Thursday, May 2, 2019

Viking Cruise - Amsterdam to Basel - April 2019


April 8

We left Minneapolis an hour late (830PM).   No worries – we were able to grab an appetizer and a beer or two while we waited.    Bob & Bonnie had flown over ahead of us to visit friends and so today we would be traveling with Gary & Linda and Steve & Roxanne.




















April 9

We arrived into Amsterdam at 1150AM and headed off to purchase currency, pick-up our luggage, purchase train tickets and head off to the city.   Bob left us detailed (including pictures) instructions of where to go and how to proceed.   Once at the Amsterdam Central Station we had a short walk (with Bob instructions) to our hotel – The Kimpton DeWitt.

We checked into our hotel rooms with 30 minutes to freshen up and get organized and then off to roam the city.   Bob ordered us a couple Uber cars and off we went to see The Van Gogh Museum.   Once there, we were hooked up to their audio tour and maneuvered through the museum enjoying the paintings and information on Vincent van Gogh’s life.

We walked through Amsterdam trying to avoid bikes, train and cars.  It was a must to have your head up and paying attention or you might get clipped!  Bob chose the De Blauwe Hollander (a dutch restaurant – meaning The Fork) for dinner this evening.  As an appetizer, we tried Bitterballen with Dijon mustard and several of us had the Stampot (potatoes, carrots, onions and beef) for our dinner.   It was awesome!  Of course, we followed that up with several desserts and I tried the mint tea.

After dinner, we wandered back to our hotel and had a final nightcap at our hotel bar.

Tidbit:  Amsterdam has 30,000 more bikes than people.



















April 10

Rise and shine!  We left our hotel at 830AM to head to the Anne Frank House for a 900AM tour.   The tour provides you with an audio tour that takes you through the museum with mementos and the rooms that Anne Frank and her family lived in hiding.   The tour was about an hour and provided us with information on Anne and her family.
They lived in this Secret Annex for 2 years until they were discovered and brought to the concentration camps.  Otto (Anne’s father) was the only one in the family to survive the camps.

We had some time before our tour of the Rijksmuseum, so we stopped for a coffee and cakes at one of the many restaurants along the streets.

We spent the afternoon touring the Rijksmuseum along with the Rembrandts Exhibition.
The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam.   The museum  is quite large and its vast collection showcases a variety of artifacts that date back more than 800 years.

As a last minute add-on, we were able to take in the Heineken Experience.  The Heineken beer is brewed with only three ingredients – barley, hops and water – all of them natural.  The recipe dates back to 1873.

Bob had made dinner reservations at The Restaurant d’Vijff  Vlieghen (translation The Five Flies).  We were seated at the Rembrandt table and had a 4-course dinner with wine pairings (or beer / coca cola light).   It was an amazing meal and made special sharing with this group of friends.  Raffael was our delightful waiter for this evening.

Tidbit:  Every year 12,000-15,000 bikes wind up in the canal and must be dredged out.
Amsterdam has the only floating flower market in the world on the Singel Canal (since 1862).






April 11

We were able to sleep in a little today.  Bob, the tour guide set us up for a 10:00AM transfer to the Keukenhof Gardens (approximately 40 minutes).   The tulips and other spring flowers (daffodils, hyacinths, etc.) were in full bloom and just gorgeous.  It was a bucket list item and well worth the visit!   7 Million bulbs, 800 varieties of tulips and 32 hectares of flowers to see between March 21-May 19 – a must to see.  The pictures will speak for themselves!

Our driver then picked us up to return us to our hotel and then off to meet up with our sailing vessel, the Viking Lofn.   Upon our arrival (3PM), we were able to check into our rooms and then proceed to the lounge area for a light lunch.  Krista, the bar manager  took care of us and then convinced us to dine in the lounge  (looking out over the front of the ship) that evening for our dinner.  We were in!

We enjoyed that afternoon checking out the ship and enjoying our Silver Spirits package (unlimited drinks).     We took time to freshen up for dinner, unpack our bags and then off to dinner.

After dinner, it was one last trip off the boat in Amsterdam to catch a quick glimpse of the red light district.  The red light district (a network of alleys) is located in the oldest part of Amsterdam and is known for the red neon windows that display barely-dressed woman advertising their services.   This is all totally legal as long as it stays inside this designated area.

The Viking Lofn then cruised out of Amsterdam at 1130PM that evening.

Tidbit:  Amsterdam is known for its cheese, beer, bulbs and Stroopwafel (just to name a few items).












April 12

Our ship arrived in Kinderdijk at 10:00am and we were off on our first shore excursion to see the Windmills of Kinderdijk (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).   The windmills date back to the 1740’s and are still in use today for their water management.  The water management network features 19 windmills and 3 pumping stations, plus dikes & reservoirs that control flooding in the low lands.   The windmills are rented out for a fee of 250 euro per month and there is a wait list to do so.

