A New Life a New Adventure

Our Trip Map

August 10

Ok, it’s 9:45 pm.  I am exhausted so short tonight.  Our day started at 6 am.  Transfer from Zermatt to Geneva.  Start on a short walk, then train, then bus.  Part way through we stopped at a vineyard for a lunch and 4 glasses of wine to sample, but they were very generous with their pours. 

Back on the bus and off to the United Nations in Geneva. Most of us napped. 

Huge complex and a 1-hour tour.  Quite impressive.  Get this if they are not in session the air-conditioning is not turned on, so the regular employees just have to make due.  Not such a nice employer in my opinion.  So anyway not much to report but sitting at the pool at the hotel Ray summed it up. “Here we are sitting at the pool of a 5-star International Hotel in Geneva Switzerland, just around the corner from the United Nations complex.  Who would have thought it?

So at this point all I can think is just one more day til we can come back to the good old USA.  I have had enough of Europe with no air-conditioning, or air-conditioning set on 85 so you still sweat. Plus 40.00 for a hamburger. 20.00 for a glass of wine.  USA here I come. 

Tomorrow we boat ride on Lake Geneva and just come back and lay at the pool.  We leave the hotel on Sunday at 4:00 am to start home. So this is probably my last post from Switzerland.

A zillion photos to go through and many memories to record other than the few I shared with you.  See you in a couple days,B

August 9, 2018

Boy do I have a retraction to make? This place sort of lies in their ads.  Last night on arrival we did see just a few electric vehicles, but this morning they were everywhere.  May not be gasoline cars but lots of electric vehicles that have no speed limit and seem to think tourists are just in the way.

So that said let me start the new day.  Our good morning view, out the window, as the sun began to shine on the mountain top.  Nice to

watch the sun creep down the mountain.  

The off to breakfast and meet up with Nico our guide to go to a Zermatt high point that is not a mountain.  You have heard about the running of the bulls in Spain, right?  Well, Zermatt has the running of the goats.  So cute!  The come "running" down the main street and everyone gets out of their way.  Making noise and bells clanging.  It has to be a good day when it begins with this fun.

Next stop the cog railway to go up to see the reason everyone comes here, The Matterhorn.  We sort of got an earlier photo from the top of main street that is just about picture perfect.  This is the west facing side which holds more ice and snow.  There nare so many stories about not seeing it because of the clouds so we all felt blessed with this glorious day.

Going up the cog railroad for 40 minutes, just getting higher and higher, the vistas were incredible.  I could bore you with photos now, but I’ll wait until I get home.  Just more ravines, snow covered glaciers and houses.  Here are a couple photos from 10,000 ft. The helicopter was raising from the glacier after depositing people there to walk around.

 We already walked on prettier glaciers in Alaska so no interest here. 

Time to pack up suitcases again for another move.  This time we are headed for Geneva. Train to start than bus.  We plan a wine tasting on the way and a trip to the United Nations.  Hard to believe that we  are coming to our last destination and then it is time to begin the trek home.

See you soon

B

August 7 & 8

Early day again today as we checked out of the hotel in Zurich and boarded another bus to drive an hour to get the train.  The Glacier Express, advertised as the slowest express train in the world.

6 hours of such scenery that the camera could not do it justice.  The pre-Alps, can you believe it, were spectacular so what may we expect?   Waterfalls, lakes, mountain peaks, deep ravines, beautiful chalet homes and some normal ones too but still chalets.  We, 30 of us from the ship, had our own “wagon” (that’s what they call train cars).  First class and lunch was served.  I could spend my entire time explaining the wonders we saw or at least trying to explain.  The train ran on electric (hydro-electric) and when we got to steep grades it dropped the cog wheel and it pulled us up the grade.  Not my first experience with cog trains but watching other people try to figure out what was happening was fun. 

We finally arrived in Zermatt, at the town train station and had a short walk to our hotel.  A real Swiss Chalet.  Our room is tiny and very old fashioned looking. 

The electric, OH MY!.  Ray laughed at me because the first thing I did was try to get phones and computer hooked up.  Their electric system is like nothing I have ever seen.  My converters would not even begin to work.  Lucky the hotel had some for us to use.  So phones can charge, and I can write this.  The view off our balcony is just mountains.  Just is the key word.  Beautiful is the wonder of it all

The town is car free.  Just a few electric utility vehicles and cabs. and I mean a few 2 cabs 2 “trucks” all electric and small. 1 long main street and some small alleys, 1 church and a zillion shops and restaurants.  Of course the main attraction is the Matterhorn.  From the top of the main street you can see it.  Mostly it is shrouded in clouds, but spectacular and snowy white. No photo yet. Tomorrow we go up the cog railway to view it so I’ll probably wait and send this all together.

51 degrees as we wake up today. I can’t believe it is Aug 8^th.  Sun is shining, and word is Matterhorn is clear, but that is just at this moment.  It creates its own weather, so it could be hidden in clouds when we arrive.  This hotel, which I started to tell you about last night, when exhaustion set it, is quite unique.  The best word to explain it is gaudy. 

