Dec 22, 2019 - Regensburg

We had docked at Regensburg so were able to walk from the ship into the town without buses! Our local guide had grown up in Regensburg which made for a very informative personal perspective on the tour. Regensburg, a Bavarian city of approximately 150,000 inhabitants suffered little destruction from the bombs of WWII even though it was home to a Messerschmidt aircraft factory. Famous inhabitants of Regensburg were Oskar Schindler (Schindler’s list fame) and Pope Benedict XVI. As we walked along the river toward the old town (a UNESCO World...

Dec 21, 2019 - Nuremberg

We had a very busy first day on our Christmas Market cruise. Started off with a short core and stretching exercise session in the lounge, before breakfast. (We will see how long this lasts!). Then after breakfast, off on a bus tour of Nuremberg, which included a walk through the historic city and the Imperial Castle. From the castle, we had a terrific view of the old city, surrounded by the wall and moat. It is hard to believe that 90% of Nurenberg was completely destroyed in a mere 90 minutes during WWII? The old city medieval wall and...

Dec 20, 2019 - Nuremberg

December 20 Today we leave our lovely hotel for Nuremberg and the start of our cruise! We had purchased train tickets from Vienna departing at 10:15 and arriving Nuremberg @3:30pm; however in order to catch up with Martha (she had arrived yesterday) and to be sure to not miss the ship we decided to try to catch the 9:15. Arriving at the very large Vienna train station we searched for Rail Europe office only to find the first class lounge. As we had purchased second class the gentleman was not too eager to help us with our “inexpensive...

Dec 8, 2019 - SawChristmas markets in Germany

Guten tag, I've been in Germany for the last few days visiting the cities of Stuttgart and Nürnberg and enjoying the delights of their Christmas markets. It's been a wonderful trip but now it's time to return home to loved ones. You may have heard that there's been a French national strike that has crippled transport in addition to other services. It officially began on the 5th of December but long distance trains were affected from the evening of the 4th. Luckily, my train left France for Germany late morning on the 4th. It was delayed...

Nov 22, 2019 - Market Day

Day 13 - Friday 22nd November Good job we got here early yesterday, the site filled up during the day but by nighttime today it was packed with motorhomes with two per pitch & a site closed sign at the gate. A man came round early in the morning & collected the €34 for the two nights. He also told us about the buses that run into the city & how to pay for tickets which would save us a mile & a quarter walk each way. We had decided that we would go into the city for a look round in the morning, go back to the motorhome for a few hours & then...

Nov 21, 2019 - Aachen At Last

Day 12 - Thursday 21st November Just a short run up to Aachen in Germany. Their Xmas fair starts tomorrow so we want to get there today to find a place to stay. There are a couple of sites in the city but not sure if they will be full so we plan to get there early. The day was freezing cold & dull to start. We left Malmedy & drove up to Spa to see what was there. We passed the Formula One race track at Francorchamps but they wouldn’t let me take Maria(that’s the name of our motorhome) around the track for a spin. We carried on to Verviers...

Oct 11, 2019 - Berlin October 5 to October 9

The blog is back! The blog is back! Will it last? Will it last? Time will tell! Time will tell! Oct. 6, 2019 We finally arrived at our hotel in Berlin around 8:00pm tonight. I had worn my comfortable new bag lady outfit--dress/shirt, leggings and hiking boots and both of us had slept on the plane overnight. Still, it made for a long day in airport terminals, but, as Greg pointed out, it kept us awake. At first glance, Berlin seems to consist of box or rectangular like structures with flat faceless expressions, a most defiant pose! Oct....

Oct 6, 2019 - Speyer, Germany

Speyer was founded by the Romans over 2000 years ago. It is one of Germany's oldest cities. Speyer is dominated by the Speyer Cathedral. In the Cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings. There is a legend about the eight men, as represented by the sculpture we took a picture of in the garden. The other sculpture is of the ferry-man on the river. The ferry-man was waiting for some business when he heard shouts from the other side of the river. He saw eight men who were calling him for a...

Oct 5, 2019 - Boppard, Germany

Marksburg is a castle on the Rhine River which is part of the Rhine Gorge UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fortress was used for protection rather than as a residence for royal families. It is one of only two fortress castles that has never been destroyed and the only one that had never fallen into disrepair. It March 1945, the castle was badly damaged by American artillery fired from across the Rhine. But of course it was repaired after the war. It is the best castle I've ever visited. We got to go through secret doors and dark narrow...

Oct 4, 2019 - Bernkastel, Germany

Bernkastel is a well-known wine growing center in the middle Moselle River Valley. It dates back to about 370 AD. And again, as in all of Europe, has layers and layers of history. It was not damaged in WWII. The castle ruins shown in the pictures was from a fire in 1692. The castle was never restored. We saw the medieval marketplace with its gabled timber-framed houses from the 17th century. We visited the Doctor Vineyards. The legend is that a prominent citizen of Bernkastle became very ill and no one knew how to heal him. A vintner came...

Oct 2, 2019 - Trier, Germany

Karl Marx is Trier's most famous citizen. He was one of the great minds of his time (1818-1883). As I said under the picture of his statue, he was a philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. His critical theories about society, economics and politics-collectively understood as Marxism- hold that human societies develop through class struggle. He has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and his work has been both applauded and criticized. His...

Oct 1, 2019 - Mosel River Valley

Cochem was settled in 886; no I didn't leave out the 1; during early Celtic and Roman times. During WWII, great parts of Cochem's old town were destroyed. Also, during the war, the Nazi's set up a concentration camp here. It held 13,000 people who were imprisoned. They worked as slave labor for the Bosch company making spark plugs for the bombs that flew to England and bombed London. The Castle we saw today towering over the scenic town of Cochem is not the castle that originally stood there in the 12th century. That castle had a long and...