Rhine Getaway Viking River Cruise
Day 9: Monday, November 08, 2021 - Strasbourg, France
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 50s, mostly sunny
- Steps: 14,529 Linda; 13,189 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 8
We had our usual breakfast - egg benedict and buffet. Were you expecting something different?
Today's first excursion was to visit Strasbourg, France.
Our group of about 18 met our guide Audrey right off the ship. We had a short walk to the bus.
Right next to the bus was this speed limit sign. It covers three speed zones in one shot: city driving (50 kph /
30 mph), non-city driving (100 kph / 60 mph), and highway driving (120 kph / 70 mph).
We were headed to Alsace, which our guide said is pronounced "al-sayz".
Some sights from our half-hour bus ride.
Going over the Rhine, our ship is to the left.
This is a pedestrian tram bridge that looked interesting from a distance, and more so when closer. The support arch goes
over and across the bridge. Usually they are on one side, the other, both, or up the middle.
Some other sights, including a Russian Orthodox church.
Storks were a thing in the region. A big thing. And a big nest thing too.
The European Parliment building (with all the flags), and the Human Rights court.
These tram tracks were constructed specifically with grass in between the rails in order to reduce tram noise. About once
a week, trams with mower blades attached run the routes to cut the grass.
We finally got off the bus. Had a brief technical break. And started our walking tour of this canal ridden city,
much like Amsterdam.
These are two of the last four towers standing, of the original 80.
There were some roadways and walkways over water that mechanically pivoted in order to let boats pass through.
We got there just after the process started. But you get the idea of how it works.
And continuing on...
Why does the second floor - or third - stick out more than the first? Because when the homes were built, taxes were paid
om the first floor's footprint. So in order to gain space and save on taxes, the second floor was extended. Supposedly
it got so bad at one point, the buildings on both sides of the street eventually touched each other. The
government eventually caught on and passed laws to limit the extension of higher floors.
Some homes have the date they were constructed on them.
A lock. In the middle of the canals. In the middle of Strasbourg.
The wood in the sides of the building has meaning. For example, on the left peach colored house, the diamond patterns under the windows signify they are bedrooms. That house, though, is actually a hotel / inn, which is why there are so many windows with diamonds under them.
In front of the church, this statue in honor of Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer.
While discussing the church, this group of four armed military personnel walked by. We were told there was nothing to be concnered with, they are just a roving group providing presence as a security measure.
The picture was taken on the sly so as to not raise any conern, so it isn't a great shot.
We finished talking about this church, and headed further into town toward the main cathedral, the
Cathédrale Notre-Dame.
More sights along the way, including some food shops.
They sold Munster cheese. But NOT the same Munster you can buy at the supermarket here in the US. We were told by
more than one person that the European Munster stinks. A lot.
The windows of the left building are made of glass soda bottle bottms.
This carrousel was being disassembled for the season.
A statue near the carrousel.
Starting to get ready for Christmas.
The church.
Maybe at this point you might be thinking, "what is it with all these churches?" First, churches tend to be some of
the oldest buildings in cities. Second, churches are usually open to the public. Third, they are usually free
to look inside. Fourth, they are all UNESCO sites. And last, they are usually very nice inside, be it with stained glass, and or gold and or woodwork,
and or other unique visuals of some sort.
First, the outside.
The rose window is 42 feet wide.
And we eventually made it inside.
Ah, the astronomical clock, There is a LOT going on here. Not only is it about 20 meters (that would be 60 feet) tall.
There is a calendar, the
Zodiac signs, the seasons, litergical year (Advent, Lent, Easter, etc.), moon phases, position of the sun, eclipses. And every day at solar noon, a life-size cock crows three
times while a procession of half-meter (fine, 18 inch) tall
figures of the Apostles move before Christ, who blesses the crowd after the last one. And the time. It tells the time too.
We were done inspecting the amazing clock, and moved on to the rest of the church, including a decorated pillar,
some architecture, and more windows.
The church had a memorial. I'll just leave this here.
An old, still used mobile extension ladder.
We were done inside, and headed out.
We had a little free time - twenty or so minutes - and then we gathered in front of the post office before we started
our return trek to the bus.
Some sights from that sojourn.
And back on the bus to return to the ship.
Right near the ship was this sign, with verbiage written in German and French (it's "I love you").
Our tour was over. And it was time for... FOOD! Namely, lunch.
Today's menu.
From the market fare, Linda had shrimp salad, and Steve had beef sandwich wtih cream cheese.
Linda had the curried cauliflower soup, cheese sandwich, and floating island for dessert.
Steve appetizer platter (again), roast veal, and chocolate chip sundae for dessert.
This afternoon we had an excurion called "Alsatian Wine Tasting".
We had a bus ride to the Alsace region to a small winery. Here are some sights along the way, incuding
travels near the Vosges mountains, to the town of Brouche.
We arrived at "Vins D'Alsace Et Cremants" (Alsace wines and crémants [my translater couldn't translate the last word] - winemaker Robert Blonck - for a tour and the tasting.
Their youngest - youngest - barrel is 90 years old, while the oldest is from 1725, almost 300 years old.
The very dark, curved-top section on the front at the bottom of the barrel is actually a door that is kept closed. Until the
barrel is empty, and it is time to clean it. The door is left open for a couple days so the fumes dissipate. Then a worker
will climb through the door and clean the inside, which usually consists of scraping the build-up of tartar off the inside,
which can become a couple inches thick.
The leaf adornment on the top of the front of the barrel shows how many liters the barrel holds.
After our tour, we had a tasting. We sample four selections. The first was a sparkling wine (the name "Champagne" is restricted
to that region of France), two whites, and a red.
Most of the wine - 90% of it - produced in this region is white wine, with the remaining being red, particularly Pinot Noir.
Then we departed the winery to go into the nearby town, a brief 5 minute drive down the road.
We had a brief tour of the town, then we had some free time - it was about 45 minutes in all.
Eventually we made our way into the church.
Another stork's nest.
We were back on the bus and on our way back to the ship.
We returned to the ship and soon after, it was time for our port talk. However, this time there was some
additional information about the disembarkment rules. We were transferring to our hotel in Basel, so our
instructions were a little different than most of the others'.
After the talk, it was time to head to the restaraunt for dinner.
Tonight's dinner was different than others as there was no menu. Tonight was the rare buffet.
The theme was "Taste of Germany".
Instead of artisan bread, tonight was pretzels (I guess in one respect, that is technically still an artisan bread...).
An appetizer sampling of sausages, cheeses, and spreads; and soup.
Rotkaut (red cabbage); sausages, namely Kasekrainer (tasted a lot like keilbasa) and bratwurst (the lighter colored one);
and saurkraut (saurkraut).
Pork knuckles and pork belly.
Backhendl Chicken (this seemed to be more like schnitzel).
Saurbraten and Brezen Knodel (Dumpling).
Leverkase (this was sort of a meat between spam and seasoned bologna) and mashed potatoes.
Linda's serving.
Steve's first plate (there is no picture of the second because, why?).
And what buffet isn't complete without desserts? On their own display, here are black forrest cake, Sacher,
Dobosh, chocolate cheesecake, and esterhazy; and from the buffet, Kasespatzle.
A serving suggestion or two... (I'll let you guess whose plate is whose)
During the entire cruise, the ship passed through ten locks. I had a video from the last trip posted, soI didn't bother with another.
We went through three over the course of days before the last two days, then we went through four on one day and three the next.
While we were getting ready for bed, the ship entered a lock. I went to the window and captured this, looking up the wall.
And then it was time for bed.