There is stuff everywhere. I keep expecting to see some Victorian lady in a bustle skirt appear.  Different rooms all in old fashion mode.  I think if we were to stay here too long I would go nuts with the clutter.  Time to head up to the Matterhorn , more later


August 7, 2018

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland., very cosmopolitan.  Busy night or day.  The public transportation system is superb.  Financial centers and banking are the main institutions.  So money, money, money.  Average salary is 6000. Francs a month.  Right now dollars and Swiss Francs are equal.  How about 37.00 for a hamburger? Education is free from kindergarten to university and a minimum of 3 languages are taught.  They take great pleasure in telling the same old joke:  What do you call a person with three languages?  A tri-lingual, What do you call a person with two languages? A bilingual.  What do you call a person with one language?  American.

Zurich is separated into Cantons like our Counties.  We are staying in a hotel in the Techno District.  Nice for us but many are complaining because it is out of the main stream and they have to use public transportation to go to town.   This hotel is so energy efficient that the blinds work automatically.  We were sitting talking yesterday and all of a sudden, the slats flattened, and the blind went up itself.  I said Ray did it he said I did.  We have learned that the temps in the room are controlled in this manner.  When the sun is on the window the blinds come down and close.  When the room reaches a certain lack of light they open.  Neat but creepy.  Just today I discovered a manual control also if you disagree.  Not sure I mentioned this but, in order to have electric and air in your room you must place the room key-card in the slot by the door.  When you leave and take your key everything shuts down.  It was the same on the ship but we got an extra key so the room was cool whenever we returned.  Also forget using the elevator unless you have your room key.  You swipe it and the elevator will allow you to go to any floor under yours.  Example:  We are on 10^th floor anyone under that number can just push the button for their floor, but if a person on the 11^th gets on he needs to swipe his key to unlock that floor.  It is all quite technical.  From our room we can see a train station with trains constantly moving. So good and normal for a change

We had a driving and walking tour of the town/city this morning.  The City is just like New York or any other large American City.  Stores offer same designer merchandise at highly inflated prices, I might add. Traffic, even with the great public transportation is definitely New York worthy.

The old town, not so old mostly 200 to 300 years,(remember we saw houses from 20 AD)  is quite charming.  Again a Protestant city where the Catholic churches were changed into Protestant churches by stripping away the idols etc.  Huldrych Zwingli lead the reformation and was very strict about all people equal so no statues just God. They also could not have music. Things changed through time and today we would probably call it an Evangelical Reformed Church.

The largest clock face in Europe is in St. Peters in old town.  We watched the minute hand move and it was pretty neat.  To move 1 minute the hand moves 18”, this clock is so big.

We had a cloudy hazy day but looking into the distance we could see the German Black Forest surrounding the city. 

A bit further in the other direction we had the alps.  We could just make out some white tops on them.

I have borrowed a photo from the internet because we had so much haze none of my high shots were good.

Looking forward tomorrow to our trip up into the alps by train.

Later

B

August 6

We left the river, Longship Hild this morning and headed into Basel, Switzerland.  Basel is a small city but get this, they have 40 museums.  They are money and intelligence heavy.  Lots of culture and many private banks to hide your millions.  HAHA  After a walking tour of the old city, I finally got wise and took the leisure group.  It was nice, slow, we saw everything but the market center, which is usually produce and junk. Finally a Protestant city.  So far every one we visited was a majority of Catholic people with many, many big churches.  Seems before the reformation they had a cardinal in residence and a huge cathedral with all the statues and grandeur.  At the reformation the people sort of ran the cardinal out of town and took over the cathedral and cleared it out.  Now it is a very big, grand Protestant church.  I could not understand what sect it is but it is lovely.  The stained-glass windows were just lovely. 

The organ very large I would have loved to hear it.

The pattern on the roof looks like a quilt to me hmmmmm  I may be inspired!

The public transportation is all electric, trams.  They are different colors and run like every 3 seconds.  They were all over and fun to watch.

  We had a great pizza lunch with salad and the waiter gave us a nice chocolate mousse for dessert.  Everything in Switzerland is going to be expensive.  3 beer, pizza and salad were 54.00 swiss.  The trade is equal 1.00 for 1 swiss franc.    

Get a look at this, probably the closest I will ever come to a 

Tessla.  The show room was actually in a store front on the main shopping street

So now we are in a hotel in Zurich, with 2 queen size beds,,,, heavenly…  On ship I had ½ of a queen, 30”.  Not too sure how I missed falling out of bed. The hotel is quite nice a Renaissance Tower Hotel, part of the Marriott chain. We just missed the orientation tour, but Ray found his way around and into the bar, so we are good.  Looks like a rain storm is chasing us so we will probably just eat dinner in the hotel.  That’s about all for today.  As I write this at 5:30 pm Zurich time, Ray is snoring his head off in the chair.   Poor baby I exhausted him.  Tomorrow we go explore Zurich.

Wait a minute... It is getting dark (not sunny) and while I sit at the desk and look over the blinds open and raise up very slowly,  eerie

Could it be automatic when the light reaches a certain level?????   

One more bit of conservation?  I'll try to find out and let you know.

Bye for now.

August 5

Strasbourg, big modern city with an old city section. Strasbourg was formerly known as Alsace.  It is the seat of the European Parliament.  Don’t confuse it with Strasburg Germany. It is, thanks to the University of Strasbourg a cultural bridge between France and Germany.  It is located though on the eastern border of France with Germany.  We have travelled many kilometers/miles round about to end up just 250 miles east of Paris where this all started. Strasbourg's location in the Rhine valley, sheltered from the dominant winds by the Vosges and Black Forest mountains, results in poor natural ventilation, making Strasbourg one of the most atmospherically polluted cities of France. Fortunately for us we had lovely winds blowing and all was well.

