Lucia ---- check

I'm not calling it a bucket list, but rather a wish list and this past weekend, I have checked off another item -- Lucia celebrations.  There was a St. Lucy in the fourth century who was martyred, but that has very little to do with the young people in white clothes carrying candles and the one Lucia girl who wears the candles on her head.  Her attendants are a great choir and perform a large volume of music all by memory, much of it a capella.  Celebrations happen in churches, in classrooms, outside on playgrounds and everyone gets involved from the young kids at daycare to the university crowd.

The song performed in the above link is our favourite Swedish Christmas song which lovely close treble harmony.  We were delighted that it was performed on Friday evening.

Today, we celebrated early Christmas with our family here.  There were presents opened and squealed over.  We had a fabulous Christmas dinner -- Julbord -- at a popular country lodge.  I did not try all 7 courses, (herring, smoked fish, cold meats and salads, hot food, cod, cheese, dessert), but 5 out of 7 is pretty good.  Amazing flavours and all made at the lodge which is currently expanding their onsite greenhouses to produce their own veggies.  Here we are enjoying Glogg in a tent before going in to the Julbord.

We baked cookies.  What more could you want?

Goat -- check

When Richard and Jennie first moved to Gavle, (city about 1.5 hours north of Stockholm) we heard about a Christmas tradition of a goat.  Yes, Santa (or Tomten as he is called here) rides about the heavens to bring presents to children, on -- a goat!  So in the mid 1960s the city of Gavle wanted something special for their Christmas celebration -- they made a goat.  It is 13 m tall and made of straw.  It is unveiled on the first Sunday in Advent and -- if it survives the Christmas season -- it is removed in early January.  But a giant pile of straw has, of course, many problems -- like people who want to burn it.  Those people have been successful 37 times, but today, for the first time in real life.  I saw the goat.  For years we have been watching the live goat cam on the internet, but this morning we walked to the town square which sits next to the river and library, and admired the mighty straw creation behind its double security fence.  Yeah Goat!  Bucket list check!

Stockhom again

It was about ten years ago that I first came to Stockholm.  That initial visit was also in the fall so the grey misty weather fits my sense of the city.  Not a complaint, and not a negative comment on the capital, but just a statement.  The motto is that there is no bad weather, just bad clothes.  I have adequate clothes for the elements, so there is no problem.  As an aside, I have been here in June in lovely weather and that is, of course, wonderful, but clouds and rain don't detract from a place for me as much as they do for others.

Despite my enthusiasm for new adventures, I do love to revisit places and note changes as well as those enduring aspects which I enjoyed previously.  The old part of the city, Gamla Stan, is on one of the central islands of this archipelago, and boasts the Royal Palace.  The guards change all through the seasons, and there was a group of eight black and white clad marchers on a narrow cobbled street this morning.  The souvenier shops were open but not all shutters had been removed on the Christmas Market stalls.

I kept seeing people in Santa suits and thought that they were headed for the Market, but no, they were converging on the large park on the north shore across from the Palace.  And there were more and more.  It was a fun 3 km walk/run in support of disabled children, I found out, and there were more than 1400 Santas involved.  Old, young, and families with kids in strollers were all participating and with the organization  being done by volunteers, all the money (except for the disposable Santa suits and beards) was going to the charity.  How wonderful!

The flagship stores of NK and Ahlens are still here, as is the big downtown mall (restrooms still in the same spot) with the same kiosk still selling a fabulous walnut, apricot and raisin bread.  It's in the backpack waiting for tomorrow. We had a great breakfast here on the boat and this afternoon, we have a reservation for Julbord at the Grand Hotel.  Should be amazing.

The boat -- well, she is a yacht  -- a luxury yacht owned by a variety of rich and famous through the years including Barbara Hutton who reportedly received the vessel as an 18th birthday gift from her father (Woolworth fortune).  The rooms are tiny -- we have the front cabin with two port holes and a wall that slants outwards as it is just under the front deck -- but the bunks were comfortable and the dark wood everywhere on board gives a sense of historic elegance.

