology Museum that had a very interesting exhibit of comparative burial rites over the centuries. The building was interesting to see around the exhibits as well.

After that we just wandered. We went over to the area know as “La Petite France” which had some of the most wonderful half timber houses and old buildings. It was too nice to go into any more museums so we just walked.

Unfortunately, I finally hit a melt-down point. Through a bit of miscommunication, we missed an opportunity to stop at a restaurant to eat and it was just one thing on top of another for me after that. I was hungry, a bit tired, and my hips and back were killing me. Paul & Cindy beat a fast retreat which was smart since they did it before I melted down completely. Ed walked me to the bus meeting place a little earlier than I know he wanted to (we caught the 1630 hrs bus) and he came

back to the ship with me. Once back on board with a bit of food, some more warmth,

and some vicodin, I was civil again. I guess it is not too bad if I did melt down towards the end of the tenth day but I still would have rather not melted down at all.

Settling back with a hot drink or two (have I mentioned how nice it has been to have tea or hot cocoa anytime of the day or night), listen to Wolfgang play the keyboard, and listen to some of the strange conversations around me makes for a pleasant bit of down time as well as a chance to catch up with this log.

The dinner was billed as the “Captain’s Farewell Dinner” which meant appetizers and champagne in the lounge before a dinner of five course plus a special presentation of baked Alaska for dessert with a final thank you for all of the crew. Even though there is one more day to go, so many have to get

up early to catch their flights that this is a nice way to make sure everyone is there to say thank you.

Entertainment in the lounge after dinner was a pair of French musicians, Armand on the accordion and Cecile, a chanteuse. She was very, very good and he was pretty good himself but it was so hard to stay awake. I ended up bringing my book down to keep me awake.

Tomorrow is the last full day and then very early on Tuesday to start the long trek back home.

November 30: Strasbourg (cont.)

December 1: Breisach/Kaysererg/Riquewihr :

*Pout* We have to pack today and since most of the morning is just traveling from Strasbourg to Breisach (where the boat will dock while we are bussed to Kayserberg). We had time for a leisurely breakfast and to go back to our cabin for some time to do some thoughtful packing.

One of the fun things about meals on-board is that there are no assigned seats or tables nor do Cindy & Paul and we feel we have to eat together every meal so we get to meet many new people who have led interesting lives. Whether it’s their careers, families or travels we never seem to run out of conversations. Today was no exception as we had breakfast with a retired civil engineer who once worked on the building of a city of 200,000 in a desert in Saudi Arabia.

Anyway, after breakfast we came down to the cabin to pack and amazingly enough did not need the extra suitcase we had brought with us. It did not take as long as it might have and we were able to get up to the lounge to hang out there for a while. The ship docked in Breisach, a small town in Germany with some of the

old wall left, some battlements, and a church originally built in the 14th century (but was mostly destroyed in WWII and rebuilt by 1956). Ed and I decided to skip lunch and hike up the hill to explore. It was a good hike and very interesting.

We made it back to the ship in time to catch the bus to Kayserberg which turned out to be a neat old town with the remains of a 13th century keep and rebuilt tower up on the hill above the city. The Christmas Market was not open but there were many shops plus a museum in Albert Schweitzer’s boyhood home in his honour but we chose to climb the hill to explore the ruins. We asked Marcus how to get there and his guess was right (even though he admitted he had never been up there). It was a hefty hike but so worth it. The view from the top was great and exploring the wall fun. Ed made it all the way up to the top of the tower but I forgot to give him one of the cameras. The hike down was not too bad since Ed helped me down the steepest steps and over the part that was only rocks. He was very patient with me.

The town itself really did have a lot to look at and we found some wonderful things to eat including tasty cookies and macaroons (a local specialty). We were supposed to have three hours to explore but since the Christmas Market was not open it might have gotten tedious for some people.