Sitting on the bank of the Ill(pronounced eel) river makes me feel at home.  Like we used to sit and picnic on the banks of the Schuylkill River outside of Philadelphia. There are even some folks sculling.   Some mills and commercial buildings make me think of Manayunk.  Lots of fun growing up in that area. So worlds apart but memories close.

Driving in the bus from the ship to the old town 

we passed through a thoroughly modern city with many large buildings in modern architecture.  Entering the old town we are met by, of course, cobblestone streets, and the ever present half wood houses.  Not much different except these houses were beautiful colors and lots of flowers.  Just as I imagined an old town would be but none were.

Yeah for me to finally get the look I wanted.

Strasbourg is famous for the storks, but the nesting season is over, so none were in town, but you could see the huge nests and I saw this guy carved on the great Basilica.

Nothing more exciting there so back to the ship for a nice lazy day.  Some of our fellow passengers went into town for a late tour so the ship left, and they will catch up to us later.

As we were sailing we saw some storks flying which was neat.  

Also the banks of the river were mostly full of people enjoying the cool water, sailing, jet skiing, wind surfing and all kinds of fun water sports.

Last night on the ship.  I am ready to get off and onto the next part of our journey in Switzerland.

August 4, 2018

Speyer today and not much to report.  This is quite a modern city. Not modern like New York, more Like Charleston.  Some old buildings but many repurposed into shops and offices.  We saw a wedding or the after celebration outside of what we presumed was the city hall.  Of course a lovely bride in a very short white dress with her bouquet and many family members to help them celebrate.  When we looked closer, all the people were Asian descent, not exactly what you expect in a German Town but then again our World is a Global Family.

Ray and I took off on our own today about half hour before the tour time to get back before the 95- degree heat set.  The only thing saving us is the breeze from the river.  Walking through the streets I could have been in Philadelphia in the 50-60s.  There was very little to photograph but look at this surprise.  A real working phone booth!

We actually saw three of them on the one street.  Further along we came to the ever-present farmers market and watched people buying their days needs in fresh produce.  What Ray noticed, and we discussed and realized that this was true for both Mainz and Speyer.  There was no joy apparent in the town or market place.  No laughter or smiles between the people and the merchants.  Ray called it beaten people.  Thinking about it we can say even the wedding did not appear to joyful!  No apparent reason for us to divine by this lack of joy.

Later, after lunch, Ray went to the public pool for a few hours and there he saw families having fun and interacting with their children.  Many of the crew also made use of the pool on their off time this day.  It definitely was not an ancient town and refreshing after so many old places.

The ship part of our trip is coming to a close, we had the talk tonight about debarking and all that is involved.  We also found out how lucky we are to still be on the river as the levels are dropping quickly.  The ship usually draws 5’ and at one point today we had only 2 ½’ of water beneath our keel.   I think the people coming aboard as we leave may have a rough time of it going up river this week.

Our cruise director said they thought we might have been stopped yesterday but the notice never came so they powered on. If we get through to the next destination we will consider ourselves fortunate.

August 3, 2018

We are now on the Rhine River, good bye Mossel.  Welcome to Mainz, Germany  I cannot believe it is day 5 of our cruise but here we are.  Now Mainz pronounces mansz.  From the waterfront it is quite a modern city.  I am told the city is about 200 years old which is modern in comparison to houses from 20 AD.  But along the waterfront we see buildings from 1970 – 2000.  It is quite refreshing.

Mainz, though, is known for its old town, with half-timbered houses and medieval market squares. Seems like most buildings are of red sandstone which makes the old town very colorful. But walking along the streets, from the river, past more contemporary buildings does not prepare you for the old town center, pink cathedral, and the old-time farmers market.  We need to remember this market is not for our entertainment but is for the daily shopping of the residents.  We see the people with their market baskets buying the days needs for, dinner, maybe?

Across the square is the Gutenberg Museum honoring books.  It only has the name of Gutenberg because it is the repository for what is advertised as two of his original bibles. 

As is explained in the tour the Bible is in two books; Old and New Testaments.  Each is considered a Bible unto its own. So, in truth they have 1 1/2 originals because they have 1 old and 2 new testaments.  They show a hand printed one written on parchment paper.  The three Gutenberg Bibles are printed on cotton-based paper.  The "writing" is so identical the only way to tell apart is by the smooth borders on the printed because of how hand writing often leaves a "jagged" right border. There was no photography allowed in the book museum, so this photo is from the internet.  In fact the tour guide suggested we get a photo off the internet. 

Since the printing press was invented by the Orientals, using wood block printing, before Gutenberg made it so famous we have to say that he adapted the idea to fit his needs.  He used a wine-press with modifications, adding a work table and wooden trolley to carry the paper to the press. 

