Rhine River Cruise Day 5

We slept in this morning and didn’t eat breakfast until 7:30 am 😉. 

Today we relaxed in the lounge while sailing along the Middle Rhine seeing 20 castles our Program Director gave us commentary. I will share a few castles below 

Gutenfels Castle 

























After lunch we docked in Koblenz, Germany and we had a short walk to our bus and here are few pictures along the way. 

After a short bus ride we had a tour of The Ehrenbreitstein Fortress with an actor transporting us to an earlier period. 

Ehrenbreitstein is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine at Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It overlooks the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine. The peak of the hill, which shares the name, is 118 metres above the Rhine.^[1]: 2 It is the northernmost point of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Upper Middle Rhine Valley. 

More info 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrenbreitstein_Fortress

After the tour we came back by bus and walked around the town. Saw 3 of the pieces of the Berlin Wall on display. 

In 1897 a monumental equestrian statue of German Emperor Wilhelm I. was built. It was designed as a monument to the German Reich founded in 1871. Built by the Rhine Province to honor Kaiser Wilhelm, the Memorial stands in tradition of many erected monuments in Germany.

At the German point  were the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers come together there were 16 flags representing the 16 Federal States of a Germany and 1 US flag that the Germany people erected as a sign of friendship and the memorialize 9/11! 

Some beautiful flowers we saw along our walk. Some cute ideas for such gardens arrangements too. 

Back to the boat for dinner and I realized I haven’t been identifying what we are eating. So I endeavor to do better. Because we all know it is all about the food. 

Pumpkin Soup

Mediterranean Tart appetizer 


Spinach stuffed ravioli 

Lamb Stew

Seared Cod Filet

Germany Cherry Cake  and ice cream 

Carrot Cake 


We never stay awake for the evening entertainment but they had a string duo of classical music performed by the Kolblenz String Duo. We are sure it was lovely but we chose sleep. 🤣 

We set sail for Cologne Germany at 1:00 am we are sure to be sleeping then too! 

Stay tuned for more fun! 

Rhine River Cruise Day 4

We arrived in Speyer around 5 am on Tuesday morning. After breakfast we had a walking tour at 8:45 into the small town. 

We visited the Cathedral of Speyer it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built between  1030 and 1061 by emperors Konrad II, Henry III, and Henry IV, it was meant to impress not only in size but it’s pomp and majesty as well.  Henry IV replaced its flat ceiling with groin vaults in the late 11th century, an innovative feat in its day. A restoration program in the 1050’s returned the building almost exactly its original condition. 

Below is a statue representing Jesus praying with the disciples the night before His crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane.






On the plaza in front of the main entrance to the Cathedral stands the cathedral bowl. Originally, it marked the border between the sovereign territories of the bishop and the city. (Pictures below) 

Since its construction in the 14th century, it played a significant role in the execution of a prison sentence: whoever had broken a state law and fled to the cathedral bowl was protected from prosecution.

It has been a long time since the cathedral bowl fulfilled these historical functions. But a beloved Middle Age custom continues to be observed in modern times. On special religious occasions, the cathedral bowl is filled with wine. With a capacity of over 1500 liters, many citizens and guests are thereby able to enjoy a taste of the juice of the grape. This occurred most recently at the 950-year anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of Speyer on October 2, 2011.

Front of the Cathedral 

Door at the at the cathedral 

Inside the Cathedral 

Below are some photos from our tour of the Trinity Church After the great city fire of 1689, the Trinity Church was built between 1701 and 1717. It is the oldest of the five Protestant churches in Speyer. 

We continue on our walking tour and our guide took us down this alley and I thought these windows decorated for Easter were noteworthy. 

A few more pictures of our walk around town 

The Old Gate | Stadt Speyer

The old city gate was Speyer's western city gate and part of the Middle Ages fortification that consisted of 68 wall and gate towers. Facing the cathedral it defines the end of Maximilian Street. 

Maypole 






We returned to our ship after a short bus ride to Worms Germany. We set sail to Rudesheim Germany! 

We had afternoon tea in the lounge while sailing 

We heard from the captain during a Nautical talk. Then off to dinner! 😉

Overnight in Rudesheim sailing away in the morning at 9 am to Koblenz! We will be seeing Castles along the way. Stay tuned! 🏰