Arriving late last evening we could not appreciate the incredible views over Stockholm harbour, but breakfast was an excellent opportunity to appreciate the well-maintained buildings, large and small, visible on the shores.  There are a variety of ships anchored about, some hotels like this one, others private homes or tour boats.  Even in the grey rain of December, everything seems clean and well kept.  The Swedes are very proud of their capitol.  This week there are the Nobel Prize events in addition to Lucia and the Christmas celebrations.  It is somewhat sad, though, to see all the adornment and delight of the season without any references to what I consider the essence of the celebration.  No creche scenes grace the parks and decorations are all secular.

Still Surprises

This travel day began very early this morning.  In fact, we never went to bed.  The train pulled out of Koln station on time at 02:18.  We sat together, but had to move a few times as people who had reservations for the seats, embarked.  I think we will book seats next time for a long trip like this.  Only on the last leg -- Copenhagen to Stockholm we are already assured specific seats.

I had not looked up the route from Hamburg to Copenhagen and when it was annouced that the train was going onto a ferry for a 45 minute ride from Puttgarten to the Danish border, it was a complete surprise.  How delightful that there are still surprises!

As with most ferries, we were instructed to come off the vehicle and go up onto the ferry deck.  The Scandalines run hybrid ships and like most ferries, they are the same front and back so no turning is necessary.  It was amazingly smooth and speedy both getting on and off.  Ian has decided that ocean boats are not to his liking -- unfortunate!

The Danish country side is flat and so far, mostly farmland.  The houses are stone and the fields are mostly green with winter wheat.  No cows yet.

Weinachtsmarkt

German Christmas markets are known for their celebration of all things Christmas -- food, decorations, toys, drink, gifts.  Aboard the MS Aurelia, we sailed from city to city experiencing Christmas markets in sunshine, rain, and darkness.  For ambiance, it is much better to go at night as the place is ablaze with lights, but then, it is usually very crowded and so, go during the day. 

You can eat and drink any time of the day.  Gluhwein comes in red, rose and white, with more or less spice and sugar.  You pay a deposit on the cup and you can return it anywhere at the market.  And there are lots of food specialities-- reibekuchen (potato pancakes), sausages of all kinds, gingerbread, roasted almonds, roasted chestnuts, etc. 

The ornaments range from tacky to fabulous.  Creches come in all shapes and sizes including a whole variety of accessories -- hey, Bethlehem needed chopped wood, a well, etc.

And there are toys -- wooden, metal, paper, cloth, etc.  You can pick up any cookie cutter you can imagine.

So, that's a check off the "I would like to see/do" list.  I don't think I am at the bucket list stage yet.

Cruising along

This is the third day on the ship Aurelia.  Check in was very simple as well as getting dining and registration set up.  Like most of the ships I have encountered, the crew is of mixed nationalities mostly eastern European.  Our room is gorgeous and about 50% bigger than  any I have had before.  Meals are amazing with many German specialities.

We have visited 3 Christmas markets so far.  The one in  Cochem was small but had some less commercial and more handmade items. So far we have tried gluhwein but most of the other specialities will to wait.  We are fed very well on the boat.

Working on the new phone and can't get pictures to insert.  Sorry.

A step further back in family history

Our Grandfather was a gypsy!  No, Johanna and Franz weren't making a statement on his nationality (he was German) but rather his disposition.  It blew me away.  I guess that blood skipped the whole next gerneration because all the Lochers I know were the quiet, stay at home, type.  Growing up my siblings and I could never figure out how strong the motivation must have been  to get Dad to pack up his young family and move across the ocean to a place where he knew very few people, did not speak the language and didn't know the customs.  Anyway, Father Locher (and grandfather was always referred to by my Mom) packed up his machinery and animals every few years and moved on to be a lease-holding tenant farmer in a new spot.