The movable type procedure would take a whole book to explain.  But this is the part interesting to me.  The correct name for the Bible is B42 because B = Bible, 42= number of lines per page.  Each Bible has 1285 pages, The original run of 180 Bibles took 3 – 5 years to complete.  So the buyer gets his copy.  Then he needs to take those pages, unnumbered by the way, to his artist of choice who would add the illuminations at the start of each chapter and verse.  Then off to the book binder and wait for that process.  It could take up to 10 years to get your final bound Bible.  So  it is possible the buyer would not live to see his purchase finished. No two Bibles are the same because of the different artists that worked on them. I found the whole idea to be fascinating, and just the chance to stand there and look was wonderful.  This man, who is also called the man who unchained books (up to this point books were chained in the churches so no one could take them) really gave people the ability to open their minds to all kind of possibilities.  The sad part is no one knows how he looked.  All the statues or art work were created after he died.  So if you look up his likeness on more than one site you will see different faces.

It is totally refreshing to not be walking on cobbles and looking at ancient buildings.  Mainz is a nice change to more “current” historical things.  On to St Stephens church to see the Chagall windows.  Even if you do not appreciate his modernistic cubism style the blue color will enthrall you. 

Well, after all this culture it was time to get back to the boat for lunch and some relief from the heat.  Humidity is low, but heat is still oppressive.  They have not had any rain since April, so the trees are going into forced fall mode and dropping their leaves. 

I am writing this after lunch and I sit on the front deck near the door so when the door opens I get the air condition blast.

At this point I want to fill you in on the elderly couple who were taken from the ship, back in my “Onboard” entry.  They are back on board and doing well.  Seems when the airline lost his luggage which still has not caught up to him, he lost his medication.  He has been using his wife’s which is a different strength but trying to make due, so when he started feeling poorly he called for assistance, but hospital found nothing that they could do so sent him back.  In the mean time we heard of two other issues.  One lady, I can’t remember if I mentioned fell and broke her shoulder and is still in hospital.  Another fell at the last port and was taken to emergency dept but refused to be admitted and is back on board, so I guess not too badly hurt.  I’m telling you this is one of the most strenuous trips ever.  At this point I cannot recommend it to any other seniors.  We are all limping around with sore knees and hips from the extensive walking on cobblestones, so I don’t feel too bad as I am just a part of the rest of the people.  Ray is the smartest as he has been doing his own thing, after the first venture, and getting back a lot quicker into the coolness of the ship.

We will be leaving Mainz at 7 pm tonight and travelling through the night.  The river at night is, with the light along the banks, quite lovely.  How many more ancient cities can I stand?  Next stop Speyer.

August 2, 2018

Koblenz. More Roman history, more wine, Oh I guess I haven’t mentioned wine too much but it is everywhere.  Why drink water when there is wine?

This 2000 year old city is a gateway to the vineyards and ruined castles of the Rhine Gorge. Here is another city split by the river this time the Rhine. At the meeting of the rivers, there is a big statue of William the Great, the first German emperor. A cable car connects to the hilltop Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, which hosts museums and cultural events. South along the river another castle Stolzenfels Castle known for its gardens.  Another borrowed photo.   We awoke to 61 degrees and fog, 

so I had no opportunity to get a good high photo.  We docked where the long ship is in the photo. It is not a Viking ship though but the same size.   The Moselle River comes in from the top with the Rhine across the bottom.

 Once again ancient churches and castles and vineyards and wine.  Today my knees said NO.  The cold dampness won, and I just went ashore on my own to snoop nearby instead of the two-hour walking tour over more cobblestones.  YIKES!!  Ray headed into town to “schmooze” with the locals even though he has no knowledge of German.  He must have done quite well with smiles and gestures because he enjoyed a cup of coffee with them and bought some cigarettes.

The sun came out around 10:30 and we pulled out at 11:15. So we had almost a full day of sailing on the river.  To enjoy the sites and a lot of castles along the way. This is the most typical.

There was one funny building: A church behind a tavern and the only way to get into the church was through the tavern.

There is much more traffic on the Rhine than the Moselle so we watched traffic and lounged, finally, on the upper deck under a canopy and munched on fresh fruit kabobs and ice tea.  It was a totally wonderful restful day with much to see on the river.  There are no locks on the Rhine and this time we are traveling against the current.  It seems funny to be travelling south against the current.  We passed one of Viking’s sister ships, so I tried for a good photo of the length of the long ships.

Further along we passed the Lorelei Statue, and, with the help of the zoom, I got a decent photo.  But believe me it is not impressive for all the hoop-la about it. 

Right now as I write this it is 9:30 pm and my knees are so thankful for the rest that I am ready for the tour tomorrow in Mainz.  I really want to see the copy of the Gutenberg Bible so hopefully I am raring to go in the am.  Not so sure Ray will go, just another museum for him.  It is nice though to get together and discuss each other’s day.   So not much activity today but more tomorrow.

So after a lovely salmon dinner I am content.

