Cruising on the Rhine in Germany

Oh, the fairy-tale charm of Germany along the Rhine!

The next three days were filled with one gorgeous setting after another! 

Small villages, castles and lush vineyards were on both sides of the ship as we cruised by.

First stop in Germany was Cologne, home of the famous Dom Cathedral. 

Cologne is a mecca for young people, students, tourists and locals with a joie de vivre. 

As explained by our German lecturer who came on board, 

this is partly because of the presence of the university - 

there is a zest for life present and a positive state of mind for the future.

 In 1988, we visited our friends, Jan and Dave Noyes, when they lived in Germany 
and we took day trips from their home. 

Here we are in front of the famed church.

Skip ahead 37 years, our tall German guide walked us through Old Town . . .

. . .and  by St. Martin's Church.

Constructed on the foundation of a monastery built in the 10th and 11th centuries, 

St. Martin's Church has been beautifully restored after WW11 bombings.

The famed Dom is Germany's largest cathedral. 

The Cologne Cathedral has the highest church spires ever built.

Work began in 1248 to build a cathedral to house the crowned clothes and skulls of the three wisemen. 

It was completed 600 years later. 

Probably because it was used as a landmark to line up the bombing of Cologne during WW11, 

it was the only building left standing.

Because it was Sunday and mass was in session, we could not go into the church in the morning, 

so the Taylors and we returned to our ship to have lunch (we ordered sauerbraten), 

then returned to the church to go inside. 

The Bartons and the Sitteruds went to a local cafe to have pig knuckle.

Jay, Anne and I are in front of the massive Gothic arches.

Exquisite stained glass windows were throughout.

 Here is The Shrine of the Three Kings, a golden sarcophagus studded with jewels.

Roger caught a double sunburst in this pic.

It was explained to us that many of the churches we saw throughout our trip are made of sandstone, 
which is a soft, light color, and pollution darkens it.

So it is a non-ending process to clean them - they just get all around the church and they start again.

That's why you will almost always see scaffolding around the important churches.

We walked into the train station to find a pharmacy, 

and we saw this sausage stand, much how we would find hamburger stands everywhere in the US.

On the way back to the ship, we saw these families playing in the fountains.

It was a typical weekend scene in Europe.

We walked a lot every day during our trip. 

I am so glad that I had walked 10.000 steps on many of the days before we left for Europe.

We walked on rough cobblestone streets and climbed up towers, windmills, castles and palaces, 
both inside and steps leading up on the outside. 

I was amazed how well our mostly senior travelers kept up every day. 

But my knees and feet seemed to have more limits than Roger's and some of our friends's did. 

Jay and Anne took off over the bridge to a tall modern building that had a great view of the city, 

and Roger walked me back to the ship (about a 15 minute walk), then headed to meet up with them 

to get great pics of the city.

On the walk back, he took these pics of the thousands of padlocks on the Hohenzollernbrucke Bridge.

Lovers have put their names on padlocks, locked up their love and thrown away the key. 

That night on board, we were treated to a truly fine classical trio, performing German classics 

and some really fun German folk music. 

Roger and I enjoyed the music so much, 

we purchased a CD to play on our long road trips to visit our kids and grandkids.

Next morning we docked in Koblenz, then were driven to the Marksburg Castle, the only Rhine fortress never destroyed. It was built around 1117 to protect the town of Braubach and to reinforce the toll facilities. 
All along the European rivers, for centuries, tolls were taken from passing ships 
and customs were charged for the goods being transported.

Marksburg Castle became a prison and home for disabled soldiers during Napoleon's reign. 

After we returned to our ship, which had moved to Braubach during our absence, we had lunch, then cruised on a beautiful scenic sailing along the middle Rhine River, 
with our Program Director Rob commentating on the upper deck.

Next morning on board, we had a live demonstration of glass blowing. 
This art, which I have always been fascinated with, has been in Karl Ittig's family since 1841. 
He and Dale Chihuly blew glass together in Germany in their young days. Roger and I have admired Chihuly's glass since we saw some of it displayed throughout the Citadel in Jerusalem and at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics. He also did the gorgeous ceiling in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. 

After Ittig's very interesting demonstration, he was flooded with sales of his lovely work.
I was excited to purchase this clever oil and vinegar container:

After lunch, we went on a walking tour of a beautiful medieval romantic town.

We heard about what life would have been like in the 16th and 17th centuries;  
the area was actually settled in 2 AD by the Romans. 

We saw inside a lovely church . . .

. . . and walked through narrow alleys to see ancient little cottages.

Of course, it was very touristy, but enchanting. 

We bought my favorite European candy - white nougat with almonds!

Before we left on our grand trip, our kids gave us a selfie stick, 
so we wouldn't miss any shots with both of us in them - you know, we were there shots.

We were having fun experimenting with the selfie stick when our friends came by, 
and Pat particularly thought it was hilarious that we had a selfie stick.

So we made her get in a shot with us.

She teased us about it the whole rest of the trip!

We walked out on the bridge and Roger took some pretty shots, looking back at the scenery above Miltenberg.

Another couple of selfies

Roger took some pretty pics later that day - we loved seeing the hillside vineyards.

That night at dinner, Rog took some couple pics.

Clyde and Pat Sitterud
Clyde is a very-fun-to-talk-to intellectual, and Pat has a great sense of fun and goodness.

Anne and Jay Taylor 
These are our beloved Aggie friends.
Anne was in my Kappa Delta pledge class 
and we'll have to forgive Jay for being a Sigma Chi!

Lynn and Annette Barton

We were so excited to find out that Kim Barton, one of our Stacy's favorite friends 
and fellow BYU cheerleaders, is Lynn and Annette's daughter! 
Small world!
Lynn is really witty and funny and Annette is a real sweetheart and fun to share with- we loved them both!

We enjoyed both of the other couples we hadn't known before the trip,
as well as the Taylors, so much!
We laughed a lot!

Pam and Roger Stratford

We continued in the night to our next stop, Wurzburg.

Stay tuned . . .