Our Rhine River adventure wrapped up with a stunning stop in the charming city of Basel, Switzerland. The place was a dream come true for us wanderers, with its walkable streets, endless shops, and eateries. My daughter and I, being book addicts, couldn’t resist the paper museum. But the real cherry on top was the Viertel-Kreis restaurant. We basked in the romantic ambiance, dining al fresco under a canopy of trees. From the heavenly food to the top-shelf wine, everything was top-notch, but the real stars of the show were Tanya and Christoph, the owners. With their fascinating tales and generous pours of wine and liqueur, they made the night unforgettable. Kudos to my son-in-law for unearthing this little treasure! I know that this charming city is going to make it into one of my novels one day! Enjoy these photos from this jewel on our Rhine River adventure.
Amazing Adventures in the Black Forest
One of the most memorable stops on our Rhine River Cruise was the Black Forest. This lush land was once the home of Celts, Allemanni, and Romans. But the forest has undergone a transformation, from deciduous trees and firs to pines and other speedy growers, due to the human impact of logging. Our journey led us to Gutach, where we explored a recreation of a traditional village and uncovered the secret of the bollenhut – a hat with fluffy, oversized pompoms worn by women. Red pompoms for the single ladies, and black for those who’ve tied the knot. Hubby’s take on the bollenhuts? The women are mourning the loss of their single life! LOL! It was so interesting to see how Germans lived in the past and I loved seeing their colorful gardens. I also learned something interesting. Genius, right? I’m already planning to fill my garden with them next year. Check out the photos in this video, and if you’re curious about our other Rhine River Cruise adventures, take a peek at https://www.caridad.com/2023/09/19/happy-visit-to-frankfurt/ and https://www.caridad.com/2023/10/03/strasbourg-alsace-region/.
A lovely trip to Strasbourg and the Alsace Wine Region
The Adventure Continues
The past two Travel Tuesdays I’ve shared photos of our time in Frankfurt and traveling along the Rhine Gorge. Today’s visit is to Strasbourg and the Alsace Wine Region, the next stops on our adventure.
Arrival in Strasbourg
We woke Strasbourg and a beautiful morning. This fascinating city has a heavy German influence due to the several transitions between being French and German after numerous wars or invasions over the centuries. Strasbourg, a city listed on the Unesco World Heritage, boasts a history that goes back to Roman times.
Exploring the City
We strolled around the many lovely streets and the Petite France district, which had a unique charm with its half-timbered homes and abundant flowers. Our walk concluded at an amazing and immense cathedral, but we weren’t able to explore its interior. Following this walk around the city, we returned to our boat for a delicious lunch.
The Alsace Wine Region
Relaxed and ready to go again, we went on our next journey to the beautiful Alsace Wine Region, visiting the towns of Ottrot and Obernai. Ottrot, a quaint village, is home to the Fritz-Schmitt Winery. Antoine, the owner’s son, led us through a wine tasting where we sampled several white wines that are typical of the region, as well as a cabernet. While we did the tasting, we had a delightful conversation with some women from the St. Louis area. One of the charms of the river cruise is the opportunity to meet and mingle with new people since there are only about 150 cruisers on the boat.
A Visit to Obernai
Following the wine tasting, we traveled to the nearby city of Obernai. This beautiful town captivated us with its charm. We decided to break away from the organized tour to soak in the local atmosphere. We stopped at a local café, where we enjoyed some beer and coffee, and explored various small shops. The cobblestoned streets led us to tasty finds such as nougat, cookies, and chocolates. We even encountered a shop dedicated entirely to cheeses and sausages! However, we had to leave this charming town and head back to meet the bus for the return trip to the boat.
Onward to Our Next Adventure
Back on the boat, we took the opportunity to unwind and rest as we cruised to our next destination: Basel, Switzerland! More about our journey in Basel next week!
Thank you to Canva Magic Write for assistance with this blog post.
Happy Cruising the Rhine River Gorge
Last week I shared some photos from our time in Frankfurt! We had a lovely time in the city, but we were ready to board the boat for the start of our cruise down the Rhine River. After a lovely introduction to the cruise director, captain, and crew, we had a welcome dinner and then went to the sky deck to watch our departure from Frankfurt. It was lovely to see the city at night. We woke to a bright sunny morning, had breakfast and started our tour of the Rhine Gorge. We passed castle after castle as well as many lovely towns along the river. It was a day spent entirely on the boat which was a little different. To break up the day there was a spirited cornhole contest won by some cruisers from Australia! That night we had a delightful wine tasting on the boat, dinner, and prepared to reach Strasbourg and our first excursions off the boat. I’ll share that adventure next Travel Tuesday!
