Rhine River Cruise Day 3

We left Breisach, Germany Sunday night at 7:00 pm! We docked at 4 am Monday morning in  Kehl Baden Wurttem, Germany today! We docked here because Strasbourg doesn’t have a port for boats. So after breakfast we had a short walk along the river and park to our bus for our ride into Strasbourg,  France for our walking tour!

Strasbourg is the capital city of the Grand Est region, formerly Alsace, in northeastern France. It's also the formal seat of the European Parliament and sits near the German border, with culture and architecture blending German and French influences. Its Gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame features daily shows from its astronomical clock and sweeping views of the Rhine River from partway up its 142m spire. ― Google

Remember I told you yesterday that the storks are a very special bird to the people of this region? 

Below are a few pictures of the storks nesting along the street. They return every year to the same nest just like Ospreys. These trees with nests and the storks lined this street as we drove along. 

Strasbourg was a garrison city this church below had a door for each regiment to enter and leave in case of attack. 






















Astronomical clock below in the Strasbourg Cathedral. It is officially called the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. It was built between 1025 and 1439, it is acclaimed as one of the worlds more beautiful of high or late Gothic architecture (though many sections are built in the Romanesque style). The spire soars 466 feet into the air, it’s the world’s sixth-tallest church and the highest extant building constructed entire during the Middle Ages. 

We shopped a little and found some Amarena Cherry gelato! Brought back some great memories of Italy…yep you guessed it no pictures of the gelato! 🤦‍♀️  We headed to our meeting place for our very long walk back to our bus for lunch and relaxing in the lounge. Love watching the 🦢 while we relax. 

We watched  was a cooking demonstration by the chef and a guest making Flammkuchen! Very yummy reminded me of a pizza the process was quick and easy and sour cream as the base is the key toppings can be anything savory or sweet you want. This of course was a savory version. 


Dinner tonight was a Taste of Germany.  I did get a picture of the table with bread, pretzels, cheese and meats and of course the desserts! 

My Apple Watch went a bit wild yesterday again….I think the jet lag has effected it! 🤣 No way I got that much exercise even with all that walking. 

We are sailing to Speyer, Germany ….stay tuned! 

Rhine River Cruise Day 2

Good morning! Yesterday was our day 2 however I was unable to connect to WiFi on the boat all day or data on my cell phone so blogging today about yesterday from my phone so near with me!  

Today we docked in Kehl, Germany and we are currently on a bus heading into Strousburg, France. 

I know I promised pictures from Sunday nights dinner. We had a lovely dinner but forgot to take pictures.  I think my brain had quit functioning. I will strive to do better. 😉 

But back to yesterday! After a good nights sleep Michael and I overslept. 😂   Michael never oversleeps and definitely never sleeps through his alarm.  But  we did indeed oversleep and we  were to meet for breakfast at 7 and we woke up at 6:23! But y’all we made it I don’t think I have ever put myself together so quickly! 

Breakfast in the dining room is so nice. The staff are so happy to be working and take care of you! I did get a few pictures. 

Started off with some fresh berries with mascarpone  cheese. Very refreshing!

Egg dish of the day for me! Flavor was really nice egg cooked in a tomato and peppers. 

Eggs Benedict 


After breakfast we went back to our rooms to get out tickets and our quite box that we use for tours so we can hear our guides. We headed to the Black Forest! Below is our guide Jessica who grew up in the area but had a very good American accent….when she was 12 her family moved to Canada and she has been back in Germany for about 5 years and studying to be a surgical nurse. George was the bus driver for our trip to the Black Forest.  Don’t you love her hat? There is significance… Pom Pom Hat old tradition for women in the Black Forest is that red Pom Pom’s signify that women are single and black Pom Pom’s signify that they are married.  

One thing we learned on our drive was that storks are famous and well loved  in this area. The roost everywhere and they are proud of them and make sure you know all the stories about them. I missed the photo opportunity for the stork in the Black Forest area. 🤦‍♀️

We continued the journey up a winding mountain towards the Black Forest. 

See the snow on the mountain tops? 