Today we visited Neresheim where the family took care of the Count von Thurn und Taxis' fields around the convent of Neresheim from 1908 to 1924.  My Dad was born there in 1912.  His early schooling was probably by the priests of the Benedictine order.  The church was restored in 1999 and is a spectacular example of Baroque architecture.  With many tiers of windows and a white interior, it is an incredible light worhip space with beautifully painted ceiling frescos. Sorry, no phtos allowed inside.

The fields and local hotel and restaurant on the premises are  now in another tenant's hands and we had a delightful lunch. I enjoyed a steamed dumpling with plum filling and vanilla sauce.

On the way back to Stuttgart we stopped in Aalen where Franz and Inge's older daught lives in a beautifully restored house from the early 1900s.  Ian was delighted to converse with an english speaking home owner where he could ask all those questions about living in Germany, taxes, mortgages, etc.

Around Stuttgart

Stuttgart is where I was born.  Specifically, it was on the second floor of the inn 'Neuwirtshaus' in the suburb of Stammheim.  As I write this blog, I am sitting in the upper floor of the hotel Neuwirtshaus in the north-west suburb of Stuttgart.  Now, it is not the same Neuwirtshaus where I was born.  That one burned and was eventually demolished, but the new hotel was built in the same style on the same location.  There actually has been an inn here since the 15th Century.

So today, Ian and I was treated to a city tour by my cousins Franz and Johanna, accompanied by Franz's wife, Inge.  It was supposed to be on the hop-on-hop-off bus, but, thanks to a planned "Friday Future' demonstration downtown, the bus was cancelled for today.  Instead we walked and rode the transit system all around the area.  We saw the Christmas Market, but didn't investigate as we are doing many Christmas markets next week.  Instead we strolled though the palace place, visited a church with gorgeous modern windows, ambled through the market,  took a tram up to the communications tower up on the hill overlooking the city (no pictures as it was raining and foggy), took a geared tram ride back into town, walked through the spectacular modern library and enjoyed dinner at a sports restaurant -- sorry, no TVs and multiple games, this restaurant is beside a soccerfield.  The wearers of Fitbits couldn't decided whether we had walked 9 km or 12 km, but it was lots.  A very good day!

Putting together pieces, November 27, 2019

Although I have only been home for 4 nights since the Mexico trip with Joanna and the kids, I managed to get to some of my regular activities -- specifically, Stained Glass class yesterday morning.

There was no half-finished project to complete, so I stood over my glass area on Tuesday morning and wondered what to do.  There was a container of green glass pieces which beckoned to me and I thought --Christmas Tree.  The tree is my dearest symbol of Christmas and I love decorating our tree with the lovely and the 'memories' ornaments.  The glass certainly would  provide the tree aspect, but I had to think of what could be the decorations.  Aha -- I have a box of single earings, the mates to which have been lost.  Don't ask why I saved them as I didn't plan on wearing mismatched earings, but this was the perfect project.

So at glass class, I assembled the pieces into a tree, my jigsaw experience coming in handy.  It came together quickly with a minimum of grinding necessary.  Then I started on the decorations.  I managed to attach a few earings, but had to finish at home this morning.  I totally melted one silver starfish in trying to attach it to the top of the tree, so a rhinestone from another earing had to serve as topper instead.  One large gold dangly leaf became several pieces of garland.  I managed to attach a sand dollar and the silver filigree 'tassles'.  The result is unique and not meant for anyone but me.

This trip is putting together some pieces of my childhood which I don't remember, so it is much like the tree --putting together the pieces and decorating it with leftover bits.  It promises to be unique too.

Spoiled

I admit it, I am truly spoiled.  In this case, I am referring to my bicycle.  The lovely little green two-wheeler which waits for me at home, was made by Hugh Black and is one of his True North bikes.  It has my name on it and more importantly, it was built to fit my body (with one arm longer than the other -- who knew?), and designed for my riding style (no more drop handlebars).  It has components which meet my needs and with its S and S couplers, can be taken apart to fit into a suitcase as big as one of the wheels.  Unfortunately, the airlines got wise and started charging huge amounts for bicycles, so now the most travelling it does is in the back of my car.