Happy Visit to Frankfurt
My family and I were blessed to be able to do a vacation to several countries along the Rhine when we did a river cruise last week. Over the next few Travel Tuesdays I’m going to share some stories about our adventures and photos of what we saw. For starters, we landed in Frankfurt in the morning and after dropping off our bags, walked all around to explore the sights. We started off with a visit to the home of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German author, artist, and statesman. Seeing the home gave us an idea of how the well-connected lived in the 1800s and there was a nice museum with artwork attached to the home. After, we wandered through some shopping areas and also through a weekly farmer’s market. The market was filled with amazing produce and quite a few food, wine, and beer stands. It was so crowded, but we didn’t linger for long since we had to get back and get ready for our first ever visit to an Oktoberfest celebration. It was actually the first night of Oktoberfest in Frankfurt and because of that, everyone was dressed in traditional clothing. We tried our best to fit in and think we did an admirably job. What do you think? Oktoberfest was a blast. Lots of good food, namely some fantastic sausages, pretzels, mustard, spaetzle, and dumplings. We also had excellent beer, namely some wheat beer and lagers. Finally, the music and dancing! So much fun. Surprisingly a friend advised that two unexpected songs — Sweet Caroline and Country Roads by John Denver — are staples at German Oktoberfest celebrations. We had a lovely time that night. The next day we did some more exploring around Frankfurt before it was time to board the boat for our cruise up the Rhine. I’ll share more photos from the next leg of the trip next week!
Happy National Plan a Vacation Day
Today is National Plan a Vacation Day! I love being able to get away and do something different, even if it’s only a short ride to a new nearby location. This year we’re doing a family vacation with my daughter and her husband since we haven’t done one in quite a few years. I’m looking forward to spending a week with them because we always have fun together. This time we’re going to do a river cruise and I’m so excited to visit new places. The river cruise company plans excursions during the cruise, but we’ll have a couple of days where we can plan our own things to do! Can’t wait! I’ll also be heading out to California for the Romance Writers of America conference and I can’t wait to see some friends who I haven’t seen in years. How about you? Do you have any vacation plans for this year?
Happily Sharing My Danube River Cruise
For my retirement from a legal career in 2019, my husband gifted me a Danube River Cruise and we have finally been able to go. Because of the two-year COVID delay, the cruise also became a trip to celebrate hubby’s retirement and a big anniversary! We had a lovely time and today I’m sharing our first port-of-call: Budapest, Hungary.
We arrived a day early to avoid any issues with airplane delays and I am glad we did. We had delays out of Newark and barely made a connecting flight but our luggage didn’t make It. Luckily that all got straightened out by very late that night.
Budapest was actually two towns — Buda and Pest — on either side of the Danube River that were united in the latter 1800s. When we arrived in Budapest, we started our walk along the Danube. Budapest is a lovely city that is wonderful for exploring since it’s a great walking city thanks to the walkways all along the river. There is artwork at various spots along the river as well as views of Budapest’s many bridges and Pest across the way! A convenient train line also runs along the river.
Our first stop was a memorial to World War II victims who had been shot along the banks of the river. The “Shoes along the Danube” is a stirring reminder of the human element in war.
Our next stop was the Parliament Building and surrounding structures and statues. Truly beautiful.
Close to Parliament was a memorial to the 1956 Hungarian uprising against Communism. Thick metal slabs were dented and punctured by gunfire. For me it was a reminder of the brutality of life under Communism and Marxism for so many in the past and today.
All around the memorial and Parliament buildings were beautiful gardens and other structures. We kept on walking since it was an absolutely glorious day. In fact, we had beautiful sunny weather the entire time we were on the cruise! We were very lucky. We were able to stroll around the city until late that night.
The next morning we strolled to the city’s Great Market Hall where we picked up some pate and paprika! There were some amazing stalls for purchasing meats, fruits, and vegetables as well as food stalls to pick up something to eat. On the second floor, you could pick up souvenirs as well as locally made clothing, leather, and embroidered items.
On our stroll back to the hotel before heading to the ship, we passed a lovely little church.
I would definitely recommend a visit to Budapest as there is a great deal more to see and do. We will definitely try to get back there again!
Hope you enjoyed today’s Travel Tuesday!