Lunch, lounging on ship, dinner and trivia game night completed the rest of our day/evening.

Note:  For dessert, I recommend the Chocolate Lava cake!  Yum!





April 13

900AM – we departed the ship in Zons and took a motor coach into Cologne for a tour of the city.  The Cathedral of Cologne built in the 14th century is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.    The Cologne Cathedral was finally completed in 1880 and is used as a point of orientation (2nd highest building in Cologne) and is also a source of pride for the people of Cologne.  Despite extensive bombing of Cologne during World War II, the Cathedral survived (the windows had been removed piece by piece to protect the stain glass).   The Cologne Cathedral is known to house the remains of the Three Wise Man.  The yearly maintenance of the cathedral comes at a cost of $8 million.

After our tour, we stopped at a pub to warm up and try the local beer – Kolsch.



















April 14, 2019

Our day began with a shore excursion that took us to Marksburg Castle.  The tour included a view of the various rooms that they lived in (kitchen, bedrooms) and it also showed the history of the weapons utilized as well as garments they wore during a battle.
As well as the various methods of torture they used during that period.

The afternoon was spent on the boat cruising along the Rhine with views of the vineyards, towns and numerous castles (14).  A beautiful day on the water with the sun shining and providing us with a little warmer temperature.  This is the most scenic part of the Rhine river (Koblenz to Bingen).

In the evening, we strolled through Rudesheim and took our evening meal at the Ristorante Da Toni.   The portions were large with Rigatoni, pizza and several choosing schnitzel.  What a great recommendation by Krista (our Viking bar manager).

Tidbit: Our castle tour informed us that folks slept sitting up because lying down was associated with being dead.







April 15, 2019

Today we would start out touring the Heidelberg Castle made of red sandstone and located 300 ft. above the city of Heidelberg. 


In the afternoon, our ship took us to the quiet town of Speyer.   We found the city to be larger than what we expected, with many shops, restaurants, etc.   I noticed the bikes were of better quality than those we saw in Amsterdam.  I assume they had a little more space and could bring them inside and out of the weather.

Tidbit:  There are about 20,000 castles throughout Germany.


















April 16, 2019

Our cruise took us to the largest port on the Upper Rhine, Strasbourg.   The Old town of Strasbourg is well preserved with cobblestone streets, wooden houses and intersecting picturesque canals.   Our tour took us to the Strasbourg Cathedral.  The cathedral is absolutely beautiful, but its highlight is its astronomical clock that dates back to 1842.
You are able to climb to the top of the cathedral for a panoramic view.

In the afternoon, we chose to visit the Mercedes-Benz factory tour.  No pictures were allowed, but we were able to view the automation process.   Each car is custom made and they put out 1,200 cars per day.

Each evening we had music by Emil, but tonight we had a music trivia contest.  We were given 5 bonus points if we had a dancer for each song for each team.  Linda & I managed that and eventually everyone participated.  Gary was our Rockstar music trivia guy and we brought home the trophy – a couple bottles of wine!





April 17, 2019

Today we docked in Breisach and our morning excursion was into the Black Forest.
We headed off to go on a hike that followed along a stream with a waterfall at the top.
It reminding me of the north shore of Minnesota.  The town (Hofgut Sternen) we stopped in provided us with a glass blowing demonstration, Black Forest cake demonstration and a chance to visit their shops and check-out their cuckoo clocks.  One of the building boasted a cuckoo clock on the whole side of the building with dancers that danced on the hour.

This afternoon we had signed up the optional tour: Colmar WW II: Museum & Memorial.  The Colmar Pocket was a 35-40 mile area west of the Rhine that the French Army was not able to push back the Germans and the American Army was enlisted.   The battle began on December 15, 1944 and by February 19, 1945, all German units had been pushed to the west of the Rhine liberating France.   The Americans suffered 29,000 casualties and the Germans had suffered 23,000 casualties.   The town of Turckheim has a war museum that is housed in an 18th century wine cellar.  This cellar was used as a shelter by the Turckheim residents for 10 weeks while the war battled around them.
Our guide, Dasha was extremely knowledgeable about these battles and was able to make you feel the suffering of the soldiers (facing extreme cold, battling against extreme odds at times), but battling through to victory.
Audie Murphy (from Kingston TX), held off the Germans and was the most decorated American combat soldier from WWII (33 medals) and with medals of honor from France and Belgium.
Tonight was our last night and Captain Istvan joined us for a farewell toast!























April 18, 2019


Luggage was packed and out the door by 600AM.  We had an early departure and headed to the Basel airport for our flight back to Minneapolis.

Wonderful trip with wonderful friends!


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