Since being here, I have had the bike on the boat -- a step through, very heavy 7 speed which performed well; the rental bike in Freiburg on which I did the 95 km (not a comfortable seat);

and here where Jennie has generously loaned me her bike --also a step through with a very handy basket and three speeds.  It is perfect for riding around town and amazing for grocery hauling.

But I miss my bike, which, more than any other bicycle I have ever been on, is a delight to ride!

Hanging out with family

Make no mistake, I love new and exciting adventures, but what really gives life its contentment is hanging out with the people you care about.  Fortunately, this trip has provided opportunity for both, so that makes it really fantastic.

The latest aspect of this, is hanging out with Richard, Jennie, Tova Elise and Rowan.  Richard works as a teacher and administrator at the largest middle school here in Gavle, Jennie is a researcher who just got back from Italy, Tova has just started Montessori first grade and Rowan is now a senior at the daycare.  They have busy and ordered lives, which I am blessed to share for a while.  So, I have made supper for the kids, and put them to bed; worked in the flower garden; helped around the house a bit, all the normal stuff.  But we have also done crafts, played games, gone out to lunch and walked by the sea, gone biking and today we helped at the cleanup day for the cross-country ski club which Tova and Jennie frequent.  It was washing cupboards and cleaning windows and painting fence sections -- normal things done with a great group of people.  They are all the things that make life good.  A mother is delighted when her kids have good lives.

The Plant Mystery

Those of you who have been reading my blogs for a few years, have undoubtedly heard/seen the amazing rhubarb that grows in Jennie's garden.  I was never sure if it was the variety or the soil conditions -- Jenn said that she never fertilizes the stuff.  However, needless to add, it is ENORMOUS! Sorry I couldn't find a picture, but the stalks are truly the width of my forearm. 

Anyway, I was working in the garden today and now I have made a very interesting discovery.  It is not just the rhubarb which is mutant, look at the plant to the left of my size 9 running shoes -- it is one dandelion.  I have never seen anything like that!  My hypothesis is that there is something in the soil/area which has long been forgotten by the people, but not by the plants!

Yes, I positioned the picture to also show the rhubarb, which, in September, is still going strong.

Travel Junkie

It is Thursday morning at 9:30 and I am sitting at Arlanda airport outside of Stockholm waiting for my train at 10:42 which will get me to Gavle at 11:46.  My 6:20 am flight from Basel actually left the gate early and we arrived here about 25 minutes before the 9:10 advertised time. 

I don't know what in my DNA or childhood experiences inclined me toward this pleasure, because most of my sisters and brother are not travelers, or at least not happy travelers.  I know that my Father was a love-to-be-at-home person.  It always made me wonder how strong the motivation must have been for him to move from Germany with wife and 3 kids to start all over in Canada.  He returned to Stuttgart once in 1963 to visit his Dad. 

My Mother never went back to Europe after the transatlantic immigration in March 1954.  From what I have gleaned of her childhood and early adulthood, she was an enthusiastic participant in family excursions and later in travels with other adults.  After Dad died in 1995, I offered to take her back without her having to worry about any of the arrangements, but she said it was too late for her (72 years old).  She did, however, eagerly watch all the pictures and videos of my travels, right down to the Norway trip in March 2018.  She loved to hear about new places and experiences, but only saw them through the eyes of others for the last half of her life.  Especially this trip, when I was around Stuttgart, I wished that she and I had made that trip and she could have told me all about the places she had been and the people she had known.  I got more of the pictures and stories of some of those people when I visited with Franz, Inge and Johanna, but Mother would have had a lot of history from the other side of my family. 

Many people make collection -- spoons, fridge magnets, tea towels, shells, coffee mugs, etc. etc.  I collect places, some of which I have known the names of all my life, and others which I have only just met.  I used to believe that with organization, anything is possible.  I delight in planning train and plane schedules: the joy of the trip starts with the anticipation.  The Europeans have an integrated travel grid so that getting around is timely and predictable, and now with the internet, it is so easy to make bookings.  The line-up at the ticket office in Strasbourg was 35 people long.  I stepped outside into the station, made the booking on my phone and downloaded the ticket.  No waiting.