August 1,2018

Another exhausting day.  Today Ray chose to not go on the tour. It was absolutely the correct decision.  The tour length was 6 hours… too long, too hot, too much pushed into the 6 hours.  We were in many groups of about 20 people, some did the tour in reverse to our plan.  We started with a long bus ride to a wine tasting in a charming town which required a long walk on cobblestones up a small hill and then climb about 20 steps.  The wine is all Riesling, the variety grown here in the Mossell valley.  We had three tries, a dry, med and sweet. All were to my taste horrible.  I know I do not care for Riesling in USA but this to me was even worse. So no fun with the wine but fun with the people.  We have met such nice folks.  It has been so long since I travelled I truly had forgotten how much fun one’s fellow passengers can be. So back to the tasting, down the steps and cobblestones to the bus, same long drive in reverse to the town of Coblenz.  Walking through the market place which was really market places all the same but each a little higher on the hill side.  Some nice old architecture, hills and cobblestones.  I never thought we would get to the top and not so sure we ever did.  But finally, after many little alleys and many steps we reached, thank God, a shuttle bus to take us further up to the Castle.  Then guess what more hills and more cobbles on the entrance.    From afar it looks like a fairy tale castle, up close it looks forbidding. 

By this time my knees were screaming at me.

  The tour of the castle was ok.  It was very dark, no air let alone air conditioning.   The furniture was mostly original from the period 15th century to 18th century.  The view from the balcony was wonderful but just reminded me that we had climbed most of the way up there.

You can see our ship closest to the bridge. Finally, we are back on the shuttle to go down the hill, after walking down the cobble driveway, to meet the bus.  The we need to walk down all the hills we climbed into the village, but then we are required to walk across the bridge over the Mossell river, down 3 flights of steps and along the quay to get to the ship.  By this time I am not sure where I was getting the energy except I knew a cold beer was waiting for me along with a refreshing shower.  AHHHHHHH!

After recovering I met up with Ray and we compared days.  His was much better with a short excursion on his own and he actually did some work while he enjoyed the quietness of the ship with everyone gone.  

Dinner tonight is a German Festival with lots of German food and beer.  We had live entertainment walking around the dining room with his accordion and singing German songs.  It was great fun and helped revive me.  After dinner I did not participate in the sing along but headed for our cabin to go to bed and read.  AHHHHHHHHH!.  Thank goodness for Aleve and Blue Emu.  It felt so good to be still.  Thinking I need a nothing day for recovery, but all is good and lots of fun.  I have come to the conclusion that I reach on almost every trip ever taken.  The people are the same as at home, the countryside often reminds me of home places.  Just different languages. Since I am a day behind writing I am sitting on the Rhine River and looking across I can see what could really be my old neighborhood of Manayunk in PA.  Later I will write todays nice quiet adventure.  More later.

August 1, 2018  time on board

This morning we started to sail along around 4 am.  I, of course was asleep.  Ray was up and roaming.  He finally got to experience a trip through one of the locks.  He slept through the last two.  Also we had a low bridge very early in the morning.  He was already up on deck when we went through and he said sitting in the chair all he had to do was raise his hand and he touched the bottom of the bridge.  At that point the first mate noticed him.  He was on deck when they closed the deck but never anticipated anyone being up there so early,  so he had to get off the top deck but the bridge adventure was already over. It is so clever how everything is on hinges to lay flat.  The building collapses and then drops into a recess in the deck.  We have no tour until later this afternoon so let me spend some time on the ship with you.  

There are three places to congregate so no one can get lost.  The top deck has a small smoking area, along with a putting spot and the herb garden. 

There are lots of lounge chairs, both under a canopy and out in the sun for those who want to sun bathe.  The bow of the ship seems to be a favorite place for most people as it is covered and protected.  The third place is the inside lounge with the bar. 

But moving along the river is a totally different experience than on the ocean.  First there is no sensation of movement until you look up at the scenery.  What do you see? We are in the Mossell Valley so lots of high hillsides mostly full of vineyards on slopes so steep you cannot imagine how they can work them.  The patterns are absolutely appealing to the quilter in me as the vine rows mostly run vertical, but the shapes of the yards are not square.

The food is, of course, terrific and nothing is too much trouble.  Docking each day, we are right on land, no big gang plank to navigate.  We move along at a nice pace, so I can get photos and just admire the countryside.  I have never seen so many wild swans.  They appear in “colonies” all along the shore and are fun to watch as the wake from our stern washes across the banks.

We had the opportunity today to sit at one of the locks after we came out of it, and watch another ship go through in the opposite direction.  I found it to be quite fascinating. The reason we sat for a while was not so good.  An elderly gentleman was taken off to an ambulance.  He did walk under his own steam with the EMT holding his arm.  Not being a medical person, I kind of thought it looked like heart problem as they had him on oxygen and blood pressure cuff while they walked him up the bank and across the lock.  His wife soon followed, and we went on our merry way.  Can’t help but wonder how they are doing. This photo shows how narrow the locks are.  I do believe they built the ships just for the locks.  There is actually about 3-6 inches on each side.  The captain takes great pride in not bumping the sides. 

Our suite is very roomy, and I have taken photos which I can’t post because of the weak Wi-Fi.  Everything is Scandinavian in style as you might guess, with a name like Viking Cruises, with light wood and clean lines.  The bathroom has a heated floor which is really nice in the morning.  Having a sitting room with sofa and chair is so nice when you just want to be quiet and stay put.  The balcony doesn’t get used as often as I thought but this morning I sat out there in the fluffy robe and enjoyed a cup of tea.  Think this might be a good shot of the full length of this ship.

July 31

All of a sudden this has become a real slow process.   The Wi-Fi, depends on satellites so it has been, so far, really slow.  We were warned of this so I may not do many photos to whet your curiosity, but I will try. 

