Where do I start to tell you what we have been up to over the last seven days? Well how about the day we started on the Scenic Crystal? We were greeted like royalty and all the ladies received a beautiful long stemmed rose. WOW!
Flower Market in Basel
The food is fabulous but not as fabulous as was on
the ship ... thank goodness but the mouth keeps opening!! Right now
while sailing on the River Rhine, I am sitting in a sunny corner,
listening to beautiful music and can help myself to hot chocolate,
icecream, coffee etc. all day and soon, at 4.30 we will be having an
Ice-cream Bonanza which is a first for me. Then at 7.0 pm we have a
booking at the Restaurant on board, to be followed by a walk through a
magical town called Ruedesheim and the reason I know it's magical is
because John and I have been there before and it was our favourite.
Let's hope that our memories will not disappoint us on the second time
round.
Basel, Switzerland. Town Doctor checking tourists health - looking for Black Plague.
We stayed in Basel, Switzerland for a couple of days and today I can't
remember where we went or what we did but what I do remember is that
woman in some parts of Switzerland were not allowed to vote until 1990!!
Yes that date is right. The right to vote did not come until 1971 but
this was only in some regions. The women would you believe, resisted
the passing of the law in their regions, the right to vote. The Supreme
Court in the end stepped in and passed the law that all women had the
right to vote irrespective of the region's preferences.Tuesday 17th we went to the Black Forest and saw lots of Storks ... yes the birds that deliver babies to the lucky mum's and dad's. They are so much larger than I imagined and much loved by the locals. The village has even placed a CCT camera near a next which is on top of the Church's bell tower so that it can keep an eye on the babies' well being. The nests are HUGE.
Some beautiful homes of the New Town, Heidelberg
The Blue Danube begins in the mountains of the Black
Forest and we actually saw the spot which was only a small pond. The
other magical thing I saw while sitting in the bus was a couple picking
berries on the mountainside. So it's well and truly summer over here
which reminds me to tell you that the temperature on most days starts
off about 16, hits 24 in the early afternoon and peaks to 30+ by 8.00 pm.
I only have the one pair of summer pants (recent purchase) and 2
summer blouses, and one pair of black flats, so I am doing it tough as
all the other ladies look beautiful in their summer dresses and shorts
etc. Oh well only another 9 days to "endure" such hardships. (ha ha ha
... only kidding but washing every night no matter what the hour)We had real "black forest" cake which I don't like so I didn't have it but am loving the bratswurzt and the bread is so delicious I am having 4 servings each time. The farmers are given an annual payment to keep their meadows as meadows to prevent the pine trees from obliterating them. It is a stunningly beautiful region.
Cuckoo Clock shop at Triberg, Germany. Karl Marx was born here.
Yesterday Wednesday
18th we went to Strasbourg and visited the Notre Dame cathedral. I have
to tell you this ... the boat is sailing past hundreds of people sitting
on the river banks, irrespective if it's concrete, pebbles, or gravel
soaking up the sun and going for swims on this very hot day but I have
been told this is the case irrespective of the weather when its summer
because the season is so very short ... so everybody makes the most of
it. Amazing sight.Today we went to Heidelberg and what a beautiful town it is. Like most of the town we have seen, there is the Old Town and the New Town and off course it's always the Old Town that has the most beauty but everybody want's to live in the New Town due to the amenities.
So that's it from me for now because I have to go to the Ice-cream Bonanza and I just don't know when I will get some free time again
ISO100 f8 1/200 40-150mm focal length 123mm
