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. 

Yesterday, cont.

 

We arrived in St. Moritz last night and checked into the Reine Victoria, a historic Art Noveau Hotel that opened in 1875. Named after the British queen, it was one of the leading hotels in the 1890’s hosting European high society and royalty for music and balls. Now popular with tourist groups like Odyssey, Viking and enormous Japanese tours.

Our Viking tour director distributed the key cards (nice) so we headed straight to our room and threw open the window to let in the alpine air and birdsong. In a few seconds, my Merlin app lit up with eight different species. All lifers. The Eurasian Blackbird (like blackbirds everywhere) was the most talkative.

St Moritz is a luxury resort town by a lake in the stunning Engadin Valley. And I mean luxury. Dinner was “at your leisure” Viking’s euphemism for you get to buy. We were exhausted frankly, it was late (for us) but we found a “casual” pizza  restaurant across the street. Our Milan tour guide warned us that Switzerland was expensive: two bowls of vegetable soup, two salads, two drinks $120 please. A once-in-a-lifetime experience here. 

Speaking of that, this morning we take one the highest gondolas in Switzerland (10,000 feet.) It is a spectacular morning, not a cloud in the sky, We have really lucked out on the weather so far. 

More later. 

Lakes, wine, alps, trains, oh my

How much can you pack in one head spinning day, starting with a short stop along Lake Como in Northern Italy. 

 Followed by a wine tasting and formal lunch in the ancient wine growing area of Lombardy.

The first “appetizer” course of local cured meats. One serving. Whoa.

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Followed by a fresh buckwheat pasta in cream garlic Gorgonzola sauce. Bread and cake. Wine with each course. Delicious but heavy on an insanely hot afternoon. Discovered we are lightweights, because no one at the table had trouble polishing it all off.

Then back on the bus to Tirano and the Bernina Express train station.

I could spend the morning trying to put into words the mind boggling trip across the high Alps.