Day 4 Part 2 - Middle Rhine, Rudesheim

Taken in the park.  Wine cask is to mark an important industry in this area.

Waiting for us at the dock was the Vallendar.  It is nothing special -- one large room on the first deck with very large windows, lots of tables and chairs and the bar.  Upstairs was an open deck with some shade where you could also sit. 

It was planned out so that we had our meal -- wiener schnitzel, a few French Fries, frozen mixed vegetables, and a prepared frozen sundae with some whip cream and a drop of chocolate on top (certainly nothing near to the standards we have become accustomed to) -- before we reached the Middle Rhine.  I did have a nice chicken breast with herbed butter, the fries were hot and the sundae good so I didn't really complain about the food.  I figure they had less than a week to arrange the required 2 boats for the people changing ships so at least we got to see everything from the water.

The Middle Rhine is the area that was certainly the most interesting and beautiful area and familiar to most people.  The castle at Backarat is the one photographed from a helicopter and used in the Viking ads.  Must admit that seeing 24 castles in a short period of time meant that by the end of it most people were very blasé about them.  Know I was reaching that stage. 

Was surprised to learn that many of them are now private properties and several made into exclusive hotels.  Beside one castle there is a gravel pit that was given to the Netherlands and there are continually ships travelling between the two stops.  Andrea has a good picture of that but I stayed inside so many of my pictures have the reflections in the glass.  She used her iPad and camera so maybe one day we will get all the "good" pictures together.

But there are many towns along the river and many have their own claim to fame -- mostly for the wine they produce.  Most of the slopes are over 40 degrees so all the work must be done by hand.

There is something in this rock that makes it glint like gold but they have been unable to discover why.  Recently some teenagers had to be taken down from the rocks after an expedition to find the gold.

Something to also be noted is that Germany has marked every kilometer of the river starting from its start.  Each 100 meter has it's own sign and there is another for the 500 meter mark.  Makes it easy when taking pictures to get one of the mile markers and you can tell where it was taken.

How would you like to go camping here?  Those are wine grape fields in the background.

 

 

The sign above is while approaching the rock outcropping that has inspired so many tales.  The river does take a sharp turn at this point and is at it's narrowest so I can imagine that a moments inattention could lead to disaster.  No need for an excuse of a woman singing.

An indication of how sharp the turn is and the signals used to keep the boats in the proper channels.  Of course, the signals are all automated now and run by a third of those previously required.



A nice part of the trip was that Andrea's husband was working midnights so at quiet times he was following us on Google and advising her as to what was coming up.  Like to avoid the castle in the middle of the river.    (Picture was taken once we were safely passed.)  Made him a real part of the trip and considering all the work he put into it I was glad he had the chances to connect.  Text messages went through fine but everything else was non-existent.  Sorry I hadn't brought my own phone but would have been just one more thing to keep track of and keep charged. 

Nice finish to the trip was that the Vallendar tied up right beside the Idi and we just had to walk the gangway.  Because Nick and Sondre are normally on that ship they had co-workers holding the letters of "Welcome Home" while standing on the higher level.  We were greeted by the Captain and hot towels and grape juice so it felt very nice to be there.  Hope the other passengers did as well moving to the Kavsir.

Another time of unpacking and settling in before going down for supper.  On this boat we don't get the same choices as on the Kavsir although the food was still to a very high standard.  It was mostly served from a buffet with several different types of bratwurst and traditional dishes.

(Feel like I am missing so many things but I don't have my notes handy and once home couldn't easily transfer from one computer to the other.)

In the evening people could have had supper in the town of Rudesheim or go into town later to walk around.  There was also a glass blowing demonstration at 9 with samples to buy after but we have had enough so had a fairly early night.  The ship left dock at midnight.

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Day 4 Part 1 - Koblenz May 12

Busy, busy day!

Stress day for Program Director Nick, Conceige Sondre, the staff of two ships and Viking.

High water last week meant that ships weren't getting to the right docks in time, bottlenecks were being created by barges that had been delayed and got further delayed going through the locks, some captains were not cooperating and, in short, everything that could go wrong sort of did.  A lot of adjustments and changes had to be done in a very short time and costs add up.

