Cities of Light River Cruise - Day Six

Today was one of the days for which we were waiting. Last night we docked at Kolblenz, just after entering the Rhine River. Now we were going to explore the most beautiful section of this historic river.

First we visited the so-called German Corner, where a giant statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the first emperor of the newly united Germany. Destroyed in World War II, it was rebuilt and now, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it stands again as a monument to the united German nation.

The day's excursion was to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, a major 19th century project built to defend Prussia from the French. The fortress occupies a strategic location 500 feet above the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine Rivers. After a gondola ride across the Rhine, we met our guide, dressed as a 19th century British engineer, portraying the role of an agent sent to snoop out the Prussian military engineering effort at Ehrenbreitstein for possible use by the English. As such he took us through the amazing project, pointing out the genius of the Prussians in constructing an almost impenetratable fort - gun placements, dry moats, thick walls, small portals, just to name a few. At the end the guide revealed that the fort, built at great expense, was never attacked, as the lines of warfare had moved to the East. Now the fortress is used as a youth hostel, a museum, a performance center and other community projects.

We rejoined the Viking Odin at lunch as the ship was about to enter the region of the castles on the Rhine. For almost four hours we watched with delight as the castles, all save one destroyed by the troops of Louis XIV, swept by. Most now remain either as ruins or rebuilt as hotels or private residences. The weather was warm enough so that we stayed on the sun deck for great views and opportunities for photos as the tour director supplied a running narrative of the passing scene.

The dinner we just finished was a German feast with wurst, sauerkraut, beer, and Black Forest tort, just to name the principals. Tonight we cruise into the morning on the Main Canal in order to reach tomorrow's destination, Heidelberg. More to come...

Cities of Light River Cruise - Day Five

he day dawned with rain and clouds. The Viking Odin had sailed all night along the Mosel from Bernkastel to Cochem. By the time we had our breakfast, the weather began to clear in time for our walking tour of Cochem. This little town is a tourist magnet because of the very large castle - the Reichsburg - sitting high above the village. Our guide gave us the background: the original castle was one built to serve as a toll collector on the Mosel River. It was destroyed by the troops of the French king, Louis XVI, the Sun King, as part of an effort to consolidate control of the entire region. Later the ruins were purchased by a wealthy Hugenot merchant and restored as a summer place for his family. When the area was overtaken by the German Reich, he was forced to sell it to the Germans, and after the war was purchased by the town of Cochem who now maintains it as a source of revenue from the tourists.

In fairness, it was a beautiful restoration and a fun place to visit. Small vans took us up the 1500 feet from the town to the castle; after a guided tour, we returned by van and walked through the main marketplace where the tour ended. On our own we visited the town's Roman Catholic church whose war-destroyed windows had been replaced by fantastic modern stained glass reminiscent of the work of Marc Chagall, had a tasty gelato cone and returned to the ship.

On board, as the ship began again to sail toward the mouth of the Mosel where it joins the Rhine River, our tour director gave a presentation on the political and economic evolution of Germany from the end of World War II to the present. But the highlight of the day was a private invitation by the Viking Odin's captain, Ruud Boonstra, to visit the wheelhouse to get an overview of how the ship is navigated. (We discovered that this special invitation was offered because we were the most seasoned Viking travelers on board.)

The wheelhouse is an electronic wonderland with large monitors showing displays of the radar, the GPS location and video of engine room and other locations aboard the ship. In addition, large dials showed speed, draft (the amount of water depth below the hull) and turning orientation. The biggest suprise of course is that there is no wheel -- the rudder is controlled by a joystick. While in the wheelhouse we watched how the ship is manuvered into a lock and lowered to the next level before continuing. The captain could not have been nicer and we enjoyed it immensely.

The ship arrived in Koblenz, our port for the night. Koblenz is at the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine, on which we will travel tomorrow to see the castles on the Rhine. We are looking forward to it. And, more to come...