Today was Trier, Germany, the oldest city in Germany.  I mean really, buildings from 20AD!  That’s old.  The thing is these old buildings taking in their age compared to the modern ones are in better condition.  The Roman’s really knew their business with building.   Can you imagine a city that is celebrating their 2,015 anniversary?  At least I think that is the anniversary she told us.  She, is our guide who was born and raised in Trier and like so many of us she did not appreciate the history in her own back yard.  After marrying she moved to Dallas Texas for 3 years.  Knowing the move was coming with her husband’s job she took classes in English so she felt ready to go.  She said it took her a couple months to understand what people were saying. Her English was not Texas English.  Anyway, she came back home and learned everything she could about her native land.  As we all know you do not know what you have until you leave it.  The architecture here is beyond belief.  Imagine if you can the influences over 2000 years.

We saw Roman bath remains, the amphitheater, and yet we saw half-timber German houses along side of Renaissance style buildings.  I’m thinking this would be a paradise for an architect student. .  Known as the Rome of the north because there is a treasure trove of Roman ruins.  It seems that many Roman rulers liked to take time to be by the river.

Today Trier’s Roman sights include baths, a 25,000-seat amphitheater, and a huge city gate. Of the original four gates, only the Porta Nigra (black door) survives. This most impressive Roman fortification in Germany was built without mortar — only iron pegs hold the sandstone blocks together.  Borrowed this photo from shutterstock.com because it is such a massive building.

Actually 100 feet tall and what is left of a 4-mile-long wall on one side of the city. It is dated 170 AD.  All mine show people milling around so this one is better.  This photo is taken from the outside or street side.  Directly inside the gate is a market place just as it would have been in Roman times.  Although the shops are modern the streets are still cobblestone.  Many of the structures are ancient but house places like MacDonald’s (only identifiable by the golden arches in the windows.) Turn around and there is the Subway shop along with Michael Kors and other designer names.  At least 3 banks all in the same market place.  It definitely is the town center.  The cobblestone streets are everywhere and the NARROW streets made for some “hair-raising” bus issues but the driver, used to the situations handled it like the pro he is. 

I am not so sure this is something for the city to be proud of, but Karl Marx was born here in 1818. There are no relatives left in town and it appears the towns people are pleased to be through with him.

We had a nice lunch in town with good local beers.  The one remarkable feature was the Lutheran Church.  There are so many Catholic churches and cathedrals but there is one really great Lutheran church.  It was at one Time the Basilica of Constantine but even before that is was the throne room of the Emperor.  It is huge and kept very plain with 3 original walls from Roman times 300 AD and one reconstructed.  So huge and it still uses the original heating system from Roman times, except now it is electric heat not burning charcoal.  The heat is under the floor and natural ventilation causes it to rise and exit through openings in the walls.  Very clever.  The problem is they cannot use the room in the winter as it takes 4 days to heat to temp of 60 degrees.  There is a smaller sanctuary off to the side used in cold weather.  The best for me was the new organ just 4 years old. You cannot imagine the size of this place.  It is so great it is a UNESCO World Site.  This is a photo of the new organ just 4 years old.  Unfortunately, the photo does not show the scale of this really large pipe organ.  Just to give you an idea the cross in the photo below is 9 ft high.

  Turn around and the organ is on the rear wall.

 Covering what would be the lower level of arched windows. The spiral stair case is the way to access the organ for the organist.  There is a man in the lower right corner so you can see the scale of the steps to get up there.  It is just so simple and yet majestic.

I know we were to be more impressed by the Roman gate but this is the one I will remember always.  I have to admit I am getting a little tired of seeing ancient churches and buildings.  So far the weather has been fine but today it started to get hot again and it just gets a bit much walking with care on cobblestones while trying to see what our guide is pointing out.  But I'll keep on keeping on because I doubt I'll ever get back here again,  

July 30th 

Wow, yesterday July 30^th . was a killer!  By 8 am.  We were packed, fed and watching the tour folks load the buses.  We are using 4 buses for the group. So about 165 people headed for the ship. 

Loooong drive to get to Luxemburg.  We did have a rest stop to get a bite of lunch and bathroom.  The stop was just like our rest stops nothing special.  Off again to continue our journey.  As we left Paris the countryside looked like our mid-west, rolling hills, lots of farms.  The absolute best thing to see were all the wind turbines.  They do not ruin the view and just made me feel good about the intelligence of these folks.  We need to get smarter in the USA! 

Crossing borders is like driving to another state not another country.  Seems when the European Union was formed they sort of opened the borders and you don’t even have to stop at a checkpoint.

Luxembourg official name, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe. Yet it is the seat of the European Court of Justice, which is like our Supreme Court, for the European Union.  This small “country” 986 sq. miles has made an important place for itself in the world.

The steel industry in the beginning of the 20th century drove the country's industrialization.  After the decline of the steel industry in the 1970s, the country focused on establishing itself as a global financial center and developed into the banking hub it is reputed for. Secret accounts in private banks.  So strange, walk in and it looks like an office lobby.  No tellers. No anything, just one lady dressed like a model.  Forget anything if you do not have an account. All we wanted to do was convert some money.  They don’t do that?????

Since the beginning of the 21st century, its governments have focused on developing the country into a knowledge economy, with the founding of the University of Luxembourg and a national space program, projecting the first involvement in a robotic lunar expedition by 2020.  

