Be forewarned-this will be a VERY long blog with many pictures so be prepared to bookmark and read it in several sessions!!
Our Rhine River cruise was scheduled in December, 2012, so we had many months to look forward to it! We had not seen Paul & Sharon and Joe & Rose since late last summer, so we were so excited for the trip to begin!!
Saturday, May 10, 2014
We left the house quite early, at around 8AM, since we were leaving Marina and Skipper at a kennel out at the very end of Hilton Head Island. We had discovered Evergreen Pet resort last year and toured it, and were very impressed, not the least because the manager has a Welsh Terrier himself! The kids had a "deluxe" suite which included a color TV, several play times a day, a leash walk each day, and a massage and brushing before they turned in at night! We arrived at the Savannah airport at 10:30AM and were checked in very quickly. Our flight to Atlanta left at 1:30PM and we had time to have a good late lunch (and a couple of drinks) before we boarded our flight for Zurich. Neither of us is very good at sleeping on planes, so we opted for Economy Comfort seats which were quite good and we watched movies all night!
Sunday, May 10, 2014
We arrived in Zurich at 8AM and were at our hotel, the Hotel Continental, by a little after 9. Fortunately we were first in line to check in, so had a room available for a much needed shower. While we were out for a little walk, most of our traveling companions were waiting for a room, and one of the ladies fell in the lobby restroom and had to be taken to the hospital. Fortunately she only bruised her hip and arm and although she spent the first few days of the cruise in a wheelchair and the next few with a crutch, by the end of the trip she was just fine. Not so the man who tripped over his bedspread and broke his hip. He had surgery in Zurich and was flown home. Bad start! P&S and J&R arrived about noon and we immediately set out to find a place for lunch. We found a great restaurant that had LOTS of beer but very limited English so we managed our way through soup and beer. As an aside, we were interested to discover that the Swiss speak less English overall than most of the European countries we have been to, perhaps because they have to learn so many languages just to deal with their own country-depending upon what part of Switzerland you visit, they may speak German, French, Italian or Romansch, all official languages! Zurich is known as an international financial capital, although the local stock exchange was only founded in 1877. But the city began over 2000 years ago, established on theLimmat River by the Romans. The train station is HUGE and there are over 1500 trains a day running through. There is also an extensive trolley system, which we learned to dodge when crossing the streets! After lunch, we returned to the hotel for quick naps before setting out again for dinner at Alexi's Bar and Grill, a very small but excellent restaurant where the guys had ribs abd we girls had weinerschnitzel. Back to the htoel for drinks and then we turned in at around 10, having acclimated ourselves to the local time!
This is a map of our trip, starting with 2 days in Zurich, then 2 days in Lucerne, before boarding our ship in Basel for the trip to Amsterdam.
A joyous reunion with our friends!!
The very first beers of the trip!
The River Limmat
This is the Grossmunster, the "mother church of the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland". It was built between 100 and 1250, and the twin towers were built in the 15th century, capped by 18th century domes.
I caught sight of this interesting patio sculpture down a narrow street. Must look for one here!
The water taxi is a popular way to get around Zurich.
Very interesting narrow streets
Of course clocks are very important in Switzerland! Sharon and I were looking at the Swatch store but found they were more expensive than Amazon!!
This is the largest clock face in all of Europe, measuring nearly 30 feet in diameter!!
This is an old Roman tomb.
There are many beautiful paintings on the buildings.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Breakfast was quite confusing, as the hotel had passengers from 2 different trips all wnating breakfast at 8AM!! It worked out though and after we ate, we all boarded a bus for a narrated tour through Zurich. This was followed by a walking tour, and then we stayed in Old Town to find a placefor lunch. The concierge and tour guide had both suggested a huge but local retsaurant so we found our way there and enjoyed a lunch of sausage and beer! We walked back to the hotel and while Joe and Rose had a little rest time, Sharon and Paul and Oliver and I went back out walking-ALL OVER the city-before finally finding a place for-what else-BEER! We went back to pick up J&R and found a nice Italina restuarant-Tre Cucina-for dinner.
This funicular takes students up the steep hill to the University.
This cow was sleeping in the courtyard at the Hotel Continental!
There are storks all over this area!
This beautifully carved door was just on a regular home!
This structure that looks like a rusty old crane is actually an "Art Installation". Our guide was very careful not to let us know TOO much how she disliked it. The city spent a fortune bringing it here for a 9 month stay.
