Month: July 2025

The next few days saw us having events together on a single day.

 This “Rhine River Mash-Up” should not be confused with 1956’s biggest selling album, The Bavarian Boys Sing ‘German Regions We Have Known’ , it’s just that due to itinerary scheduling, and the need to cover as much of the Rhine as possible, Viking utilizes both days and nights to the best extent possible. Usually that means Ports during the day, then jamming everyone back on board in enough time to scoot down river to the next Port where the process starts again. But what happens when the fun stuff is at night, and some really cool stuff is on the River during the day? Well, they “mash up” three days and make into one big, long, confusing (to those of us that usually have zero nightlife)

daaaaaay,

night,

daaaaaay – what do you mean the Castles have started already! event,

night

This confusing explanation will soon become apparently simple. And will unfold over the course of several Posts as it would be waaaay too long for one!

                        Short Version:

            Dock in Speyer, one of those great little towns that no one has ever heard of.

            Hurry back to the ship for some Scenic Cruising, but really to get to the second Port in one day, Rüdesheim, where there are several evening events scheduled! Back to the ship….ZZZZZ.

            Next morning, cast off the lines much later than usual because the Rhine River Castles ‘event’ part of the cruise starts this morning like…… NOW! (more on that later) and if they cast off too early the Castles would be inconveniently too early for some (most!) of the losers (oops! I mean passengers) that blasmusiked (oompahed) mit den Bavarian Brothers a little too much the night before.

            Then on to Koblenz for the afternoon and evening.

                                    Get it?

                                    Ok…… here we go, I can hear the crew up on deck getting ready to dock in Speyer, so please have your Ship’s ID and your Tour Tickets handy because they do not wait for you!

Speyer is an example of a simple little town that owes its existence to the fact that it sits on the banks of the Rhine and has so for 2100+ years. We all know that us Humanoids have roamed around for much longer that and we will all assume that Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty were all here before all of this ‘recording’ was set down, but/so for our purposes we’re going to start in the Roman times. Around 10 BC the Romans set up a camp here in an attempt to protect the northeast corner of the Roman Empire from the wild Germanic barbarians.

            Barbarians figured a lot into the olde tymes around here but guess who is calling who a barbarian? Yup, if ‘you’ were not part of one of the three great (?) civilizations, Greek, Roman, or Christian, you could be thrown into that mix of humanity called a Barbarian. Hah! That’s like the pot calling the kettle black! It’s fair to say that we all at one time or another have been guilty of being barbaric, but still the name is of a historic origin and will suffice for now.

            After that 10 BC camping trip the place wiggled back and forth among the peeps of the area until about 300 years had passed and then a Bishop came to town. Whatever your leaning is towards faith and religion, there is no disputing the effects of the Roman Catholic Church on world history. The Faithful were scared to death of being sent to Hadestown for all eternity and would do just about anything to keep themselves ‘safe’ (except acting the way they should) so in order to make up for their ‘faults’ they gave lots of money, land, jewels, and other trappings of success to the Church in a way to buy their way out of the Big Negative. Hence, the riches of the Church grew and grew.

            Around 1030 Conrad II, one of the Holy Roman Emperors, started a cathedral in Speyer, now a World UNESCO site. Speyer is also the location of one of the first significant Jewish communities in the Holy Roman Empire and remained so for a thousand years. This is testified by just tracing the Ashkenazi surname of Shapiro whose variants include, Szpira/Spiro, and Speyer. Unfortunately, it is also one of the first sites of a pogrom perpetrated by one of the first armies to head to the Holy Land for the First Crusade. I promised back in the beginning of these Posts some five years ago that I would do my best to keep it “light”, but when History throws something in your lap and it is needed to balance out the equation, then I feel disposed to include the things that, left unsaid, would just leave gaping holes in any complete explanations. I do hope that you will agree. On the brighter side, soon after the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, the Jewish population began to grow again in Speyer and their first service since WWII was held in 1996.

            Another ‘brighter side’ item needs to be mentioned here also. This is our Guides doing, not anything that was coerced….. they did it on their own…. they all did not hesitate to acknowledge what happened in WWII, particularly with having to do with the Holocaust. They took responsibility for their country’s actions and for their grandparents’ complicity with it all and they thanked us, as Americans, for our country’s part in bringing all of that to an end. It is good when the elephant in the room gets identified.