Particularly joyful is when travel brings me together with people that are important to me.  I had not seen my cousins in over 30 years and now we have reconnected and they are thinking of coming to visit.  Rhonda and I pick up where we left off the last time -- my best friend.  And now, it is off visit Richard, Jennie, Tova and Rowan.  Despite being in the same city, I never got to really know my Oma.  The poor woman died when I was about 9, but 15 childbirths and the stress of family had so worn her out, that all I remember is an old lady sitting around.  So, I am trying to be the Oma that has fun with the grandkids and shares experiences with them so they will remember who I was, when I am gone.

While I am able, I will pack the suitcase!!

Achieving Goals

When I started cycling along the Rhine seven years ago, I did not set out to do the whole river.  I enjoyed the first chunk which was actually the same section that K and I did 2 weeks ago.  And so, I was motivated to do some other riding along the river while visiting R who lives just outside of Basel-- the start of the northern course of the river.  Over the next few years I rode other sections as opportunities presented themselves. I got to the North Sea and cycled the industrial portion at the north of Germany.  Last year I did the piece from Strasbourg to Mainz.  That just left the piece from Freiburg to Strasbourg.  There were intentions to do it in conjunction with some of the other adventures but it just never worked out.  So this time I deliberately left a few days open in the itinerary.

I did not ride up a 10% grade hill.  I did not swim in chilly water.  I did not run at all.  But I did make my way to the river's edge and cycle into a significant enough wind that it made whitecaps going up river.  I did ride around Strasbourg for 45 min till I finally figured out how to get to my hotel.  And I did do more (on an increasingly uncomfortable saddle) than the 80 km that Google said was the minimum distance. So I think that made me the top Canadian woman (65 to 69) who finished the north flowing Rhine on Sept. 2

Celebrate the personal achievements!

Discovering the past

For today, I set up an unbelievable schedule -- according to Hamilton standards.  I had trains to Bern, Basel and Freiburg; then a luggage drop at my hotel; and finally trains to Karlsruhe and Muhlacker in order to arrive and have my cousins pick me up for coffee in the afternoon.  Trains were fabulous -- all on time, clean, and connections easily made in the 10 minutes scheduled layovers.  Sham showed me how to download the tickets onto my phone so that I could use that method for tickets despite not having mobile data or an wifi connection in most of the spots.

Franz and Johanna picked me up in Muhlacker.  I might have recognized them, but their voices were still the same as the last time I saw them which was about 30 years ago.  We had a lovely afternoon coffee session examining old photos, some of which I had seen before as my parents had duplicates and others which were new to me but I recognized the people or the situations.  There were aspects of my family's former life in Germany that I had never heard.  I saw, for the first time, a picture of my grandmother who died when my father was 12.  She was Johanna, in fact, I had an aunt Johanna, my cousin is Johanna, and my daughter is Joanna.  Obviously a popular name in my family.

We caught up on each other's lives and children's lives.  Franz and Johanna had visited Canada and wanted to know about my brother and sisters and their families.  Their younger daughter Nina was at their house also.  She is a lovely lady forensic veterinary who recently married and is now expecting a baby girl in February.  We had a hurried supper at a local spot, enjoying a back garden and some great Swabian food.  It was a fast ride back to Muhlacker to catch the train back to Karlsruhe and here I am on the ICE headed back to Freiburg.

I can't say enough positive about the trains here.  After ditching the luggage, it was one of the adventures that I had always dreamed of -- backpacking through Germany into places whose names I have heard all my life, but are only now gaining meaning as I visit them.  I took lots of pictures of the pictures in the photo albums which I will share with family.  It will give them a better understanding of where we come from, just as it has opened the past for me.

The race

So Joanna said to me yesterday, "When I was 8, did you ever imagine me here?"  The answer was an immediate and resounding "NO!!".

