Rhine River Cruise 2024

West Hallam, United Kingdom

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 21:00:00 +0100

Day 8 - 15 July 2024 Time to go home! However our flight wasn’t until 18.30 hours so although we had to vacate our cabin by 9am, our transfer to Düsseldorf airport wasn’t until just after 15.00 hours and in the meantime all the ships facilities were available to us and a final lunch was provided. Unfortunately once we got to the airport we found that our flight had been delayed fifty minutes so we had a bit of a wait. Then when we arrived at Birmingham we couldn’t remember exactly where we had parked. It took about an hour to find the car, trudging round in pouring rain, but eventually we were reunited. I’ll be more careful next time to pay attention to where we are parking! We then had an hours drive home, for the most part in torrential rain, arriving back just before midnight. But alls well that ends well and we were back.

Our final mooring in Cologne, from where we departed for the airport

Cologne, Germany

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 11:30:00 +0200

Day 7 - 14 July 2024 The ship left its moorings in Koblenz around 7am and after a pleasant morning’s sale we arrived in Cologne about 11.30am or so. We had lunch on board before a short coach transfer into the city centre, dropping us a few minutes walk from the cathedral. Not much to say about Cologne except that it’s very big, not very appealing - especially on a Sunday afternoon when even the tourist office was closed - and three hours there was more than enough. We returned to the ship in time for a drinks reception at which all the staff (including eight chefs) were introduced to passengers. Our final onboard dinner followed, to the usual excellent standard, and then England v Spain game was watched in the lounge. Enough said about that!. It was a lovely sunset though.

Approaching Cologne

The cathedral viewed from the ship

Vegan shepherd's pie for lunch

Cologne Cathedral

A fabulous sunset viewed from the sun deck.

Rüdesheim and Koblenz, Germany

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0200

Day 6 - 13 July 2024 The ship had moored in Rûdesheim the night before so after breakfast we were all ready to disembark and board the rebooked excursion, via road train, to visit Sigfrieid's Mechanical Museum, which houses about 350 self playing musical instruments spanning three centuries. Several of the major pieces were demonstrated to us, including an ‘orchestra machine’ incorporating six real violins and said to be worth around €1M. Fascinating. After the tour we had about an hours free time to wander round the town before being transported back to the ship for lunch. During lunch the ship departed for our next stop, Koblenz, passing along the prettiest section of the river - the Rhine gorge - where we saw numerous vineyards and castles. We moored in Koblenz late afternoon and Lynne joined a walking tour of the city. I had a late siesta, building up stamina for the next round of food and drink. After dinner, and listening to a few tunes from a German folk band, we enjoyed a twilight walk along the river down to the point where the Rhine and Mosel meet. And so ended day 6. Time is passing so quickly!

Siegfried’s MechanicaL Museum

The museum

Early Edison gramophone.

Rüdesheim - Die Drosselgasse

Siegfrieds Museum

Rüdesheim

The famed coffee

On the Rhine

Speyer, Germany

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 08:00:00 +0200

Day 5 - 12 July 2024 The ship was already moored in Speyer before we awoke. After breakfast we joined a short walking tour of the town with a very informative local guide who told us much about its history and some of the local landmarks. After the tour we had some free time to wander further, and of course have a coffee before making our way back to the ship. It was another very warm and, so far, dry day. Lunch was served on the ship, which over lunch set sail for tomorrow’s destination - Rüdesheim. The afternoon was spent on the sun deck then at 5.30pm the ‘birthday guests' and partners were invited for drinks and canapés with the tour director and senior crew (except for the captain, who was driving). Then after the briefing for tomorrow it was time for the chef’s special dinner (excellent) then a music quiz in the lounge, which we managed to miss half of. Probably just as well. A really good evening of food and drink - but we’re still standing!

