Bob, Doug & Evie at the Philadelphia airport.....packed and ready!
(if you double click on any photo, it will enlarge it for a clearer view)
Bob has wanted to go to Germany for many, many years because his paternal grandmother was German! Joanne has wanted to update their kitchen for nearly 6 years now because it's 35+ years old.
Guess you can tell by the title of this entry who won! I must say, it wasn't a hard decision for me (Joanne) because I've reached a point in my life where I believe we need to do the things we really want to do while we are still healthy and of a sound mind. During the past several years we have seen how quickly life can change at the drop of a dime or the snap of a finger. So Germany and four more countries........here we come! We hope you're ready for us. l will do my best to keep the blog updated, however, it will depend on the internet reception on the boat. We're told that sometimes it's great and other times it's iffffy! We'll see.
Our dear friends, Doug and Evie Kellner, decided to come along for the ride. Doug is pure German and proud of it, so it wasn't hard to convince him that they needed to join us.
We started planning this trip in March of 2009 after I called Viking River Cruises and begged them for a 2 for 1. For ten years I have received mailings offering but 1 get 1 free. They are always booked within 90 days of that mailer. Because of my business and my bookings being up to 18 months in advance, I've never been able to take advantage of their offers. Long story short, after 3 phone calls to the company with lots of explanations, they agreed to sell us the buy 1 get 1 free fifteen months in advance.
Preparing for the trip has been a real challenge, simply because we are flying British Airways to and from the trip.....they are now on strike. Then there's the Volcano which has been giving Heathrow Airport a good run for their money......we connect in Heathrow.
Up until 48 hours before departure all was as it should be. Then the unwanted telephone call came from Viking River Cruises.......Our connection was cancelled! UGH! But not to worry, we were told, we have you scheduled on another flight later in the day. Soooo, instead of a 3 hour layover, we had a TEN (10) hour layover in Heathrow.
OK, this will be short because we are now on the boat and have been up close to 40 hours. We got lucky in Philadelphia at the British Air ticket counter. They went to check us in and had given away our seats I had booked 4 months ago. I was upset because I can't handle a middle seat on a crowded plane. I told them they need to help fix the problem or the flight attendants would be watching me throw up for 7 hours. The UPGRADED us along with Doug and Evie to Business Class. WOW, was that a comfortable 7 hours. We were still looking at a 10 and a half hour layover in London/Heathrow airport, but at least we'd be a little better rested when we got there.
We arrived in London at 5:50 am and knew we wouldn't be leaving for Brussels until 4:30 pm....so I went to a British Air Agent and tried to talk them into giving us a free pass for the day to the international lounge. This would save us money on meals and give us comfortable surroundings and a shower if we needed it. They wouldn't go for it BUT, they got us on at 12:35 pm flight out of there to Brussels.....so we 'shaved' four hours off of our layover. YEA!
We are on the boat now, have meant several cool people, did the orientation and safety meeting and had dinner. Bob and ate Ostrich for dinner.....I had Chicken and Doug had steak. It was slow but the first night on a cruise usually is.
The Viking Sun
Tomorrow we tour Antwerp, Belgium. I'm exhausted and heading to bed. Bob is already snoring so loud I can hear him through my earplugs. I know he's exhausted like the rest of us, but I think the non stop filling of his wine class at dinner had something to do with it.
The tour today was excellent, and the tour guide had a wonderful sense of humor and perfect English. He was born in New York but has been in Belgium 20 years. We got some wonderful history and saw the whole town by bus and a walking tour. The weather wasn't the best but at least it didn't RAIN. Overcast, windy and cloudy but we still had a great day.
New housing in Antwerp
We lost sight of Bob for a while....needless to say, as soon as we saw this clock on the top of the Cathedral, we FOUND Bob!
We came back for lunch and Bob and Doug went back into town for another 3 hours. Evie and I played Rummicube in the Library and met several other game players. By the time afternoon tea was finishing up the boys were back.
