CRUISING THE RHINE, Part 2: Castles, Churches, Cuckoo Clocks and More, Guest Post by Monique McLay Shore

Strausberg, Germany.

My friend and fellow Grinnellian, Monique McLay Shore, went on a one-week cruise of the Rhine River last May with her mother and sister Deidre. I thank her for sharing her report and excellent photos with The Intrepid Tourist. This post is adapted from Monique’s day by day reports she wrote on Facebook during the trip. It is in two parts—Days 1-4, followed by Days 5-7 a week later.

Speyer.

Day 5:  May 19

Today had a relaxed start as we didn't reach our excursion point until after lunch. But once we arrived in Speyer I had one of my trip highlights - a reunion with one of my dear college friends, Nadia! Meanwhile, Mom and Deidre were touring the town, doing a bit of shopping, and working on their selfie skills. 

Romanesque Cathedral in Speyer.

Speyer is a delightful town with a lovely Romanesque Cathedral. It has a markedly simpler design aesthetic and quite lovely. As with most towns here, there are remnants of ancient city walls and layers of centuries of history.

Day 6:  May 20

Tram in Strausberg, Germany.

Today we explored a few corners of Strausberg, Germany. Because of its location it has actually changed from being French to German and back again many times over the centuries, giving it a solid footing in both cultures. This also makes it a great seat of power for the EU. 

Cathedral, Strausberg.

It has a beautiful cathedral that is also home to a mindboggling astronomical clock. And the area known as La Petite France is right out of a medieval sketchbook. Mom and Deidre went on a more limited tour in the morning and mainly saw the cathedral while I explored Petite France with another group.

Strausberg.

After lunch back on the ship Deidre and I went back to explore some more. I logged more than 20,000 steps as here was no easy transport between the various places. But it was totally worth it.

We were rewarded with a festive German feast for dinner onboard, the most spectacular sunset of the week, some festive cocktails, and then the excitement of moving through the first of several locks that will take us upstream.

Tomorrow looks to be a rainy day visit to the Black Forest region before we disembark for good in the predawn hours on Thursday.

Day 7:  May 21

Breisach.

Today was our last full day on the ship. In addition to beautiful scenery, we also had rain, an exciting bus ride to the mountains that included a detour on the autobahn, and delays at the locks to start and end our days. We had been looking forward to today being restful, with nothing scheduled but the bus ride up the mountain. But then Deidre and I opted to take a quick peak around the quaint village of Breisach,

View of Breisach from the Cathedral.

Deidre thought we should give the cathedral a quick peak.... Of course the cathedral is at the top of this early walled city. So up, up, up we went! The view from the top was fabulous and the cathedral was great. Of course, then we had to come down, down, down. Needless to say, it was not the restful day I had been hoping for! As we ate lunch we could all see the storm clouds rolling in. Just after we boarded the buses the skies opened up.

Rainy day in the Black Forest.

We had a very rainy drive to the Black Forest but you could still see the beauty of the area. Once at the top there was a wonderful cuckoo clock store and a shop filled with beautiful hand-blown glass from area artists. There was also a massive cuckoo clock in the square that we watched strike four. On the ride back, we took a more direct route, only to be stopped by a traffic jam caused by a crash in one of the tunnels on the Autobahn. We then hit a backlog of ships at the locks. We just went through one and we think we have two more before we dock in Basel. I guess we shall see in a few hours if we will really get off at 4:15am as planned.

Sunset in Strausberg.

Home again: My Mom and sister and I had a great time on our Viking River cruise on the Rhine River! 

CRUISING THE RHINE, Part 1: Castles, Churches, Cuckoo Clocks and More, Guest Post by Monique McLay Shore

Windmills of Kinderduik

My friend and fellow Grinnellian, Monique McLay Shore, went on a one-week cruise of the Rhine River last May with her mother and sister Deidre. I thank her for sharing her report and excellent photos with The Intrepid Tourist. This post is adapted from Monique’s day by day reports she wrote on Facebook during the trip. It is in two parts—Days 1-4 this week, followed by Days 5-7 next week.

Viking River Cruise on the Rhine

Day 1: May 15

We arrived in Amsterdam around 8am so had the full day to explore the ship and a bit of the city. Then after an amazing dinner on board, Deidre and I did a sunset canal tour that offered beautiful views as we nibbled on wine and cheese. 

Amsterdam

This morning we awoke to a new view - the windmills if Kinderdijk. Looking forward to exploring them up close today before we cruise further up river.

Day 2: May 16

Day 2 of our mother daughters Viking cruise started with the classic visit to the windmills in Kinderdijk. The boat tour offered stunning views of the UNESCO World Heritage site. We got a tour of the oldest of the mills, including the miller climbing up the blade to demonstrate how they open the sails (wooden shoes and all). 

Climbing the sails of the windmill.

The rest of the day was spent on the ship as we cruised up river to Germany, where we officially entered the Rhine River. We enjoyed some time on the sundeck, then some nice Danish treats and coffee. We have been especially tickled by the variety of animals you see along the sandy shores of the river - cows, sheep, horses and even camels(there's a camel farm!) lying on the beach and wading in the water.

Day 3: May 17

We arrived in Cologne midmorning today. It's a big city with a big cathedral and big crowds. Saturday is peak tourist day and the area around the cathedral was so crowded it made it hard to enjoy the sightseeing. We did, however, enjoy the "only available in Cologne" kolsch beer and some very good schnitzel and sausage. After lunch Deidre headed back to the cathedral and did a tour climbing all the stairs to the top! 

Mom and I opted for a rickshaw ride and lucked out with the most delightful young woman as our driver/guide. When we told her we were absolutely done with the crowds and wanted to see some quiet corners of Cologne, she took us through some side streets to a lovely church with a courtyard garden filled with beautiful roses. She'd stop along the way to share tidbits and stories. She succeeded in transforming our memories of Cologne from bad to delightful.

After dinner there were a couple of incredibly talented local musicians playing classical guitar and violin in the ship lounge.

Day 4: May 18

Today we awoke in the shadow of a castle, wandered the quiet streets of Braubach (extra quiet as all the shops are closed on Sundays), then spent the afternoon sailing through the narrow stretch of the middle Rhine where there is nearly always a castle in sight. It was overcast and cool for much of the time, which made the afternoon sharing of Rudesheim Coffee (with brandy and chocolate) all the more welcome.

The sun finally came out for the last few castles and it was glorious! I loved seeing the quaint and picturesque towns that line the shores and reveled in the thought of camping beneath the walls of a castle (there are tons of campgrounds all along the river with adorable small campers, often with giant "tent" porches).

The other notable thing in this area are the vineyards that cover the steep inclines. This is where the majority of the grapes used for Riesling wine come from, harvested by hand by workers who often have a rope around their waist to keep them from falling! We ended the day with a walk into the small town of Rudesheim, with a giant Ferris Wheel and a river walk lined with some very unique trees.

Tomorrow we'll cruise through the most scenic section of the river with something like 30 castles or castle ruins. The weather looks good for another great day. 

Look for Part 2, Days 5-7, next week.