Category: Holidays (Page 9 of 10)

Rhine 3.8.19

4 August 2019 / admin

Gertwiller 3.8.19

We are moored in Kehl this morning which is across the river from Strasbourg. As the Rhine skirts around Lauterbourg it also becomes the French – German border. The Alsace has been ruled by both France and Germany at various times. In 1870 Germany unified with Bismarck annexing most of the territory. It was ceded back to France under the Treaty of Versailles. It was re-occupied by Germany in 1940 and residents were subject to German conscription. It returned to French control in 1945 but in recognition of history there remains some elements of local law.

Our interest is far from political – we are here for a tour through some of the Alsace villages and to taste some local wines. We establish that wine tours are obviously common in the area with signs directing travellers along a formal wine tour which stretches for 170km north to south through Alsace.

Obernai 3.8.19

However as these photos and others show it is an attractive region with its own style of architecture.

Plus being largely German wines we are tasting which tend not to be Jackie’s taste I often get double portions.

This evening the stunning evening entertainment is the playing of cow bells. Along with the Kletzmer band this probably led to an early trip to bed.

Rhine 2.8.19

3 August 2019 / admin

Heidelberg Castle 2.8.19

There are two main parts of the day again today. This morning we visit Heidelberg and the castle is the prime location. The castle suffered much demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries and has only been partially reconstructed. Lightning strikes in 1537 and then again in 1764 with intervening wars and fires led to Mark Twain recording it as a ruin in 1880. Reconstruction was between 1897 and 1900.

Great Heidelberg Tun 2.8.19

The Great Heidelberg Tun lives within the cellars of the Castle. It was constructed in 1751 and currently holds 219000 litres. The construction requires 130 oak trees but no longer sees use as a wine barrel – it is simply a tourist attraction with the construction above being a dance area. Even Mark Twain refers to it as being empty on his visit in 1880.

So no wine tasting today.

Heidelberg Funicular 2.8.19

Access to the Castle requires use of a funicular so at least there is a small element of rail travel today. This is the lower cable car – there is apparently a further conveyance to the King’s Seat but I have no record that we made use of that.

Rastatt Palace 2.8.19

This evening we visit another location – Rastatt Palace. Instead of being entertained on board we are this evening attending a concern in the above.

Concert Room 2.8.19

We have an opportunity to see inside the palace and before anyone took a seat I was able to grab a shot of the magnificent concert room. The palace was constructed for Louis William of Baden-Baden between 1700 and 1707, his previous residence having been destroyed by French troops. It is the oldest Baroque residence in the Upper Rhine area and was based to an extent on the Palace of Versailles. The concert was held in what is known as the Prunksaal and I have not really captured the elegance of the room.

Rhine 1.8.19

2 August 2019 / admin

Stolzenfels Castle 1.8.19

A day of two halves – well many of them are but this morning was one of the anticipated highlights as we have rejoined the Rhine after our diversion along the Moselle and we are tripping our way through the Rhine Gorge and it is simply a procession of castles overlooking the river at each turn as we progress.

Marksburg Castle 1.8.19

On both sides of the river there is a road and a railway line matching the curves and so not only are there castles to spot but also a variety of rail services – in this case freight is on the move.

Rail Service 1.8.19

Back to Castles – but I have a lot more rail photos.

Castle of Rheinfels 1.8.19

The second half of the day comes after we moor at Rudesheim and once in the town we are taken to Siegfried’s Musikkabinett.

Pianola Rudesheim Museum 1.8.19

There are a huge number of musical delights kept and maintained here following restoration – this is just a small selection.

Musical Machine Rudesheim Museum 1.8.19

The Museum now claims to house more than 400 self-playing musical instruments – although on the tour they can only demonstrate a limited selection. Siegfried Wendel was no doubt bored on his honeymoon visiting an open air museum near Los Angeles which contained a number of player pianos and automatic instruments. By October 1969 he had opened the first German Museum – initially in Hochheim am Main but he had long hoped to bring it to Rudesheim as it had strong tourist levels even then. The move came in 1973 and has now been passed onto subsequent generations with around 130,000 visitors per annum.

In the evenings on board there is usually some entertainment. Tonight it is the Kletzmer Band which it is fair to say is probably not my wife’s favourite musical form – so an early exit to bed was taken.

Rhine Cruise 31.7.19

1 August 2019 / admin

Gelle Fra Memorial Luxembourg 31.7.19

From our berth at Bernkastel it is a relatively short coach ride into a completely new country as head off to visit Luxembourg. We open with the Gelle Fra (Golden Woman) Memorial which is dedicated to the thousands of Luxembourgers who served with the Allied Powers in both World Wars and in the Korean War and volunteers with the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, although the monument was unveiled in 1923.