We've met a wonderful couple from Scotland, John & Elisabeth, and they know the area Bob's maternal grandparents were from. We've had 3 meals with them and are having loads of fun with them. I taught Elisabeth a new word....Ornery. She is as bad if not worse them me and we love her already. John, her husband of 50 years is a retired doctor of radiology. The other couple we've had fun with is Elizabeth and Fred from North Carolina.
I haven't been able to get to sleep at nights, partly because it's still light outside at 10 pm. Go figure.
Ok, it's Tuesday and we're off to Brugg, Belgium for the day. Starts with a bus tour then a walking tour then the afternoon on our own. Calling for us now, will write more later.
Whew, what a day. The weather turned out perfect. NO RAIN.....62 degrees. We left the ship at 8:15 am and are just returning now at 5:00 pm. It was a day filled with touring and free time and lots of fun, pictures and walking. Lots of history and political information I could have personally lived without. Oh well! Still had fun. And got lots of exercise in with all the walking we did.
Canal tour in Brugg
Doug had a great time waving at the people who lived in the houses along the canal in Brugg. There was even a dog hanging out a 2nd story window watching the tours go by but it was so quick the pictures didn't come out.
We returned to the square to wait for the bus when we saw our Scottish friend Elisabeth. They were going back to the boat at noon so I was very surprised to see her still there. I approached her and said, "What in the world are you still doing here?" And I have to tell you, my heart is heavy right now as I write this. Seems that John, her husband, was trying to avoid a metal piece in the cobblestone walkway/street and tripped, falling and breaking his hip. Being a doctor he knew immediately what had happened. They were in a location where they could not get an ambulance to him so they had to carry him for a long distance on a stretcher. She was so distraught and worried. The Viking River Cruise staff was absolutely awesome. They were right there to help her arrange everything. They will operate on his hip at 6 pm (20 minutes from now) tonight and she will stay next door to the hospital in a monastery......she and I both have some concerns about that (smile). We have promised to keep in touch and she's heading to the hospital now with all of their belongings. We all feel so terrible for both of them to have this happen when they had planned for several years to take this trip. We've prayed for John's quick recovery and a speedy trip home. We're told that the hospital he is in is one of the best within hundreds of miles.
We set sail from Ghent tonight at 6:00 pm and will arrive in Kinderdkjk, Rotterdam, the Netherlands tomorrow. After breakfast we head out on an excursion in the picturesque Dutch countryside of the historic Kinderdijk area. Part of the tour will take us to see working windmills and meet the families that live in them. I've seen them before but it will be a first for Bob, Doug & Evie.
Off to dinner and our 'briefing for tomorrow'.
It's Wednesday and I finally got a great night's sleep. Had my porridge at breakfast as we were docking in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands. We were the first group to get off the boat for the tour of the working windmills of Kinderdijk. There were 19 windmills; eight were built in 1738 and the rest were more built in 1740. They were built to protect the surrounding land from flooding. There was also the Wisboom pumping station which dates back to 1868. After going through the working windmill and meeting the Miller who tends it we walked the path through the waterway that houses the 19 windmills. Lots of wildlife, flowers and serenity. After about 2 hours of walking we headed back to the boat for lunch.
Bob and Doug helping dock the boat in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands!
Working Windmills
We look like we're on a boat, but we aren't we had a photographer take our picture while standing on a bridge.....very clever.
While eating lunch we left the dock at Kinderdijk and heading to Rotterdam. We arrived there early so our captain took us on an extra little cruise around the city and pointed out several things we may have wanted to visit. Once docked in Rotterdam, we got off the boat and toured on our own for another 3 hours. So for those of you counting.....that would be FIVE, (5), yes that's FIVE hours of walking. I'm thinking I will be able to eat whatever I want for dinner tonight. (big smile).
