The Last of the Cruising....

 Day 6 (port location - Cologne, Germany)

Cologne (or Kӧln)

Back on track, we docked in Cologne (or as the locals spell it - Kӧln).  This was a bit of a deviation from the sights of other towns and villages that we had visited.  Kӧln is a large city and with large cities, comes larger crowds and a bit of the quaintness removed.  Still pretty, but just not as quaint.  

We took a tour of the city center and enjoyed the history of the city.  Most notably, they still to date are finding bombs from WWII that are buried and have been unearthed.  From experience, our tour guide told us about how she had to be rehomed (without warning) for a couple of weeks while they took care of and detonated the bomb outside of her building.  

After our tour, we did walk the city and saw the beautiful church at its center.  

This statue in the picture is an exact replica (in size and shape) of the spire that is at the top of the church.  It looks SO small up there, but in actuality, it is quite large.

Notice it at the top?!

We visited a pub and had a few beers.  Kӧln is famous for their tasty Kӧlsch beer.  Served in small thin glasses, the waiter will continue to serve you them without ask.  If it is getting low, another shows up.  The way to get a waiter to stop serving you, you put a coaster on top of your glass to signify that you are done.  

The waiter makes tally mark on the back of a coaster to keep track of how many he has served you.  In the very short time we were there, because of their small size, we polished off a handful of drinks. 

Back onboard, we travelled through the night to our last stop... Amsterdam.  

Day 7 & 8  (port location - Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a lively, bustling city - home to the risque red-light district, the Anne Frank House, its canals and its bicycles.  

We first took a boat tour of Amsterdam's canals.  The canals throughout the city are intricate, yet breathtakingly gorgeous.  What I wouldn't give to live along some of these canals...

We also took a walking tour of Amsterdam.  We saw bikes, bikes, and even more bikes.

And very small cars...

We toured the Anne Frank House, but sadly no pictures are allowed inside.  This is the building that leads to Anne Frank's hideaway house.  Very unassuming. 

The Anne Frank Museum...

We perused the city, ate some Stroopwafels (because when in Amsterdam...) and sampled some cheese (because, again, when in Amsterdam...)...

We walked the Halocuast memorial - While from a distance it looks like a series of unassuming brick walls, each brick was inscribed with a Netherlander that lost their life throughout WWII when Germany occupied the area (1940-1945).  

There are approximately 102,000 names... that's 102,000 lives that were innocently and wrongfully taken.  

Sullivan stopped by Tony's Chocolates to make her friend a one-of-a-kind, special chocolate bar.  

Some other beautiful pics from our time in Amsterdam...

And with that, all our memories and time with Nana and Papa came to an end... the four of us jetted off (or rather took the train) to London for a few days.  More on those adventures soon!  We had the most amazing time celebrating Nana and Papa's 50th and our 25th anniversaries.  It was a trip of a lifetime with some amazing sights and cities that we saw, but even more special to do it with the ones we love! 

Missing the trip, Europe, and the people already!

Still Sailing North....

The following days on the Rhine River required a little bit of flexibility and adaptation by all.  Europe is experiencing an unprecedented heat wave, and as a result, the water level on the Rhine (and really all European rivers) is incredibly low. Our ship was not able to sail any further north without the risk of getting stuck.  So we had no other option than to pack our bags and do a ship swap.  

Avalon handled the situation flawlessly and with such professionalism and we barely noticed the hiccup (with the exception of having to pack and unpack an extra time).  So onward we go with the memories...

Day 4 (port location - Mainz, Germany)

Heidelberg, Germany 

Once in Heidelberg, after a little bit of a bus ride, we had the opportunity to tour a beautiful castle and learn the history of its incredibleness.  

About halfway through the tour, Sullivan gave us a bit of drama.  She went as white as a ghost and nearly passed out.  I tried pumping her with fluids and meds, which sadly made her sick to her stomach.  While the rest of the tour group went about the tour and the Michelin star restaurant lunch experience, Sulla and I tried to get her on the mend.  

After about 45 minutes time, a little color and a peek of a smile came back to her face.  She even allowed an obligatory photo for posterity's sake.... because how many people can really say they threw up in and nearly fainted in such a beautiful castle?!

We were able to get some fresh air and take in the sights of the beautiful town of Heidelberg from the castle's veranda. 

Sullivan rallied and in the afternoon we were able to join the others in town to do a little shopping and strolling the streets and seeing the sights.  

The infamous castle is on the hill in the background of this picture...

Afterwards, because of the water levels, we bussed to Engers, Germany where we boarded our new ship.

Day 5 (port location - Engers, Germany)

Rüdesheim, Germany

We travelled to Rüdesheim, where we visited Johannisberg Castle and it's vineyard.  This vineyard is famous for their Riesling wine has recently been named #2 best wineries in the world.  The #1 best winery in the world is famous for their red wines, so the castle we visited boasts that they might be #2, but they are truly #1 for white wines.

We got to sample some of the goods.  

Fun fact - a true German Riesling is intended to be a dry wine rather than a sweet wine.  They do have an array of wines ranging in sweetness, but their wines overall were very good.

We toured their incredibly beautiful wine cellar...

And got to see their wine bibliotheca, where they have wines that date back to 1814.  These wines are for sale (for the right price), but the tour guide would not even give us a ballpark figure of what these wines might cost a person.

So much money stored in this one small room - it's hard to fathom.

After the winery, we had a nice meal in Rüdesheim and then very briefly strolled the city before loading a ferry to take us up the river.  

Castle River Gorge 

The water levels were too low to go through the castle river gorge with our cruise ship.  But because the castles along this stretch of the Rhine River are so beautiful and in robust in shear numbers, our cruise director worked her magic and booked us on a steamboat ferry that could take us through the valley so that we could see the castles.

The different architecture and designs off the castles were fascinating to see...

Some of us enjoyed the castles more than others!

We returned to Engers for the evening, before setting sail that evening for Cologne.  

More adventures to come!!