Keukenhof Gardens

Earlier in the trip we visited Keukenhof Gardens outside of Amsterdam.  We did that on Sunday, May 1, the day we got on the boat for our cruise.

We weren't able to post any pictures of Keukenhof Gardens other than Ted-Ted the Rabbit.  We have good internet access at the hotel we are staying at in Murren, so I thought I would show you some pictures of the flowers.

The timing of our trip was to see the flowers and the tulip fields.  Due to an early spring, the tulip fields were done, but Keukenhof Gardens was fantastic.

  Thanks for taking the time to view our flower pictures.

May 8 Switzerland

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there among our faithful followers.

Also, Happy Birthday to Adam on his birthday!

This morning we left the boat.   We went through a series of canals during the night and were docked in Basel, Switzerland before 2:00 AM.  Someone on the boat had to leave by 4:00 AM to catch their flight home.

We made arrangements for a taxi to pick us up at 9:30 AM so we had a leisurely departure from the boat.  We had to be out of our cabin by 9:00 AM.  We went to the sun deck to wait for our taxi after leaving our cabin.

This is the view of Basel, Switzerland from the top deck of the Viking Helvetia. Once again we were blessed with a beautfiul day.

Switzerland has an amazing public transportation system.  Our taxi took us from the dock to the train station in Basel.  We then took a train from Basel to Bern.  Transferred in Bern to another train.  Went from Bern to Interlaken.  Transferred to another train in Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen.  In Lauterbrunnen we transferred to a cable car right at the train station.  The cable car took us part way up the mountain to Grutschaip.  In Grutschaip we transfered to an electric narrow-gauge train car that took us into Murren where we are staying for two nights.  We left the boat at 9:30 AM and were checked in at our hotel in Murren by 1:00 PM.

This is the ticket counter at the train station in Basel.

This is the train we took from Basel to Bern.  It is one of the high speed trains, ICE.

Here we are on our first train of the day.

The train from Bern to Interlaken took us along the entire south shore of Lake Thun.

Mary at the train station in Interlaken.

From Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen we started climbing and the scenery changed.  We followed this little river for quite a while.

 The view of the Lauterbrunnen train station from the cable car that took us from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschaip.

 Looking down on Lauterbrunnen from the cable car.

 In Grutschaip we transferred to this narrow-guage train car.  This car took us from Grutschaip to Murren.

 Mary on the narrow gauge train car on our way into Murren.

We arrived in Murren!  Note, the elevation: 5,361 feet.

We are staying two nights at the Eiger Guesthouse.  This is a picture of the Eiger Guesthouse.  It is located directly across the street from where we arrived on the narrow guage train car.  There aren't any motorized vehicles in Murren.  It is similar to Mackinac Island in that respect.  It is a pedestrian town.

 This is our room.

 The view from our room when we checked in.  This is the opposite side of the valley from Murren.

Murren is a big down hill ski village.  They don't have a ski resort as such.  There are several ski lifts in the area and it appears people ski down the mountain into the village.

We took a walk around town.  There are several scenic overlooks in the town.  This is looking down on another little village in the valley below us.

 Another picture of the same view overlooking the village in the valley.

 Here I am on our walk around Murren.

As soon as the snow melts, then Murren becomes a center for hiking.  There are several trails that take off from Murren through the countryside on the side of the mountains.  After our walk around the little town of Murren, we took a walk on a trail labeled "easy".  There were several streams and waterfalls along our walk.

This is a transition season for Murren.  On our way up the mountain there were people with downhill skiis.  They can still ski at the top of the tallest mountain, Schilthorn.  There was also a young man with a mountain bike on the cable car.  He got off at an intermediate stop on the last leg of getting to Murren.  There are several mountain bike trails in addition to the hiking trails in this area.  People take the cable car and train up the mountain and ride their bikes down the mountain.  The people we saw had full gear, with helmuts, shin guards, etc.

Many of the hotels and shops are closed in Murren from the end of the ski season until the start of the summer tourist season.  The snow has melted around Murren and it is green with lots of flowers, both wild flowers along the trails and planted flowers in the town.  Many of the hotels and shops stay closed from the end of April when the skiing ends until the end of May or even the beginning of June.

It was cloudy when we arrived in Murren but it cleared up as the afternoon went along.  This is another view across the valley from Murren.  There are glaciers on these mountains.

 This is a telephoto view of a farm across the valley.

This is another picture from our room at the Eiger Guesthouse.  The train station is the building on the right.  The farm in the picture just before this is way in the distance just to the left and below the steep rocky mountain in the center of the picture.

This is the dining room in the Eiger Guesthouse.

Saturday, May 7 Black Forest & Breisach, Germany

This was the last full day of our cruise.  It went by very quickly.  The weather has been incredible.  We had another clear blue sky day with temperatures in the 70s.

I have mentioned seeing swans all along the Rhine from the time we left Amsterdam.  When we woke this morning we were docking in Breisach, Germany.  They had a large number, maybe 70 or 80 swans, in the river to greet us.  Here are just a few of the swans in Breisach.

Mary wasn't feeling 100% this morning.  All the rich food we have been eating caught up with her.  I ventured off on the shore excursion into the Black Forest in the morning while Mary stayed back at the ship and relaxed and read her book.  So far she has read two books.  The first book she read was the Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King.  The second book was Noah's Compass by Ann Tyler.  She started and finished Noah's Compass yesterday.  It was a very good read and there were parts of it where Mary would laugh out loud.

The Black Forest is a hilly or low mountainous region in the southeastern part of Germany.  the very south part of the Black Forest borders Switzerland.  The entire area of the Black Forest is about 150 kilometers from north to south and on average about 50 kilometers from east to west.

The Romans gave this region the name Black Forest because the woods was very dense with trees (mostly pines) and was inaccesible to them due to the steep hills.  My visit to the Black Forest consisted mainly of a bus ride through the area.  We had a step on guide that gave commentary as we drove along.  We mae a couple of stops as we went along.  And, yes, the area is very scenic.  We were told over 50% of the trees from early times are now gone but the area still maintains a forest feeling.

The first stop on our visit to the Black Forest was at a former Benedictine Abbey in the town of Saint Peter.  The abbey was founded in the year 1093.  The present church was built in the 1700s.

The interior of the church was painted white with lots of ornamentation.

Our second stop was at a place called Hofgut Sternen located in Hell's Valley surrounded by the wooded mountains.  One of the things the Black Forest is known for is cuckoo clocks.  The side of this house is a giant cuckoo clock.

This is a stream running through Hofgut Sternen.  The bridge in the background is a railroad bridge.

A sample of the many cuckoo clocks you could buy.

One of our guides wearing a traditional Black Forest straw hat with "red bulbs."  The tradition of the bulb hat was created over 200 years ago.  The red bulbs indicate the woman is single.  After they wed, tradition dictates the woman wear black bulbs.

This afternoon there was someone waterskiing next to the boat.  The boat is a Mastercraft.  The water was very calm and just begging for someone to ski on it.

We were walking through the town of Breisach in the afternoon and saw this sign.  It reminded us of Raina and Bob.

This was tonight's dinner menu for the Captain's Farewell Dinner.  Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read the menu.

Mary and I both had the beef.  The beef was very tender and despite its red appearance, it was cooked!

Prior to serving the Baked Alaska, the waiters paraded through the dining room with the flaming Baked Alaska.  The grand finale of our cruise on the Viking Helvetia!