While walking Rotterdam we were able to see the Old Harbor historic shipyard. We met a 72 year old man named John who stopped us and talked to us. The next thing we knew he, Bob and Doug were heading to his boat. He's a master woodworker. He rebuilds wooden wheels for all types of antique vehicles. He was amazing and the guys really enjoyed him. He had a shop on his boat so that's where he took Doug and Bob while Evie and I stayed on the sidewalk waiting. He told us he restores all wooden parts and wheels for a gentleman in Naples, FL who owns a car museum. He then was kind enough to give us directions to the shopping area downtown.
On our walk we also saw the famous Cube Houses designed by Piet Blom.
We passed the Maritime Museum and the famous "pencil". We also took a quick look at a Catholic Church in Rotterdam called Grote of Sint - Laurenskerk, Rotterdam. Being a musician, I'm always interested in the church organs and their pipes. This church had 3 organs and the biggest one was awesome. I will load pictures at the end of this excursion of all the organs I saw during the trip.
We walked across the big bridge in Amsterdam on one side and back across on the other side. Got some great pictures of the harbor.
By the time we finished we had walked just over 3 hours and are now getting ready for dinner.
Off to Gouda and Amsterdam tomorrow.
We arrived in Schoonhoveen and headed to the area of Gouda (pronounced Howda) to tour one of Holland's famous cheese making regions. At a local farm we got a closer look at the process and had the opportunity to sample several types of FRESH cheeses. Bob was in his glory there, I have to tell you. He bought a piece and has been nibbling away at it in the room every day. LOVELY SMELL in our room, I'll have you know. whew!
Gothic Town Hall - Gouda, The Netherlands
We continued on to Gouda where we saw the Gothic Town Hall, the old cheese market building and the magnificent St. John's Cathedral with its world-famous leaded glass windows. Bob bought a pint of fresh strawberries and ate them all but 6 before getting back on the boat. They were very small, compared to ours at home, but very, very sweet. We could have eaten two pints if we had tried.
We we returned we had dinner and took a walk into town to see the red light district. Doug, Bob, me and our new friend Fred from NC went. It took a while to find and I finally stopped in a hotel, asked to use their bathroom (for a price of course) and then got directions. It was a pretty good walk from the boat.....a good strong 40 minutes. But we found it. Nothing to write home about in my book; and the crew told me if I walked down the side alleys I would see men....DIDN'T HAPPEN...and I walked up and down every damn alley I could find. In the mean time, the guys were ooooing and aaaahhhing and gawking around. Well not really Fred, he was a little more discreet then Bob and Doug. We had fun and can say we've been there. By the time we were about a third of the way back to the boat, I couldn't find a bathroom, so, I let out a whistle, caught us a cab and were back in 10 mins.
Friday was a great tour! We started out on a 45 minute bus tour of the 'new Amsterdam". Then we took an hour canal tour around the city. This was awesome. We all agreed that another 2 hours would have kept us happy. We could see everything from the boat and the tour guide did a superb job. Once we finished the Canal Tour we boarded the bus and did another hour or more touring "old Amsterdam".....we all liked this better then the new part. Great 3 and a half hour tour and then back for lunch.....heaven forbid we'd miss a meal! After lunch Doug and Evie headed in one direction and Bob and I headed into town to the flee market and Diamond Market. We took a tour of the biggest Diamond Exchange in Amsterdam and had a good time. Very imformative but I left with my money and credit card untouched! Yippppeee!
These are shots from the boat on the Canal Tour
I have to admit, last night was only the second night I went into the lounge on the boat to check out the music. Great piano player with a synthesizer so he'll play just about anything we ask for. So, we ended up dancing Rio, Cruising, Lorrie's Cha Cha (Doug & Evie) and a 2 step (Me and Doug). One HALF a slow dance with Bob and he was off the hook and headed to bed. Of course, everyone thought we were really good and now the staff want lessons. (smile)
Today is Saturday and we have arrived in Arnhem. This will be our last stop in The Netherlands. This morning we visited teh Paleis Het Loo, the summer residence of the Royal House of Orange from 1686 to 1975. The gardens were magnificent, front and back. Regardless of what window you looked out of the house.....over 150....you can see some section of the gardens.