Cities of Light River Cruise - Day Four

Travel is always an adventure, and sometimes the adventure is quite unexpected. Our day started with a leisurely breakfast, but a minor medical emergency for Jan resulted in the need to go to the Trier hospital emergency room. Viking arranged for a taxi and a member of the crew accompanied us so that she could help translate whatever was needed so that Jan could get treatment. She stayed with us until Jan saw a doctor and got resolution of the issue. Then we were able to join the end of the today's excursion and take the bus back to the ship. We can't say enough about how helpful, professional and caring was the Viking staff.

With the emergency resolved we were able to continue the day as scheduled, which included a cooking demonstration of the ship's head chef and a late afternoon wine tasting excursion in the town of Bernkastel followed by a walking tour of this little village in the center of the Mosel wine producing region.

In the process of sampling four distinct wines of the Riesling grape, we also learned a lot about how with wines are produced. Did you know, for example, that vineyards are planted in vertical rows on the hillsides so that there will be shade on alternate sides of the leaves as the sun moves across the sky? Or that children are no longer permitted to work during the grape harvest, so various Eastern European workers have taken their places? Or that some of the vines may be over a hundred years old? I was aware that France was a major wine producing nation, but having cruised through miles of the Mosel valley hills covered with vineyards, I can believe that Germany has to be a close second.

Tomorrow brings more adventures, hopefully not quite as dramatic. Stay tuned as there will be more to come...

Cities of Light River Cruise - Day Three

Today we said au revoir to Paris and guten tag to Trier, Germany. In order to do that we loaded up our luggage for an 8:30 am bus departure for a trip that took about five hours. We made it to Luxembourg in time for lunch followed by a walking tour of the city and then a visit to the American Cemetery just outside of Luxembourg.

Luxembourg is the city which bears the same name as the country, which is a tiny duchy (smaller than Rhode Island) nestled between France and Germany. As we visited on a Saturday, the place was bustling, with preparations being made for an evening marathon as well as what appeared to be a contest or exhibition of drum groups. Our guide did his best to show us the medieval roots of the city and country which in modern times has been owned by France, Spain, Germany and other international combinations before being given back its independence as the world's only duchy.

As it was among the battlefields of World War II, especially the Battle of the Bulge where thousands of American soldiers died, the sovereign granted a section of the country to be a resting place for those fallen. As we made our way to the cemetery, our guide gave a condensed history of that critical battle, and led us to view the rows of crosses (and Stars of David) freshly cleaned and adorned by wreaths and flags from a Memorial Day observance held earlier. I had not been to a military cemetery since back in 1963 when I conducted a graveside interment at the Fort Snelling area cemetery. It is a solemn and moving moment to see. As the rain started to fall, our guide brought us to the site of the grave of General George Patton, Jr. who is interred there along with so many of the fallen who had served under him.

We continued on the Trier, where the Viking Odin was moored on the banks of the Moselle River. The rain turned into torrents as be made our way on board, to find our room ready and waiting. But the best was yet to come: the hotel manager knocked at the door to announce that we had been given an upgrade because of our longevity with Viking. There are two Explorer Suites on the ship and one had not been booked, so we were moved into three luxurious rooms. It is a wonderful ending to a long day.

Tomorrow begins the cruise proper. And we are ready

Cities of Light River Cruise - Day Two

Paris, as one of the "Cities of Light", lived up to the name today with bright sunshine and warm temperatures all day long.

After breakfast we embarked on a four-hour bus tour through the city streets and avenues crowded with heavy traffic, past famous buildings and through neighborhoods with the tailored look that comes from top-down city planning over several generations. Our guide, Ann Marie, explained that the avenues radiate like spokes in a wheel from the Arc de Triomphe, whole sections of the city were reshaped for the international exhibitions of 1889 and 1900, and urban planners decreed that no buildings should be taller than five stories. All this, plus its history, gives Paris a unique flavor.

Part of that history was the French Revolution. We drove through the market place where not one but two guillotines once stood and passed through the so-called Latin quarter where academic studies in Latin were forbidden, and heard how churches were turned into warehouses or stables and the clergy and other religious were persecuted.

