April 30, 2013

Hello!  We boarded the Helvetia Sunday afternoon.  Our luggage followed us on the ship and we were shown to our cabin very quickly, without ever showing any identification or documents.  It’s like flying around in the EU.  Once you are in, you’re in!

We enjoyed a lazy Sunday afternoon, unpacking, checking out the ship and relaxing.  This is a lot bigger than the 8 person barge we left but much smaller than other cruises we have taken on Oceania.  There are about 190 passengers on board.  Most of the passengers are from the US.  It’s a long boat with 4 floors.  We have a lovely big picture window.  It is so nice to be able to see out; except for the times we are docked right next to another ship or within easy view of the dock.  But that isn't too often. 

Monday was a morning tour to walk around and climb up a windmill in Kinderdijk.  We looked outside and saw the wind blowing very, very hard, the rain falling sideways and said to each other “nah, we don’t need to tromp around in the cold to see a windmill.”  So we relaxed, played cards and stayed warm.  Several people told us we didn't miss much.  After lunch we sailed for Cologne, Germany.  There are so many interesting bridges and buildings.  The sun came out and it was a nice afternoon. 

I took a nap and we played cards, learned about Dutch cheese and had a wonderful dinner.  The evening entertainment was a man who plays the piano with electronic drums.  He sings all songs, Willie Nelson, Elvis, Billy Joel and etc. the same way, with an Eastern European accent.  Those of you that are Ombudsmen and go into 6 beds know what I mean.  Kind of odd, but its ok. 

This morning the boat docked at Zons to let us off, and then took off to dock in Cologne.  We rode a bus to Cologne.  I don’t know what they pipe into the buses, but I fall asleep every time we got on a bus!  In any case we got to Cologne driving through beautiful scenery.  They have a neat tour system on this boat.  You give up your room key for a bus token and id card.  Then you go find your bus and get on.  In each of our rooms we are given a “Quiet Vox.” It’s a small listening device with an ear phone.  The tour leader speaks into his speaker box and you can hear him perfectly.  It’s so nice to not miss anything because the tour leader doesn't yell loud enough, or you aren't close enough.  Nice idea.  In any case, we met our tour guide and walked to the St Peter and St Paul cathedral.  This cathedral was begun in 1248 and finished over 600 years later. Talk about job security! It is magnificent.  It had some damage during WWII but they have been rebuilding it.  They currently employ 60 people to maintain the cathedral.  It is made of limestone and is very dirty from pollution.

See that gold coffin in the nave?  That coffin holds the bones of the 3 wise men.  Well, at least we think so.  They hold someone's bones and for centuries people have been coming here to worship these bones of the 3 wise men.  

Luckily, some people saw that the war was not going to end well for Cologne and they took down the beautiful stained glass windows and hid them.  It took 50 years to put the windows back up.  

And the newest stained glass window was just installed in 2008.  It is so pretty.  The Archbishop doesn't like it because it’s too “modern.”   Oh well, everyone else likes it, especially me.

You gotta love all the random stuff on these Gothic churches. This is a door handle.

We walked around Cologne with our guide and learned more about the architecture.  During WWII there were 286 bombing runs on Cologne.  These bombings pretty much turned Cologne into nothing but rubble.  When the guide told us the number of bombings I thought “Well, if Germany hadn't bombed and/or invaded France, Poland, Holland, Czechoslovakia, England, Italy and etc. there would be no need to bomb Cologne!”  So, because very little was left standing in Cologne the head guys decided to just build whatever they could, fast after the war.  So beautiful architecture wasn't really a focus.  What was built were typical buildings of the 1950s and 60s.  Boxy…

The Romans settled here 2,000 years ago and in Cologne anything  new being built takes forever because they find some archaeological site. Here's a dining room floor dated 50 AD.  Wow!  It's in amazing condition.  

After our tour was over we walked along the shore of the Rhine a bit, did some shopping and had some lunch.  Here’s a shout out to our soon to be daughter in law Joy.  You would love the beer here!

For lunch I had a pizza-like dish.  It’s a very thin cracker crust with a crème fraise, then goat cheese, honey and rosemary.  It was delicious.  BC had a very typical German meal, Rheiniseher Saurbraten.  It is beef that is marinated in vinegar and a sweet raisin sauce for a week then cooked.  It comes with delicious red cabbage and a potato dumpling.  We washed this all down with a Bavarian beer.  All while sitting along the shore at a small café. 