Thanks to the bus drivers we got very lucky. After the guides discussed with them the plans for the afternoon and asking

their opinion since they lived in the area it was suggested that we add one more town to the day’s schedule. Marcus and Robert asked if we were willing to change the plans and both busses agreed to make a trip to Riquewihr after an hour and a half in Kayserberg. (Also, thanks to the bus drivers, we took a turn around a roundabout at Colmar, France, which was the home of Frédéric Bartholdi, the creator of the Statue of Liberty and had an exact model of the statue in the roundabout.)

Riquewihr is an incredible city. I would have loved more time to explore the streets and alleyways. It is very old like Kayserberg but without the ruins. There was some fantastic shopping, an open Christmas Market and some of the kewlest back alleys that we had a chance to explore. We did a little shopping but mostly we just kept wandering off the beaten track to explore.

Between the three towns today I certainly got my exercise. I was very tired and sore by the time we got back to the ship and I am sure I napped a bit on the ride back.

We showered, finished packing and went up for the last port talk and farewells. It has been agreed upon by old and new travelers alike that this was one of the best groups of people to travel with. We had no real whiners or know-it-alls or obnoxious-types. I think (or at least I hope) that we may have made a few lasting connections. Saying good-bye was not too easy. Marcus and Robert had gone out

and purchased some little Santa candles for each couple (or single) and gifted them to each of us. One of the passengers had written a poem of the trip and she recited it.

After dinner, we retired to the lounge with many of our fellow travelers to judge the Christmas trees (towards the beginning of the trip every person had been given 1€ to get a decoration for a small tree that was placed in the lounge—one tree for each of the two groups that we were regularly split into—and over the course of the week the trees got decorated quite nicely). Everyone won as judged by the Captain and the Hotel Manager and champagne was passed out to all. Wolfgang performed an incredible rendition of John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and then got up to stand and sing to him as he played “America the Beautiful”, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “God Bless America”. It was his way of saying thank you. (Okay, I will admit that he is really a fantastic performer when he gets away from the elevator music.)

Then came the hard good-byes. Many hugs and email addresses were exchanged. No one wanted to really say good-bye but since some of us have to be around 0330 it had to be. It will be another long day of travel tomorrow but the last eleven days were so worth it. The memories will last a lifetime (with the help of this log).

December 1: Breisach/Kaysererg/Riquewihr :

December 2: Basel/London/Chicago/Madison

Today is the day of disembarkation, early rising, and airports. Many airports.

Even though it is not expect that you be at an airport in most of Europe more than an hour before your flight, they got us up pretty early to have our bags out and waiting for transport by 0345. The kitchen was willing to have a cold breakfast waiting for us as early as 0315 which included the usual cold cereal, fresh & stewed fruit, yogurt, juices, cheeses, breads and sliced meats. The bus to the airport was a bit late, arriving after 0500, but it did not matter since our flight was not leaving until 0700. Marcus made sure we got on the bus and Robert was waiting for us at the airport to make sure we got our boarding passes and got off okay. We saw incredibly little of Basel since it was only fifteen minutes from dock to airport and dark out.

The flight to London Heathrow was on time and uneventful but there was a bit of frustration going through security at that point. Just took a while. Too many people carry too much stuff as carry-ons these days. We then had about three hours between flights. Oddly enough I ran into a co-worker of mine who was on layover between his flights from Italy to Japan—not something that you expect in a foreign country.

The flight was crowded once we got on-board and we ended up in the very last row which actually was nice. Again, the in-flight personal entertainment was nice to keep me occupied on the tip home. Ed slept most of the way but I actually tried to keep myself awake. I wanted to be exhausted when I got home so I could get a full night’s sleep and adjust faster.

We made it through Passport Control and Customs incredibly fast and actually caught the 1530 bus to Madison (after finishing up at Customs at about 1515). We ran into friends from Madison on the bus and had a nice ride back. Angie & Neil picked us up and we were back home, being bowled over by the dogs, by 1900 hrs. It was sad that the trip was over but great to be home.