            Speyer was also the site for the Quest for Women’s Shorts. You see, unfortunately the Laundry Gang sort of ‘lost’ Paula’s pair of blue shorts. This was a bit of a dilemma because the packing for this voyage was on the light side (not like an extended ocean voyage) because not only were we to be gone for just fourteen days, but for half of it we had free laundry service that came with our Room Suite. So, being down half of the ‘shorts required’ was on the disturbing side. Besides, those were her fav’s. Nickolay, our Room Steward was beside himself even though it was obviously not his fault. He began his Quest, and he was unrelenting but alas, the Shorts must have jumped overboard as no trace could be found anywhere. The Captain ordered a room-to-room search involving our heavily armed security team. Everyone had to vacate their rooms until the search was completed and many an evil eye was cast in Paula’s direction while the Inspection was being completed. Again, no positive results. The Captain gave everyone onboard a Free Cocktail to make up for the hassles of the Big Inquisition so in the end, Paula became a heroine, and everyone wished for another Search so they could get another Free Cocktail.

            We found a nice store on the main drag that sported women’s clothing and picked out a dandy pair of blue shorts. Problem solved. That evening Nickolay came by with an exquisite box of Lindt Chocolates, courtesy of Viking, as a Peace Offering which was heartily (at least on my part) accepted. It was then that I tried my best to have something go missing from my laundry!

            We boarded the ship around noontime and spent the afternoon up on the Sun Deck on our way to Rüdesheim where we were to have our next excursion, ‘Dine en Rüdesheim’ complete with a great little three-piece band. The restaurant was as authentic as they come, we were outside under the usual coverings that might help if it didn’t rain too much but all was good, and the weather remained under control. The restaurant was located on the Drosselgasse, which has its beginnings way back in the 15^th century when the Port was a bustling trade city. All of the Bier Haus’s were located along this six-foot wide alley that ran up from the waterfront. Today it is still the location of most of the hospitality related business in town. Paula got involved with the ‘activities’ which left me (thankfully) to stay behind and record the moments for posterity. See attached!

                        We boarded the little tram that brought us there and back to the ship we went, everyone again singing ’99 bottles of Bier en de Valls’ as raucously as they could. The Shore Patrol was dispatched to quell the disturbance and threatened to throw everyone in the Brig upon our arrival, but we knew they were only foolin’ cuz we got no brig on board, just a locking closet and we definitely wouldn’t all fit in there!

                        The morning would come too soon, and it was Castle Alley on the Rhine which brings us full-circle here. Next Post will be all of the Castles that we saw, and don’t worry, I shot each one, didn’t miss nary a one of ‘em cuz I was up on time!

Tomorrow…. the Castles of the Rhine!

                        For those of you who find a fine glass of wine enjoyable, I hope that you find this Post the same.

                        For those of you who find a middle-of-the-road glass of wine totally acceptable, read on to discover some of the whys and wherefores of the more expensive vintages.

                        For those of you who, (like me one time!) cannot really tell if the wine has slightly ‘turned’ when the bottle is opened, read on just for the fun of it because I doubt if in this late term of life, we will ever be considered connoisseurs!

                        Our next Region of Discovery is just outside of Strasbourg, France…… it is called Alsace. The Alsatians are lucky that their collective existence is even being discussed here as these folks have been (figuratively and literally) torn limb-from-limb over the past two millennia. I’m afraid that even my “Cliff Notes” versions of the back-and-forth occupations, border haggles, and treaty oops’s would have you all screaming and running for cover. So, let’s just say that the most recent occurrence of this once commonplace phenomena was during WWII when Germany reached across the Rhine and said, “You’re all coming back here, thank you very much.” This small but very important example explains why there are parts of Alsace that retain enough ‘local laws’ to make sure that they retain their cultural independence from the rest of France….for now.

                        For our purposes today, we need to know that vineyards first appeared in Roman times when good ol’ J.C. (No not that JC…. this was Julius Caesar. The other JC wouldn’t have an effect until a few years later!) came here and helped the Gaul’s defend themselves against the “Invaders du Jour” of that time. Now we have the beginnings of the French Wine Industry, and they didn’t even know it yet!

                        I’ll fast forward a few centuries so that A,) I won’t bore you to death, and B.) This Post won’t end up reading like a Wine 101 textbook! (I wonder if anyone offers that Course?)

