THE REST OF THE STORY...

January 11, 2014

 

This was quite a week for those of us on the east coast...severe snow and ice storms were the norm! Overturned tractor trailers along the highways were not an unusual sight!

It's warming up now...snow is melting. But, I look forward to the next snowfall...NOT snowstorm!!

This weather is so different from the mild temperatures we experienced on our Christmas riverboat trip along the Rhine to the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland...all of which had no snow at all!

In my last post, we went as far as Strasbourg, France. In this post, we go to the finish...Lucerne, Switzerland!! Our next stop after Strasbourg was Breisach and the Black Forest in Germany. This densely forested, mountainous region is famous for its traditional cuckoo clocks, cherry schnapps, Black Forest cake and is the setting for numerous legends and fairy tales.

From Breisach, we took a short ride to a beautifully restored Alsace town, Colmar. Laced with pedestrian-friendly streets, half-timbered houses, canals and world-renowned museums, Colmar is a storybook place!

It's the home of the Maison des Tetes (House of Heads,) so named for the 111 heads decorating its façade...

 

and it's also the onetime home of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty...a version of which we found at a traffic circle.

 

 

 

The following day we bid farewell to our riverboat and crew and headed to Lucerne, Switzerland for a few days. Our hotel was right on the beautiful and busy Lake Lucerne.

 

 

One of the most striking sites in this city is the famous 1821 Lion Monument...sculpture of a wounded lion commemorating the Swiss Guards who died while defending Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. Mark Twain said it was "the most moving and mournful piece of stone in the world..."and indeed, it is! Click on the photo to see more detail. (In fact, you can do that with all the photos!)

 



Lucerne has some of the most unusual and beautifully painted houses.... like these...

and a house decorated especially for Advent! Each evening at 6 PM, the numbers would flip and new window revealed.

The famous Chapel Bridge is a 670 foot-long wooden bridge that spans the Reuss River. Originally built in 1333, it was rebuilt in 1993 after a devastating fire.





Finally, the extraordinarily beautiful Lucerne Cathedral...

Our Christmas trip each year renews our spirits and makes us even more thankful for all the gifts with which our Creator blesses us. One of the things we most enjoy is meeting locals and exchanging some stories about our lives... conversations, photos... it makes us more compassionate, understanding of lifestyles that may differ from ours and reaffirms our feelings that people are the same no matter where they are! This is a shout out to our newest friends, Eric and Sabrina, with whom we shared dinner at a Lucerne Christmas Market.

 

 Thanks for checking back. Hope to see you for my next... enjoy your week ahead!

 

Hugs,

abbyj

CHRISTMAS ALONG THE RHINE

January 2, 2014

 

 

Happy New Year dear ones. I wish you a heart and soul-fulfilling 2014!! Michael and I ushered in the New Year with pizza and a great movie...of course, I can't remember what it was, though!!  :) But I DO remember our riverboat trip along the mighty Rhine River. Rising in Switzerland, it flows along the border of France, through the historic heart of Germany and into Holland where it empties into the North Sea. We sailed through it all  on a small riverboat with about 80 other travelers.

 

To my dismay, there was no snow! The little villages and cities in these countries are sooo storybook with snow, but it was most enjoyable even without the white blanket!

We started out in Amsterdam, Holland, city of canals and connecting bridges that crisscross the city, bicycles , and very beautiful, distinctive, gabled architecture. Two words come to mind when I think of Amsterdam...canals and sex. There are many, many sex shops, sex museums and of course, the infamous Red Light District.  (There are also many well known art museums and the Anne Frank House to visit...we had done those on previous trips.)

 

 

Our ship was docked until very late. When we woke up, we were  in the Dutch countryside of  historic Kinderdijk, famous for its mid-18th century collection of 19 windmills...a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Interesting to actually go inside a working windmill and see how the family who lives in it manages...many levels and roomier than you'd think!

The Diker...note his traditional wooden shoes. He really does wear them!

Again, we sailed through the night and woke up in Cologne, Germany. Boasting the largest Gothic Cathedral in northern Europe...it's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Construction on this cathedral started in 1248 and was completed in 1880... amazing! 

 

 

 Cologne is famous, too, for its Brauhaus tradition...cafes where the house brew (always a variety of the well-loved KOLSCH beer) is served. Even Michael and I enjoyed the cafes...and we're not beer drinkers!! 

One of the things we most enjoyed throughout this entire trip were the Christmas Markets or Christkindlmarket in each town and every country we visited. Here, you find local handicrafts and local food and drink. Our favorites were the potato pancakes, pork/beef foot long hot dogs, roasted chestnuts  and of course, the hot mulled wine. Cologne,   was no exception, but their markets were unbearably crowded!! Perhaps it was because we were there on the weekend.

 

 

We spent a good part of the next day sailing to Rudesheim, Germany,  on the beautiful Rhine, enjoying the sights along the way...

and a fun late afternoon, walking the cobblestone streets to Rudesheim's market and a  local restaurant for dinner. It was a rowdy evening...

 

Next stop...Heidelberg, Germany. We visited the majestic ruins of Heidelberg Castle. Built during the early 13th century, it was the setting for the opera, THE STUDENT PRINCE. A beautiful place... and the views from it were spectacular!



 

 

France...Strasbourg, specifically, was our next port of call. A large, multicultural city, we enjoyed walking and observing...and eating at the Christmas market!!

Strasbourg Cathedral and its amazing clock!

Note the street lights are chandeliers!!

Ultra-modern European Parliament building

Beautiful Renaissance housing along one of the many canals.

Place de la Republic...MOTHER STRASBOURG, mourning her losses

Whew! That's enough for this posting...lots to digest and lots of photos to see! I'll finish my trip report when we'll head to Germany's Black Forest, Colmar (the home of the sculptor of our Statue of Liberty,) and finally, Lucerne, Switzerland.

 

Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a fun-filled yet relaxing weekend. I hope to see you for the rest...

 

Hugs and love,

abbyj