The Rhine River Cruise

These pictures are a little out of order but Alex and I went on the Rhine River Cruise with the USO and we participated in a wine tasting after we docked in Assmanshausen.

So we tried 4 types of wines...

But in this picture I am drinking a FIRST PRIZE Hans had poured for me because I answered a question correctly.

This was FIRST PRIZE...a full glass of wine.

This is Alex's face because he did not get to have a FIRST PRIZE.

Rheinstein Castle from the River Boat. We had toured the inside of this castle earlier that morning. It was beautiful. Rheinstein means Rhine Stone. We viewed a lot of castles on our two hour river cruise.

The Pfalz located in the middle of the Rhine River in the town of Kaub. This castle was once used as a prison. It is unique because it is the only castle that has a dungeon whose floor moves up and down when the water rises or falls. It also was built like the bow of a ship in the front so the water moves around it.

The famous Loreley Rock. The legend says sailors would lose their lives in the Rhine River because they would see a young mermaid sunbathing on the top of the rock and would be so memorized by the sight, their ships would crash into the rock and they would die. As the boat sails past, The Song of the Loreley is played.

Alex and I...cruising down the river. What a wonderful day this was.

A view of the Rhine River from Rheinstein Castle.

The Rhine River was and is a major transportation route and is considered one of the busiest waterways in the world.

Trier-Germany's Oldest City

Roman Days in Trier. The held a roman festival in the old baths in Trier. There is a claim made that Trier is actually older then Rome. They call this festival Bread and Games or the real name is Brot und Spiele. They would keep the citizens happy by giving them free bread and offering them entertainment.
The Electoral Palace. This was built in the 18th century and it is surrounded by gardens, fountains and sculptures. The Palace's front gable is decorated with mythological and classical gods. The Palace actually extends further beyond the trees and the story goes that when it was built, the bishop refused to live there because the building was asymmetrical.

One of the places we visited was the Ampihitheatre where the "free entertainment" was offered to the citizens to keep them happy. Often one of the entertainments were the Gladiator fights. Gladiators were actually slaves, usually from Greece who, in order to win their freedom, had to fight to the death against other slaves or wild animals. This is one of the rooms in which they kept the Gladiators before their match. Another special room, was called a Vomitorium, not making this up, this room the slaves were brought into before their match to be sick in.

Part of the Imperial Baths. Romans were maticulous about cleanliness and they often spent a lot of time in the Baths. This was a social area for them.

Aldstaut (the Oldtown)--There is actually a McDonalds in the beautiful building directly behind the man.

Me and Alex

Chateau de Vianden-Luxembourg

Our first glimpse of the Vianden Castle. The bus dropped us off

close to the Village of Vianden. But it was still quite a ways to walk to

the village.

Before our journey up the steep hill. Alex said after we climbed to the top,

"who wants to storm the castle after that climb"

The Castle Vianden
Constructed from the 11th to 14th century on the foundations of a Roman fort and a Carolingian refuge. In the 1800's, the castle was sold off piece by piece. In 1977 the Grand Duke of Luxembourg transferred ownership to the state and it was restored.The village of Vianden-a view from the tower.
The weekend we visited the castle, a medieval festival was occurring, although some of the costumes worn were questionable.

A last remnant of the walls surrounding the village and castle.

The end...for now. Thanks for viewing our blog page. We love visiting all these

beautiful and wonderful places and sharing them with you.

Luxembourg-The City

A view of Luxembourg. The building on the right was used as General Omar Bradley's

headquarter's during the Battle of the Bulge.

The 3 spheres of Our Lady of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The "White House" of Luxembourg. This is where Grand Duke Henri conducts

offical goverenment business. The country of Luxembourg is the only remaining

Dutchy in the world. This means it is ruled by a Grand Duke.

This is a statue of Grand Dutchess Charlotte, grandmother to the current Duke Henri.

She and her family exiled to London during World War II and she is

seen as a national symbol of unity.

The Ducal Palace within the city of Luxembourg.

The orginal entrance to the city of Luxembourg.

Neumunster Abbey Cultural Centre.

The original abbey was destroyed in 1542 and was rebuilt 1606. It was destroyed again and rebuilt. Since then it has been a prison and currently it is used as a cultural centre.

Casemates

The casemates are a labyrinth of defensive passageways that helped forge Luxembourg’s impressive military reputation.