We had to have our belongings outside the cabin door by 8 a.m. although they didn't take them until after we left.  Had breakfast -- omelet, bacon, cheese, pineapple juice -- and then we left the Kvasir at 9:00 if we were going to Marksburg Castle (which Andrea did) or 9:15 is we were going to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress overlooking Koblenz (for me, any guesses why?  If in doubt check out the link for the Castle).  The fortress is Europe's second largest preserved fortress.  It was constructed between 1817 and 1829 in its present-day design.  The origin dates back to the first century AD.

The other group had a walk to the buses that took them to the castle.  Our group had taxis waiting to take us over about 10 blocks to the end of a gondola which crosses the Rhine.  The ship crew had found out only about 20 mins. before the ship docked that we were not docking where expected and they had to arrange the cars to get us to the required location.




Playmobile was having an exhibition at the Fortress so several life size figures were standing at the gondola station and we also saw several more inside the fort.

 

The gondola station is near the huge statue of Kaiser Wilhelm 1 at the junction of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers.  In 2002 it became a UNESCO World Culture Heritage Site and is fringed by the flags of the German states, the European flag and the flag of the U.S. which is dedicated to the victims of 9/11.

Each gondola car was quite big, had multiple windows and took us over the Rhine to the heights across the river.  I quite enjoyed it.  Certainly was something different.

We were met at the top station by our guide dressed as a 17th Century gentleman who was really a spy trying to find out information about the fortress.  Took a few minutes to catch on to his persona but it wasn't too bad.  Very quiet spoken so sometimes hard to catch all his words.

We walked across a large field leading to the gates. 

Apparently there are numerous tunnels under the grounds.  The builders had certainly thought of the possibilities of attack and used several different sized windows and wall angles, open spaces, nooks and crannies, moats and gates to do all they could for the defense of the area. 

The bricks here were designed to minimize the effect of any direct hit and the windows angled to make it harder to get a shot in and to provide a specialized angle for the shooter inside.



The corner here is again designed to minimize the damage from anything shot at it.











It was very surprising how large the walls and actual fortress were once you entered it further. 

 

This was the square overlooking the rivers.  A large building just shows to the left and there is a smaller building just out of the picture on the right that is now used as a café.  From here you can get a marvelous view.

Can you pick out Kaiser Wilhelm 1 statute just to the left of that white area in the center of the picture?  And notice the gondola cars coming across.  Two are showing.

I was a bit sorry we were not able to visit the city but maybe another times.

At the end of the tour and a visit to the souvenir store, we boarded our buses to drive up to a dock just below Marksburg Castle in Braubach where a steamboat was waiting for us and the other groups for the next step of our day.

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Day 3 - Cologne, May 11

Along the river we saw many other tourist boats and I took great interest in the styles and where they were from.  This is one I spotted early in the morning. 

And a company headquarters that was built incorporating an old building.  Thought it a very good use of the old and the new.  Certainly better than tearing down the old.

 Main reason for going to Cologne -- for the cathedral.  A very imposing building standing in a very impressive square with some very interesting buildings around.  Naturally, a service was going on when we got there but Andrea and I slipped in later when the main tour was over and we had the afternoon as free time. 

 This shows some of the many different coloured stones that are in the building.  Some have been here for centuries, some have been used to repair sections and some are new areas that have needed replacement and/or restoration.  There has been a lot of discussion about the colouring but the agreement is that after a few years they will probably all age to the dark colour.

 There are ongoing repairs and restorations and always some area of the building will have scaffolding around it.  This may be the only job that some workers will ever have in their lifetime.

 A building on one side of the square.

 

The Romano-Germanic Museum is at the right rear of the cathedral.  In the lower left corner is a room which was fully excavated after the war.  At the time of the war a bomb shelter stood on the spot.  This was removed and when they dug deeper they found a tile floor that had been the dining room for some wealthy Roman.  The G8 leaders had dinner there once using a glass table so they could appreciate the floor. 

 The hygiene habits in the 1700s certainly did not compare with those of today so eau de cologne was developed with a very nice herbal scent to make people smell nice.  The first and a great favorite to this day was developed here by a Mr. Farina in 1709.  He is acknowledged here at his original headquarters and at other places in the city.