Dodgy Sausages 31.7.19

My wife has a distinct aversion to sausages and so I felt that a representation of the local food market should be recorded as being the closest I managed to get to strange foodstuffs during this excursion.

Grand Ducal Palace Luxembourg 31.7.19

We are in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg which it has been since March 1815 although until 1890 it was in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is the only sovereign Grand Duchy, although since 2008 new laws no longer require the Grand Duke’s approval – he had refused to approve a law on euthanasia – merely that he promulgates them. The Palace was originally the City Hall from 1572 until 1795 and from 1817 was headquarters of the Luxembourg Government as it became the residence of the governor and from 1890 became the residence of the Grand Duke and family. It has been extensively modernised internally in the 1990s.

Dipso Luxembourg 31.7.19

Sometimes one sees an establishment whilst on a walking tour and you wish that perhaps you had the time to sit down and indulge. Sadly not today.

Luxembourg Walls 31.7.19

Luxembourg is small – the country has a total population under 700,000 and the City holds around 140,000 of them. The IMF records that it has the highest GDP per capita – $140,310 in 2024. Over 70% of the capital’s residents are foreigners largely working within the banking centres based here, or in connection with European Union Court of Justice and other significant European administrative offices. It is regarded highly for personal safety.

In 2020 after our visit all buses, trams and rail services became free for standard travel, first class remains chargeable. This has been done for the environment.

Rhine Cruise 30.7.19

31 July 2019 / admin

Weinbauschule in Bullay Moselle 30.7.19

Today is a river day as we steadily cruise along the Moselle passing many vineyards, completing many sweeping loops as the river heads towards Koblenz whilst we are at the moment heading against the flow. Progress is not speedy as we have a lot of time to reach our next destination later this evening at Bernkastel.

So we have time to watch the passing scenery and see typical buildings of the area without hardly moving a muscle.

Moselle River 30.7.19

A rather more typical view of the river bank – vineyards stretching for miles along both banks.

Merl bei Zell vineyards 30.7.19

inevitably sometimes there are attractive buildings with the vineyards as backdrop as seen here.

It is a lovely warm day watching the world pass by. There are some events during the day – there is a cooking demonstration with the chef and in the afternoon for the hardier souls there is a brief stop to allow cyclists to disembark and they then ride to our eventual mooring point at Bernkastel. Most days the cruise director gives a talk about the port concerned, although none of this is compulsory it all helps to break up the day.

Rhine Cruise 29.7.19

30 July 2019 / admin

Reichsburg Castle Cochem 29.7.19

We have reached Cochem on the Moselle for our stop today. Reischberg Castle looms above us. Cochem is relatively small and it is situated on one of the many loops along the Moselle. A number of rivers join the Moselle at Cochem which is why there has been a settlement here since Celtic times. It was occupied by the French from 1794 after 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia.

The castle was reconstructed from 1866. A bridge across the Moselle was built in 1927 leading to the two adjacent fishing villages comes under a single administration from 1932.

Below the castle in the above photo can be seen some of the vineyards which line the river on both sides as we pass along it.

Mosaic Cochem 29.7.19

One end of a staircase from the bridge has been attractively adorned with this mural which was created in 1982 by Carlfritz Nicolay to show the history of the town.

Castle Interior 29.7.19

We then visit the castle and see the inside as well, remembering that this is probably all from the rebuilt castle so is around 150 years old.

Cochem 29.7.19

Some typical architecture of the town which is picturesque, in looking back through my photos I find I have a number of other shots around the town and of the castle. There is a chair lift in the town but if we made use of it I have no record that I can find.

Rhine Cruise 28.7.19

29 July 2019 / admin

Moselle Winery 28.7.19

Koblenz our stopping place today is the point at which the Moselle joins the Rhine and we moor close to the point where the rivers join. Since our stop in Xanten we have come some distance over night passing by Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Koln and Bonn. None of which we particularly noticed as we progressed.

Our outward trip today is to a winery on Moselle which is notable for the very steep growing areas leading to all of the work – maintaining the vines, picking and so on all being undertaken by hand in the traditional way as it is simply too steep for mechanical equipment.

And a little wine tasting is always a good way to kick off the day. I seem to recall that as we are drinking German wines I received double rations on most of the wines tasted!

Scenic Ruby 28.7.19

After lunch we have free time and it was easy to spot that Koblenz has a cable car enabling us to reach the fortress on the top plus Rhine viewing platform. On the way up I was able to obtain a photograph of our home this week.

