Day 5... Castles and the King of Burgers

Looking back I think I can say this was one of my favorites days of the trip. Since we have been back, lots of people have asked me what my favorite part was and I haven't been able to answer them because there was so much. However, this day as whole is definitely on the short list!

We were up and out early. We left Koln and headed to the Rhine River where we boarded a boat. We spent the next hour and a half cruising down the River. It was a beautiful morning so the temperature on the deck was nice and the visibility great. Throughout our honeymoon we would visit many sites that were a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Rhine River Valley was the first of them.

UNESCO Symbol on hillside.

This area is home to some amazing castles. After practically every bend in the river, we would look up in the hills and see a castle. Just as we thought we had seen the most amazing one or biggest one, the next one on the horizon would surprise us.

 

One interesting thing we learned... Apparently there was an agreement during the war that no historical marker or structure would be bombed. So, the German people were smart... the added towers that look like castles onto their tunnels! That way their transportation wouldn't be cut off.

The river was dotted with one beautiful town after another!

 

And there were LOTS of vineyards!

Also on the cruise we saw Lorelie's Rock. That part of the river is very narrow and shallow so there have been many shipwrecks over time. The legend of this rock says that Lorelei was a beautiful distressed maiden who sat upon the rock awaiting the return of her lover. Her unfaithful lover never returned, so she threw herself off of a cliff headfirst into the water, leading her to death. According to the legend, Lorelei’s spirit remains sitting on the rock to this day combing her beautiful long hair and singing a soft melody. Apparently, her looks are so charming that sailors passing though are distracted and before they know it, shipwrecked.

Town of Lorelei

Lorelei's Rock

Statue of Lorelei

They say that Lorelei lingers there seeking revenge against her lover. From time to time, a murmuring sound can be heard in the vicinity of the rock which is said to be her hypnotizing melody. We didn't hear it, but who knows!! Sadly the cruise had to come to an end. All of the passengers agreed that is was a wonderful outing!!

Neil and Stephanie posing for picture.

Jerri and Alex.

Us!! (Notice huge castle in background?)

Next we loaded on the bus and drove through Germany to Heidelberg for our lunch stop. One of my few regrets about our entire trip is that we didn't have more time in this town. It was one of the most charming cities I have ever been to. It is largely known as a college town and that can be seen by all of the students enjoying he nice weather and studying outside or chatting with friends over coffee. The entire town is lined with cobblestone streets. Like most European town, the city is centered around a square.

We strolled around the town taking it all in. When our attention turned to lunch, we decided we had to have some traditional German food. After searching through most of the restaurants, we finally had one that had enough English on their menu for us to know what we were ordering! We sat at a nice table in the middle of the town square and had a wonderful lunch!

 

 

Brad's lunch... Wiener Schnitzel!

My lunch... Bratwurst & Sauerkraut

Unfortunately, after lunch we didn't have much time left and we were SO sad to leave. It is definitely on our list of places we want to visit again. I never knew how beautiful Germany was... so I really enjoyed discovering it!! However, for now, it was back on the bus to drive to Switzerland.

The drive was GORGEOUS. I was so green and we got our first sight of the snow-capped Swiss Alps!

We arrived in Lucerne where we would spend the next two nights. We walked around this beautiful city and instantly fell in love! It is a beautiful city with unobstructed views of the Swiss Alps. Lake Lucerne dominates most of the town and it was beautiful.

We walked around and as it got later we began to get really hungry. It soon turned into a frustrating time trying to find food. Everything was either really expensive or we couldn't understand the menu! Many of you know this about me... but when I pass the point of starving, I am no longer able to make decisions and I get very edgy. So, the decision was made to go to Burger King. We both knew what we could get there and it would be fast. The only problem is that when we walked to where we thought it was... it wasn't. 

I couldn't walk anymore for fear of passing out. So, I went back to our nearby hotel while Brad went out in search of dinner. It took him a while, but he eventually returned to the room with Burger King and it was SO good. We eventually fell into bed. It had been a wonderfully beautiful day but we needed our sleep because with the next day's arrival, we knew we were going up into part of the Swiss Alps!!!!