Royal House of Orange
We were lucky enough to be there on a day when they had their horses in the stable. They no longer keep them at the public stables. Several years ago a 9 year old boy accidently let them out and it was near disaster. Today we got great pictures and videos of them prancing around and showing off for all the tourists.
Doug, Evie & Bob have now had lunch and are headed back into Arnhem. Not me, I'm resting my feet for our first day in Germany tomorrow. We will arrive in Cologne tomorrow morning and tour for about 4 hours.
At 7:15 pm, Saturday, June 5, we finally crossed the line into Germany. The countryside changed drastically. Less factories and lots more open land with grazing animals and small farms and homes along the riverbank.
It's Sunday and our first stop in Germany is their 4th largest city, Cologne. You guessed it! It's the head office of the famous "eau de Cologne" manufacturer. We started the day with a 90 minute walking tour through the old city of Cologne and visited several interesting sites. They have an archeological site they are working on which was very interesting. It goes as far down as 150 feet and they were examining a Jewish community. We visited Cologne's magnificent Gothic Cathedral that took 632 years to build (1248 - 1880). It's not wonder, it was massive in size. The first 400 hundred years it was used as a monestary.
Evie went to one of their 6 masses offered today....the one she attended was the only one that had the music with it, so she was thrilled to be able to be there.
We head back to the boat after about 2 hours of walking on our own after the tour and had lunch. Once lunch was finished Bob and I left again and went to the Chocolate Museum. It was awesome and we spent 2 hours touring it and another 30 minutes shopping. This museum offered an expedition through 3,000 years of chodolate history and we were able to have several samples. Lucky for me Bob isn't a huge chocolate fan! (smile)
After leaving the museum with my purchases in tow, we headed across the street to an authentic German shop that sold fresh brockworst, German mustards, Jellies, Jams and Wine. From there, we toured one last church before heading back to the boat to read, relax and get ready for dinner. Bob has taken to the pulpits in these churches, like Evie takes to the Stained Glass Windows and I take to the Organs. Wait til I can download some of the pictures. It's not easy or quick here on the boat.
Tonight we had an authentic German dinner with Saucerwhatever with a gravy sauce and heavy potato whatevers and purple sauerkraut......I had STEAK and CEASAR SALAD. Evie and Doug and Bob were in their glory so my potatoes and sauerkraut were passed around. Our new friends from NC had a mix too. Elizabeth ordered the vegetarian dish which was something German similar to stuffing you'd put in a turkey or chicken....she passed it around because she didn't really care for it. Too Funny!
It's Monday and were supposed to go down the beautiful Mosell River, however, they are working on a couple of the locks and we were detoured. We are now in Kolbenz, Germany. We'll take a walking tour, then come back for a Rhenish Fruhschoppe (mid morning glass of beer and a whole roasted suckling pig....whoopeeee! After that it's back out on another tour from 2-6 pm.
We're back and have had the mid morning Rhenish Fruhschoppe.....what fun we had! They held it on the top of the boat and a whole baby pig was roasted, German potato salad, sauerkraut, fresh pretzels and several types of mustard. Along with the food, they tapped TWO small kegs of German beer. They literally used a rubber headed hammer to hammer the tap into the kegs of beer. The only thing not authentic was the beer was served cold. They had German music (mostly polkas) playing, the staff were dressed accordingly and they were drinking beer right along with all of us. Lots of singing from all of us and pictures taken.
Now I'm catching up with the blog and going out to sit on the top of the boat in the sun. It was dreary this morning and was threating rain, but all is good with the weather as we gear up for the afternoon tours.