The Eight Kings and Emperors Sculpture, Speyer (goes with the Ferryman)

Speyer Cathedral

Speyer

Colmar, France

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 09:30:00 +0200

Day 4 - 11 July Plans for today had to be changed due to a problem with one of the locks on the river. So instead of going to Strasbourg we elected to go to Colmar - a much smaller, but very historic, town in France. Whilst it was disappointing not getting to Strasbourg it did afford the opportunity for a slightly later departure from the ship, with the coach leaving at the more civilised time of 9.45am. We only had about an hour in Colmar so decided to go for a ‘road train' trip round the town. There was not much time for anything else but we did manage to get a bottle of local wine before our rendezvous to return to the coach. We got back to the ship around 1pm to hear the good news that it could now resume the journey and would be setting off for tomorrow’s destination after lunch. It was an antipasti starter followed by moules frites for lunch, washed down by a local reisling - rapidly followed by ‘high tea’ and Prosecco in the lounge. This was part of Riviera Travel’s 40th birthday celebration. After spending the rest of the afternoon on deck watching the world go by it was time for more food and drink, a quiz and then the briefing for tomorrow’s excursion. It’s all go!

Breakfast

The Colmar road train

Colmar - Petite Venice

Colmar

Approaching our first lock

Not a lot if room for error!

Breisach and the Black Forest, Germany

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 07:30:00 +0200

Day 3 - 10 July Our boat sailed overnight to moor in Breisach, having crossed the border into Germany. Again a leisurely start to the day with a 9am departure by coach for our half day excursion to the Black Forest. The outward journey was about one and a half hours via a scenic route taking in some small towns and villages, passing (but unfortunately not stopping at) a number of vineyards and having a glimpse of the rural local economy and countryside. We saw several storks’ nests (from church towers to electricity pylons) and quite a few storks in the fields. Our only stop on this trip was at Titisee, an attractive touristy town with a very large lake. We found a nice place for coffee overlooking the lake (although there was a little drizzle at the time) and being in the Black Forest this had to be accompanied by a piece of the famous gateau. After our stopover it was back the the coach for a more direct return to the ship, and a very nice lunch - by which time the skies had cleared, brilliant sunshine had returned and the temperature was back up around 25 degrees. On the way back our local guide showed us a bottle of brandy containing a whole pear (see photo). But how did it get in the bottle??? After lunch we lazed away the afternoon on the sun deck — under a shade! - transferring back to the lounge at 5pm for a really good violin performance of classics and other well known pieces. Cocktail hour arrived at 6.30pm - it’s a hard life - followed by another excellent dinner. . . . . . and then the England game! Life is full of surprises.

The lake at Titisee

Coffee and Black Forest Gateau in the Black Forest

Titisee

The town of Freiburg - on the way back to the ship

How do you get a whole pear into a bottle of brandy?

Lucerne and Interlaken, Switzerland

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 11:30:00 +0200

Day 2 - 9 July 2024 Lynne’s birthday! A good breakfast with plenty of choice and then time to quickly open birthday cards and presents before another fairly early departure by coach for Lucerne at 8.30am. We arrived in Lucerne just after 10am with just over an hour’s stopover for a little sightseeing, so we picked just two things to have a particular look at. The first of those was Chapel Bridge, a world-famous timber bridge and apparently Lucerne’s most photographed destination. Together with the Water Tower, the bridge forms a landmark in the townscape like no other attraction. And the bridge conveniently took us to our other destination, the Jesuit Church which is a sizeable 17th century baroque styled building famed for its painted ceilings. Day 2’s excursion continued with an hour or so’s journey to get the Bernese Oberland mountain cog railway, from a place called Wilderswil-Schynige not far from Interlaken. The train took us up to a height of around 2000m (over 6,500 feet) above sea level and on a super clear day we had spectacular views of the alpine scenery, including the snowcapped Eigre, Mônch and Jungfrau mountains. The excursion overran slightly but we just about got back to the ship with time to get ready for Lynne’s birthday meal in the ship’s Riverside Bistro restaurant with great views over the Rhine. A nice way to celebrate. Returning to our cabin afterwards, the maid had been very busy arranging a special birthday cake, chocolates and very cleverly arranged towels modelled as an elephant and a pig (no idea why!!)

Happy Birthday!

Lucerne

Lucerne wooden bridge

Lucerne

Rising towards our alpine railway station

The station

On the ascent

At the top

Basel

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 11:30:00 +0200