Day #8 Cologne and home



Loving'

Our

Cruise

Our last day and we have to be out of the cabin at 9am, but we don't leave the ship until 3pm, so time to squeeze in a bit more fun.  Tim suggests the Lindt Chocolate Museum, mmmm - sounds good.  We are there for hours, learning about cocoa trees, watching the factory in operation and sampling the goods.  We decide on total, unnecessary indulgence to finish up the holiday - quarter metre German sausage each! Waddle off to catch the flight home. 
 



Making a chocolate bar to my design

   

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Day #7 Koblenz to Cologne

Proper chilled out now



Bobbing along the Rhine this morning on our way to Cologne. Last chance to sun ourselves on deck, we've been very lucky with the weather.  Mid morning the staff surprised us with 'Fruhschoppen' - a sort of German elevenses of Flammkuchen (bit like pizza) and beer. Traditional thing for Sundays between church finishing and the pub opening.

Arrived in Cologne around lunchtime with a whole afternoon to explore. Cathedral very impressive, but visit to the 4711 eau de Cologne museum/shop took the high spot for me. Evocative of my nan, who thought a 4711 wash was the ultimate sophistication.

Quick nibble on a Bretzel (who knew Germany was the home of the pretzel?) and back to the ship. Farewell glass of champers from the captain. An arctic log parade from the galley crew.  Back in my pit for the last sleep over. I shall miss my pit/pod, because it has soothed me for a week of heavenly retreat.

Refreshed with aqua mirabilis

Day #6 Rudesheim

We tried the Rudesheimer Kaffe

Carole was serious and

Jackie was silly (for a change)



Early morning start with a walk into the town of Rudesheim. It was my turn to pick the activity for the day and I chose a cable car ride. It was sublime - up over the hills of the Rhine vineyards. It's so quiet up there, with the magnificent scenery of the Rhine meandering and the working winegrowers below. The rows and rows of vines made me think of lots of happy parties.   

Back on board we travelled through the Rhine Gorge, which is a corridor of sweet village after village with a castle around every bend.  Another perfect day weather-wise, and a wonderful way to kick back and watch the world go by.  Early evening we arrived in Koblenz, with time for an evening stroll. I'm convinced I saw the exact campsite where I stayed back in the '70s!  

 

 

Day #5 Speyer



This morning I woke up to this beautiful view through my cabin window

 

 

 I left Carole and Tim to have their midnight tryst on deck with Tim's tripod, and they witnessed the drama!  A carrier barge rammed the river bank making a loud ripping noise and nearly crashing into the Charles Dickens!  Most likely the driver fell asleep.  The barge drifted sideways toward us but our first officer managed to squeeze past without colliding - he said he was shaking as he'd never had such a close shave.  I bet he was, bearing in mind it was the 2nd voyage.  Titanic II.  However, we have survived.

From this picturesque spot where we have anchored up, we can walk into the small town of Speyer.  We have given Tim the choice of today's entertainment and he has picked the 'Technik Museum'. This wouldn't have been my first choice, but it turns out to be amazing.  I don't know exactly what I'm looking at most of the time, and the information tags are in German, so I'll let the snaps speak for themselves.  (I think Ian would have loved this visit) .  

Brilliant sunshine all afternoon, so I found a good spot on the bow, in the shade, watching the Rhine-world go by. Very pretty. We opted for fine dining this evening and it was tasty. 



 

Real Moon-rock!

 

with my Santa Pod friends in mind



 

Trains and Boats and Planes

 

Unterseeboot





Round off the day Onboard Fine Dining

Day #4 Strasbourg

View from my cabin window as we cruise along

Moored at Strasbourg today and went into town. Who knew Strasbourg is in France? I know I wanted to be relaxed and laid back this holiday, but I thought I was in Germany. Is it acceptable not to know what country one is in?  Strasbourg is a pretty town with olde worlde riverside houses and a big, gothic cathedral. The astronomical clock had the masses in silence when it did its thing at noon. I was expecting a boring administrative town as it co-hosts the EU parliament with Brussels, but it's proper tourist wow!

I spent the afternoon chilling on board reading Girl on a Train - gripping page turner that I finished in a day.  

This evening there was a musical quiz, which involved dancing to the Twist and group singing to 'I got you babe', cleverly orchestrated between men and women. All a bit Billy Butlins and thoroughly good fun, perhaps because our team won.

Finished the day curled up in my pit/pod, watching the Paddington film.

16th century old town of Strasbourg

Strasbourg is a UNESCO World Heritage site



Mini Kougelhopf



Souvenir Shopping



The Tourist - sunglasses, camera/phone & audio guide!

In the cathedral

Day #3 The Black Forest

 

This is so funny - me giving Carole a telling off at the Cuckoo Clock

 

The boat pootled along whilst we were asleep and when I awoke I was in Germany!  We moored up and spent the morning on a tour through the Black Forest. Really lovely scenery. We had coffee by the lake at Breisach, but Carole was very cross with me and Tim because we wouldn't have Black Forest Gateau at 11am. Quote 'I wish Jill was here - she'd have a bit of cake with me, you boring old farts'. They served Black Forest Gateau at lunch and afternoon tea, so she didn't lose out.

Beautiful weather this afternoon, spent on board bobbing along the Rhine on the sun deck. Captain's Welcome Dinner this evening with champers to toast our holiday.  We lingered by the drinks tray and managed to get a second free glass! We got 52/70 for this evenings quiz and reckon we might have won if Rich was here.  Tim was photographing the night sky with his tripod this evening. Not sure what that was all about but it was very pleasant on deck at midnight.

Smiles all round

View of the Black Forest from Breisach


 

Jacuzzi on board

The Moores poshed up for dinner

Carole & Jackie/Rhine and Wine - perfect partners

Day #2 Swiss Alps

Carole & Tim on Cowbells

A scenic drive through the Bernese Oberland brought us to Wilderswil and the mountain railway that took us up, up, up to the Schynige Plateau.  We got more and more excited about the steep climb, the sheer drops and our packed lunch.  The views were breath-taking, and because it turned into a clear day we could see all three peaks: the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.  I risked the dodgy hip to take a walk through the Alpen garden, which turned into a bit more of a scramble than I planned. What's more the cowbells and edelweiss prompted Carole into song.  Julie Andrews she is not.

Just like little evacuees

Feeling on top of the world

The delicate white-flowered Edelweiss

A Swiss man and his horn.  Impressively large.

Carole makes her own peak

You've been framed! (Ian won that caption competition)

 The ship departed Basel early evening and we took our drinks up to the sun deck to see what was going on.  Just as Carole was about to take a photo of me serenely sipping my Bellini, the first officer bashed the ship against the side of the lock.  He apologised profusely but hey, there's nothing wrong with my reactions when alcohol is involved. Didn't spill a drop.

Making our way through the lock

Priority - Jackie saves the alcohol!