                        The year was 1935 and the Wino Powers in France decided that it would be a good idea to put some restrictions on what could be called what and the reasons for those decisions. This was the beginning of the Appellation Controlee Commission. Translated it means basically ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ and takes everything into consideration……. environment, soil varieties, traditions, location, vine growth habits, and of course, the grapes themselves (these factors except the grapes) can be incorporated into one little word… “terroir” from terre meaning land.  Terroir is as important to defining different wines as the grapes themselves are. In short, it means that you cannot produce Burgandy wine in any other French Region except Burgandy or Champagne must originate in the Champagne region or you can’t call it Champagne, you may however call it Sparkling Wine. You can’t even call it Champagne if you are producing it in another country. That’s how strict (and serious) the French laws are, and it seems that the Wine Industry, even in other countries , takes them very seriously! The ‘teeth’ that puts the ‘enforcement’ of this procedure is partially found in the Treaty of Versailles (WWI) where that term Champagne was specifically dealt with. Retain this info for use a little later on.

                        Probably just about all of you have been to a Wine Tasting or two in your lives. As you may surmise, some are better than others due to the wine itself, location, sense of humor of the ‘presenter’ or even if it was a sunny day or not! Everyone is producing wines now, local wines are all the rage with some obviously better than others. But I have yet to be at one where the vintner did not think (or at least proclaim) that their (insert wine term) was the best. Most of these folks in this HIGHLY competitive industry are very proud of their varied vintages and with good reason, especially when you understand the work that goes into producing wines that you hope and pray that someone else will enjoy and of course, purchase! And specifically, the History of the individual Vineyard can play a crucial role in its credibility. It takes a bunch of years and money to start up one of these enterprises….

Can you imagine the guy first opening up and having his first group of Wine Tasters come thorough….

“Ah, yes, let’s see now…. Welcome to Bill’s Vineyard….we’ve been in existence for, ah,  three and a half weeks”…….(everyone turns to leave)

 “But wait! our Vines are much older and come from some stock that’s over a hundred years old! “ (everyone does an about-face and returns)

Nope, cannot even imagine that one!

How about this one:

            “Bonjour everyone! My name is Michele, and we are here at the Albert Seltz vineyard that is still owned and operated by Monsieur Seltz’s 14^th generation grandson, Jérémy.”

            Ok. Now you’ve got my attention!

            Yes, since 1576, Albert Seltz and his progeny have been producing wines in the Alsace Region of France. On the same farm and in the same buildings! No matter who controlled the area!

                        By now you’ve probably surmised that we participated in a Wine Tasting on this River Cruise and that would be correct. Fortunately for us, Viking seems to hunt down the best of the best when it comes to either Excursions and /or the Guides themselves. This experience was no exception, and this is coming from me, the Chocolate Milk Connoisseur! In this case I am referring to the estate of Albert Seltz and in particularly their successful petition of that grand august body of pompeux, prètentieux, wine sniffing membre’s du (here it is again) Appleation d’origine Contrôlée.

                        Here we must backtrack just a tad and introduce just one more designation in this complex situation and it is the designate, Grand Cru. This regulated term may only be used by approval of the AOC after extensive research and subsequent agreement is reached that a particular vineyard  (not region) has proven that their terroir is so selective and specific that they, and only they, can produce that variety of vine that meets this further standard. As you may imagine, it’s a big damn deal!

                        So that’s where we went.  We traveled to the tiny village of Mittelbergheim, Alsace, France. Doesn’t sound very French, does it? Welcome to Alsace! The Amalgam of Western Europe! Our bus barely fit down the tiny roads, but it did and soon we were deposited in front of the main gate of the centuries old estate. From here I will refer back to when I described the two different greetings from the two different wineries, the second one of course is our visit for today. Michele greeted us and transported us back in time by ushering us down into the cellars of Albert Seltz where we heard the family story and proceeded to taste their wines.

                        As you may imagine, the afternoon was huge success both for the Imbibers and the Vintners! The only downside was that the bus was not going to risk almost getting stuck again so we had to hike (uphill!) to edge of town and board there. Not particular hard to do unless the local temps were topping out at 97 and the walkers had just consumed ‘several’ glasses of wine!

                                    We all eventually fell asleep on the bus but not until we sang a few rounds of “99 Bottles of Wine on the Wall.”