The town hall which was important to us as it had readily available washrooms.  Beside it they were doing a large excavation.

 The town hall has many statues of important people of that time including Mr. Farina. Some women are also shown.

 Since the houses are so narrow they are built with this piece sticking out the front so they can attach ropes and haul the furniture up and down the building.  Quite efficient and not bad looking.

After the tour we could go back to the ship for lunch and then come back in for a free afternoon but Andrea and I decided to start our free time while in town.  It was a lovely warm day so lunch outside and a bit of a wander seemed like the perfect plan. 

The area around the cathedral is a bicycle and pedestrian only area so quite pleasant to wander and shop.

While Andrea was shopping I stood in the pedestrian only square that started a long area for shopping.  As I stood there these were my views.  First is taken to my left -- a clothing store where she was and right beside it a bakery that also made sandwiches.



Straight ahead from the centre area was this cafe area and shops and a continuation of the pedestrian only shopping area.

 To my right was this cafe where we ended up eating.

 Behind me was this shop and I am sure that just from only the blue sign you can tell what they sold.

 My lunch and it was absolutely as good as it looked.  Andrea was also impressed with hers.  Mine was bratwurst, mashed potatoes and creamed cabbage while she had beef stew on noodles.

 As we walked towards our ship that was docked just past the bridge this was the paved area alongside the river for people to enjoy the area.  The building is a stop for the Koln-Dusseldorf ferry ships that are quite large and travel that section of the river on a regular basis.

 Looking back towards the main part of the city, this is the view.  How nice to see that some people in government can appreciate the natural beauty around them and plan so that everyone can enjoy it.  As you can see it was very clear and nice out today.  Got up to about 28c so many were enjoying the outdoors even though this was taken in the mid-afternoon.

 And this is who was waiting for us when we got back to the room.  I thought he was delightful!

 Looking back from our window I spotted this train bridge going into the city.  Enjoyed the contrast of the means of transportation.

Dinner was a seasonal dinner so lots of spargel which is white asparagus.  It is grown so the sun never reaches it, has a thick skin that must be peeled before cooking and a milder taste than the green asparagus.  We saw the dirt mounds in many many fields as we traveled on the buses and I just love it.  Had a soup, salad and entree featuring it tonight and they were all delicious.  Have been having a very nice Spanish server and our wine steward is Jason who just loves finding a red wine that he hopes Andrea will like.

Tonight there is a "pub crawl trough Cologne's beautiful illuminated alleys, sampling the city's famous Kolsch beer".  An event that we passed on.

Only disappointment for today was that there is a museum here with a lot of paintings we wanted to see and there is also a chocolate museum with a 10' high chocolate fountain.  All museums are closed on Monday.  Great excuse to come back another time.

Busy day tomorrow as we are changing ships to an excursion boat for the trip through the middle Rhine area where all the castles are and to the Idi which was to have been our boat for the full trip.  Have to pack and get the suitcases out early in the morning. 

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Day 1

Had a very good sleep once I finished winding the hank I had started.  I woke up a few minutes late but well before my "taxi" arrived.  We had a very nice breakfast at "Harry's".  New building so very clean, service was quick, food was good and very reasonably priced.

Had 3 pairs of sunglasses sitting out at home and remembered while eating that I hadn't picked any of them to bring.  Shopper's Drug is beside the restaurant so stopped and got a pair.  If that is all I forgot then I am doing well.

Nice trip to airport getting there just around 2:30.  One real slow down where grass was burning beside the roadway and the smoke was making visibility impossible.  And real busy once past Kitchener.  Sure glad I wasn't driving!

Got to airport, washroom stop and then went to check in.  Can't load the luggage as there are several flights before ours.

Sat down and really read the Boarding Pass.  The check-in time worked out to be what I thought was the actual flight time.  I have heard of being early but this was ridiculous!

Let Andrea know and they were just approaching the airport so they picked me up and we went to lunch.  Had chicken Slovakia at a place called Zeta on Airport Road.  Two orders feed three of us and someone gets a snack later.  Then came home to their house in Brampton for a few hours.  Will head back to the airport in a few hours.  Flight leaves actually at 11 so will be back by 7:30.  Fun day!

But got to see the youngest granddaughter and Andrea got to read some of the travel info.

 

 

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