Day 4, Part 2... Germany

We left Amsterdam and drove into Koln, Germany (or Cologne). We would just be there for dinner and a night's stay in the hotel. However, we took a little excursion without the tour group and it was so fun it needed its own blog!

Over dinner we chatted with two other couples we had been getting to know. Jerri and Alex were college students from Indiana. Stephanie and Neil were also a young couple and they were our token Canadian on the bus! We had heard that there was an amazing Gothic cathedral a short train ride from our hotel. So, after we ate, the six of us headed out to find it!

The train ride was an adventure... none of the ticket machines would take our Euros or our credit cards. We were told there would be a machine on the train too, so we decided to wait. As luck would have it, that machine was broken too!! So, despite all of the signs saying we could be fined if found without a ticket, we all held our breathe for the 10 minute ride and made it!

Our train was the #7 to Zundorf.

The cathedral was AMAZING!!! Right in the middle of this quiet little town with shops and cobblestone streets was this looming church. I only wish we could have seen it during the day because our little cameras just don't do well at night! Here are a few of the good ones...

Sadly, it seems that several of my pictures are corrupted and I can't open them. :o( I had several of us on there...

After we all explored, we decided to have some gelato and visit for while. Then we got back on our train. Thankfully THIS machine worked and we were able to get tickets. This was a good thing because we had not been on the train for more than a minute when a train official came around checking tickets. WHEW!!!

Day 4... Amsterdam

We were up early for breakfast and then loaded into the bus to head into the city of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of The Netherlands. It is also known for its canals and bridges. So, first thing on the agenda was a canal cruise. It was a mild morning, so it was a nice cruise along the water. 

Our tour director, Bogi sending us off on our cruise.

  

House boats are very popular there so it was interesting to see how people lived.

A house boat made a brick! Explain to me how that is floating?

Along the way, we stopped at a diamond polishing factory. It was quite interesting- I had NO IDEA how manual that process is! They also showed us some diamonds that were more carats than I knew existed!! (No photos, of course.)

One of things that I found fascinating about Amsterdam is how the architecture really doesn't match their way of life. A lot of the major cities in Europe have large portions that were damaged during war. So, they re-build and have many different styles and eras of architecture. Since Amsterdam wasn't damaged during any battles, all the buildings are original and very old! This is very interesting for a modern and progressive city such as Amsterdam. 

Each house had a furniture pulley because the stairs would be too narrow.

That black door you see in the middle is the entrance to a home... it is 3 stories but SUPER skinny!!

 

Yep, that's a McDonald's you see!

Bicycles are EVERYWHERE. We had sidewalks and they had bike lanes.

Don't take that to mean that they don't have changes or construction. But they have a funny way of trying to hide the construction of the rail system. When I saw this, I was reminded of Kara's blog from their April visit to Amsterdam when she took this picture...

So I just HAD to take this picture!!

After the cruise and diamond factory, we jumped on the bus for a sight seeing tour through the streets of Amsterdam. No visit to Holland would be complete without a picture in front of a windmill!

After our tour we had a few hours of free time. The Netherlands is famous for their flowers... specifically tulips! So, when I heard that there was a floating flower market, I had to see it!  It ended up being quite a walk but it was so worth it! The flowers were beautiful and ENDLESS!

Bulbs galore!!!

The floating flower shops.

 Other than bridges and flowers, you can't talk about Amsterdam without the mention of the Red Light District and their tolerance of "soft" drugs. Brad and I didn't go to the District or check out any of the "Coffee Shops". This was as close as we came...

(NO... we didn't buy it!)

After the flower market, we stopped for lunch. By this time it was HOT outside (unusual for this time of year). So, our main objective was a place to eat with air conditioning!!! We found an Italian place and had some awesome pizza! Then we met with group and we were back on the bus and headed for Germany!