Rhine & Moselle 28.7.19

The view from the cable car also enables the meeting of the two rivers to be captured.

History Column Koblenz 28.7.19

This column marks the 2000th anniversary of the City in 1992. At the base is a wine ship rowed by six Coblenz slaves to transport wine down the Moselle. As the view moves up the column past the wine barrels, Charlemagne and eventually the WWII and reconstruction of the City.

Rhine Cruise 27.7.19

28 July 2019 / admin

Xanten Arena 27.7.19

Our destination today is the Xanten Archaeological Park which is a reminder of how far the tentacles of the Roman Empire reached. The teams are undertaking huge reconstruction of the former structures on site – commencing with the Arena which at the time of our visit was very much the prime exhibit.

Colonia Ulpia Traiana is the Roman name for the place and it was one of the largest cities in the Germanic provinces with, at its peak over 10,000 men, women and children residing here at the northern borders of the Empire. The Romans initially arrived in around 13 or 12 BC, with a legion always based in the area. The city covered around 180 acres and the city reached its largest extent in around the 2nd century AD. As a Colonia the residents were granted full Roman citizenship and Roman laws applied in place of Germanic. The Colonia was originally on the Rhine itself, but changing watercourses led to it becoming remote from the river. The Colonia was over run by Franks in the third century with the stones being re-used for new buildings.

Latrines Xanten 27.7.19

The reconstruction work covers the baths and latrines and since the visit I can see that even more now exists.

City Gate Xanten 27.7.19

Moving away from the Roman City the Klever Tor was constructed in 1393 as part of the medieval fortification of the city, most of which has since been removed. It is now used for holiday accommodation – a far cry from earlier use as a house of detention. Post WWII damage it had undergone some reconstruction.

Xanten St Viktor 27.7.19

We also had time to pass by the Xanten Cathedral before returning to the boat for our lunchtime departure.

Rhine Cruise 26.7.19

27 July 2019 / admin

Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht 26.7.19

The reason why our boat sailed along without us yesterday was due to the distance to be covered to our next destination, which also sees us leave the Rhine behind and to take a sideways trip, almost back into Belgium to the City of Maastricht which is still just in southeastern Netherlands. This requires a trip along part of the river Meuse as the city lies either side of that river.

the name resounds because it was the Treaty signed here in 1992 which led to the foundation of the European Union. A significant mistake was made at this point by the Major government as other nations did not undertake a referendum which led to nigh on 20 years of unrest within the Conservative party which may never be resolved but almost certainly led to the later demands for an exit from the EU. A referendum at that point might have avoided the subsequent histrionics.

Restaurant Maastricht 26.7.19

Despite being post the Brexit vote, the local restaurants looked interesting – with simple messages conveying what to eat!

Hell’s Gate Maastricht 26-7-19

The city history goes back a long way and this gate dates back to around 1230 in the original walls around the city.

Maastricht lies at the joining of the Jeker and Meuse rivers and as we head back northwards we have Germany on the right bank and Netherlands on the left. I believe a cut off canal at Mook then takes us back to Nijmegen where we rejoin the Waal and we then head eastwards entering Germany where the river becomes the Rhine.

Rhine Cruise 25.7.19

26 July 2019 / admin

Windmills Netherlands Open Air Museum 25.7.19

Our destination in early afternoon is a berth at Arnhem where we berth to disembark for a trip to the Netherlands Open Air Museum. Scenic Ruby then departs and we later rejoin her at Nijmegen.

The Open Air Museum covers a significant area and similar to beamish Museum has a tramway running around much of the perimeter to enable access from one area to another. We have around 3 hours which means it is impossible to cover the entire site but we can at least gain some exposure to the collection of historic buildings which have been brought to the site from across the country.

The windmills above have different origins with the large one being a sawmill (originally in Numansdorp) whilst the smaller one behind was a drainage mill (from Gouda).

Dwelling Interior 25.7.19

Like Beamish and other museums the interior of the preserved houses have been suitably fitted out with relevant interiors.

NS Class no 285 25.7.19

A little wandering around found this locomotive at the goods shed which is adjacent to the tram depot.

Tram 25.7.19

The trams are also running so provide some rides as we progress.

There were a couple of coaches undertaking our transfer back to the Scenic Ruby but despite being requested to use the same coach someone failed to do this and we are significantly delayed on our return as the numbers when counted do not add up. We are counted numerous times and eventually the facts are sorted – no-one is missing but I have a feeling we end up delaying our boat’s departure. We do make the connection – just.