Viking Rhine Cruise: Kehl

April 5: Easter Morning
Mom and I walked around Kehl, Germany. There is a pedestrian bridge that links Germany with France. When one stands in the middle of the bridge, one can be in both countries simultaneously. I stood by the locks of love for a photo. Kehl is a cute little town with a stream and church. There was a festival which sold mini macaroons or "macarines".

Viking Rhine Cruise: Breisach

In the afternoon of April 4th, mom went on the tour of Colmar, France. But I rested and then walked around Breisach, where the Mani was docked. The town is dominated by St. Stephanmünster Cathedral atop a hill. I followed a cobblestone road up the hill, where there was a tower that was probably used for defense at some point in time. There was a modern sculpture of a bull breaking up through the bricks in the courtyard. The views from the top were astounding. I took a photo of the panel beside the church.

The history of this Romanesque - Gothic church can be read here. I was stunned by the beauty of the wooden carved altar piece and pulpit in St Stephenmünster.

Most of the houses were half-timbered and people actually live on the hill on the way up to church. What a gorgeous little town!

Viking Rhine Cruise: Black Forest Tour

April 4 - Black Forest Tour

Notes: Okay the weather sucked. The first photo is of an old style farmhouse with thatched roofing. The animals lived on the ground floor, the people on the second floor and storage was on the third floor; another typical little town with a church steeple; the black forest; more black forest; another thatched roofed farm house; a little town with snow; another little town with half-timbered houses; a snowy hill in the black forest; Black forest cuckoo clocks; me in the arms of a bear; the cuckoo clock place was very touristy as you can tell; the edge of the black forest; black forest cake demonstration [it had a crust! the cherry kirsch was only put on the first layer! The rest was made with whipped cream. But the guy was an artist. It was very impressive how easily he cut the sponge into 3 pieces. We were never offered a free taste - 2 photos]; 2 photos of the restaurant there; an aqueduct-type bridge; a stream through the black forest; a cute wooden door; a last shot going back to the Mani through a cute town.

Viking Rhine Cruise: Basel, Switzerland

We met our ship, the Viking Mani in Basel, Switzerland on April 3rd for our Rhine Getaway Cruise. Here are the photos from our walking tour:

 Notes: A map of Basel; Novartis was everywhere [3 images]; the view from the Mani shows an industrialized town with a mix of old and new buildings [2 images]; picturesque buildings [2 images]; a church that was not explained but might be the Basel Cathedral at Münster-platz; musical notes on a building; the Tingeuly fountain [3 images]; the Elisabethen Church; a typical square; the Church St. Martin was built of red sandstone [5 images]; Markt Platz; overlooking the Mittlere Brüch; quaint building on the opposite side of the Rhine; two very old buildings [2 images]; the Rathaus Basel [3 images]; inside the Rathaus there is a statue of statue of Lucius Munatius Plancus, the founder of Basel; the bust of the so-called Lällekönig ("tongue king"), at the Grossbasel end of one of the Rhine bridges, who sticks his tongue out at the right bank [which is not nice]; an interesting building; a detail of a metal shutter; a "fully loaded" emergency response ship on the Rhine; a well-trained Jack Russell Terrier; the Viking Mani.