Sharon is walking over an ancient Roman bath that was discovered during some construction work.
This fountain was a tribute to local women, who dressed up as men and armed with brooms, prevented an invasion!
This is the City Hall. The red paint was just put there during a union protest (no comment). Our guide said they do it every year and it will be cleaned off shortly.
Our lunch restaurant
Beers so big it takes two hands!
Learning to cross the trolley tracks!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
We had breakfast (much easier than yesterday) and then boarded our bus in pouring rain and left for Lucerne. The scenery was lovely and we passed many lakes and small towns before arriving at a dock on Lake Lucerne. Fortunately the sun came out and we took a beautiful 1 hour boat ride to Lucerne. This was such a special touch by AmaWaterways, as they could just have taken us all the way by bus (which is how our luggage went). We had beautiful views of the mountains and of the amazing city of Lucerne. We had drinks at the Radisson Blu, where we were staying for 2 nights, and then went out for dinner at Chimney's Steakhouse at the otel Hirschen. We were all absolutely shocked by how expensive everything is in Switzerland!! Back to the hotel for bed.
These were taken from our bus to the lake. A word about the European buses-they are clean and very comfortable. The aisle seats have little slides on them so that after everyone is seated, you can slide your seat towaards the aisle, giving everyone more room!!
We stopped at a small town on our way to the lake for refreshments
This is edelweiss!!
The line for the bathroom, which was THE most modern device we have ever seen! Wish I had taken my camera in with me.
Views from our boat on Lake Lucerne. You can see that it was quite chilly!
Approaching Lucerne
The old covered bridge in Lucerne, as we searched for a place for dinner.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
We were up and had breakfast before joing our guide Rebecca in the POURING rain for a walking tour of Lucerne. Lucerne sits on the shores of Vierwaldstattersee (Lake of the Four Forest Cantons). William Tell stood up to the Hapsburgs here and was forced to shoot an apple off of his son's head. The covered bridge is one of the oldest in Europe although much of it was rebuilt after a fire in 1993. The eight sided stone tower was used as a prison but now is rented out for events. After our wet walk, we stopped in the train station for coffee before walking back to the hotel. We walked back to Old Town and found the Mr. Pickwick Pub, where we had hamburgers for lunch. This hotel and pub was quite unique. You order your beer and food, AND check in for the hotel at the bar. The accommodations are interesting-for 70 Swiss francs, you can get a single bed. For 110, you can get two beds but they are lined up head to foot! And for a whopping 150, you can actually get two beds side by side!! The sun came out and we walked up the hill to the Museggmauer. This wall, with nine towers, was built around 600 years ago as protection and is one of the best=preserved fortifications in Europe. We climbed one of the towers and saw more rain coming-sure enough, our walk back to town was wet! We had drinks in the hotel bar and then went to dinner at Da Ernesto. The sun came out and we had breathtaking views of the mountains but had neglected to bring our cameras!! After a lovely walk back to the hotel, we all turned in.
Poor wet Rebecca!
Beautiful paintings on the buildings. The pictures depicted the profession of the owner-baker, silk merchant, etc.
We saw dozens of the more than 1400 fountains.
Beautiful pictures from the Museggmauer
Joe and Oliver and I climbed one of the towers
The clock tower
In front of the Kapellbrucke
Ready for dinner
Joe and Oliver have a contest for who can make the most beer rings! Oliver is leading but Joe is practicing a lot!!
