Small town, big history

 

Speyer, Germany is a quiet town on the West Bank of the Rhine with a long history. It features the largest Romanesque building in the world, an imperial cathedral, and the burial place of eight Holy Roman Emperors. 

How about that? Someone was practicing (John says tuning) the organ when we entered, making for an atmospheric experience.  

We took a walking tour from the ship that lasted about an hour. This area in Germany was the home of most Pennsylvania Deutsch. Our Bleam family ancestors.  

All the local tour guides have been terrific. And they know their history. Our guide this morning was a former Lufhansa flight attendant and now a helicopter pilot. Yes, really. The guides are all highly educated and entertaining.  

The historic dissent against the Catholic Church in Speyer gave birth to the term Protestant. This church was built around 1900 to honor the 1529 Martin Luther Protestation of Speyer. We had a peek inside but no pictures. So much gold for a Lutheran church!

Speyer has a long Jewish heritage, and pogroms were a tragic part of that history. Money lending was forbidden for Christians, but the Bishop needed money to build the Cathedral. The church offered rights and protections to the Jews that were unheard of in the rest of Europe. The town became a center of spiritual and intellectual life for the Jewish community.

We had a brief visit at Germany’s oldest “Mikva” c. 1104.

It contains ancient synagog remains and 33 feet deep ritual bath. 

Almost all of Speyer’s Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. 

The daily Viking activity sheet arrives in the cabin each evening. 

We attended the teatime and Rudeshiem coffee experience in the lounge. Dinner at 7. 

The lap of luxury

 

The ride is smooth and quiet with no vibrations or even a sense of the engines running somewhere down below. The HVAC system is quieter than most hotel rooms. The lack of motion is heavenly, if you are prone to seasickness. The rooms are sound proof, and even the gentle lapping of water goes silent when we close the balcony door.

Our cabin (I should say stateroom) is a peaceful haven. Viking cruises are intensely social affairs, from the group tours to the communal meals. You soon make new friends.

The room is cleaned twice a day with fresh towels and bottled water. A 24 hour coffee and tea station is a few steps away. Pretty much anything you want is instantly indulged.

But if you’re felling anti-social, you can watch the bow of the ship from your stateroom television.

There are many locks on the Rhine, and occasionally this is the view from your balcony.

And in Strasbourg, we were tied to another identical Viking longship. This happens occasionally on the Rhine, but most of our stops are small towns, so perhaps not as often as other river cruises, where the boats stack up in large harbors. 

This  morning in Speyer, we woke up to a riverbank scene and the sound of birds singing. So many birds in Europe. In some places, you can walk right to town.

A few words about the food. Glad I have some stretchy pants. Breakfast is a buffet with a huge selection of hot and cold foods. You can also order items like pancakes and egg Benedict from the kitchen. Lunch is casual and you can order sandwiches, soup, salads and hot entrees. Wine and beer is included at every sitting. Between meals, the bar will gladly help you out. 

Dinner is a three course meal, served by waiters, although last night we had German food buffet. The menu above was just the main course meats. Many, many more things on top of that were offered. People love buffets (we don’t) and piled their plates high. The waiter brought us each a “sample plate” right to the table which was perfect so we didn’t have to stand in line. 

And last but not least. We splurged on the laundry service (12 days is a long trip) and our clothes came back within 24 hours, perfectly folded in beautiful boxes. All John’s shirts were pressed and hung in the closet. 

Return to reality will be cruel.  

  

Strasbourg day

 

Strasbourg is a major city in northeastern France along the Rhine, known for its French-German culture and gothic architecture, including stunning Strasbourg cathedral. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and only foot traffic is allowed in the historic center during the day. 

I’m topping 12,000 steps today. 

We walked through the historic district and toured the cathedral. Highlights included the 500 year old organ and the Strasbourg Astronomical Clock, one of the largest and most complex mathematical clocks in the world. (Read the Wiki page.) 

After the organized tour, we had several hours of free time before catching the shuttle bus back to the ship. Nice! Everything is so well organized by Viking. 