The Black Forest is a mountainous region in southwest Germany, bordering France. Known for its dense, evergreen forests and picturesque villages, it is often associated with the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. It's renowned for its spas and the cuckoo clocks produced in the region since the 1700s. The region’s largest town, Freiburg, is filled with Gothic buildings and surrounded by vineyards. ― Google

The barn below is black because the Roman’s fought in the open fields so farmers had their barns painted/stained black because in the dense evergreens they were not easily spotted by the Romans. 

 Our first stop once arriving was for a cuckoo clock making demonstration! 

Michael got a great video of this building when the hour struck and the music and cuckoo clock struck at 11 am! 

After shopping for a cuckoo clock and a few other things Susan and I were off to have the Viking special of Black Forest cake and coffee before the demonstration on how to make the Black Forest cake. 

We have the recipe so we will share if you are interested! 😉

After this we headed to our bus to head back to our boat for lunch! 

 Shrimp appetizer 

 Cauliflower soup 

Energy Bowl 

 Floating Island 

 Chocolate sundae 

Michael and Mark took the tour to Colmar to see the memories for Audie Murphy. 

The statue below represents Alsace and Lorraine the two areas that go back and forth between the French and German rule! The statue is representative of the two regions reuniting as sister regions. 

We didn’t have WiFi yesterday so I am behind a day but WiFi is back so I can catch up now! Enjoy! 

Rhine River Cruise Day 1

We are in Basel Switzerland!  

We left yesterday evening and flew from Dulles airport to Amsterdam then from Amsterdam to Basel.  We arrived around noon time.  Travel to Europe is different now but it is definitely doable. Just have to be sure you know each country's requirement to enter and also your tour company's requirements.  The tour company like Viking requires a you to be vaccinated and to test daily.  So you just need to have all your documents in order and have a good attitude things can and probably will happen but typically everything in the end is fixable. 

Here are a couple sunrise pictures as we approached Amsterdam this morning.

So we boarded our KLM flight and Michael declared that the dinner they served was the best airline meal he had ever had.  Then to our surprise before we landed at 6 am they gave us a hot breakfast sandwich.  Got on the next flight that was only about an hour and guess what they fed us again....an egg salad sandwich and if you know me you know I love me some egg salad. 

We arrived in Basel and were greeted by Viking reps and directed to the bus to bring us to the boat.  These are not ships because they are small and hold about 190 passengers and they are called River Boats.  I should have taken a some pictures of our room but maybe later when I feel more organized.  We opted for a French balcony so the door opens for fresh air just no balcony but we won't be in our rooms much anyway.  Too much to do and see. 

After doing our first of many Covid tests...yes right now daily saliva test...that was interesting because I suffer with dry mouth but we succeeded and turned them over for testing.  We did have a PCR test on Wednesday that was negative but Viking goes the extra mile for passenger safety. 

We had a nice lunch and below are a few pictures!

Michael's Zucchini and Mint soup 

Michael also got a Mediterranean Tuna Toast 

Susan and I opted for the Alpine Salad 

Mark got the Fish and Chips

Susan, Mark and I got the Black Forest Ice Cream 

Michael went for the Blueberry Tart

After lunch we did a walking tour of Basel and a few pictures are below as well.

See the Frog?  This is where you get married in Basel.  The story is that this groom changed his mind about getting married and tried to run away from his bride. But she was unhappy and she  put a curse on him and turned him into a frog.  He is waiting for someone to come and kiss him and turn him back. 

See the astronomical clock on this old Catholic Church and now is a Protestant church.  

To say we have walked a lot today is an understatement. I still plan to do some stretching tonight on the Peloton App after dinner because you know I have to keep that streak alive. But the point of this was to let you know that already with no exercise my Apple watch says I have done 75 mine of exercice today and I have walked 3.7 miles already. 

I promise to share more tomorrow.  But I know after dinner I will be ready for bed.  So dinner photos to come tomorrow. Come on you know it really is about the food with us.  

Tonight at 9 pm we set sail for Breisach, Germany where we will be doing a morning tour of the Black Forest then in the afternoon Michael and Mark will be doin the Colmar in World War II museum and memorial tour.  

Surprise we found out that it we are going to experience Daylight Savings time here tonight and I thing that all our stops change tonight. 

Stay tuned we are getting ready for a safety drill now. I just wanted to get the blog out for everyone.