Thank goodness Sharon brought her camera tonight!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
After breakfast, we boarded a bus to the Lion of Lucerne monument. Mark Twain called this the "saddest statue ever". It was erected in memory of the Swiss Guards who died defending the Tuileries in Paris in 1792. Then we went on to Basel. Along the way we stopped at a rest area, where you had to pay 1 CF to use the bathroom but then could use your receipt to buy candy!! Upon our arrival in Basel, we took a bus tour of this big, modern university city. It rained on and off but mostly wewere dry. Affter our bus tour, we took a walking tour and while standing at a corner, with the streets still wet from the rain, a lady crashed her bike and went down hard. Fortunately, we had a Canadian doctor in our tour group and she quickly went to help and diagnosed a broken collarbone or dislocated shoulder. We were amazed at the patience of the Swiss drivers-they could not get around her as she lay in the street, and they just sat quietly and waied for the ambulance. A woman stopped her car and got a blanket to cover the poor woman. The doctor felt that she would be fine. We had lunch in a nice little restaurant where we finally tried rosti, a potato dish that is very traditional to this area. After our walking tour, we got back on the bus for a stop at Three Corners, a place where you could see France, Switzerland and Germany. Then we were taken to our ship, the AmaCello. We unpacked-I couldn't wait, after 4 nights in hotels-and went to the welcome cocktail party and safety drill and met the crew. We met the on-baord piano player, Dimo from Bulgaria, and we quickly became his loyal audience. We talked about my piano lessons and he asked what songs I am working on. I told him Love Story and Never on Sunday and from then on, he played those songs almost every time he saw me!! that night we had dinner in Erlebnis Chef's Table Restaurant. This is a very small (24 seat) venue offering a special tasting menu with beautiful service and ambiance. A word about the food on board--in a word, it is fantastic!! AmaWaterways is the only river cruise line to be invited to join the Confrerie De La Chaine De Rotisseurs, which is the world's oldest gastronomic society. It was founded in 1950 in Paris to honor traditons of the Royal Guild of Goose Roasters, originally chartered in the 13th century. Ama prides itself on it's excellent cuisine and rightfully so-we were NEVER disappointed! Our cabins were very nice and the bathrooms, while a bit smaller than on the AmaCerto, were just beautifulyl appointed. There was tons of storage space so we never felt crowded. After dinner, we returned to the lounge for dancing and more dancing!! Oliver proved to be very popular, as he is one of the few guys who really LIKES to dance! He was much in demand with our fellow passengers, most of whom were American or Canadian.
The very beautiful but sad dying lion.
I found this wonderful cow at our rest stop!
A view of Basel, which is Switzerland's third largest city.
This little ferryboatgoes back and forth, propelled only by the current
A bustling city
Mechanical fountain, built in 1977
The beautiful cathedral, with St. George slaying the dragon (with what appears to be a stalk of bamboo!)
This metal scupture was supposed to be in the center of town by the river, but after the pharmaceutical company that donated it had a chemical spill into the river, it was moved to the an inconspicuous spot at the cathedral.
The Last Supper
Lunch-and beer!! This was potatoes, apples and cheese.
Sausage and potatoes
Beer rings!!
Farmer's Market at the City Hall
Three corners-France, Swizerland and Germany
And finally our ship!!! Captain Jan.
Peter, our hotel manager.
Dimo our piano player!
Our safety briefing
The beautiful Erlebnis Chef's Table Restaurant
The very handsome Danielo, our waiter, omelet cooker at breakfast and ice cream scooper at lunch. He is a former professional soccer player but was injured and this was his first cruise.
Peter checking on our meal. He is German but has a wicked sense of humor and we enjoyed him so much.
Our chef, who's name I can't recall but is Greek
Our bed bunny tonight
Friday, May 16, 2014
We sailed from Basel at 5AM. Breakfast was just excellent, as all the meals were. We had a presentation by Frederico, our cruise manager, before lunch. Then we docked in Breisach and boarded a bus for Freitag, basically a big city with a few old buildings near the Black Forest. The weather was beautiful and while this was our least favorite of all our stops, we did enjoy seeing the cathedral once back in Breisach. We walked back to the ship from the cathedral, ready for coctails, dinner and music. After dinner, we were entertained by a yooung lady singer who was just so-so. Kind of a lounge singer!! Joe and Rose were a little sleepy today, as they had tripped the light fantastic til the wee hours last night!!!
A stroll around deck
Very lovely countryside on the road to Freitag
The color of these buildings was interesting. If they were rebuilt after the war, they had to be painted red. Our guides were delicate when discussing the destruction done during WWII. I am sure many Americans are not very tactful-in fact we heard one man tell a Swiss guide that "we won-you lost". Apparenty he is unaware that the Swiss have been neutral in every war.
These tiles were in the street
Back in Breisach, we visited the cathedral, faous for it's art treasures, including the carved wooden high altar (1526) and Baldung Grien's frescoes of the Resurrection and the Last Judgment (1450-1491). It affords beautiful views of the surrounding area. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside.
Walking back to the ship-ours is the blue one. We were rafted off one of the Arosa ships.
We saw millions of swans-this one sitting on her nest
Saturday, May 17, 2014
The ship left Breisach at 1AM, sailing fro Strasbourg, France. We arrived after breakfast and took both a bus and walking tour. Strasbourg is a beautiful town and the entire town center has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the seat of several European institutions such as the Council of Europe and the Eurocorps as well as the European Parliament. After our tours, we went back to the ship for lunch. There was a cocktail party this evening for past guests of AmaWaterways-there were surprisingly (or maybe not) quite a few of us, some back for their third cruise. There was a special dinner that night and much dancing, til after midnight!!