Whew, we've just returned from our four (4) hour tour to Cochem to visit their "Willage" (German accent for American word Village) and to a wine tasting pub. The 'Willage" was very cool. We really liked it and the area surrounding it. It was much smaller then the Cities we have visited and we liked that. It sits along the Moselle River with a huge Castle that sits on the top of a hill looking over the "Willage". After 9 days we've decided that we could pass up some of the walking tours and check out the towns and villages on our own. Although, we also are afraid if we do that, we might actually miss something. Of course there were several churches, not cathedrals and lots of walking. I don't drink wine so Bob had 8 tastes instead of 4. The drive on the bus along the Moselle was beautiful; we actually felt like we were relaxing a little.
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, OH NO, it's another church.
A true German Beer Garden sitting right on the river banks
We learned that their "Wineyars" (German accent for American Vineyards) in this area are planted on the side of hills on both sides of the river. Very strange to see and we actually saw some people out there working with the "Wines" (Vines).
Brubach, Germany Main Town Square
We are heading to visit Marksburg Castle tomorrow which is located in a town called Braubach, Germany. It's off to dinner now and a Music Quiz after dinner.....where's Mary Louise Smith and Pat Todd when we need them.
Well, we didn't win the Music Quiz but we sure had fun with our friends from Allentown, PA. Joy, Kathy and their husbands. We got extra points if we got up and danced for certain songs. After that we went to bed.....a very long day.
Marksburg Castle was awesome. There were two very steep inclines to get up to it but it was worth it. The walking inside the castle wasn't smooth either with all kinds of rough walking paths. They made sure they made it clear to everyone that if you weren't in good physical condition you would want to pass this tour up....they were right. However, I was thrilled with my stamina. I wasn't even winded when I reached the top. The torture chamber and the main dining room were my favorites of the castle. They even had an indoor toilet which was almost unheard of 600 years ago. Of course when you used it, the droppings went into the garden.....ugh....good feritilizer.
We returned to the boat and have been sailing all afternoon. It's been a very relaxing day and the weather was, for the most part very nice. We had a brief light shower for about 30 minutes and then the sun came back out. The ride down the Rhine was lovely and after seeing the 6th castle, I stopped counting. The one we toured this morning was the ONLY ONE that wasn't distroyed or damaged over the years from wars. I sat on deck and visited with the Allentown group and then read about 5 chapters of my book. Perfect resting day.
We've docked in Rudesheim, Germany and while I managed to full asleep while reading, Bob, Doug & Evie took an hour's walk through town. Tonight they are offering an optional tour with dinner and folkloric entertainment in Rudesheim but we decided to pass it up and stay on board. All shopping stores and areas close promptly at 6:00 pm each evening in all the villages.
After dinner they had a glassblower to entertain us. And from what we hear, he was excellent and has been to Wheaton Village, NJ. Bob and I missed him and walked back into Rudesheim, where I missed this afternoon. The staff and crew were heading in to party tonight for 3 hours....their downtime. We went to 2 or 3 pubs, checked them out quickly and then walked along the riverbank and I actually went shopping! WOW, got some cool stuff for some of our friends and family. We headed back to the boat around 10:15 holding hands (all of 30 seconds) and trying to be romantic (again, all of 30 seconds, but it was fun) and Bob was in bed snoring by 10:45 pm. Me, I'm having trouble getting to sleep just about every night. I've finished one audio book, one paperback book and am half way through my new Dean Koontz novel, Relentless. It will be finished by the time I get home.
It's Wednesday, June 6th and this has been a late starting day, which meant I could sleep late.....but that didn't happen. Once the sun came in the window, I was up and moving. We docked in Mannheim and left the boat at 10:30 for our drive to Heidelberg and our tour of the city and the Heidelberg Castle. The castle was awesome and we did lots of walking and listening. Once the guide started the city tour, we BROKE AWAY, and went off to check it out on our own. We were there for 3 hours so we had lunch at an outdoor pub/restaurant which served a fabulous dish of Salad, Chicken and French Fries. Bottled Water was included and it was enough to feed 3 people. I ate the salad and chicken and Bob ate the french fries and once he tried the chicken, he ate half of it too. It had a fabulous flavor and was cooked on a skewer that looked like a christmas tree.....it ended up that we were in Heidelberg, Germany eating INDIAN Cuisane! Go Figure!