                                                “Hic!”

                        My ‘Mind’s Eye’ and what it has seen in the Past, only to be truthfully fortified when it comes into the present, is one of my favorite things. The current example is the Black Forest region of Germany. That little part of my brain has worked overtime over the years just trying to imagine what different places around the world look and feel like. I was totally satisfied when we took an excursion there when we called at Breisach, Germany.

                        The Black Forest…. Cuckoo Clocks, Black Forest Hams, Black Forest Cakes (!), Kirsch, and its typical half-hipped roof farmhouse all ensure that this region retains its wonderful identity.

                        The small villages that we wound our way through on our way to The Black Forest all have that medieval feel to them as most of them can trace their roots back that far.

                        But before we could get to Breisach, we needed to board  the boat. This was waaaay different than the boarding process for Ocean Cruises. Ocean Cruises require long lines at check-in, photos taken for security purposes, and a host of other ‘formalities’ that need to be addressed before the Cruise may commence.

                        On a River Cruise it goes like this: “Good Afternoon Mr. Hall, Gilligan here will show you to your stateroom!” and then he shouts over his shoulder to an officer down the companionway….. “Ok, we can shove off now, everyone is aboard!”

                        That’s it.

                        No photos, no questions, no giving up your first-born….. I could have brought a howitzer on with me, and they probably would have asked if I needed assistance with my ‘baggage’. No need to go through a Security Scan, I don’t think that we have any Security Team anyway, unless maybe the Maintenance Crew doubles as Security….. these guys are big, and they don’t look friendly either! There wasn’t even a Lifeboat Drill because…… there aren’t any lifeboats! All you need to do is put on your swimmies and take three paddle strokes, and you‘re on one of the riverbanks!

                        Now, on to the Black Forest! About an hour and a half from our dock on the Rhine, and through the lowlands filled with all sorts of agricultural tid-bits, we arrived at the base of an area that resembled the wooded foothills of any upland region that may come to your mind. The road was windy and maybe uncomfortably narrow, but we were not in the Motorhome, so we were not driving!

                        We rolled into a small, restored village called Drubba Black Forest. It was our “one stop Black Forest “ experience and for the limited time that we had, served our purposes very nicely. Situated as it was at/on the western terminus of the Hollsteig Toll Road gave it an air of authenticity especially when we walked past the old tollhouse on our way to the oldest (ancient?) church in the Black Forest, the Chapel of St. Oswald. It was consecrated in 1148 AD and has obviously seen a lot in its 877 years, including some extremely near-misses from WWII bombings of the very nearby train viaduct. Check out the photo for some more info!

                        The rest of the village is comprised of a variety of buildings where the trades of the Black Forest are all explained, taught, and offered for sale. Finding out that a truly authentic cuckoo clock (especially the larger, more intricate ones) is the product of several craftsmen in several families was an eye-opener. The cuckoo shop here reminded me of one of the western Trading Posts that we frequent when we visit the Four Corners Region. These stores deal with the local tradespeople and sell their works, acting like a middleman of sorts.

                        We also watched an entertaining session on how to make an authentic Black Forest Cake!

So, what makes it authentic?

                                    Does it need to be made in the Black Forest?

                                    No!

                                    Does it need to be made by little old ladies?

                                    No!

                                    Does it need to be made with German cherries?

No!   (probably just fresh ones!)

How about real whipped cream?

Well…yea…. Probably.

Ok, what then makes it authentic???

The Kirschwasser!

The what???

The Kirschwasser!!! ….. the cherry liqueur!!!

            This recipe is highly recommended to give to unruly children that won’t go to sleep! On piece and Zzzzzzz! (You may use cherry syrup instead of the “good stuff” but then it would not be authentic.)

                        After we were finished, George our driver, hitched the horses back up to the bus and we proceeded to go home via the ‘Alte Steige”, the reason that the toll road was constructed in the first place. You see, it has a 13% grade attached to it and the trades’ routes through this area demanded a road through here, as the rest were really just…. ‘mountains un-roaded’ and an ‘improved’ road for that 13% grade was well worth the toll!

George flipped the guy a wooden nickel and away we went!