I forgot to mention when we were in Amsterdam that Queen Beatrix is stepping down from her throne for her son Wilhelm Alexander today.  Everything and everyone was dressed in orange and ready to party!  This will be the first time Holland will have a King in about 100 years.  They've had Queens for a century.  Queen Beatrix asked us to stay on, but we hated to miss our cruise.

Tonight is a big deal here in Cologne.  It is, as best as I can tell, “the day before May 1^st. “  Young men who are in love go to the forest and cut down a birch tree and decorate it with ribbons.  Then they plant it in front of the window of the home of the young woman they love.  The bigger the tree the more he loves her.   So tonight will be a party night.  We will have a front row seat as our cabin window faces all the cafes along the shore.  We may go out and have another beer this evening.  BC says my tree will be the biggest, most decorated of all the trees!  I can hardly wait!

So you might find us out tonight "Party Fahrten!"

This afternoon we are warming up, sending out laundry and relaxing.  We wish you a happy “day before May 1^st!” 

love, bc and gc

PS.  Here's a picture of us with Greg the Chef on the French Barge Cruise with our profiteroles for our anniversary and bc's birthday   

April 28, 2013

Friday, Saturday and Sunday…..

Friday was our last full day on the barge.  It was cloudy and would later rain pretty hard in the afternoon.  But we got off the barge in the morning and had a nice walk and waited for the barge to catch up with us.  We ended up in St Leger. 

For lunch we had a traditional French buffet.  Frogs legs, snails, couscous, pate, Parma ham, cheese, salad, fruit, beet root salad and if course more wine.  We did try the frog’s legs and snails.  I regret that I didn’t take a picture of the frog’s legs with the snails.  The hardest part of eating the frog’s legs was the mental picture I had of a frog.  It just grossed me out!  But as they say, it tasted like chicken!

In the afternoon, in the rain, we went to Chateau de Chamirey in Mercurey.  The wine cellar was so beautiful.  Wonderful lighting, pretty caves.

Then we tasted some of their wines.  This was so much fun.  We tasted 10 wines and they were all good, some better than others, including premier and grand cru’s.  This was a fun way to end the cruise. 

Here is a picture of our crew at our gala dinner party. 

Saturday was a travel day.  We drove to Paris which was about 3 ½ hours, then onto a plane for a 40 minute flight to Amsterdam.  Amsterdam is a lovely city.  You know how you go to a city and it’s just so fun, welcoming, interesting?  Seattle is that way for me and now, so is Amsterdam.  We weren't able to spend more than 1 night in Amsterdam, but we will come back for sure. 

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Amrath Amsterdam.  It is so interesting.  It started out in 1913 (100 years ago) as a monumental shipping house on the Prins Hendrikkade.  We were typical tourists taking pictures of all the architecture, iron work and windows. 

This morning we got up and went to the Anne Frank house.  I am currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank (last I read it I was 12).  The tour sure brings the book alive.  It is a well-run, well laid out tour.  And so sad, knowing they lived in the tiny Annex for almost 3 years.  Never going out, breathing fresh air, being able to talk and walk normally.  The group was betrayed in August 1944.  Anne eventually died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945.  In her diaries Anne continued to write of her fears of being found out.  I can only imagine her horror at being sent away and losing her family.  We had a nice walk about town, stopping to have a coffee, hot chocolate and a croissant.  Oh, and we also wandered by one store front with an “interesting array of products”, no pictures allowed.  Again, Amsterdam is a lovely city.  It will be nice to come back some day. 

We are now on our next adventure, cruise on the Rhine River.  We are on a Viking Cruise on the Helvetia.  We have a lovely cabin, and are ready to enjoy this leg of our trip.

We love you and miss you.  Hope all is well with you.  Bc and gc

April 26, 2013

Editor's note:  This blog was written 2 days ago but we couldn't get enough internet power to post it with the pictures!  

Wednesday and Thursday were beautiful days to cruise the canals.  The weather was perfect! 

Wednesday morning we visited Beaune (pronounced Bone).  Beaune is the wine capital of Burgundy.  We visited the Hostel Dieu (God Hospital).  It seems in the mid-1400s this guy was getting on in age and realized he might not make it into heaven due to some of his extracurricular activities.  As he had a lot of money, he went to the head Duke in Burgundy and asked for a piece of land to build a hospital for the poor people.  The Duke, having some of the same fears as the rich guy regarding getting into heaven, said sure, here’s some land.  So the hospital was built.  It was used until the 1960s.  It really is a beautiful place and I suspect the sick and mentally ill thought they had already died and gone to heaven!  During our visit I was reminded of our nursing homes.   Sorta like today, people shared a bed, and there were curtains to provide privacy.  There was one room that people went when they were nearing death and there was another room for the rich people where they didn't have to share a bed and had more amenities. 

