Cruising Down The Rhein

It is a bit dicey trying to get in to my blog.  Between slow connections and language translations, it is a challenge.  For some reason, even though we are in Germany, the sign-in page came up in Spanish.  But I figured it out and now I'll attempt a little travel log.

I imagine it is pretty obvious that we are in Germany.  We started the trip in SFO and after 19 hours we landed in Basel, Switzerland on Friday.  Basel is a delightful little town that is easy to get around.  The cruise line provided us mobility passes for the tram system and we could go everywhere.  We were able to see the cathedral, the history museum, the music museum and the art museum.  Quite a bit for just a few days.

Charming buildings in Basel, Switzerland

On Sunday, we joined the cruise ship Viking Sun and began to enjoy the pleasures of unpacking and staying in one place.  The next day, Monday, we joined the afternoon excursion to Lucerne, Switzerland.  We had been there 40 years ago in 1972 on our first trip to Europe.  It was fun to remember that trip and our adventure up to Mt. Pilatus.  This time we walked across the "new bridge" because the original actually burned down in 1993 and then was re-built.


The symbol of Lucerne -- The Lion

The next port along the way was Kiehl, Germany which was across the river from Strasbourg, France.  We had a long morning walking the cobblestones of Strasbourg.  In the afternoon, we took another optional trip to the Alsace region and town of Obernei.  We enjoyed wine tasting at a small local winery and then there was more walking along the cobblestones of the town.  I have ancestors on my Mattern side that came from the Alsace-Lorraine region when it was part of Germany in the 1700's.

The cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg has amazing windows

Manheim was our latest port.  We didn't actually tour Manheim but instead went on an excursion to Heidelburg, home to a famous University.  While taking a break for a cup of hot chocolate, we met a young lady from the U.S. who has been studying at the University for two years.  Wouldn't you know?  She was from San Francisco.  There are very old ruins up by the castle but the castle itself dates to the 17th century.  The views are lovely but our pictures would have been better if it hadn't been so cloudy.

Happy together traveling in Germany!

And that is it for now since it took me forever to get these four pictures uploaded. Connections and time may not allow for another posting from Europe.  But in this age of the internet how could I not try for at least one.