'Here', of course, referred to competing at the World Triathlon Championships.  Back in Grade 3, she was an awkward, math-brainy, socially shy, bad-toothed kid with no interest in athletics and seemingly no aptitude, except for swimming.  We insisted on the latter just for safety, and she had always been a fish, having learned  to swim (although ungracefully) in the spring before she turned 3.

The teeth were straightened through a long and painful orthodontic process.  We discovered that the awkwardness was due in part to one eye being near sighted and the other far sighted.  Glasses and then lasers corrected that.  In high school, she joined the band and found a good social group in music.  She also met her BFF, with whom she shares a birthday, who was her Maid of Honour, and who is still her confidant.  The "math-brainy-ness" continued and steered her into engineering where she happily works today.

Part way through University, a group doing a relay triathlon in Deep River asked her to do their swim leg and that hooked her.  She decided that doing the whole race -- swim, bike, run -- would be interesting and so it started.  She remarked today that she had been doing triathlons now for 20 years -- half her life.  I guess that makes it a passion, but it also makes her good.  She trains year round, usually getting up at 5 to get in the workout before the family life begins.  If it is not a dessert day, you can't tempt her even with the most luscious chocolate concoctions.  And it brings her to this--competing in her age group at the World level in Lausanne Switzerland.  

On a hard, hilly course, she was 13th on her age group, first among the Canadian women 40 - 44 years old.  

No, my darling daughter, there is no way I ever imagined that when you were 8.  Feeling so blessed that I get to share it.

early

Today is race day, and I am not the only one already up.  It's not that I am competing, it's just that my mind is racing.  So I have booked train tickets for the second part of tomorrow's journey and a hotel.

Lausanne has some great sights.  Yesterday Clara and I visited a park while Sham and Kieran had a tour at the laser lab, courtesy of Joanna's cousin Chris.  Mon Repos was truly a relaxing spot with an aviary and very nice playground.

Joanna spent most of the day in preparation -- riding up Ouchy hill, etc.  The rest of us took the Metro up to a new aquarium (Aquatis) which is a wonderful display of fish and the ecology of the area.

The reason we are here

OK, Switzerland is cool.  It is neat.  It has gorgeous scenery.  It has lovely old churches.  It has good bakeries.  It has on-time trains.  It has good chocolate.  It has crazy electrical plugs that don't fit the rest of Europe's electrical gadgets.  It has a HUGE cheese section in every grocery store.  It has lovely Airbnbs with lots of space. 

BUT, the reason we are here now is the World Triathlon Championships in which Joanna is racing in the Women's 40 - 44 year old age group.  The activities started today with a Meet and Greet for the Canadian team.  Some participants have been testing out the 10% grade on Ouchy hill.  JJ did some of the cycle course yesterday and has plans for checking out the swim area tomorrow.  This evening was the parade of Nations.  It was incredible to see 300 Australians marching along.  The Americas -- US, Canada and Mexico -- sent far more athletes than the Europeans. 

For a girl who was never into sports as a child, (or for any girl!) this is an amazing achievement.  She makes her mommy very, very proud.

Around Lausanne

Yesterday's train trip was switching cultures in the same country.  We took one train from Baden to Bern -- all announcements in German.  Then we switched trains, Bern to Lausanne, and everything turned French.  This is not surprising as Lake Geneva's south coast is part of France.  The scenery is stunning -- vineyards on the slopes facing south and mountains across the lake.

Today (after Joanna's bike and run this morning) we took the train around the lake to Chateau Chillon.  It is a lovely medieval castle built on a small island just off the shore of the lake.  It has the turrets and crenelations, a huge tall keep, and a prison that held a man for 6 years, chained to a pillar (immortalized in Byron's poem 'The Prisoner of Chillon')  Rather than train home, we took one of the paddle-wheelers across the lake back to Lausanne. 

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One final post about the cycling trip last week. 