            Our return to the boat was a little shorter than our way out but still brought us through incredible little ‘dorfs’ and farmlands. Unfortunately (mostly for the residents of this area) the daytime temps have been hovering in the mid-nineties, which is definitely much higher than they are used to. We (the tourons) are used to those kinds of temps, would rather have had them fifteen degrees lower, but can handle them. Unless your next excursion involves walking into town after lunch on board. The walk wasn’t so bad (uphill both ways) it was what we wanted to see while we were there.

            Someone a really long time ago decided to test the Faithful and place a grand cathedral way up on the tippy-top of a giant hill. This way all were tested come Sunday morning, as only the Truly Faithful would get up, skip breakfast, and hike up to Mass. At least that’s what I thought as I was the one elected to reconnoiter the object of our Proposed Siege of the Hill and then report back to the rest of my platoon and we would decide from there.

                        After finishing my mission, plopping down in the chair offered, downing a quenching supply of water between wheezing breaths, the observant others intelligently decided to forgo the mission and retreat back to the safety (and air-conditioning) of headquarters and promptly activate the Emergency Orders marked “Happy Hour”. I can’t say that I blame them. But here for your perusal are the fruits of that ill-fated Reconnoitering Mission.

                        No worries, there will be many more “Missions” to report on in the near future as our Itinerary is as jam-packed as it can get.  Carry on.

The next few are of the Exterior only as photography is not allowed inside.

Hope you enjoyed these!

Our third, and last, day in Lucerne was a busy one. The main event was a guided climb of the Stanserhorn, one of the foremost peaks in that region of the Alps. But before we could attempt that, Paula wanted to visit one of the more notable sites in the city, that of the Lion Monument. In order to do so and still be on time for breakfast and our eventual departure for the climb, we needed to leave our hotel around 6 AM and find our way through the old winding streets of the City. After some ‘guidance’ issues (ask Paula about it) we found this wonderful tribute to about 600 members of the Swiss Guard. These warriors were part of the defense of the Tuileries Palace during the French Revolution. The Monument portrays a dying Lion, recumbent across symbols of the remnants of the French Monarchy, it was carved out of the side of the cliff in 1819. Over the years many a visiting soldier in uniform has had their photo taken in front of it. I must confess that the exquisite details of this Lion, lying in anguish and the perfect setting that surrounds it, making for a rather moving experience.

                        We returned to our hotel for breakfast and the start of the planned activities for the day before our eventual departure for Basel and our embarkation on the Viking Hlin. After breakfast we met our Guide, Aleksandra, who would be with us for the rest of the day. In the lobby we found everything that we would need for this climb, pitons, carabiners, several lengths of colored lines, helmets, and picks, just about everything we’d need for the rest of the day in order to summit the Stanserhorn.

                        We departed Lucerne and proceeded to go under the mountains that are in the rear of Lucerne. Tunnels are everywhere around here! They are obviously a more efficient way of traveling rather than going around everything! Mt. Pilatus (you’ve seen photos of it up behind Lucerne) was the largest of these obstacles in our way and it was fun viewing it from behind as we made our way upward.

                        Everything is vertical around here. Even the stairways seem to be steeper and definitely longer. Everything is a ‘climb’. Even the steps into the bus seem to be steeper than normal! We exited the bus at the base of the Stanserhorn, got suited up and proceeded to walk up through the Alpine meadows on the way to our first goal in this climb, the Funicular Tram.

That excursion lasted only about ten minutes or so and deposited us at our real entry way to the Stanserhorn. This is where it got very technical as our Guide tried her best to explain the workings of the Cabrio, apparently the only one of its ‘kind’ in the world. This marvelous mode of transportation brought us the rest of the way to the top of the Stanserhorn where we ditched all of the climbing equipment, walked around taking photos and proceeded to go inside the nifty Summit Lodge where we had French Fries and bought innocuous souvenirs to mark our intrepid ‘climb’ of the famed Stanserhorn.

                        Ok, please tell me that you really didn’t think that a load of old, overweight, barely able to ‘climb’ onto our bus, tourons were really going to make a “Technical Climb” of a famous Swiss Alps Peak?…… Pfew!….. You had me worried there for a bit!

                        Our decent went much quicker, the ride back to the hotel to pick up our luggage was uneventful, and we were soon on our way to Basel, where the Hlin was waiting for us, floating nicely in the Rhine River.

                                    The next phase of the Adventure had begun.

                        As usual, more tomorrow!