We’re off to Europe
for a river cruise offered by Grand Circle Cruise Lines. Travelling from August 19th til
September 6th, we had nearly three weeks to visit six countries
along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers.
The Rhine River starts high in the Swiss
Alps, runs a course of some 840 miles through or alongside of six countries –
Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, France, Germany, and the Netherlands – and
then empties into the North Sea at Rotterdam.
Throughout history, the Rhine has served as an important route for river
trade between the European continent and the North Sea. Cities along its shores were of commercial
significance to all of Europe. Some stretches
(especially in Germany) offer spectacular scenery – steep and densely wooded
hills, terraced vineyards, tiny villages, Gothic churches, and brooding
castles.
The meandering
Mosel River is an important
tributary to the Rhine. It originates in
the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France and winds north for 320 miles,
forming part of the border between Luxembourg and Germany. The river’s zigzag course cuts through steep,
terraced slopes where grapes have been harvested for wine-making since Roman
times. Scenically, the Mosel is
picture-book pretty: turreted old
castles, church spires, and romantic villages dot its banks.
Doesn’t
that sound like a great place to spend a couple of weeks on a river ship?
Our traveling companions for this adventure
were Dennis and Vicky Shepard (from Leesville SC), along with Jo Wilson and
Carol Bennett (from Austin TX). The Columbia
contingent left around midday on August 19th, flew to Washington DC,
and from there on to Brussels, Belgium – arriving about 7 am on August 20th. The time change was six hours, and our bodies
thought it should be time for bed rather than breakfast. We travelled by bus to
Bruges, Belgium, where we met up with Jo and Carol and got busy doing what we
came to do. We’ll rest when we get home …
Click
on the links below to see how the trip unfolded, country by county, town by
town.
Belgium: Bruges, Damme, Ghent, and Antwerp
Netherlands: Willemstad, Kinderdijk, and Nimegen
Germany:
Rhine River: Bonn, Cologne,
Boppard and Speyer
Germany: Mosel River: Cochem, Bernkastel, Trier, and
Traben-Trarbach
Luxembourg: Luxembourg City
France: Strasbourg and Riquewihr
Switzerland: Basel
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