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Published: October 14th 2008
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Beginning the Tour in Miltenberg
It was a perfect fall day to walk in a delightful German town. Monday, 13 October
OK, so we are all safely home and have had a full night’s sleep (at least some of us). We all have colds but fortunately nothing serious…a small price to pay for such a good trip. Here is what happened since the last post.
7 Oct - Miltenberg: We had a delightful walking tour of this quintessential Main River town. Squeezed between the river and the bordering hillsides it has one main street where the houses on one side back into the hillside and the houses on the other are a stone throw from the river. Fortunately it was too small and insignificant in WWII so it survived without a scratch. Today it is a major tourist attraction but without the touristy feel. It is a town where people live and work where all of the stores cater to the local residents rather than to the T-shirt, souvenir buying hordes. After the walking tour we had something to eat in a 17 Century hotel and then strolled back to the buses for a ride back to the ship. The day was unhurried and clear and warm; just the kind of day to spend looking at half-timbered houses.
The Main Street - Miltenberg
The stores and business cater to the residents, not to tourists. I counted at least two bakeries and two butcher shops. 8 Oct - Frankfurt am Main and Rüdesheim: We stopped in Frankfurt to board busses for the drive to Rüdesheim, but before we left we had several hours to kill in Frankfurt. Again, it was a pleasant, sunny day so we walked into the rebuilt main town square and then strolled back to the ship. Mom and Grandma waited on the ship while I took one of the ship’s bicycles and rode along the path that follows the entire length of the river. People were everywhere walking, riding, skate-boarding, reading…just generally enjoying the pleasant weather. I rode about five miles before I had to get back to catch the bus. Grandma really got her exercise that day because we had to walk back to the busses which were close to the old town center where she had been earlier. I guess she walked close to two miles. By the time we got to Rüdesheim, which is a wine village on the Rhine, the weather had turned blustery and cold. Mom went to a wine tasting while Grandma and I walked a little more before settling into a restaurant where we could get out of the wind and get something
17th Century Hotel
Grandma was striding purposefully toward the hotel so she could get a hot cup of tea. warm to drink. At 6 PM we went to a music-box museum with some of the most amazing instruments you have ever seen. After that we went to a restaurant with an umpah-band, drinking games and good German food. Before the night was over we had Grandma out in a conga line through the restaurant.
9 Oct - Marksburg Castle and Köln: We had two walking tours today, one in the AM and another in the PM. Grandma decided to rest on the boat as it cruised in the AM while we went to see one of the castles that is perched above the Rhine. While it had a magnificent view it would have been a tough place to live. Better to visit as a tourist than to live there year round. It the PM we went through the cathedral in Cologne, which fortunately suffered little damage during the war - mostly because it was an orienting point for Allied raids on local industry. After the tour we had a private organ concert in another close by church. Mom and Grandma went to the recital while I returned to the cathedral to see if I could go up into
the towers. Unfortunately, they were closed by the time I got there, so I just took more pictures inside. It ended up being another beautiful sunny day so there were mobs of people out as we walked back to the ship to get dressed for the captain’s farewell dinner.
10 Oct - Amsterdam: We disembarked in Nijmegen for the drive into Amsterdam. It would take too long for the ship to reach Amsterdam which would mean we would have little or no time to see anything so we took a 90 minute bus ride instead. Grandma decided she would stay on the ship and relax so we went ahead and toured the Rijksmuseum, which is where the Dutch masters are displayed, and then had lunch on a canal boat. Grandma made a wise decision because the Rijksmuseum was very crowded and fast paced on multiple floors with no elevator. She would have been exhausted. After the museum and the canal tour Mom and I strolled leisurely back to the ship with a stop in the flower market for something to drink and to watch the people. Once back on the ship it was pack and get ready to leave.
Marksburg Entrance Hall, part 1
This is where you dropped boiling oil on your unwanted guests. 11 Oct - Home: We left the ship early in the AM for the airport. Fortunately we arrived just ahead of the crowd so our check-in and trip to the gate was uneventful. We had a wheelchair for Grandma because of the distances which really worked to everyone’s advantage. She didn’t have to strain and they boarded us first. Aside from a very long flight and an interminable wait for our luggage at Hartsfield, our trip home was uneventful. The cats met us in the driveway and haven’t let us out of their sight since. It’s good to be home.
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