After a drive through the Louvre, once a royal residence and now the world-famous museum, we left the bus for a brief walk across the Seine onto the Ile de la Cite to visit Notre Dame cathedral. It, too had suffered during the French Revolution, when the screen before the main altar was destroyed before it was used as a warehouse. The building is beautiful on the exterior but somewhat dark inside due to windows smaller that usually found on gothic buildings. Nevertheless, it is one of the gems of Paris.

Our tour ended with the Eiffel Tower where the usual photo ops were spoiled because of a forthcoming soccer event, whose tents and stages occupied the great field in front of the tower. But we learned that it was built as part of the 1900 Worlds Fair, was an engineering feat in those days, even visited by Thomas Edison who was a guest of Gustav Eiffel.

We took off on our own in the afternoon, taking the Paris Metro to the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) then making as short walk to the Pompidou Center to see the art museum housed there. There was a major exhibition of Paul Klee's work on the top floor and lots of contemporary modern in the galleries below. One of the bonuses of the Pompidou Center is the exterior escalators which as you ascend gives terrific views of the city. We took the Metro back to our hotel and celebrated with a great supper.

Some final observations of Paris: I didn't find the same level of disdain for non-French speakers as I found some years ago, which is good. Second, I'm impressed with the large numbers of public spaces we saw: parks, yes, but also wide market squares, open areas along the river, plazas in front of stores and museums -- places for people to mingle and enjoy the urban life without having to drive to get there. I think American cities could do well to add more public spaces too. (The photo is a carousel in the public space in front of the city hall.) Finally, I found the Metro to be a great subway system -- clean and easy to navigate. There are barriers along the tracks which open when subway cars open, preventing people of falling or being pushed onto the tracks. Again, cities with subway systems could do well to take note.

Tomorrow we travel from Paris through Belgium and Luxembourg to Trier, Germany on the Moselle River where we will board our ship for the cruise. Appropriately in the Memorial Day weekend, in Luxembourg we will visit the American Cemetery to pay homage to those who died in the Battle of the Bulge. More to come...

Cities of Light River Cruise - Day One

Viking River Cruises has built the cruise we started today as "Cities of Light", with Paris and Prague as the bookends of the trip.

Today we left Newark, NJ about 10 pm and arrived, after an uneventful 7 hour flight, in Paris about 11:30 am. As usual, Viking representatives met us and transported us to the Le Meridien Etoile hotel, just off the Charles DeGaulle Avenue. The room is not large but comfortable.

The best advice we've followed for the last seven trips to get acclimated to the new time zone is to stay awake for the rest of the day. So we decided to start walking down the Grand Armee Avenue to the Arc de Triomphe. After taking several photos (which proved we were tourists) we encountered a guy who picked up a gold ring from the ground, marveled at his good fortune, showing us that it was 18 caret, and offered it to Jan. Suspecting that this was some kind of a set up, we declined repeatedly until he walked away. Later in our walk, this time a woman, found another 18 caret ring and offered it to Jan. We're not sure what would have happened if she had accepted it, but it is definitely a scam.

The other side of the Arc de Triomphe is the Champs Elysees, down which we continued walking. The Champs Elysees is roughly the equivalent of New York's Fifth Avenue with elite stores such as Tiffanys in abundance. We passed several monumental buildings, the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, glorious, opulent architecture, and crossed over the Seine River at the Alexander III bridge. Walking down the riverside we found the American Church - the Episcopal Church in Paris. Unfortunately there was a wedding being held at that time so we were not able to go inside.

Heading back to our hotel we passed the full-sized model of the flame of the Statue of Liberty's torch, as designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The French are very proud of their contributions to the world and showcase it whenever they can.

Tonight we had a delicious dinner at a nearby restaurant. I had forgotten that when in France you order a coffee after dinner, what you get is a small cup of espresso. But this was delicious! I'm glad I forgot!

Tomorrow, Viking will provide us with a 4 hour bus tour of the highlights of Paris, including a stop at Notre Dame Cathedral. The afternoon will be free, so we're still trying to decide. (If you have any suggestions, send them to jarollins@earthlink.net)

More to come...