A snack and coffee first. The empty plate was John’s apple strudel.

After that, we visited the fine arts museum in an old palace near the cathedral. The warm and humid galleries chock full of  masterpieces. Just a few of these paintings would make a special exhibition at Seattle Art Museum.

I got up close and personal with a most exquisite Giotto miniature c. 1320, tucked away in a corner. 

Time for lunch. Strasbourg’s cuisine is a blend of French elegance and hearty German traditions. 

By luck, we picked a restaurant called Le Tire Bouchon, known for it’s traditional and classic Alsatian food.

John had French onion soup (of course) and I had salmon and vegetables (including white asparagus) with an to-die-for Riesling cream sauce. 

The WiFi is getting finicky again.  More later on river cruising life. Hint: pretty darn luxurious. 

Black Forest

A walk in the Black Forest— Viking style. 

Well, frankly I could have been in the north Cascades, except for the cuckoo clocks. 

And John’s wish for Black Forest cake has now been gratified.

Speaking of food. It is wonderful and plentiful on the ship, although there can be long hours between meals. We’re moving into a new weather patten now with rain and thunderstorms. 

Spent some downtime relaxing in our stateroom this afternoon. Nice! Now gearing up for the nightly social dinner and entertainment. 

On the river

We had another jam-packed day Saturday, starting with a scenic train ride from St. Moritz to Chur. Then a final “lunch at your leisure” which turned out be delightful at the city art museum cafe. We had the sweetest young waitress who spoke perfect English. In these heavily touristed areas we’re visiting, people take one look and speak English with total ease. It does make a person feel slightly ashamed. 

After lunch, a walking tour of historic Chur, the oldest city in Switzerland, founded by the Romans. But of course, people inhabited the area thousands of years before they showed up. Among many other interesting things, I learned that Chur was the setting for “Heidi.” Who knew? Grandfather, Peter, the goats and all that. 

Then back on the bus yet again for a 3 hour ride to Basel, where the ship was waiting along the Rhine. We were dead tired by then, but the Viking service is so luxurious— in just a few minutes we were in our balcony stateroom. (Glad I splurged a bit on that.) 

Only having been on one ocean cruise, I wasn’t sure what to expect! But the Viking longship is more like a floating hotel than a boat. At dinner, everyone sits at communal tables so it was a bit intense and loud. People were excited! As for the river, everything seems to happen slowly and quietly. Last night we watched from the top deck as the full moon was rising. Magical. 

We took a tour of the Black Forest this morning. 

Wifi is a bit dicey so more later. 

Switzerland

 

There is this sense of unreality being in Switzerland. Especially after the chaos of a big Italian city. 

I hesitate to use the word “Disneyland” but could it really be this pristine, this charming, this clean, this scenic, this law abiding, this well organized? The list goes on and on.

We’ve had phenomenal WiFi at both the Milan and St. Moritz hotels. John says the upload is 60 times faster than home. And Twisp is dial up compared to this. 

I can even post short videos:

What incredible weather for the most scenic part of the trip. That’s about to change (rain and thunderstorms next week for the cruise) but Switzerland has been perfect. Would be sad if the Alps were socked in!

We thoroughly enjoyed the gondola ride, and had a nice lunch at the top. 

I had traditional weisswurst mit kartoffel. When in Rome. (John showed more self restraint and had soup.) 

But of course, the mind-blowing views were the main attraction at the top. 

We had a bit of rest this afternoon which was nice. Dinner tonight is “at your leisure.” 

Another big day tomorrow and the last of the extension tour. We take the train to Chur in the morning, then a 3 hour bus drive to Basel where we board the boat on the Rhine, in time for dinner. As usual, eating late for us but we’re getting used to the new schedule.

As for jet lag. The down duvets and silky soft pillows must have finally done the trick last night, and able to fall asleep at a relatively normal time instead of tossing around until 2 am. 

As for blogging, I suspect the Internet will not be quite so snappy on the riverboat. I’ll check in if and when. 

So Auf Weidersehen for now.