Then we walked around the little village.  It was very quaint and pretty.  We sat and had a coffee and listened to a great duo singing and playing.  They were so good I bought one of their CDs. 

Then back to the boat for another marvelous meal.  We cruised the River Saone to the village of Fragnes.

Thursday we got off the barge for a brisk walk along the very nice path.  We met the barge at a lock and it is amazing to see how close the barge is to the walls of the lock. 

After lunch we docked at Remigny.  We walked around the very quaint town a bit before boarding the van to go to Chateau of Chassane Montrachet.  We had a nice tour of the caves and then a tasting of some of their wines.  

Then onto the fairy tale castle, Chateau de la Rochpot.  This castle was built in the 1400s and then after the revolution in the 1700s it became the towns quarry.  The people literally tore the majority of the castle down, stone by stone to build their own homes.  In the 1800s a lady decided to buy it for her son.  They had it rebuilt in the style of the 1400s.  Now it is a museum.  We climbed to the top of the turret and the views were amazing.

Back to the barge for cocktails and another wonderful meal.  The hostess Sophie brought bc his evening scotch and apologized as she thought it was maybe “too much”.  I nearly fell off the chair laughing.  I explained to Sophie that “too much scotch” and bc in the same sentence was not possible. 

For dessert the chef Greg made us a wonderful profiteroles dessert.  It had sparklers and ice cream, chocolate, all stacked up into a pyramid.  It was beautiful and so good!  I had asked for something special for bc’s birthday Saturday and they decided to combine our anniversary and his birthday.  It was lovely! 

It is cooler today.  It is our last full day on the Hirondelle. 

We miss you and hope all is well with you.  We are happy….. bc and gc.

April 24, 2013

Day Three cruising the canals in France.

We were picked up in Paris and driven 3 hours to Dijon Sunday.  France looks a lot like America, except the signs are in French.  Freeways give way to suburbia, give way to green pastures and fields. 

We were greeted on our barge Hirondelle with champagne and canapés.  Ok, now this is going to be great!  There is a staff of 5 for the 8 of us.  There is the captain, guide, cook, hostess and deck hand.   And they stay very busy.  Our cabin is nice.  This barge was just refurbished this past winter and we are the second trip this year.  New carpet, tile, bedding, bath robes and towels to die for! 

Quite a few of the locks are very close for the barge to pass through.

Sunday evening’s dinner was a terrine of crab, main dish of duck and potatoes.  Of course there was cheese and a wonderful dessert and very good white and red wines. 

Monday morning we cruised out of Dijon onto the Burgundy Canal.  There are 15 locks to get through before we moored in Longecourt.  In the afternoon we took a trip to the Clos de Vougeot and Chateau.  We walked through the 12^th century chateau that still has the ancient presses that the Monks used to make their wine.  Also, this is the famous location of the Burgandian wine society the “Confrerie de Chevakiers de Tastevin. 

  Back to the barge for a relaxing dinner of pea and asparagus risotto, halibut, and of course cheese and dessert.  (I’m so full!) 

This morning we went to the city of Dijon to go to the weekly market.  It is similar to Pike Place Market and other markets we’ve been to in other countries.  The one thing I thought was odd was the bra table.  There were 5-7 women sorting through piles of bras, picking out the ones they wanted to buy.  I've never thought about buying bras on a street sidewalk.  At least they weren't trying them on!  We had a cup of hot chocolate at a café and watched the people go by. 

  Then back to the barge and cruising to St Jean de Losne.  

We got off the barge and bicycled about 12 kilometers to meet the barge a few locks up.  Now this was not bucolic pedaling along the beautiful canal scenery.  The scenery was wonderful, but the path was rocky, pebbly, grassy and very bumpy.  We worked hard to stay upright!  But it was good exercise and we did have fun. 

Here's the lock house we waited at for the barge to get to the lock we were at. 

That night we went to dinner at La Chaumiere in Dole.  It is a Michelin Star restaurant.  The food was amazing and so very well presented.  For example, bc’s dessert had spun sugar around nuts.  The spun sugar stood up like swords while the nuts sat on the plate.  BC had a steak while I had the local fish with couscous.  Amazing flavors!  The pictures are on the other camera, so you'll have to wait to see them!

We’ve been trying lots of different types of cheese, wines and champagnes. It is so relaxing to just sit and watch the beautiful scenery as we slowly make our way down the canals.  The internet is spotty, so we don’t know when we’ll be able to post this, but oh well….

Hope all is well with you!  Bc and gc