Sailing in France.
our happy Captain!
Ready to lock through
Nearing Strasbourg
Many nesting storks on the way to Strasbourg
The Council of Europe building
Classic French buildings
Beautiful downtown Strasbourg. This canal has a lock in it and a very small swinging bridge.
The beautiful Cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg
The famous astronomical clock.
A quick stop for beer and wine
A flight over the city
Not really-it was painted on the floor
A carousel in the square
A statue commemorating Gutenberg. I didn't think the Declaration of Independence was printed-thought it was handwritten!
After dinner dancing
Mida from Cuba and her husband Allan from UK
Sunday, May 18, 2014
At 5AM the ship set sail for Speyer, Germany. We slept a bit later, til 8AM. Oliver went to breakfast while I showered and then we had a quiet morning sailing, with a presentation by Frederico. The Rhine is MUCH busier than the Danube, with barges, pleasure boats, river boats and polizei boats. we passed several nuclear power plants. Around noon we docked in Speyer, in front of a lovely park and biergartens. It is such a beautiful day and there are people walking everywhere. Speyer is one of Germany's oldest towns, founded by the Romans. In 1024, an emperor from the Speyer district was elected King of Germany and the construction of the cathedral was begun in 1061 but only completed in 1111. It was the largest church of it's time and becamse the burial place for eight German emperors and kings. The Speyer Cathedral remains the largest Romanesque church to this day. After luunch, we boarded a bus for Heidelberg, which is about an hour away. Situated on the banks of the Neckar River, it is dominated by the ruins of a huge castle and is known for it's university, which is the oldest in Germany, founded in 1386. The Old Stone Bridge is one of the highlights of Heidelberg. Only one 16th century house survives the ravages of King Louis XIV's French troops. Heidelberg was spared bombings in 1845 thanks to a particular American affinity for it. The university was used as headquarters for the US Army at the end of the war.
Sailing to Speyer
In a lock
The castle ruins in Heidelberg
The biggest wine cask in the world!!
Not the biggest-but big!
The Old Stone Bridge
Rubbing this monkey means good luck
At the Vetter brewery
Waiting for the bus
Speyer has an amazing transportation museum,
A beautiful evening on board
We were entertained by a duo-he from Detroit and she from Europe!
Dimo's wife Barbara, from Vancouver, Canada. They met when she was a passenger and she never went home!
Monday, May 19, 2014 (Our Captain's birthday)
We left for Rudesheim at 2AM and arrived during breakfast, to amazing weather. Rudesheim is famous for Reisling wine, Siegfried's Musical Cabinet Museum and Rudesheimer coffee, which has brandy in it. very tasty. There are only 7000 citizens but they get 3,000,000 visitors a year!! A small train picked us up at the ship and took us into town. There we took a cable car ride up over the vineyrads to the Niederwald-Denkmal--the Germania monument, which is a 35 foot statue of a German lady, erected in 1883 to celebrate the unification of Germany after the defeat of France in the war of 1870-71. we came back down in the cable car and then had a wine tasting tour through a vineyard. We were interested to learn that the vineyards are all independently owned. After the tour we strolled back to the ship for lunch. The afternoon was the highlight of the tour. We cruised through the beautiful Rhine River Gorge. The Rhine is the most important waterway in Europe, flowing from Switzerland to the North Sea. The middle part-where the Gorge is- has dozens of old castles, many built in the 12th century. Every castle owner could demand custom money from whoever passed, whether by land or sea. No other river in the world has a greater consentration of castles. many of the castles were destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. Some have been restored and are restaurants, hotels and even youth hostels. We also passed the famous Lorelei Rock which is in the narrowest and deepest part of the river. After we passed through the Gorge, we went for coctails and dinner. Oliver took his chocolate false teeth with him-VERY realistic looking-and we had great fun with them! Almost every member of the crew came to have a joke with us. We docked in Koblenz and Frederico took us for an after dinner stroll through town before we were entertained by La Strada. They were wonderful. This is the same company, although a different group, that entertained us on our Danube cruise.
Boarding the cable car
Germania monument
Vineyards and our tour guide for the wine tasting. The workers are weeding.