Kieran is a game player.  Without video games, it was Trouble, Nine Men Morris, Solitaire, BlackJack.  Usually it was me he played, but there was another 10 year old on the boat and she enjoyed games too.  Soon they were planning when they would both be on the boat in order to meet in the lounge for a game.  Kieran taught Merin Qwirkle and sometimes it required three players, so I was enlisted.  He gets very caught up in the games and loves to win.  Good thing he is an excellent strategist and usually does.

Our Tour leader, Regina, was an unusual person.  She chose to do briefings in the morning so sometimes we were waiting for the briefing in order to start cycling.  Her German was excellent, her English, OK.  She took to Kieran and often brought her dessert over to him after supper.  She gave Kieran and Merin special gifts for being so young and doing so well. 

I have already spoken about the 2 English couples at our table and how special they made our meals.  But the most special person of all was Kiki.  He was my delight for the whole trip.  And in the end, he said he would do it again, me too!

The big Z

I don't know if it is called that here, but we went to Zurich today.  It appears to be a lovely clean and well kept city.  The Linmat River which runs through Baden, where we are staying, rushes off to Zurich where it widens and therefore slows also.  The Zurichians use the river for swimming and there are several areas on the banks that have change rooms, stairs, sitting areas, etc, to accommodate the large numbers of people who take advantage of this free service.  Even the tourists love it and 4 of us (not me) took bathing suits and swam downstream, got out, walked back upstream, and then swam down again and again.  It was a little cool, so we didn't spend all afternoon.

In the morning we found a geological exhibit with some of the most beautiful mineral and fossil samples I have ever seen.  And we lunched as the Swiss do, raclette  and flammen kuchen.  Insert at the end of the visit a trip to the big toy store, and everyone was happy.

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Attractions on our cycling trip. 

We started off in Cologne with a trip to the Chocolate Museum.  Lindt does just as good a job of the production and story side as they do of the actual chocolate side.  And they provide lots of samples!

We had wanted to go to the Peace Museum at the site of the destroyed bridge in Remagen, but it was closed for technical renovation.

We did get to the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein across the river from Koblenz -- by gondola over the river!  It was very impressive with its thick walls and multiple defences, but what K liked best was the High Tech Romans exhibit.  He built aqueducts, rowed a galley, built a bridge and an arched doorway, tested pulleys and hooks to lift building stones.  He is an engineering boy.

Just south of Koblenz is Schloss Stolzenfelz.  It was a 13th centruy ruin which was given to Wilhelm in the mid 1800s who restored it as a summer place.  It has a wonderful view (you have to climb up the mountain to get there), beautiful gardens and some lovely furniture.  K liked it so much that we bought a paper model kit which he will make at home.

In Andernach, they is a cold water carbonated geyser.  Unfortunately it is a boat ride away, but there is a small sampler one by the river which we enjoyed.

We had a few ferry rides -- fascinating to the boy who loved watching the navigating across the river and the docking procedure.

One day took us through the Romantic Rhine section with castle ruins on almost every hill and a very fast flowing narrow river.  Here the vineyards started seriously and after arriving in Rudesheim, we took the gondola ride over the vineyard up to the statue of Lady Germania.  I was up there 7 years ago and she was encased in scaffolding.  She looked much better this time.

Another closed attraction was the ancient loading crane right on the river with hamster-like treadwheels inside for slaves.

And, of course, there were bridges and towers and ancient walls and gardens and play structures and boats of all shapes sizes and functions.  Going upriver, we cycled just a bit faster than the barges headed in the same direction.  There was one boat, Spera, which we met up with 7 times.

Family Ties

The Swiss do things well.  The playground here in Baden, in under the high level bridge and features logs and ropes and slides and swings and waterplay all blended into the trees.  It was a popular place this Sunday morning.