Yet when I look around it all appears so old fashioned but looks can be deceiving.  I find it to be a most charming place.  Very modern in energy but old fashion in appearance.  Quartets standing on the corners singing, lovely flower planters hanging from the street lights.  Just charming.  Buildings don’t appear very old but we did not get out of the center of the city.  It was very hot. Ray had a Mojito, I tried a local beer called Panache, fruity flavor and totally refreshing.

Back on the bus one more stop at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial.  Soldiers who died at the Battle of the Bulge along with Gen. Patton.   This is like a small Arlington except the crosses make an

arc any way you look at them.  Crosses and Stars of David side by side.  You could see what this meant to some of the vets in our group. It was touching. 

There are really nice memorials around the land but honestly by this point all I wanted to do was get to the ship.  We have been on the road for 6 hours already and I am so done…..

 We finally get to the ship and 186 people are so relieved.  The ship is beautiful, modern and the staff welcoming.  We were welcomed with a cold damp wash cloth to cool our faces and lead directly to our cabin

After getting settled I tried to get a photo but it is so long I had to do it in halves.  Hopefully later I can get a long shot when we are tied up somewhere else.

July 29th

Yesterday we both fought the desire to sleep and I finally lost the battle for about an hour.  This is the one thing a person is not to do when handling jet lag but today we are both normal again.  Well, as normal as we ever were.   Lunch at a small local restaurant and dinner in the hotel were both quite tasty, but nothing beyond normal.

City tour by bus.  We hopped on board 8 am and started to drive around to the regular tourist spots.  This part of Paris is looking a bit better.  After conversation with Ray about what we were seeing and his perceptions as well as mine I figured out why I am feeling disappointed:  I think I pictured more flowers on all these “French Balconies”, something like New Orleans.  Ray thinks it is summer so plants will not survive?  I’m not so sure about that because I did see a few that were within my expectations.  As we drove around, even on the left bank, not so many flowers for color, so maybe he is right.  Most of the buildings I realize are old, but old and in need of help!

Unfortunately, I forgot my note book to label photos so some I have no idea what they are but interesting.  The camera worked really well out the bus window and great when we were walking.  Our hotel is about 15 minute walk from the Arc de Triumph but as fate would have it we cannot get close on foot as the Tour de France ends there today so everything is being blocked off.  We learned that the bus left an hour earlier than usual which ended up being fortunate, and with their permit we got through,  so I did get some photos from the bus window. 

We had a nice walk across the Seine to get to Notre Dame Cathedral.  Of course, it is Sunday so service starts at 10:00.  Once again how great we were an hour ahead of most other group schedules.  We had very little wait to get inside.  NO FLASH.. once again, the camera was up to it and I got a few photos.  The service started as we roamed around the outer edge.  The dark wood and overcast morning made for difficult photos so mostly I got the rose windows.  The statuary inside held no interest for us so we made a fairly swift trip of that.  The statuary and carvings outside were another story.  Beautiful and so many with so many bible stories depicted.  Our guide explained the reason was so the commoner could ”read” the stories as they were often illiterate or the common man was not permitted to read the Bible.  Ray was interested in the gargoyles, of course, so I got a great shot using the zoom option.  During our free time we roamed around and of course Ray headed for the river.  There were lots of barges and some boats that people use for living.  Picture this an apartment on the right bank of the Seine rents from around 9,000 euros per square meter.  Remember 1 meter is just over 3 feet.  No wonder we see so many tiny apartments in movies.  Now move to the left bank… pay over 12,000 Euros per square meter,  it’s really over my head at the moment other than to say “Stay in America”.

Of course, we had to see the Eiffel tower.  It really is big, and painted brown.  In fact, the color is a special one called Eiffel Brown. Considering it is just a lot of girders it is quite interesting.  A huge erector set creation!  No, that sort of trivializes it. Consider this, it was built to stand just 20 years, back in 1889 for the World’s Fair.  Our guide said the French people thought it was a monstrosity and wanted it down, but as time past they came to love it and the rest is history.  We made our way back to the Meridian Hotel, had lunch and quiet time for me to write this blog entry and upload photos to my Surface tablet.  Here is our proof of presence.

Both places were impressive.  The weather was totally perfect in the low 80's

July 27,2018
I am sitting in the airport in Cincinnati but will probably post this after we arrive in Paris.  I just don’t trust the wi-fi in airports.  There are too many horror stories of hacking.

So anyway in Cincinnati, but wait.. Cincinnati is the route home.  Did I get in a wormhole in space?  I think I am supposed to be in NYC at JFK airport.  Well, if I have your attention and you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, let me explain 

I wish this first entry of travel could say everything went smoothly like melted butter, but it can’t.  Myrtle Beach to Philly was smooth, Ray picked me up and we had a lovely visit with our friend Karen.

Karen took us to the airport no problem and we were actually #8 in line for checking in.  The agent took one look at our tickets and informed us the flight to JFK was cancelled just 10 minutes ago due to weather.  YIKES!!!!   She went through all kinds of solutions including getting us a bus to JFK to catch our flight.  The other choice was a direct flight to Paris with American Airlines.  That sounded good until we found out no business class seats.   NO, NO need the bigger seats for Ray to be comfortable.  Finally, we decided to take a flight to Cincinnati which was leaving in 1 hour and have a 4-hour layover to get the flight to Paris.