A tiny littleg grape vine and our guide showing how high it will be by the end of the season.
A helicopter spraying the grapes
Leaving Rudesheimer
Going through the Gorge. Some of us were more interested than others!!
This was a toll booth owned by one of the castle owners.
A small "starter" castle
Lorelei Rock and statue
These castles were owned by two brothers who were both in loce with the same girl. They built a wall between the castles so they wouldn't have to see each other.
An evening walk through Koblenz
Frederico, our cruise manager
A little taste of home???
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Oliver's birthday!!! We left Koblenz at 6:45 AM. We were docked on the Mosele River but we rejoined the Rhine and sailed for Cologne. We had breakfast followed by a debarkation briefing and then docking. After lunch we took a tour of Cologne, the capital of Rhineland and one of the oldest cities in Germany. The great symbol is the cathedral, the Dom. It was one of the few buildings standing after WWII. We had a very interesting discussion of WWII and the buidlings which were destroyed. The first Christian church was built in the 4th century and in 1248 it was replaced by a cathedral. Work went on for 300 years before funds ran out and the steeple was not built. After another 300 years, work was resumed and it was completed in 1880. The richest treeasure is the Shrine of The Three Kings behind the high altar. The bones of the Magi were supposedly brought here by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Coonstantine (and the saint for whom our church here is named!!). Cologne is also known for the invention of.......wait for it........cologne!!! After the tour, we stopped at the Kolsch Brewery for beer and latke. We walked back to the ship and had a beer before getting dressed for the Captain's cocktail reception and dinner. Oliver had told me he wanted NO fuss for his birhtday but after dinner, out came the sparklers and cake! I have no idea who arranged this but suspect our Food Manager. who's birhtday it also was!!! (32). After dinner dancing til midnight.
Leaving Koblenz. the Mosele River behind us and rejoining the Rhine.
The three white panels are from the Berlin Wall
Appproaching Cologne
Docking in Colgne, where we were rafted
The two Captains appeared calm.
Disembarking in Colgne, with Frederico
Our tour guide at the site of the Jewish Quarter, discovered during construction
The little guy on the building is called a gutterschitter-no explanation needed!
The cathedral
Not sure what they were looking at but it must have been interesting!
This shows all the people who have bought cologne -----in Cologne!!
Apparently this is how the locals have fun
Kolsch Brewery
At the Captain's cocktail party
The farewell dinner
Joe needed a little help eating as he was not feeling well.
the birthday boy
two birthday boys
Our favorite waiters
Beautiful desserts!
End of a perfect day
The morning after the night before!
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
We had breakfast while sailing on the canal to Amsterdam. Joe was still not feeling too well. We arrived in Amsterdam before lunch and shortly after we ate, we left for a canal tour, followed by a short bus tour. Amsterdam is a very sttrange city, with a real mix of cultures. The most notable thing about it, besides the ubiquitous canals, are the thousands and thousands of bicycles-EVERYWHERE!! The population is 800,000 and the guide told us there are almost 700,000 bikes! We had to really be careful because they go so fast and they will run you down without even pausing! After our tours, we walked to the Red Light District and then back to the ship---sort of. we found the waterfront but could not find our ship!! Finally the guys walked out on a very long pier and discovered it-we were totally going the wrong way! Finally back on board, cocktails never tasted so good!!! We finished packing up, had dinner and then just a few more dances with Dimo.
While sailing the canal, we saw several windmills
The canal is beautiful
These boats were being towed along the canal
Approaching Amsterdam
This little boat picks up litter
On the canal tour boat
People actually live on these boats-they can cost as much as $300,000EU
I think this is pointing towards Wisconsin!
I can't even imagine boating here!
These little boats are paddle boats. I don't know how you keep from getting lost!!
This barge was just for bikes!!
The Royal Palace-except they don't live here!
Oliver loved this little car!
FINALLY we found the AmaCello!!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
After a 4:30AM wakeup call, a quick breakfast and some last packing, we were on the bus at 6AM and at the airport shortly thereafter. Our 9 hour flight to Atlanta went well, though not quickly, we cleared immigration and customs at Atlanta's brand new international terminal and then headed on to Savannah. Picked up our dogs and were home at 7PM--midnight Amsterdam time!!
We had a wonderful time! We enjoyed the sights, sounds and tastes of new places and most of all, spending such a fantastic time with our dear friends. hope to do it again soon!!!! If you made it through this entire blog, thanks so much for sharing our trip with us!!