American Military Cemetery-Luxembourg

The American Military Cemetery was our first stop on the

USO tour to Luxembourg.
This is a memorial erected in memory of the many soliders who were killed in World War II.
It says: "1941-1945, In proud remembrance of the acheivements of her sons and in humble tribute to their sacrifices this memorial has been erected by the United States of America."
The front view of the memorial. Inside is a small chapel.

The cemetary. There are 5,075 men and 1 women buried in this cemetary. There are 22 brothers buried side by side. There is 101 Unknown soliders.

General George S. Patton, Jr.

Patton's wish was to be buried with his men. Originally, when he died in December 1945 from complications from a car accident, he was buried with the others in the main part of the cemetary. However, so many people came to few his gravesite, they had to move him because the grounds around him were being destroyed. So he was moved to the front of the cemetary, facing out towards the soliders.

Another view of the cemetary.

If you are interested in more about this cemetary, here the booklet they give you at the cemetary.

http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/lx_pict.pdf

Heidelberg Castle

The city of Heidelberg, Germany. This bridge is called the Karl Theodor Bridge and was built around 1786.

A view of the city.

The actual castle is considered a ruins and some of it has been preserved. This is called the Powder Tower or the Exploded Tower. The piece which is laying at the foot of the tower was blown off in the War of Palatinate Succession in the year 1693 and fell into the moat.

Hopefully you can see this a bit. The camera does not have a great flash on it. Alex is standing on a keg. Actually the Great Barrel of 1750 is what it is actually called. This is the 3rd great barrel because two had been previously destroyed, however this one holds the most at 58,000 gallons. The top in which Alex is standing on was once a dance floor. You boys would never have to leave the house for a beer run.

The Friedrich Building. One of the few undamaged areas of the castle and has an intact interior. We were unable to tour the inside because we had gotten to the Castle a little later than planned. This part was believed to be built around 1601. It was reconstructed in the early 1900's.

A view from the courtyard.

I do not remember what this tower was called. The german word for castle is schloss. But that is a bit simplistic. Actually I think it goes like this...

The difference between the two words lies in the connotations... If someone talked about a "Burg" picture one of those medieval well-fortified castles where protection against enemies was the main aspect. Thick walls and ditches and drawbridges... a castle built up on a hill... with a dungeon.

"Schloss" has emphasis on the pomposity and splendor of the castle... a palace...beautiful, grand, representative...

And as usual, Alex and I try to take our picture by ourselves. We were on the tram which takes you to the top for those of us who mind walking a steep incline.

Switzerland-- land of cheese and chocolate

The bear statue over the river Aare. We took this while walking over the Kirchenfeldbruke, which is a monumental iron bridge 40 meters above the river and it was constructed between 1881-1883. On the other side is where all the museums of Bern are located. We attended Kunsthalle Bern, which is a modern art museum. Very modern art. Some people like it..Alex and some don't..me.

Our 60 franc lunch. So Alex and I decided to have a traditional swiss lunch...Fondue. Being innocent newbies, we asked the waiter at the Restaurant Anker Bern if one fondue pot would feed both of us and he said no, just enough for one. It was enough for four when it was all said and done. But it was wonderful...there was so much white wine, the fumes were just wafting out of the pot. Delicious.

Bärengraben . The bear is the symbol of Bern and having bears in the

den has been a tradition since 1513.

Kindlifresserbrunnen--the fountain of the child-eater, which represents a ogre eating a naked child. One of the most famous fountains by Hans Gieng. Scary.

I wanted to see this fountain because the girls at work say it should be on

a EDIS shirt that states: "If we don't fix em by three, we'll eat them".

I work with some sick puppies.

Anyway, at lunch I was looking up where this fountain was located, trying to plot it out on the map when I look up and we had been sitting next to it for an hour.

Vikki and Alex...July 19, 2008

We took this picture ourselves on the park bench outside the Bern Bear Pit.

Aare River in Bern...the water runs off the Alps. The color was actually
the color in the picture. It rarely gets above 18C (64F).

A view of St. Vincent's Cathedral. The spire was being renovated and this cathedral is beautiful example of gothic style.

So Alex and I had a wonderful time on the USO tour to Bern. Took about 4 hours to get there. The day was magnificant. Perfect weather and the sky was so blue. The was barely a cloud in the sky. If you look at the picture of the orge fountain, the sky was that blue most of the day. Next Luxembourg...