I did just a little bit of shopping and a lot of walking! We've seen a Zillion and One cuckcoo clocks throughout our trip. On Friday, we will be in the Black Forest and Bob will have to make his decision on which one he will buy and have shipped home. They are awesome and several of them are big and beautiful, which is making it harder and harder to decide which one we want. It will be his decision, since that's all he's looked forward to since we planned the trip last March, 2009.
We boarded the bus in Heidelberg and headed to Speyer where our boat had sailed to meet us. We've had our showers and Bob and Doug are on a small, private tour of the captains wheelhouse. I think there were 8 gentlemen who went on it.
Tonight after dinner the 'entertainment' was a horse race. They asked Doug if he would be involved and our friend Megan from Texas (15 years old and traveling with her Grandmother) was also involved. It was hysterical and we all got to bet on the 'horses' so to speak. I ended up winning 20 Euros (about $27 USDollars)....well really only won 12 when you deduct my betting money from it. Doug won the first race and I had place 2 bets on him.....whopppppeeee!
Tomorrow is Friday, June 8, the day I've been waiting for. We will be in Strasbourg, France. I've been there before and if you check my blog you'll see the write up and pictures from my first visit with Celine & Thierry. I can't wait to show it off to Bob, Doug and Evie.
OMG, I'm soooo confused, it isn't Friday, it;s only Thursday.....duh.
We are docked in Kehl, Germany, directly across the Rhine River from Strasbourg, France. We were boarded on our bus at 8:15 and pulled away at 8:30. We were taken on yet ANOTHER city tour by coach and then ANOTHER walking tour through Strasbourg, France. We visited the Strasbourg Cathedral, which is a massive gothic church. In the back of the church is an astronomical clock that I will eventually get the pictures loaded onto the blog. I had seen it before and knew Bob would have a thrill when he saw it. I was right.
After touring downtown Strasbourg, France we took a short walking tour to Petit France (Little France) which was all very small streets and homes and canals, very authentic. 
Little France
After nearly 4 hours of walking we boarded the bus and headed back to the boat. Lunches are my favorite meals onboard because they offer lots of options.....and vegetables and salads. Dinner is nice, however, it's late eating for me (7 pm) and you have a choice of a fish dish, a vegetarian dish, or a 'what they call' meat dish....lamb, duck, and other things I don't personally care for. Very few veggies at dinner, so I'm having a hard time not eating the desserts....however, have done just fine with no breads......I've had maybe a total of 6 pieces of bread the whole 12 days so far.
After lunch I walked the top deck 10 times (about 30 minutes) and Doug, Evie and Bob went and took a walk across a bridge built strickly for walkers. You leave our side (Germany) and when you get to the other side you're in France. It reminded Bob of the bridge at Hoover Dam outside of Las Vegas where you walk across and leave one state and go into another. After that they headed into Kehl where I heard Evie found a dollar store.....no surprise there, knowing Evie and I both like them.
Tomorrow is the big day for Bob. I'm hoping that after seeing a million and one cuckcoo clocks, he'll be able to chose one tomorrow when we get to the Black Forrest.
Off to our talk about disembarkation.
I am so very blessed in so many ways. We were about 10 minutes into the talk about disembarkation when Katarina, one of the crew's staff came into the meeting and asked me to come with her. We had been having a problem with our AC leaking in the room and I thought that was it. She looked very serious so I asked if all was OK. She said yes, but please, just come with her.
As I started decending the large staircase, I looked down and there was Celine Schmidt, a dance instructor and friend from France. I was in such shock to see her and so happy and then her husband Thierry jumps out from behind a board of pictures with a camera. I couldn't believe that they had surprised me with a visit. I had emailed them the week or so before leaving but never heard anything. I thought they must have changed their email; NOT! they didn't want me to know they lived 30 mins. from where we docked yesterday in Kehl. They had called the ship the first day of sailing, talked to Martin and he had given them all the info they needed to surprise me. Then he had to keep the secret for 12 days!
