Beautiful Baden-Baden

---

This morning we are docked at Basel, Switzerland, our termination point for our cruise. Later this morning we will go on our tour of the city. More on Basel later.

Yesterday we took a scenic bus ride up a mountain to the beautiful city of Baden-Baden. According to our guide many wealthy people live here or own homes here. One of the attractions is the ancient Roman baths -- not in their original state but remodeled. Supposedly the water is good for healing your body. Also, there is a casino in town, where you have to pay an admission to get in and tennis shoes are not allowed. A dress code is enforced. People can lose their money in style here.

We didn't see a Catholic church around, but did go into a Protestant Church. It was nice, but much less ornate than the Catholic Churches we have been visiting. Baden-Baden is a pleasant city, and we enjoyed walking around just looking at the stores, people and parks.

Since this is the last day on board our ship, I thought I'd mention a few aspects of the ship. It is 361 ft in length with a width of 37 ft. It was built in 1998 and has a draft of only 5 ft, which is amazing. It weighs 1806 tons, carries 58,000 gallons of fresh water and 41,000 of diesel fuel. When cruising, it consumes 105 gallons of fuel per hour. Gasoline costs about $9/ gallon, and diesel fuel is a bit less, so you can do the math and get an idea of the fuel cost per hour to run the ship. Midpoint in our cruise a small tanker came alongside to add diesel fuel to the ship.

The ship is in immaculate condition, both inside and out. They keep the ship sparkling, and the crew works very had, is very pleasant, and they try hard to make our trip enjoyable -- and they have succeeded. The meals have been delightful. Last eve Zee and I got an unexpected surprise-- we got to eat at the Captain's table. When one has taken a certain number of trips with Grand Circle Travel, they are recognized in this fashion. We have taken 8 trips with GCT, and they appreciate us (and our money). Someone asked us how we got invited to the Captain's table, I told them when one has spent half their life savings with GCT, the invite comes forth...(grin)...

Tomorrow, we depart for Lucerne, Switzerland with one of the tour guides and will stay in a hotel. The weather has been very rainy here, and the Rhine is flowing fast and very high. It's been a great trip so far, with more fun to come.....Jim

---