As an after thought we realized how fortunate we were that we hadn’t been earlier as we would have been ticketed probably at the gate and have to go through the entire process again.   So, there is good in that story.

I am totally impressed by the employee of Delta in Philly and Cincinnati for their level of concern and customer service.  We arrived, boarded the flight and had a wonderful experience there too.  So bad start just got better and better.

The seat/bed was comfortable, if a bit narrow.  We had 18 movies to elect from as well as music and television series, so no lack of entertainment.  Nice pillow and down style comforter completed our seat.

The food was lovely and tasty, not average airplane food.  We had a full menu from signature cocktail to dessert with 3- 4 choices in each category.  Way too much food for sitting for 8 hours. 

Strong tail winds got us to Paris 45 minutes early.  Paris air port is HUGE.  I have never experienced customs as I did there.  NO luggage just show your passport and pass through into the baggage claim area.  Quick and easy.  We met up with some folks going on the same cruise which was nice and then finally as we were leaving saw the kiosk for Viking.   Mercedes Benz vans were used ti get us to our hotel, but the driving seemed reckless, but I guess normal for Paris as everyone else on the roads drove the same.  The Meridian Hotel is nice, modern and clean.  Of course we were way too early to check in so we had to find things to keep us busy,  Ray  and I took a walk, now remember it is like 8:30 am so very little was open.  We found a nice sidewalk café open for breakfast and had a cup of coffee/ tea and fulfilled my desire to sit at a sidewalk café and watch the people go by.

After just one day I am not impressed with Paris, the real Paris not the tourist area.  It is just a dirty city with lots of graffiti and homeless dotting the roadways.  Tomorrow we go on a bus   tour of the sights and city so maybe my opinion will change

Ray is off converting some money to euros, .85 cents to one euro. All I want to do is get into our room to get a shower and maybe a little nap.

Well both happened then we went out for lunch and found a nice place three blocks away and ate a leisurely lunch with some fun with the waiter.  At this time I have to say Paris did not live up to my expectations.

June 25, 2018

Oh, my, we have reached the one-month mark.  Seems like just a little bit ago Ray and I were planning and now it is almost here.  Of course, being Mother I worry about his comfort, so I researched the business class in our plane and they had photos.  No more worries!  I think we will be very comfortable.  Did I tell you going over “the pond” our plane has 516 seats?  I can’t imagine how big that must be.  Guess what, Air France has seating plans online.  Using the information of our seat assignments I discovered we are in a two-level pane and we are on the top “floor”/ “deck”.  Not sure what to call it on a plane. So anyway, here are the photos Air France supplied online of our seats for day and night flying.  We will be flying night.  Excitement is building!

Who would have thought these hard-sided seats make into a bed. And you aren't putting your head in the lap of the person in back of you.

These designers are so creative.  Only funny, maybe, issue is sticking our feet into a cubby but I am ready for the adventure.

June 4, 2018

Time flies and so will I!  About 50 days to go.  The air itinerary arrived and it is a bit overwhelming.

Off to Philadelphia on July 25th, easy 1 hour piece of cake.  From Phila. to JFK on the 26th, easy 1 hour and a half.  Then comes the overwhelming part. On the itinerary it looks not too bad 7 hrs. 25 min travel time to Paris so leave JFK at 9:55 pm the 26th arrive Paris 11:20 am the 27th. Looks fine until you factor in the 6 hour time change.  Paris is 6 hours ahead of us.  So look at the math.  leave let's say 10 pm travel 7 hrs 25 min. that's 5.25 am so in hours fine but our bodies will think what the heck, how can it be 11:20.

Secret, so I am told is sleep.  I remember when Jack and I flew to Greece, we slept but still had a lot of loss of energy for a day after we arrived and we were a lot younger.  I am so glad Ray insisted we fly business/first class so we have the room to sleep.  This will be an adventure as I have never flown this class and have no idea what to expect on Air France.

I also am glad we are staying 16 days. I can't imagine flying to Europe for a week or weekend.  YIKES! Do people really do that?

May 29, 2018

My last blog was many years ago (2007 & 2008) when Jack and I traveled up the Amazon River in "Barbara and Jack's next Adventure".  As fate would have it, it was our last travel adventure as Jack's illness got worse.  He died April 21, 2017. And so I have had to learn to go on without him.
Jack had two things left on his bucket list, a European River Cruise and visit to Germany.  Our son Ray and I have decided to honor those bucket list items by making the trip together.  Jack will be with us in spirit and a very tiny amount of his ashes will travel with us as well.  I'm not sure of the legality of it but oops some may spill upon German soil or in the river.
So often on our adventures we would witness a mother and son traveling together and admire them for making the effort.  well, this time I will be the "little old lady" traveling with her son.
At this point we have 8 weeks before our journey begins but the excitement of it is beginning to build for me. Passports are all in order, travel brochures are in a folder with our daily schedules, so other than packing for a 16 day trip I am ready.
We arrive in Paris for two days, board the ship in Trier for 8 days river travel. Then (my bucket list) Switzerland for 6 days before heading home again.

As the time grows closer I will try to write daily, especially when we are underway just as I did last time.  Thanks for "coming along".