A train and a bus took us to where Chris and family live -- a lovely town of 900 which is a great place to live.  We dined in their garden and then accompanied them over a significant hill to the town of Brugg where there was a street fest.  Now, this only happens about every 20 years there and they take their festival seriously.  The structures for this 2 weekend event rival many house frames, but they will all disappear after next weekend.  It was great to talk to Chris and Liz and catch up on how that portion of the family is doing.  Also very interesting was to get their opinions of life here in Switzerland which isn't as idyllic as one is sometimes led to believe.

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The bike riding was so easy.  We had commuter (step-through) seven speed bikes, which, although quite heavy, worked very well and the riding was smooth (except for the cobble sections).  The path we were following was 95% along the river, so we only got lost a few times when we had to go around some industrial area.  Our maps and written directions were both good as well as the signage along the path.  Mostly we shared a path with pedestrians, something we could certainly adopt in Canada.

So we rode for 6 days:  Cologne to Bonn (37 km), Bonn to Andernach (45 km),  Andernach to Koblenz (25 km), Koblenz to St. Goarshausen (38 km), St. Goarshausen to Rudesheim (32 km) and finally Rudesheim to Mainz (32 km). Officially that makes a total of 209 km.  The Rhine has km markers starting from Lake Constance .  Cologne is at 689 and we finished at 498, so not all of our riding was as the ships travel.  There was lots of time each day to ride and no pressure to finish fast.  We generally rode for about an hour, then stopped for a snack, rode another hour, stopped for lunch and then a third hour when we would usually arrive early at the evening's spot, and so go for a pastry.  Very civilized!~

Back on the land August 24

Not having WiFi on the boat was quite a drag.  I could have related our adventures each day, talking about the cycling, the boats, the castles, the vineyards, the gondolas, the food, the people, etc.  Over the next few days I will try to catch up but also stay current with the day.

So today, K and I left the boat after breakfast.  It felt quite strange not to get on the bikes and meet our friend the river for a long visit.  We took a taxi to the Mainz Hbf and got on our train.  It was a 2:45 trip to Basel and then another hour to Baden where there was a happy group to meet us on the platform.  Joanna, Sham and Clara were there as well as Chris, Liz, Kalina and Natasha.  If the definition of an aunt is your cousin's mom, then I am still Chris' aunt.  We had an icecream in town, then picked up some groceries and headed to the Airbnb.  It is a lovely 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment on the river which flows through town.  The recent arrivers are crashing early.

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So a week ago, K and I were waiting for the boat at one docking spot -- where the literature that I had been emailed indicated.  The time for the boat to arrive came and went.  As it neared and passed embarkation time, I got a little worried and 2 very nice ladies found out where the boat indeed was and we proceeded. 

It is one of the smaller river cruisers, only 2 levels and at least 30 m shorter than the Viking long ships.  But it was refurbished about 1.5 years ago and the Arkona is a very comfortable space.  Our cabin was small but efficiently designed so there was no space problem.  There was a lounge with little tables where one could listen to some music, have a drink, play games, and in the evenings, do some embroidery on the delphiniums.  It was the space for afternoon coffee and cake but also available in the mornings for tour briefings.  Only 2 or 3 people stayed on the boat during the day, the rest of us all cycled.  There were basically two groups -- german speakers and everyone else who were addressed in english.  Meals were all held in the restaurant, breakfast being a buffet and which supplied the ingredients for a make-you-own picnic lunch, and supper being a lovely served item with 4 or 5 courses and choice of mains.  The sundeck on top of the boat had lots of lounge chairs and a covered area with tables.  The crew has their main jobs but everyone is enlisted to move bicycles or help unload supplies.  They are a family that works very well together.

K and I were assigned to table 3 along with 2 English couples who were travelling together.  Chris and Francis are teachers.  Chris used to teach highschool science before he became an educator of teachers and Francis teaches upperschool mathematics.  Andy and Jennie are about 10 to 15 years older, Andy is a semi-retired engineer from Siemans and Jennie is a very busy grandma with 10 grandchildren who all live within 10 miles.  K and Chris hit it off, discussing science each evening and most mornings.  Andy had his 65th birthday on the boat and shared his celebratory champagne.  They were delightful table companions.