Bob and me with Celine & Thierry Schmidt
Celine & Joanne
Joanne & Thierry
I had looked forward to the day in Strasbourg the whole trip, knowing I had such fond memories of my time there in 2007 with Celine & Thierry when I came over and worked with Judy McDonald at their 10 year anniversary party. The day turned out to be way more than I expected. We got a couple of great pictures and were able to visit for nearly an hour. They invited us to go with them to celebrate their son Alex's 21st birthday! We wouldn't have had enough time to get back before the boat left but it was a nice thought. They also brought us a wonderful bottle of French Champagne, which is being chilled and we will have it tonight. What a fabulous way to come to an end here.
Today is Friday and we had a great trip to the Black Forest. It was everything I remembered, except I was on a bus not in a car with Judy & Tina! 
Bob and Jack, our Black Forest tour guide for the day!
Bob bought his cuckcoo clock today and has been walking on air ever since. It's beautiful and very detailed. The demonstration was very informative and fun. They will be shipping it to us and we will be anxiously waiting for it to arrive.
Bob's new Clock!
We returned after our 4 1/2 hours tour of the Black Forest to lunch and then a 2 hour walk on our own around Breisach, Germany. I walked off the bread and ice cream I had at lunch. The weather has been a true blessing for us. The last 3 days we had rain while we slept, a little cool and cloudy in the mornings and then the temps have been between 80-92 degrees. We couldn't have asked for better weather.
Tonight is the Captain's Dinner so everyone is moaning about dressing up....tooooo funnny!
Elizabeth came to dinner without Fred tonight. He's very sick and coughing up blood. After dinner we encouraged him to head into the emergency room. A cab picked them both up and off they went. Luckily the hospital is only 10 minutes away.
We were to sail to Basel, Switzerland overnight but due to the high water, we can't get under a couple of bridges. We will stay here in Breisach and they will have to bus us to Basel, Switzerland tomorrow for our tour. Then on Sunday, we were scheduled to leave at 10 am for the airport.....that won't be happening. Since we can't sail to Basel, we will have to leave an hour earlier to get to the airport in time.
We've had a wonderful trip and seen so very much, however, we all agree that maybe 16 days is a little too much.....I'm historied out to be honest. I love the villages, churches etc. but now I need to head home and take a vacation from my vacation.....not complaining, mind you. Just finally starting to wind down.
One more day of touring and eating then we head home.
It's Saturday and our last day before heading home. Elizabeth and Fred are back on board but he's heading back into the hospital for the day and will fly home tomorrow. They diagnosed him with pnemonia. Many people on board have heavy coughs and sore throats. We're all hoping we get home soon without catching anything. (this didn't happen.....poor Doug ended up with Bronchitis)
We took an hour bus ride into Basel, Switzerland this morning after breakfast. We did a walking tour which was 90 mintues, however, after 30 minutes, we broke away and headed toward the market. It wasn't what we had expected and were very disappointed in the morning tour. We had fun in the market because Bob was able to taste anything and everything they handed his way. The city was modern with lots of high dollar stores. We ended up sitting in the cafe of the museum and talking with other folks on our tour.
I have spent the afternoon packing and getting ready to leave tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. We will be taken on a bus to the airport in Basel and head to Heathrow/London then onto Philadelphia.
It's been a wonderful trip with a few little bumps and lots of laughs and surprises. We all need to get home to take a vacation from our vacation!
3 comments:
Hoping your trip is all you hoped for and more!! Looking forward to checking the blog for any updates!
Al & Angie
Looks like a great time, I'm enjoying if from downtown Elkton. Can't wait to see all the pics once you return. Add more pictures. Be safe!!
Michele
XOXO Joanne
I'm glad you had a busy but "relaxing" trip this time! lol Although, you have to admit, the ride from the backseat was exhilarating!
Judy
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